Fimafeng is one of the servants of

Ægir Ægir (anglicised as Aegir; Old Norse 'sea'), Hlér (Old Norse 'sea'), or Gymir (Old Norse less clearly 'sea, engulfer'), is a jötunn and a anthropomorphism, personification of the sea in Norse mythology. In the Old Norse record, Ægir hosts the ...

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. In the ''

Lokasenna ''Lokasenna'' (Old Norse: 'The Flyting of Loki', or 'Loki's Verbal Duel') is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. The poem presents flyting between the gods and Loki. It is written in the ljóðaháttr metre, typical for wisdom verse. ''L ...

'', Fimafeng is killed out of jealousy by

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

at a party held by his master, after hearing him being lauded by the people for the banquet he had prepared to the

Æsir Æsir (Old Norse; singular: ) or ēse (Old English; singular: ) are deities, gods in Germanic paganism. In Old Nordic religion and Nordic mythology, mythology, the precise meaning of the term "" is debated, as it can refer either to the gods i ...

(gods).

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

name ''Fimafeng'' has been translated as 'hurrying service'.

Attestation

In the beginning of ''

'' (Loki's Flyting), Aegir's servants Fimafeng and Eldir are praised by the people for their good job at welcoming guests to a feast prepared to the

(gods) and hosted by their master. The áss (god) Loki, jealous of the praise being heaped upon them, suddenly kills Fimafeng, causing the Aesir to expel him from the party. Loki eventually returns to the feast and offers an elaborate series of insults (

flyting Flyting or fliting ( Classical Gaelic: ''immarbág'', , "counter-boasting") is a contest consisting of the exchange of insults between two parties, often conducted in verse. Etymology The word ''flyting'' comes from the Old English verb meanin ...

) to the Æsir and to the other servant, Eldir.

References

Bibliography

* {{Norse-myth-stub Servants in Norse mythology