1.
Old Norse
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Old Norse was a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during about the 9th to 13th centuries. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century, Old Norse was divided into three dialects, Old West Norse, Old East Norse and Old Gutnish. Old West and East Norse formed a continuum, with no clear geographical boundary between them. For example, Old East Norse traits were found in eastern Norway, although Old Norwegian is classified as Old West Norse, most speakers spoke Old East Norse in what is present day Denmark and Sweden. Old Gutnish, the more obscure dialectal branch, is included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations. It developed its own features and shared in changes to both other branches. The 12th century Icelandic Gray Goose Laws state that Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders and Danes spoke the same language, another term used, used especially commonly with reference to West Norse, was norrœnt mál. In some instances the term Old Norse refers specifically to Old West Norse, the Old East Norse dialect was spoken in Denmark, Sweden, settlements in Kievan Rus, eastern England, and Danish settlements in Normandy. The Old Gutnish dialect was spoken in Gotland and in settlements in the East. In the 11th century, Old Norse was the most widely spoken European language, in Kievan Rus, it survived the longest in Veliky Novgorod, probably lasting into the 13th century there. Norwegian is descended from Old West Norse, but over the centuries it has heavily influenced by East Norse. Old Norse also had an influence on English dialects and Lowland Scots and it also influenced the development of the Norman language, and through it and to a smaller extent, that of modern French. Various other languages, which are not closely related, have heavily influenced by Norse, particularly the Norman dialects, Scottish Gaelic. The current Finnish and Estonian words for Sweden are Ruotsi and Rootsi, of the modern languages, Icelandic is the closest to Old Norse. Written modern Icelandic derives from the Old Norse phonemic writing system, contemporary Icelandic-speakers can read Old Norse, which varies slightly in spelling as well as semantics and word order. However, pronunciation, particularly of the phonemes, has changed at least as much as in the other North Germanic languages. Faroese retains many similarities but is influenced by Danish, Norwegian, although Swedish, Danish and the Norwegian languages have diverged the most, they still retain asymmetric mutual intelligibility. Speakers of modern Swedish, Norwegian and Danish can mostly understand each other without studying their neighboring languages, the languages are also sufficiently similar in writing that they can mostly be understood across borders
2.
Fen
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A fen is one of the main types of wetland, the others being grassy marshes, forested swamps, and peaty bogs. Along with bogs, fens are a kind of mire, Fens are minerotrophic peatlands, usually fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. They are characterised by their chemistry, which is pH neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels. They are usually dominated by grasses and sedges, and typically have brown mosses in general including Scorpidium or Drepanocladus, Fens frequently have a high diversity of other plant species including carnivorous plants such as Pinguicula. They may also occur along lakes and rivers where seasonal changes in water level maintain wet soils with few woody plants. The distribution of species of fen plants is often closely connected to water regimes. Fens have a set of plant species, which sometimes provide the best indicators of environmental conditions. For example, fen indicator species in New York State include Carex flava, Cladium mariscoides, Potentilla fruticosa, Pogonia ophioglossoides and Parnassia glauca. Fens are distinguished from bogs, which are acidic, low in minerals, Fens have been damaged in the past by land drainage, and also by peat cutting. Some are now being restored with modern management methods. The principal challenges are to restore natural water regimes, to maintain the quality of water. Carr is the northern European equivalent of the swamp of the southeastern United States. It is a fen overgrown with small trees of species such as willow or alder. In general, fens may change in composition as peat accumulates, a list of species found in a fen can therefore cover a range of species from those remaining from the earlier stage in the successional development to the pioneers of the succeeding stage. Where streams of water run through bog, these are often lined by strips of fen. Temporary flooding by beavers can have effects on fens. Shakespeare used the term fen-sucked to describe the fog in King Lear, media related to Fens at Wikimedia Commons
3.
Gray wolf
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The gray wolf or grey wolf, also known as the timber wolf or western wolf, is a canine native to the wilderness and remote areas of Eurasia and North America. It is the largest extant member of its family, with males averaging 43–45 kg, like the red wolf, it is distinguished from other Canis species by its larger size and less pointed features, particularly on the ears and muzzle. Its winter fur is long and bushy, and predominantly a mottled gray in color, although pure white, red. As of 2005,37 subspecies of C. lupus are recognised by MSW3 and it is nonetheless closely related enough to smaller Canis species, such as the eastern wolf, coyote, and golden jackal to produce fertile hybrids. It is an animal, travelling in nuclear families consisting of a mated pair. The gray wolf is typically an apex predator throughout its range, with only humans and it feeds primarily on large ungulates, though it also eats smaller animals, livestock, carrion, and garbage. The gray wolf is one of the worlds best known and well researched animals, although the fear of wolves is pervasive in many human societies, the majority of recorded attacks on people have been attributed to animals suffering from rabies. The English wolf stems from the Old English wulf, which is thought to be derived from the Proto-Germanic *wulfaz. The Latin lupus is a Sabine loanword, both derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *wlqwos/*lukwos. The species Canis lupus was first recorded by Carl Linnaeus in his publication Systema Naturae in 1758, the thirty-seven subspecies of Canis lupus are listed under the designated common name of wolf in Mammal Species of the World third edition that was published in 2005. The nominate subspecies is the Eurasian wolf, also known as the common wolf, the subspecies includes the domestic dog, dingo, eastern wolf and red wolf, but lists C. l. italicus and C. l. communis as synonyms of C. l. lupus. However, the classification of several as either species or subspecies has recently been challenged, ecological factors including habitat type, climate, prey specialization and predatory competition will greatly influence the wolfs genetic population structure and cranio-dental plasticity. The domestic dog is the most widely abundant large carnivore and a descendant from one of those now-extinct wolf populations, in 2013, a genetic study found that the wolf population in Europe was divided along a north-south axis and formed five major clusters. Three clusters were identified occupying southern and central Europe in Italy, the Carpathians, another two clusters were identified occupying north-central Europe and the Ukrainian steppe. The Italian wolf consisted of a population with low genetic diversity. Wolves from Croatia, Bulgaria, and Greece formed the Dinaric-Balkans cluster, the wolves from the Carpathians were more similar to the wolves from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe than they were to wolves from north-central Europe. These clusters may have been the result of expansion from glacial refugia, an adaptation to environments, and landscape fragmentation. These six wolf ecotypes were named West Forest, Boreal Forest, Arctic, High Arctic, Baffin, the studies found that precipitation and mean diurnal temperature range were the most influential variables
4.
Norse mythology
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The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central cosmological tree, Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings, various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, and the first two humans are Ask and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök, there the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world. Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century, by way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology. In the modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, the myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism. The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Iceland and this occurred primarily in the 13th century. The Prose Edda was composed as a manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Old Norse poetry composed by skalds. Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse, kennings, the Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after the Christianization process and also frequently refers back to the poems found in the Poetic Edda. The Poetic Edda consists almost entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, in comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively unadorned. Numerous further texts, such as the sagas, provide further information, the saga corpus consists of thousands of tales recorded in Old Norse ranging from Icelandic family histories to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila the Hun. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology may also lend insight, wider comparisons to the mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths. Of the mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. In the mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, the god Odin is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf and raven-flanked, and spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the worlds, Odin has a strong association with death, Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Valhalla, where valkyries carry half of those slain in battle. Odins wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Baldr. After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his death, his death is engineered by Loki, and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel. Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess and she is beautiful, sensual, wears a feathered cloak, and practices seiðr. She rides to battle to choose among the slain, and brings her chosen to her afterlife field Fólkvangr, Freyja weeps for her missing husband Óðr, and seeks after him in far away lands
5.
Poetic Edda
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Poetic Edda is the modern attribution for an unnamed collection of Old Norse anonymous poems, which is different from the Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all consisting primarily of text from the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript known as the Codex Regius, poets who have acknowledged their debt to the Codex Regius include Vilhelm Ekelund, August Strindberg, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ezra Pound, Jorge Luis Borges, and Karin Boye, Codex Regius was written in the 13th century, but nothing is known of its whereabouts until 1643, when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skálholt. At the time, versions of the Edda were known in Iceland, but scholars speculated that once was another Edda, an Elder Edda. Brynjólfur attributed the manuscript to Sæmundr the Learned, a larger-than-life 12th century Icelandic priest and that attribution is rejected by modern scholars, but the name Sæmundar Edda is still sometimes associated with both the Codex Regius and versions of Poetic Edda using it as a source. Bishop Brynjólfur sent Codex Regius as a present to the Danish king, for centuries, it was stored in the Royal Library in Copenhagen but in 1971, it was returned to Iceland. The Eddic poems are composed in alliterative verse, most are in fornyrðislag, while málaháttr is a common variation. The rest, about a quarter, are composed in ljóðaháttr, the language of the poems is usually clear and relatively unadorned. Kennings are often employed, though they do not arise as frequently, nor are they as complex, like most early poetry, the Eddic poems were minstrel poems, passing orally from singer to singer and from poet to poet for centuries. None of the poems are attributed to an author, though many of them show strong individual characteristics and are likely to have been the work of individual poets. Scholars sometimes speculate on hypothetical authors, but firm and accepted conclusions have never been reached, the dating of the poems has been a source of lively scholarly argument for a long time, and firm conclusions are hard to reach. Lines from the Eddic poems sometimes appear in poems by known poets, for example, Eyvindr skáldaspillir composed in the latter half of the 10th century, and he uses a couple of lines in his Hákonarmál which are also found in Hávamál. It is possible that he was quoting a poem, but it is also possible that Hávamál. The few demonstrably historical characters mentioned in the poems, such as Attila, the dating of the manuscripts themselves provides a more useful terminus ante quem. Individual poems have individual clues to their age, for example, Atlamál hin groenlenzku is claimed by its title to have been composed in Greenland, and seems so by some internal evidence. If so, it can be no earlier than about 985, in some cases, old poems may have been interpolated with younger verses or merged with other poems. For example, stanzas 9-16 of Völuspá, the Dvergatal or Roster of Dwarfs, is considered by scholars to be an interpolation. The problem of dating the poems is linked with the problem of finding out where they were composed, Iceland was not settled until about 870, so anything composed before that time would necessarily have been elsewhere, most likely in Scandinavia
6.
Prose Edda
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The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorris Edda or, historically, simply as Edda, is an Old Norse work of literature written in Iceland in the early 13th century. The work is assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar. It begins with a euhemerized Prologue, a section on the Norse cosmogony, pantheon and this is followed by three distinct books, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál and Háttatal. Seven manuscripts, dating from around 1300 to around 1600, have independent textual value, Sturluson planned the collection as a textbook. It was to enable Icelandic poets and readers to understand the subtleties of alliterative verse, at that time, versions of the Edda were well known in Iceland, but scholars speculated that there once was an Elder Edda which contained the poems which Snorri quotes in his Edda. The etymology of Edda remains uncertain, there are many hypotheses, and little agreement. Some argue that the word derives from the name of Oddi, Edda could therefore mean book of Oddi. However, this assumption is generally rejected, Faulkes in his English translation of the Prose Edda commented that this is unlikely, both in terms of linguistics and history since Snorri was no longer living at Oddi when he composed his work. Another connection was made with the word óðr, which means poetry or inspiration in Old Norse, Edda also means great-parent, a word used by Snorri himself in the Skáldskaparmál. That is, with the meaning, the name of a character in the Rigsthula. A final hypothesis is derived from the Latin edo, meaning I write and it relies on the fact that the word kredda is certified and comes from the Latin credo, I believe. It seems likely Snorri would have been able to invent the word, Edda in this case could be translated as Poetic Art. This is the meaning that the word was given in the Middle Ages. The name Sæmundar Edda was given by the Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson to the collection of poems contained in the Codex Regius, many of which are quoted by Snorri. Brynjólfur, along many others of his time incorrectly believed that they were collected by Sæmundr fróði. Seven manuscripts of the Edda have survived, six compositions of the Middle Ages, no one manuscript is complete, and each has variations. In addition to three fragments, the four manuscripts are Codex Regius, Codex Wormianus, Codex Trajectinus. Codex Upsaliensis, was composed in the first quarter of the century and is the oldest manuscript preserved of the Edda of Snorri
7.
Heimskringla
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Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet, the name Heimskringla was first used in the 17th century, derived from the first two words of one of the manuscripts. Snorri had himself visited Norway and Sweden, for events of the mid-12th century, Snorri explicitly names the now lost work Hryggjarstykki as his source. The composition of the sagas is Snorris, the earliest parchment copy of the work is referred to as Kringla. It voyaged from Iceland to Bergen, Norway and was moved to Copenhagen, at that time it had lost the first page, but the second starts Kringla heimsins, the Earths circle of the Laing translation. In the 17th century copies were made by Icelanders Jon Eggertson, eggertsons copy went to the Royal Library at Stockholm. The Copenhagen manuscript was among the many destroyed in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728. Only one leaf of the manuscript survived and it is now kept in the National, by the mid-16th century, the Old Norse language was unintelligible to Norwegian, Swedish or Danish readers. At that time several translations of extracts were made in Norway into the Danish language, the first complete translation was made around 1600 by Peder Claussøn Friis, and printed in 1633. This was based on a known as Jofraskinna. This edition also included the first printing of the text in Old Norse, a new Danish translation with the text in Old Norse and a Latin translation came out in 1777-1783. An English translation by Samuel Laing was finally published in 1844, in the 19th century, as Norway was achieving independence after centuries of union with Denmark and Sweden, the stories of the independent Norwegian medieval kingdom won great popularity in Norway. Heimskringla, although written by an Icelander, became an important national symbol for Norway during the period of romantic nationalism, Heimskringla consists of several chapters, each one individually called a saga, which can be literally translated as tale. The subsequent sagas are devoted to individual rulers, starting with Halfdan the Black, the stories are told with a life and freshness, giving a picture of human life in all its reality. A version of the Óláfs saga helga, which is about the saint Olaf II of Norway, is the main part and his 15-year-long reign takes up about one third of the entire work. This saga is an epic in prose, and is also of particular relevance to the history of England. The first part of the Heimskringla is rooted in Norse mythology, as it advances, fable and fact all curiously intermingle, the value of Heimskringla as a historical source has been estimated in different ways during recent times. The historians of mid-19th century put great trust in the truth of Snorris narrative
8.
Snorri Sturluson
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Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing and he was also the author of the Heimskringla, a history of the Norwegian kings that begins with legendary material in Ynglinga saga and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of Egils saga, as a historian and mythographer, Snorri is remarkable for proposing the hypothesis that mythological gods begin as human war leaders and kings whose funeral sites develop cults. As people call upon the war leader as they go to battle, or the dead king as they face tribal hardship. Eventually, the king or warrior is remembered only as a god and he also proposed that as tribes defeat others, they explain their victory by proposing that their own gods were in battle with the gods of the others. Snorri Sturluson was born in Hvammur into the wealthy and powerful Sturlungar family of the Icelandic Commonwealth and his parents were Sturla Þórðarson the elder of Hvammur and his second wife, Guðný Böðvarsdóttir. He had two brothers, Þórðr Sturluson and Sighvatr Sturluson, two sisters and nine half-siblings. By a quirk of circumstance Snorri was raised from the age of three by Jón Loftsson, a relative of the Norwegian royal family, in Oddi, Iceland. The resulting settlement would have beggared Páll, but Jón Loftsson intervened in the Althing to mitigate the judgment and, to compensate Sturla, offered to raise, Snorri therefore received an excellent education and made connections that he might not otherwise have made. He attended the school of Sæmundr fróði, grandfather of Jón Loftsson, at Oddi and his father died in 1183 and his mother as guardian soon wasted Snorris share of the inheritance. The two families arranged an marriage in 1199 between Snorri and Herdís, the daughter of Bersi Vermundarson. From her father, Snorri inherited an estate at Borg and a chieftainship and he soon acquired more property and chieftainships. Snorri and Herdís were together for four years at Borg and they had at least two children, Hallbera and Jón. The marriage succumbed to Snorris philandering, and in 1206, he settled in Reykholt as manager of an estate there and he made significant improvements to the estate, including a hot outdoor bath. The bath and the buildings have preserved to some extent. During the initial years at Reykholt he fathered five children by three different women, Guðrún Hreinsdóttir, Oddný, and Þuríður Hallsdóttir, Snorri quickly became known as a poet, but was also a successful lawyer. In 1215, he became lawspeaker of the Althing, the public office of the Icelandic commonwealth. In the summer of 1218, he left the position and sailed to Norway
9.
Loki
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In Norse mythology, Loki, Loptr, or Hveðrungr is a god or jötunn. Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi, by the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Narfi and/or Nari, by the stallion Svaðilfari, Loki is the mother—giving birth in the form of a mare—to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. In addition, Loki is referred to as the father of Váli in Prose Edda, though this also refers to Odin as the father of Váli twice. Lokis relation with the gods varies by source, Loki sometimes assists the gods, Loki is a shape shifter and in separate incidents he appears in the form of a salmon, a mare, a fly, and possibly an elderly woman named Þökk. Lokis positive relations with the end with his role in engineering the death of the god Baldr. In both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, the goddess Skaði is responsible for placing a serpent above him while he is bound, Loki may be depicted on the Snaptun Stone, the Kirkby Stephen Stone, and the Gosforth Cross. Lokis origins and role in Norse mythology, which scholars have described as that of a trickster god, have been much debated by scholars. Loki has been depicted in or is referenced in a variety of media in popular culture. The etymology of the name Loki has yet to be solved and it may be related to Old Norse luka, meaning close, shut. The name Hveðrungr is also used in reference to Loki, occurring in names for Hel, in the Poetic Edda, Loki appears in the poems Völuspá, Lokasenna, Þrymskviða, Reginsmál, Baldrs draumar, and Hyndluljóð. In stanza 35 of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, a völva tells Odin that, among other things, she sees Sigyn sitting very unhappily with her bound husband, Loki. In stanza 54, after consuming Odin and being killed by Odins son Víðarr, the poem Lokasenna centers around Loki flyting with other gods, Loki puts forth two stanzas of insults while the receiving figure responds with a single stanza, and then another figure chimes in. The poem begins with an introduction detailing that Ægir, a figure associated with the sea, is hosting a feast in his hall for a number of the gods. There, the gods praise Ægirs servers Fimafeng and Eldir, Loki could not bear to hear that, and kills the servant Fimafeng. In response, the gods grab their shields, shrieking at Loki, the gods then return to the hall, and continue drinking. Entrance and rejection Loki comes out of the woods, and meets Eldir outside of the hall, Loki greets Eldir with a demand that Eldir tell him what the gods are discussing over their ale inside the hall. Eldir responds that they discuss their weapons and their prowess in war, Loki says that he will go into the feast, and that, before the end of the feast, he will induce quarrelling among the gods, and mix their mead with malice
10.
Odin
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In Germanic mythology, Odin is a widely revered god. In the modern period, Odin continued to be acknowledged in the folklore of Germanic Europe. Forms of his name appear frequently throughout the Germanic record, though narratives regarding Odin are mainly found in Old Norse works recorded in Iceland and these texts make up the bulk of modern understanding of Norse mythology. In Old Norse texts, Odin is depicted as one-eyed and long-bearded, frequently wielding a spear named Gungnir, and wearing a cloak, Odin is attested as having many sons, most famously the god Baldr with Frigg, and is known by hundreds of names. Odin has an association with Yule, and mankinds knowledge of both the runes and poetry is also attributed to him. In Old Norse texts, Odin is given primacy over female beings associated with the battlefield—the valkyries—and oversees Valhalla, where he receives half of those who die in battle, the other half are chosen by the goddess Freyja for her afterlife location, Fólkvangr. In later folklore, Odin appears as a leader of the Wild Hunt and he has also been associated with charms and other forms of magic, particularly in Old English and Old Norse texts. Odin has been a frequent subject of study in Germanic studies, in the modern period, Odin has inspired numerous works of poetry, music, and other forms of media. He is venerated in most forms of the new religious movement Heathenry, together with other gods venerated by the ancient Germanic peoples, some branches focus particularly on him. The Old Norse theonym Óðinn and its cognates, including Old English Wōden, Old Saxon Wōden, the masculine noun *wōđanaz developed from the Proto-Germanic adjective *wōđaz, related to Latin vātēs and Old Irish fáith, both meaning seer, prophet. Adjectives stemming from *wōđaz include Gothic woþs possessed, Old Norse óðr, mad, frantic, furious, additionally the Old Norse noun æði rage, fury and Old High German wuotī madness derive from the feminine noun *wōđīn, from *wōđaz. Over 170 names are recorded for the god Odin and these names are variously descriptive of attributes of the god, refer to myths involving him, or refer to religious practices associated with the god. This multitude of names makes Odin the god with the most names known among the Germanic peoples, the weekday name Wednesday derives from Old English wōdnesdæg. Cognate terms are found in other Germanic languages, such as Middle Low German wōdensdach, all of these terms derive from Proto-Germanic *Wodensdag, itself a Germanic interpretation of Latin Dies Mercurii. However, in Old High German, the derived from Odins was replaced by a translation of Church Latin media hebdomas. The earliest records of the Germanic peoples were recorded by the Romans and they regard it as a religious duty to offer to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of the permitted kind, in this instance, Tacitus refers to the god Odin as Mercury, Thor as Hercules, and Týr as Mars, and the identity of the Isis of the Suebi has been debated. But their rankings in their respective religious spheres may have very different
11.
W. G. Collingwood
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William Gershom Collingwood was an English author, artist, antiquary and professor of Fine Arts at University College, Reading. His father, also William, was a watercolour artist, and had married Marie Eliabeth Imhoff of Arbon, soon young William was sketching with his father in the Lakes, North Wales, and Switzerland. In 1872, he went to University College, Oxford, where he met John Ruskin, during the summer of 1873 Collingwood visited Ruskin at Brantwood, Coniston. Two years later Collingwood was working at Brantwood with Ruskin and his associates, Ruskin admired his draughtsmanship, and so Collingwood studied at the Slade School of Art between 1876 and 1878. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880, for many years Collingwood dedicated himself to helping Ruskin, staying at Brantwood as Ruskins assistant and travelling with him to Switzerland. In 1883 he married Edith Mary Isaac and settled near to Ruskin in the Lake District, Collingwood edited a number of Ruskins texts and published a biography of Ruskin in 1893. In 1896, Arthur Ransome met the Collingwoods and their children, Dora, Barbara, Ursula, Ransome learned to sail in Collingwoods boat, Swallow, and became a firm friend of the family, even proposing marriage to both Dora and Barbara. After a summer of teaching Collingwoods grandchildren to sail in Swallow II in 1928, Ransome wrote the first book in his Swallows and he used the names of some of Collingwoods grandchildren for his characters, the Swallows. By the 1890s Collingwood had become a painter and also joined the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian. He wrote a number of papers for its Transactions, becoming editor in 1900. Collingwood was particularly interested in Norse lore and the Norsemen, and he wrote a novel, in 1897, Collingwood travelled to Iceland where he spent three months over the summer exploring with Jón Stefánsson the sites around the country in which the medieval Icelandic sagas are set. Collingwood was a member of the Viking Club and served as its president, in 1902 he co-authored again with Jón Stefánsson the first translation it published, a translation of Kormáks saga entitled, The Life and Death of Kormac the Skald. His study of Norse and Anglican archaeology made him recognized as a leading authority. Collingwood joined the Admiralty intelligence division at the outbreak of the First World War, in 1919, he returned to Coniston and continued his writing with a history of the Lake District and perhaps his most important work, Northumbrian Crosses of the pre-Norman Age. He was a climber and swimmer, and a tireless walker into advanced age. In 1927 he experienced the first of a series of strokes and his wife died in 1928, followed by Collingwood himself in 1932. Following the Armistice of 1918, and the treaty of 1919. His knowledge of and enthusiasm for Scandinavian crosses is displayed at Grasmere where the memorial on Broadgate Meadows is a pastiche of an Anglian cross, the short verse at its base was penned by his close friend Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley who was chair of the memorial committee
12.
Gosforth Cross
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The Gosforth Cross is a large stone Anglo-Saxon cross in St Marys churchyard at Gosforth in the English county of Cumbria. Formerly part of the kingdom of Northumbria, the area was settled by Scandinavians some time in either the 9th or 10th century, the cross itself dates to the first half of the 10th century. The Gosforth Cross has elaborate carvings which have been interpreted as representing characters, the Gosforth Cross was first identified in 1886 by the amateur antiquarian Charles Arundel Parker in his book The Ancient Crosses at Gosford and Cumberland. He demonstrated that the cross showed scenes described in the Poetic Edda and those include images identified as, Loki bound with his wife Sigyn protecting him. The god Heimdallr holding his horn, the god Víðarr tearing the jaws of Fenrir. Thors failed attempt to catch Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, the cross also has Christian symbolism, including a depiction of the crucifixion of Christ. The combination of Christian and Norse pagan symbolism on the cross may be evidence of the use of pagan stories to illustrate Christian teachings, the cross is 4.4 metres tall and made out of red sandstone. It is estimated to date from 920-950 and is still in good condition. The importance of the Gosforth Cross caused the Victoria and Albert Museum to have made in 1882. They are on display in the Cast Hall at the museum, in 1887, the Rev. William Slater Calverley commissioned a replica life-sized copy of this cross and erected it in the churchyard at Aspatria, Cumbria. The church also has important hogback tombs, and what appears to be a fragment of another cross, the following images depict the 10th century Gosforth Cross and related artifacts at St Marys church in Gosforth in the English county of Cumbria. The region was part of the kingdom of Northumbria, an area settled by Scandinavians in the 9th or 10th century. The images were published by Finnur Jónsson in Goðafræði Norðmanna og Íslendinga eftir Heimildum in 1913, the identifications of the figures are those suggested by Jónsson in 1913. Other Images Arundel P Charles, The Ancient crosses at Gosforth and Cumberland, Elliot Stock,1896 Bailey, Bailey, Richard N. Scandinavian Myth on Viking-period Stone Sculpture in England. In Barnes, Geraldine, Ross, Margaret Clunies, old Norse Myths, Literature, and Society. Goðafræði Norðmanna og Íslendinga eftir heimildum, Rev. William Slater Calverley, W. G. Collingwood M. A. Notes on the Early Sculptured Crosses, Shrines and Monuments in the Present Diocese of Carlisle, film about the Gosforth Cross Four sides of the Gosforth Cross Megalithic Portal Gosforth Cross grid reference NY072036
13.
Troll
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A troll is a class of being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in family units. Later, in Scandinavian folklore, trolls became beings in their own right, where they far from human habitation, are not Christianized. Depending on the source, their appearance varies greatly, trolls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings, trolls are sometimes associated with particular landmarks, which at times may be explained as formed from a troll exposed to sunlight. Trolls are depicted in a variety of media in popular culture. The Old Norse nouns troll and tröll and Middle High German troll, the origin of the Proto-Germanic word is unknown. In Norse mythology, troll, like thurs, is a term applied to jötnar and is mentioned throughout the Old Norse corpus. In Old Norse sources, trolls are said to dwell in isolated mountains, rocks, and caves, sometimes live together, the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál describes an encounter between an unnamed troll woman and the 9th century skald Bragi Boddason. There is much confusion and overlap in the use of Old Norse terms jötunn, troll, þurs, and risi, on the other hand, Ármann Jakobson is critical of Motzs interpretation and calls this theory unsupported by any convincing evidence. Later in Scandinavian folklore, trolls become defined as a type of being. According to John Lindow, what sets them apart is that they are not Christian, therefore, trolls were in the end dangerous, regardless of how well they might get along with Christian society, and trolls display a habit of bergtagning and overrunning a farm or estate. They therefore appear in various legends where collective nature-beings are called for. Lindow notes that trolls are sometimes swapped out for cats and little people in the folklore record, a Scandinavian folk belief that lightning frightens away trolls and jötnar appears in numerous Scandinavian folktales, and may be a late reflection of the god Thors role in fighting such beings. In connection, the lack of trolls and jötnar in modern Scandinavia is sometimes explained as a result of the accuracy and efficiency of the lightning strokes. Additionally, the absence of trolls in regions of Scandinavia are described in folklore as being a consequence of the constant din of the church-bells, large local stones are sometimes described as the product of a trolls toss. Smaller trolls are attested as living in burial mounds and in mountains in Scandinavian folk tradition, in Denmark, these creatures are recorded as troldfolk, bjergtrolde, or bjergfolk and in Norway also as troldfolk and tusser. Trolls may be described as small, human-like beings or as tall as men depending on the region of origin of the story, in Norwegian tradition, similar tales may be told about the larger trolls and the Huldrefolk yet a distinction is made between the two. The use of the trow in Orkney and Shetland, to mean beings which are very like the Huldrefolk in Norway may suggest a common origin for the terms
14.
Freyr
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Freyr or Frey is one of the most important gods of Norse religion. The name is conjectured to derive from the Proto-Norse *frawjaz, lord, Freyr was associated with sacral kingship, virility and prosperity, with sunshine and fair weather, and was pictured as a phallic fertility god, Freyr is said to bestow peace and pleasure on mortals. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was associated with Sweden and seen as an ancestor of the Swedish royal house. In the Icelandic books the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, Freyr is presented as one of the Vanir, the gods gave him Álfheimr, the realm of the Elves, as a teething present. He rides the shining dwarf-made boar Gullinbursti and possesses the ship Skíðblaðnir which always has a favorable breeze and can be folded together and he has the servants Skírnir, Byggvir and Beyla. The most extensive surviving Freyr myth relates Freyrs falling in love with the female jötunn Gerðr, eventually, she becomes his wife but first Freyr has to give away his magic sword which fights on its own if wise be he who wields it. Although deprived of this weapon, Freyr defeats the jötunn Beli with an antler, however, lacking his sword, Freyr will be killed by the fire jötunn Surtr during the events of Ragnarök. Like other Germanic deities, veneration of Freyr is revived in the period in Heathenry. Written around 1080, one of the oldest written sources on pre-Christian Scandinavian religious practices is Adam of Bremens Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, Adam claimed to have access to first-hand accounts on pagan practices in Sweden. He refers to Freyr with the Latinized name Fricco and mentions that an image of him at Skara was destroyed by the Christian missionary and his description of the Temple at Uppsala gives some details on the god. Later in the account Adam states that when a marriage is performed a libation is made to the image of Fricco, historians are divided on the reliability of Adams account. While he is close in time to the events he describes he has an agenda to emphasize the role of the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen in the Christianization of Scandinavia. His timeframe for the Christianization of Sweden conflicts with other sources, such as runic inscriptions, on the other hand, the existence of phallic idols was confirmed in 1904 with a find at Rällinge in Södermanland. When Snorri Sturluson was writing in 13th century Iceland, the indigenous Germanic gods were still remembered although they had not been openly worshiped for more than two centuries, in the Gylfaginning section of his Prose Edda, Snorri introduces Freyr as one of the major gods. This description has similarities to the account by Adam of Bremen. Adam assigns control of the weather and produce of the fields to Thor, Snorri also omits any explicitly sexual references in Freyrs description. Those discrepancies can be explained in several ways and it is possible that the Norse gods did not have exactly the same roles in Icelandic and Swedish paganism but it must also be remembered that Adam and Snorri were writing with different goals in mind. Either Snorri or Adam may also have had distorted information, the only extended myth related about Freyr in the Prose Edda is the story of his marriage
15.
Surtr
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In Norse mythology, Surtr is a jötunn. Surtr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from traditional sources. Surtr has been the subject of names and artistic depictions. Surtr is mentioned twice in the poem Völuspá, where a völva divulges information to the god Odin. The next stanza relates that Odin is to be killed by the wolf Fenrir, and that Surtr will go to battle against Belis bane, a kenning for the god Freyr, no further detail is given about the fight between Surtr and Freyr in the poem. In the poem Vafþrúðnismál, the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir poses the question to Odin what the plain is called where in battle Surt, Odin responds that the ordained field is Vígríðr, and that it stretches a hundred leagues in every direction. Later in the poem, Odin, still disguised and now questioning Vafþrúðnir, Vafþrúðnir responds that, when Surts fire is slaked the god Thors sons Móði and Magni shall possess Thors hammer Mjöllnir. In the poem Fáfnismál, the hero Sigurd asks the mortally wounded dragon Fáfnir the name of the island where Surtr, the late Eddic poem Fjölsvinnsmál, stanza 24, contains the line Surtur sinn mautu or surtur sinn mantu according to the best manuscripts. The last two words, which are otherwise without meaning, are sometimes emended to Sinmöru and the phrase is taken to mean that Surtr has a female companion named Sinmara. Based on the passage, Lee Hollander tentatively identifies Sinmara as Surts wife. In chapter 4 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, the figure of Third tells Gangleri about the location of Múspell. Third says that the bright and flaming region of Múspell existed prior to Niflheim, to defend Múspell, Surtr is stationed at its frontier. Third adds that Surtr has a sword, and that at the end of the world he will go and wage war and defeat all the gods. The stanza from Völuspá that foretells Surtr moving from the south is then quoted, in chapter 18, Gangleri asks what will protect the fair hall Gimlé when Surtrs fire burns heaven and earth. In chapter 51 of Gylfaginning, High describes the events of Ragnarök, High says that amid this turmoil the sky will open and from it will ride the sons of Muspell. Surtr will ride in front, and both before and behind him there will be burning fire and his sword will be very fine. Light will shine from it more brightly than from the sun, High continues that when the sons of Múspell ride over the bridge Bifröst it will break, and that they will continue to the field of Vígríðr. The wolf Fenrir and the Midgard Serpent will also arrive there, by then, Loki will have arrived with all of Hels people, Hrym, and all of the frost jötnar, but Muspells sons will have their own battle array, it will be very bright
16.
Frigg
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In Germanic mythology, Frigg, Frija, Frea, and Frige is a goddess. In nearly all sources, she is described as the wife of the god Odin, in Old High German and Old Norse sources, she is also connected with the goddess Fulla. The English weekday name Friday bears her name, Frigg is described as a goddess associated with foreknowledge and wisdom in Norse mythology, the northernmost branch of Germanic mythology and most extensively attested. The children of Frigg and Odin include the gleaming god Baldr, due to significant thematic overlap, scholars have proposed a particular connection to the goddess Freyja. After Christianization, mention of Frigg continued to occur in Scandinavian folklore, in modern times, Frigg has appeared in modern popular culture, has been the subject of art, and receives modern veneration in Germanic Neopaganism. The theonyms Frigg and Frija are cognate forms—linguistic siblings of the same origin—that descend from a substantivized feminine of Proto-Germanic *frijaz, *frijaz descends from the same source as the feminine Sanskrit noun priyā and the feminine Avestan noun fryā. In the modern period, an -a suffix is applied to denote femininity. This spelling also serves the purpose of distancing the goddess from the English word frig, the connection with and possible earlier identification of the goddess Freyja with Frigg in the Proto-Germanic period is a matter of scholarly debate. The name Freyja is not attested outside of Scandinavia, like the name of the group of gods to which Freyja belongs, the Vanir. This is in contrast to the name of the goddess Frigg, who is attested as a common among the Germanic peoples. The best that can be done is to survey the arguments for and against their identity, the English weekday name Friday comes from Old English Frīges Day and is cognate with Old High German frîatac. Both weekday names are result of interpretatio germanica that occurred at or before the 3rd or 4th century CE, several place names refer to Frigg in what are now Norway and Sweden, although her name is altogether absent in recorded place names in Denmark. According to this legend, a people known as the Winnili were ruled by a woman named Gambara who had two sons, Ybor and Agio. The Vandals, ruled by Ambri and Assi, came to the Winnili with their army, Ybor, Agio, and their mother Gambara rejected their demands for tribute. Ambra and Assi then asked the god Godan for victory over the Winnili, to which Godan responded, Whom I shall first see when at sunrise, meanwhile, Ybor and Agio called upon Frea, Godans wife. Frea counseled them that at sunrise the Winnil should come, at sunrise, Frea turned Godans bed around to face east and woke him. Godan saw the Winnili, including their women, and asked who are those Long-beards. Frea responded to Godan, As you have given them a name, Godan did so, so that they should defend themselves according to his counsel and obtain the victory
17.
John Bauer (illustrator)
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John Albert Bauer was a Swedish painter and illustrator. His work is concerned with landscape and mythology, but he also composed portraits and he is best known for his illustrations of early editions of Bland tomtar och troll, an anthology of Swedish folklore and fairy tales. Bauer was born and raised in Jönköping, at 16 he moved to Stockholm to study at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. While there he received his first commissions to illustrate stories in books and magazines, and met the artist Ester Ellqvist and he traveled throughout Lappland, Germany and Italy early in his career, and these cultures deeply informed his work. He painted and illustrated in a nationalistic style, in part influenced by the Italian Renaissance. Most of his works are watercolors or prints in monochrome or muted colours, he also produced oil paintings and his illustrations and paintings broadened the understanding and appreciation of Swedish folklore, fairy tales and landscape. When Bauer was 36, he, Ester and their son, Bengt, John Bauer was born and raised in Jönköping, the son of Josef Bauer, a man of Bavarian origin, and Emma Charlotta Wadell, from a farming family from the town Rogberga just outside Jönköping. Josef Bauer came to Sweden in 1863, penniless and he founded a successful charcuterie business at the Östra Torget in Jönköping. The family lived in the apartment above the shop until 1881 when the construction of their house in Sjövik was completed. John, born in 1882, lived at the Villa Sjövik by the shore of Lake Rocksjön with his parents, the family home would remain central to him long after he lived on his own. His initial schooling was at the Jönköpings Högre Allmäna Läroverk, followed by the Jönköpings Tekniska Skola from 1892 to 1898 and he spent most of his time drawing caricatures of his teachers and daydreaming, something not appreciated by his teachers. He was given to sketching and drawing from an early age, however, when he turned sixteen and wanted to go to Stockholm to study art, they were enthusiastic for him and backed him financially. In 1898, he was one of the 40 applicants to study at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts and he spent the next two years at the Kaleb Ahltins school for painters. During this time he was, like most teenagers, torn between hope and despair, something that is reflected in his artwork. By 1900, he was old enough to attend the Academy of Arts and he studied traditional illustrations and made drawings of plants, medieval costumes and croquis, all of which served him in his later work. One of his teachers, professor and noted historic painter, Gustaf Cederström praised Bauer, While at the academy, he received his first commissions to illustrate magazines and books. In 1904 he traveled to Lappland to create paintings for a book on the culture of the county, at the end of 1905, he left the academy and put Artist on his business card. Following the discovery of ore deposits in the north of Sweden, Lappland became a frontier for industrial development, instead of an exotic wilderness of the Sami culture
18.
Gylfaginning
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Gylfaginning, is the first part of Snorri Sturlusons Prose Edda after Prologue. The Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Norse gods, the second part of the Prose Edda is called the Skáldskaparmál and the third Háttatal. This is why he journeys to Asgard, but on the way he is tricked by the gods and arrives in some other place, inside the palace he encounters a man who asks Gylfis name and so king Gylfi introduces himself as Gangleri. Gangleri then is taken to the king of the palace and comes upon three men, High, Just-As-High, and Third, Gangleri is then challenged to show his wisdom by asking questions, as is the custom in many Norse sagas. Each question made to High, Just-As-High, and Third is about an aspect of the Norse mythology or its gods, in the end all the palace and its people just vanish and Gylfi is left standing on empty ground. It is then implied that as Gylfi returns to his nation and it can be argued that Snorri used this narrative device as a means of being able to safely document a vanishing and largely oral tradition within a Christian context. Gylfaginning in Old Norse at heimskringla. no Text of all original manuscripts The text with modern Icelandic spelling English translation
19.
Gylfi
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In Norse mythology, Gylfi, Gylfe, Gylvi, or Gylve was the earliest recorded king in Scandinavia. He often uses the name Gangleri when appearing in disguise, the traditions on Gylfi deal with how he was tricked by the gods and his relations with the goddess Gefjon. The Ynglinga saga section of Snorris Heimskringla and the Eddic poem Ragnarsdrápa tell a legend of how Gylfi was seduced by the goddess Gefjon to give her as much land as she could plow in one night. Gefjon transformed her four sons into oxen and took enough land to create the Danish island of Zealand, Gylfi and the remaining older bronze-age inhabitants of the land then supposedly adopted the religion of the Æsir and began to live under their rule. Snorri presents an outline of Norse mythology through a dialogue between Gylfi and three rulers of the Æsir and it is possible that Snorris account is based on an old tradition tracing particular beliefs or foundations of particular Norse cults to this legendary Gylfi. However, it is more likely that the Historic King Gylfi was simply already a follower of the Ancient Norse Religion. In one version of Hervarar saga, king Gylfi married his daughter Heiðr to Sigrlami, Heiðr and Sigrlami had the son Svafrlami who forced the two dwarves Dvalin and Durin to forge the magic sword Tyrfing
20.
Hel (being)
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In Norse mythology, Hel is a being who presides over a realm of the same name, where she receives a portion of the dead. Hel is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from traditional sources. In addition, she is mentioned in recorded in Heimskringla and Egils saga that date from the 9th and 10th centuries. An episode in the Latin work Gesta Danorum, written in the 12th century by Saxo Grammaticus, is considered to refer to Hel. In the Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, and Heimskringla, Hel is referred to as a daughter of Loki, and to go to Hel is to die. In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, Hel is described as having been appointed by the god Odin as ruler of a realm of the same name, located in Niflheim. In the same source, her appearance is described as blue and half flesh-coloured and further as having a gloomy. The Prose Edda details that Hel rules over vast mansions with many servants in her underworld realm, the Old Norse feminine proper noun Hel is identical to the name of the location over which she rules, Old Norse Hel. The word has cognates in all branches of the Germanic languages, including Old English hell, Old Frisian helle, Old Saxon hellia, Old High German hella, all forms ultimately derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic feminine noun *xaljō or *haljō. In turn, the Proto-Germanic form derives from the form of the Proto-Indo-European root *kel-, *kol-, to cover, conceal. The term is related to Modern English hall and therefore also Valhalla. Hall and its numerous Germanic cognates derive from Proto-Germanic *hallō covered place, hall, related early Germanic terms and concepts include Proto-Germanic *xalja-rūnō, a feminine compound noun, and *xalja-wītjan, a neutral compound noun. This form is reconstructed from the Latinized Gothic plural noun *haliurunnae, Old English helle-rúne, the compound is composed of two elements, *xaljō and *rūnō, the Proto-Germanic precursor to Modern English rune. The second element in the Gothic haliurunnae may however instead be an agent noun from the verb rinnan, which would make its literal meaning one who travels to the netherworld. )Proto-Germanic *xalja-wītjan is reconstructed from Old Norse hel-víti hell, Old English helle-wíte hell-torment, hell, Old Saxon helli-wīti hell, and the Middle High German feminine noun helle-wīze. The compound is a compound of *xaljō and *wītjan, the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, features various poems that mention Hel. In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, Hels realm is referred to as the Halls of Hel, in stanza 31 of Grímnismál, Hel is listed as living beneath one of three roots growing from the world tree Yggdrasil. In Fáfnismál, the hero Sigurd stands before the mortally wounded body of the dragon Fáfnir, and states that Fáfnir lies in pieces, where Hel can take him. In Atlamál, the phrases Hel has half of us and sent off to Hel are used in reference to death, though it could be a reference to the location and not the being, in stanza 4 of Baldrs draumar, Odin rides towards the high hall of Hel
21.
Niflheim
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Niflheim is one of the Nine Worlds and is a location in Norse mythology which sometimes overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name Niflheimr only appears in two extant sources, Gylfaginning and the much-debated Hrafnagaldr Óðins, Niflheim was primarily a realm of primordial ice and cold, with the frozen river of Elivágar and the well of Hvergelmir, from which come all the rivers. According to Gylfaginning, Niflheim was one of the two realms, the other one being Muspelheim, the realm of fire. Between these two realms of cold and heat, creation began when its waters mixed with the heat of Muspelheim to form a creating steam. Later, it became the abode of Hel, a daughter of Loki, and the afterlife for her subjects. Nifl being cognate with the Anglo-Saxon Nifol, Dutch nevel and German nebel, in Gylfaginning by Snorri Sturluson, Gylfi, the king of ancient Scandinavia, receives an education in Norse mythology from Odin in the guise of three men. She has great possessions there, her walls are exceeding high, Hel thus became the mistress of the world of those dead in disease and old age. This is the instance in which Niflheim and Hel are equated. However, there is confusion in the different versions of the manuscript. And straightway the hammer Mjöllnir was raised aloft, he paid the wrights wage, and not with the sun and the moon. Nay, he denied him dwelling in Jötunheim, and struck but the one first blow, so that his skull was burst into small crumbs
22.
Norse cosmology
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The cosmology of Norse mythology has nine homeworlds or nine realms, unified by the world tree Yggdrasil. Mapping the nine worlds escapes precision because the Poetic Edda often alludes vaguely, the Norse creation myth tells how everything came into existence in the gap between fire and ice, and how the gods shaped the homeworld of humans. A cosmic ash tree, Yggdrasil, lies at the center of the Norse cosmos. Three roots drink the waters of the homeworlds, one in the homeworld of the gods, the Æsir, Asgard, one in the homeworld of the humans, Midgard, and one in the homeworld of the dead, Helheim. Beneath the root in the world of the frost giants is the spring of Mímir, whose waters contain wisdom, the root in the Æsir homeworld taps the sacred wellspring of fate, the Well of Urðr. The tree is tended by the Norns, who live near it, each day, they water it with pure water and whiten it with clay from the spring to preserve it. The water falls down to the earth as dew, animals continually feed on the tree, threatening it, but its vitality persists evergreen as it heals and nourishes the vibrant aggression of life. On the topmost branch of the tree sits an eagle, the beating of its wings cause the winds in the world of men. At the root of the tree lies a great dragon, Niðhǫggr, gnawing at it continuously, the squirrel Ratatoskr carries insults from one to the other. Harts and goats devour the branches and tender shoots, in the beginning, there were two regions, Muspelheim in the south, full of fire, light and heat, and Niflheim in the north, full of arctic waters, mists, and cold. Between them stretched the yawning emptiness of Ginnungagap, and into it poured sparks and smoke from the south and layers of rime, as heat and cold met in Ginnungagap, a living jǫtunn, Ymir, appeared in the melting ice. From his left armpit, the first man and woman were born, from his legs, the frost jötnar were born, making Ymir the progenitor of the jǫtnar. Most sources identify Ymirs oldest son as Þrúðgelmir, who bore Ymirs grandson, the other jǫtnar are usually unnamed. Ymir fed on the milk of the cow Auðumbla and she licked the blocks of salty ice, releasing Búri. Búris son Borr had three sons, the gods Odin, Vili and Vé, the three slew Ymir, and all of the jötnar except for Bergelmir and his wife, who were drowned in the blood of the others. From Ymirs body, they made the world of humans, his blood the seas and lakes, his flesh the earth, his bones the mountains and his teeth the rocks. From his skull they made the dome of the sky, setting a dwarf at each of the four corners to hold it high above the earth and they protected it from the jötnar with a wall made from Ymirs eyebrows. Next they caused time to exist, and placed the orbs of the sun, Odin, passing through the world of the jötnar, found two beautiful young giants named Sól and Máni, sun and moon
23.
Legcuffs
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Legcuffs are physical restraints used on the ankles of a person to allow walking only with a restricted stride and to prevent running and effective physical resistance. Frequently used alternative terms are leg cuffs, shackles, footcuffs, the term fetter shares a root with the word foot. With respect to humans, shackles are typically used on prisoners, Leg shackles also are used for chain gangs to keep them together. Metaphorically, a fetter may be anything that restricts or restrains in any way, the earliest fetters found in archaeological excavations date from the prehistoric age and are mostly of the puzzle lock type. Fetters are also referenced in ancient times in the Bible, roman times already see a variety of restraint types. Some early versions of cup lock shackles can already be found and these were widely used in medieval times but their use declined when mass production made the manufacture of locks built into restraints affordable. Simple fetter types continue to be used like puzzle lock shackles as the typical slave iron or irons riveted shut for prisoners being transported to prison camps. The first built-in locks often were of a simple screw-type but soon developed into the Darby type, in comparison to handcuffs the wearing of leg irons may be found less restrictive. Thus the prison authorities in several countries deem their long-term use acceptable, in order to avoid condoning this disputed practice, the countries of the European Union have banned exporting leg irons into non-EU countries. The countries that continue to make prisoners wear fetters long term now tend to resort to manufacturing their own restraints, ankle monitor Bilboes Handcuffs Hobble Leg Thumbcuffs
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Media related to Fenrir at Wikimedia Commons