Jörð

Jörð (), also named Fjorgyn or Hlodyn, is the personification of earth and a goddess in Norse mythology. She is the mother of the thunder god Thor and a sexual partner of Odin. Jörð is attested in Danish history , composed in the 12th century by Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus; the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century by an unknown individual or individuals; and the ''Prose Edda'', also composed in the 13th century. Her name is often employed in skaldic poetry and kennings as a poetic term for land or earth.

Name

Etymology

Old Norse means 'earth, land', serving both as a common noun ('earth') and as a theonymic incarnation of the noun ('Earth-goddess'). It stems from Proto-Germanic ''*erþō''- ('earth, soil, land'), as evidenced by the Gothic , Old English , Old Saxon , or Old High German (OHG) . The Ancient Greek word (; 'earth') is also possibly related. The word is most likely cognate with Proto-Germanic ''*erwa'' or ''erwōn-'', meaning 'sand, soil' (cf. Old Norse 'sand, gravel', OHG 'earth').

Alternative names

'' Fjörgyn'' is considered by scholars to be another name for Jörð. She is similarly described as Thor's mother and her name is also used as a poetic synonym for 'land' or 'the earth' in skaldic poems. The name ''Hlóðyn'', mentioned in ''Völuspá'' (50) (as "son of Hlódyn" for Thor), is most likely also used as a synonym for ''Jörð.'' The etymology of ''Hlóðyn'' remains unclear, although it is often thought to be related to the goddess ''Hludana'', to whom Romano-Germanic votive tablets have been found on the Lower Rhine.

Attestations

''Gesta Danorum''

Jörð receives mention in Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus's as ''Iuritha''.

''Poetic Edda''

In the ''Poetic Edda'', Jörð receives mention in the poems ''Völuspá'' and ''Lokasenna''. In ''Völuspá'', Thor is referred to as ''mǫgr Hlóðyniar'' and ''Fjǫrgyniar burr'' (child of Hlóðyn, Fjörgyn's child). Hlóðyn, although etymologically unclear, must therefore have been another name of Jörð.

In ''Lokasenna'', Thor is called ''Jarðar burr'' ("son of Jörð").In '' Hárbarðsljóð'' 9, Thor calls himself son of Odin and brother of Meili, who therefore may also be Jörð's son.

''Prose Edda''

Jörð is attested in the ''Prose Edda'' books ''Gylfaginning'' and ''Skáldskaparmál''. According to section 10 of ''Gylfaginning'':
Additionally, the section describes Jörð's ancestry as follows (the included note is Faulkes's own; Faulkes uses the anglicization ''Iord'' throughout his edition of the ''Prose Edda''):

Narfi or Narfi was the name of a giant who lived in Giantland. He had a daughter called Night. She was black and dark in accordance with her ancestry. She was married to a person called Naglfari. Their son was called Aud. Next she was married to someone called Annar. Their daughter was called Iord arth

This section, however, varies by manuscript (see discussion below).

Section 25 of ''Gylfaginning'' lists Jörð among the ''ásynjur'' (Old Norse 'goddesses', singular ''ásynja''):

Thor's mother Iord and Vali's mother Rind are reckoned among the Asyniur.

''Skáldskaparmál'' mentions Jörð numerous times, including in several quotes from skaldic poetry. The second section 4 of the book list kennings for the god Thor, including "son of Odin and Iord". Section 17 quotes Þjóðólfr of Hvinir's composition ''Haustlöng'', in which the skald refers to Thor as "the son of Iord" twice. The poem is quoted again in section 23. Section 18 quotes Eilífr Goðrúnarson's composition ''Þórsdrápa'', in which the skald refers to Thor as "Iord's son".

Section 19 contains a list of kennings for the goddess Frigg, including "rival of Iord and Rind and Gunnlod and Gerd". Section 90 contains a list of kennings for Jörð, referencing a variety of skaldic kennings for the goddess:

How shall earth be referred to? By calling it Ymir's flesh and mother of Thor, daughter of Onar, bride of Odin, rival of Frigg and Rind and Gunnlod, mother-in-law of Sif, floor and base of winds' hall, sea of the animals, daughter of Night, sister of Aud and Day.

The section contains quotes from poems by Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld and Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. The Nafnaþulur section of ''Skáldskaparmál'' includes Jörð in a list of ''ásynjur'' names.

Additionally, as the common noun ''jörð'' also simply means 'earth', references to earth occur throughout the ''Prose Edda''.Faulkes highlights these occurrences in the index of his translation of the ''Prose Edda''; cf.

Scholarly reception

According to philologist Rudolf Simek, Jörð is " Æsir goddess, even though she is also called a giantess". Simek highlights parallels between Thor and the Vedic deity Indra: "Just as Thor's counterpart in Indian mythology, Indra, is begotten by the god of the heavens Dyaus and the Earth, so Thor is also the son of the Earth, just like the proto-ancestor Tuisto ... ".

According to folklorist John Lindow, "Jörd must have been a giantess in the beginning. If so, Odin’s marriage (or, more likely, sexual relationship outside marriage, perhaps not even a willing one on her part) to Jörd should be regarded as parallel to his other strategically minded relationships with giantesses."

Philologist Haukur Thorgeirsson points out that the four manuscripts of ''Gylfaginning'' vary in their descriptions of the family relations between Nótt, Jörð, Dagr, and Dellingr. Depending on the manuscript, either Jörð or Nótt is the mother of Dagr and partner of Dellingr. Haukur details that "the oldest manuscript, U, offers a version where Jǫrð is the wife of Dellingr and the mother of Dagr while the other manuscripts, R, W and T, cast Nótt in the role of Dellingr's wife and Dagr's mother", and argues that "the version in U came about accidentally when the writer of U or its antecedent shortened a text similar to that in RWT. The results of this accident made their way into the Icelandic poetic tradition".

Some 19th-century scholars proposed that Thor's brother Meili should be understood as the son of Jörð.Examples include , , and .

See also

* Æcerbot, an Old English charm and ritual invoking the personified Earth
* Mat Zemlya, the Slavic 'Mother Earth'

References

Citations

General and cited references

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jord
Earth goddesses
Gýgjar
Personifications in Norse mythology