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 ...

, Narfi (

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 ...

: ) is a son of

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 ...

, referred to in a number of sources. According to the ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first main part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'', after the initial Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' takes the form of ...

'' section of

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

's ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' () or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some exten ...

'', he was also called Nari and was killed by his brother

Váli In Norse mythology, Váli (Old Norse) or Boe or Bous (Latin) is a god and the son of the god Odin and Rindr (who is either a goddess herself or a human princess, depending on the sources). Váli has numerous brothers including Thor, Baldr, and ...

, who was transformed into a wolf; in a prose passage at the end of the Eddic poem "

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 ...

", Narfi became a wolf and his brother Nari was killed.

Textual mentions

In chapter 50 of ''Gylfaginning'', to punish Loki for his crimes, 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 ...

turn his son Váli into a wolf and he dismembers his brother, "Nari or Narfi", whose entrails are then used to bind their father. The prose colophon to "Lokasenna" has a summary of the same story, probably derived from Snorri;

Ursula Dronke Ursula Miriam Dronke (née Brown, 3 November 1920 – 8 March 2012Heather O'Donoghue"Ursula Dronke obituary: Inspirational teacher of Old Norse literature specialising in the sagas and poetry of medieval Iceland" ''The Guardian'' 25 March 201 ...

(ed. and trans.), ''The Poetic Edda'' Volume II: ''Mythological Poems'', Oxford: Oxford University/Clarendon, 1997, repr. 2001,
p. 371
In this version, there is no mention of a brother named Váli, Nari is the brother who is killed, Narfi transforms into a wolf, and the connection is not explained."Nari and/or Narfi",

John Lindow John Frederick Lindow (born July 23, 1946) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore at University of California, Berkeley. He is a well known authority on Old Norse religion and literature. Biography John Lin ...

, ''Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs'', Oxford/New York: Oxford University, 2001, , pp. 236–37
p. 237
The name Narfi has often been changed to Váli to better conform to the ''Prose Edda'' account; for example in Guðni Jónsson's 1954 edition and in Henry Adams Bellows' 1923 English translation. Snorri also names "Nari or Narfi" as the son of Loki and his wife

Sigyn Sigyn (Old Norse "(woman) friend of victory"Orchard (1997:146).) is a deity from Norse mythology. She is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th ...

earlier in ''Gylfaginning'', and lists "father of Nari" as a heiti for Loki in the ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

'' section of his work. In addition, Narfi is mentioned in the much earlier "

Ynglingatal ''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet ...

" of

Þjóðólfr of Hvinir Þjóðólfr ór Hvini (; anglicized as Thjódólf of Hvinir or Thiodolf; fl. late 9th–early 10th c. AD), was a Norwegian skald, said to have been one of the court-poets of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair. His name suggests that he was fro ...

, where Hel is referred to by the

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does (). A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...

''jóðís ulfs ok Narfa'' ("sister of the wolf .e. Fenrir">Fenrir.html" ;"title=".e. Fenrir">.e. Fenrirand Narfi"),"Narfi 1",

Rudolf Simek Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in Germanic studies, and is the author ...

, tr. Angela Hall, ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology'', Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1993, repr. 2000, , p. 228. and in the "Haustlöng", which may be by the same skald. Narfi also occurs as a personal name. For example, a Norwegian bishop and king's counselor who died in 1304 was named Narve.

Knut Helle Knut Helle (19 December 1930 – 27 June 2015) was a Norwegian historian. A professor at the University of Bergen from 1973 to 2000, he specialized in the late medieval history of Norway. He has contributed to several large works. Early life, ...

"Narve"
''

Store norske leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' (, abbreviated ''SNL'') is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. It has several subdivisions, including the Norsk biografisk leksikon. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian publishe ...

Interpretations

The picture is confused, making it uncertain whether Nari and Narfi are the same, and how he or they relate to the father of

Nótt In Norse mythology, Night, Old West Norse: (), Old East Norse: (),Orchard (1997:120). is a goddess and personification of the night. In both the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda ...

, the personification of night, who is also sometimes called Narfi. The name has been interpreted as meaning "narrow", but

suggests that the association with Hel and the use of the same name for Nótt's father indicate that Narfi may have "originally eena demon of the dead" and that his name could be related to the

word ''nár'', "corpse", which gave rise to Náströnd and Naglfar.

References

{{Norse paganism topics Jötnar Loki

Textual mentions

Interpretations

See also

References