Loki
Loki is a god in Norse mythology. Loki is in some sources the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, 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 source refers to Odin as the father of Váli twice, Váli is found mentioned as a Son of Loki only once. Loki's relation with the gods varies by source. Loki is a shape shifter and in separate incidents he appears in the form of a salmon, a mare, a fly, an elderly woman named Þökk. Loki's positive relations with the gods end with his role in engineering the death of the god Baldr and Loki is bound by Váli with the entrails of one of his sons. In both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, the goddess Skaði is responsible for placing a serpent above him while he is bound.
The serpent drips venom from above him. With the onset of Ragnarök, Loki is foretold to slip free from his bonds and to fight against the gods among the forces of the jötnar, at which time he will encounter the god Heimdallr and the two will slay each other. Loki is referred to in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources. Loki may be depicted on the Snaptun Stone, the Kirkby Stephen Stone, the Gosforth Cross. Loki's origins and role in Norse mythology, which some scholars have described as that of a trickster god, have been much debated by scholars. Loki is referenced in a variety of media in modern popular culture; the etymology of the name Loki has been extensively debated. The name has at times been associated with the Old Norse word logi, but there seems not to be a sound linguistic basis for this. Rather, the Scandinavian variants of the name point to an origin in the Germanic root *luk-, which denoted things to do with loops; this corresponds with usages such as the Swedish lokkanät and Faroese Lokkanet and Faroese lokki~grindalokki~grindalokkur.
Some Eastern Swedish traditions referring to the same figure use forms in n- like Nokk, but this corresponds to the *luk- etymology insofar as those dialects used a different root, Germanic *hnuk-, in contexts where western varieties used *luk-: "nokke corresponds to nøkkel" "as loki~lokke to lykil". While it has been suggested that this association with closing could point to Loki's apocalyptic role at Ragnarök, "there is quite a bit of evidence that Loki in premodern society was thought to be the causer of knots/tangles/loops, or himself a knot/tangle/loop. Hence, it is natural that Loki is the inventor of the fishnet, which consists of loops and knots, that the word loki is a term for makers of cobwebs: spiders and the like." Though not prominent in the oldest sources, this identity as a "tangler" may be the etymological meaning of Loki's name. In various poems from the Poetic Edda, sections of the Prose Edda Loki is alternatively referred to as Loptr, considered derived from Old Norse lopt meaning "air", therefore points to an association with the air.
The name Hveðrungr is used in reference to Loki, occurring in names for Hel and in reference to Fenrir. In the Poetic Edda, Loki appears in the poems Völuspá, Lokasenna, Þrymskviða, Reginsmál, Baldrs draumar, Hyndluljóð. In stanza 35 of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, a völva tells Odin that, among many other things, she sees Sigyn sitting unhappily with her bound husband, under a "grove of hot springs". In stanza 51, during the events of Ragnarök, Loki appears free from his bonds and is referred to as the "brother of Býleistr": A ship journeys from the east, Muspell's people are coming, over the waves, Loki steers There are the monstrous brood with all the raveners, The brother of Byleist is in company with them. In stanza 54, after consuming Odin and being killed by Odin's son Víðarr, Fenrir is described as "Loki's kinsman"; the poem Lokasenna centers around Loki flyting with other gods. The poem begins with a prose introduction detailing that Ægir, a figure associated with the sea, is hosting a feast in his hall for a number of the gods and elves.
There, the gods praise Ægir's servers Eldir. Loki "could not bear to hear that," and kills the servant Fimafeng. In response, the gods grab their shields, shrieking at Loki, chase
Starkad
Starkad was an eight-armed giant and legendary hero in Norse mythology. Starkad appears in numerous accounts, the stories of his adventures relate to different Scandinavian traditions, he is most treated in Gesta Danorum but he appears in Icelandic sources. He is portrayed as a great warrior who performed many heroic deeds but many crimes. A cognate of the Starkad legends can be found in the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. In Beowulf, the feud between the Danes and the Heaðobards was to be ended with the marriage of Ingeld, the son of the fallen Heaðobard king Froda, Freawaru, the daughter of the Danish king Hroðgar. During the wedding an unnamed old warrior reminded the Heaðobards of their defeat and encouraged them to revenge; that is the origin of Starkad's admonishing speech to son of Frotho. Sophus Bugge derived the name Starkaðr from meaning "the strong Heaðobard". Modern research is more reluctant, however, as the Gothic root stark- might be connected with several possible suffixes. A version of the legend of Starkad can be found in the prologue of the U-version of Hervarar saga, in a shortened form in the H-version of the Hauksbók.
In this version a Starkad Ala-Warrior lived in northern Norway at the waterfalls of Alufoss. He descended from the giants known as the þursar, his father's name was Storkvid. Starkad was much a jotun himself and had eight arms, but he was betrothed to a girl named Ogn Elf-burst. One day, when Starkad had gone north across the Élivágar, another giant named. Starkad challenged Hergrim to a duel. Starkad used four swords at the same slew Hergrim. Ogn did not wish to be Starkad's wife and committed suicide by stabbing herself with a sword. Starkad contented himself by taking everything Hergrim owned, including his son Grimr. Álfhildr was the daughter of king Álfr of Álfheim and like the people of Álfheim, she was beautiful. One autumn, king Álfr performed the Dísablót, a sacrifice to the goddesses, Álfhildr took part in it; as she was reddening the horgr with blood, Starkad kidnapped her. King Álfr called on the god Thor to help him rescue his daughter. Thor granted his wish by rescuing the girl. Gautreks saga continues the account found in Hervarar saga.
It is tells among other things the adventures of Starkad, the son of Stórvirkr, the son of Starkad Ala-warrior, whom Thor had killed. It tells that young Starkad was raised at the court of Harald, the king of Agder, together with Harald's son Vikar. One day, the king of Hordaland, made a raid and killed king Harald, he took Vikar hostage to ensure the loyalty of the people of Agder. When Vikar had grown up, he assembled a warband, including Starkad and avenged his father by killing Herþjófr with thirty of his warriors. Vikar was king of Agder and Hardanger. Starkad took part in Víkar's many battles for the hegemony of the petty kingdoms of southern Norway, one of the battles where Battle at Lake Vænir and he was Víkar's greatest warrior. After all these victories, when sailing north from Agdir to Hördaland with a large army, Víkar was becalmed. Divination showed Odin required a sacrifice of one person chosen by lot and Víkar's lot came up each time; the decision was put off till the next day. Grani Horsehair, Starkad's foster father, took Starkad to a secret council of the gods and revealed himself to be Odin.
Odin bestowed on Starkad the blessings of living three lifetimes, of possessing the most excellent of weapons, an abundance of riches, victory in battle, the gift of poetry and always to be held in the highest esteem among the rich and powerful. Thor, who hated Starkad because of his jotun origin, denied Starkad the blessing of having children and cursed him to commit a crime every lifetime he lived and never to possess real estate. Thor further cursed Starkad never to feel that he had enough property, always to receive dangerous wounds in battle, never to remember his skaldic poems and to be hated by commoners. After blessings and curses laid on Starkad alternately by Odin and Thor, Odin asked Starkad to send him King Víkar in payment for Odin's blessings. Starkad agreed and Odin gave Starkad a spear which Odin promised would appear to be only a reed-stalk. So Vikar met his death. After Vikar's death, Starkad fled to the kings Alrek and Eirík at Uppsala. Starkad served them first as a companion on their viking expeditions and after Alrek and Eirík had settled down, he went on further Viking expeditions alone.
Starkad is said to have composed poems himself. Thor's hate of Starkad because of his jotun origins is mentioned in Skáldskaparmál, where there is a lausavísa by Vetrliði Sumarliðason praising Thor for having killed giants and giantesses, for having defeated Starkad: However, it could be a reference to Starkad's grandfather, Starkad Ala-Warrior, whom Thor killed for having kidnapped Álfhildr, the princess of Alfheim. In the Ynglinga saga, Snorri Sturluson tells what happened a few generations after the deaths of Alrek and Eirík; the Swedish king Aun had been chased away from his kingdom by Halfdan. When Halfdan had died, Aun returned to Uppsala to rule his old kingdom. After having sacrificed one of his sons to Odin, the god let. However, when twenty-five years had passed, a Danish prince named Áli the Bold appeared and chased Aun to exile in Götaland. Áli ruled for twenty-five years until Starkad killed him. Aun could return to his kingdom and ruled it
Æsir
In Old Norse, ǫ́ss is a member of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. This pantheon includes Odin, Thor, Baldr and Týr; the second pantheon is known as the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, which results in a unified pantheon; the cognate term in Old English is ōs denoting a deity in Anglo-Saxon paganism. The Old High German is ans, plural ensî; the Gothic language had ans-. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic form is *ansuz; the ansuz rune, ᚫ, was named after the Æsir. Unlike the Old English word god, the term ōs was never adopted into Christian use. Æsir is the plural of áss, óss "god", attested in other Germanic languages, e.g. Old English ōs, Old Dutch ans and Gothic anses "half-gods"; these all stem from Proto-Germanic *ansuz, which itself comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énsus "life force" (cf. Avestan aŋhū "lord, it is accepted that this word is further related to *h₂ens- "to engender". Old Norse áss has the accusative æsi and ásu. In genitival compounds, it takes the form ása-, e.g. in Ása-Þórr, besides ás- found in ás-brú "gods' bridge", ás-garðr, ás-kunnigr "gods' kin", ás-liðar "gods' leader", ás-mogin "gods' might", ás-móðr "divine wrath" etc.
Landâs "national god" is a title of Thor, as is allmáttki ás "almighty god", while it is Odin, "the" ás. The feminine suffix -ynja is known from a few other nouns denoting female animals, such as apynja "female monkey", vargynja "she-wolf"; the word for "goddess" is not attested outside Old Norse. The latinization of Danish Aslak as Ansleicus, the name of a Danish Viking converted to Christianity in 864 according to the Miracles de St. Riquier, indicates that the nasalization in the first syllable persisted into the 9th century; the cognate Old English form to áss is ōs, preserved only as a prefix Ōs- in personal names and some place-names, as the genitive plural ēsa. In Old High German, Old Dutch and Old Saxon, the word is only attested in personal and place names, e.g. Ansebert, Ansfrid, Vihans. Jordanes has anses for the gods of the Goths; the interaction between the Æsir and the Vanir has provoked an amount of scholarly theory and speculation. While other cultures have had "elder" and "younger" families of gods, as with the Titans versus the Olympians of ancient Greece, the Æsir and Vanir were portrayed as contemporaries.
The two clans of gods fought battles, concluded treaties, exchanged hostages. An áss like Ullr is unknown in the myths, but his name is seen in a lot of geographical names in Sweden, may appear on the 3rd century Thorsberg chape, suggesting that his cult was widespread in prehistoric times; the names of the first three Æsir in Norse mythology, Vili, Vé and Odin all refer to spiritual or mental state, vili to conscious will or desire, vé to the sacred or numinous and óðr to the manic or ecstatic. A second clan of gods, the Vanir, is mentioned in Norse mythology: the god Njörðr and his children and Freyja, are the most prominent Vanir gods who join the Æsir as hostages after a war between Æsir and Vanir; the Vanir appear to have been connected with cultivation and fertility and the Æsir were connected with power and war. In the Eddas, the word Æsir is used for gods in general, while Asynjur is used for the goddesses in general. For example, in the poem Skírnismál, Freyr was called "Prince of the Æsir".
In the Prose Edda, Njörðr was introduced as "the third among the Æsir", among the Asynjur, Freyja is always listed second only to Frigg. In surviving tales, the origins of many of the Æsir are unexplained. There are just three: Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé. Odin's sons by giantesses are counted as Æsir. Heimdallr and Ullr's connection with the Æsir is not mentioned. Loki is a jötunn, Njörðr is a Vanir hostage, but they are ranked among the Æsir. Given the difference between their roles and emphases, some scholars have speculated that the interactions between the Æsir and the Vanir reflect the types of interaction that were occurring between social classes within Norse society at the time. According to another theory, the Vanir may be more archaic than that of the more warlike Æsir, such that the mythical war may mirror a half-remembered religious conflict; this argument was first suggested by Wilhelm Mannhardt in 1877. On a similar note, Marija Gimbutas argues that the Æsir and the Vanir represent the displacement of an indigenous Indo-European group by a tribe of warlike invaders as part of her Kurgan hypothesis.
See her case in The Living Goddess for more details. Another historical theory is that the inter-pantheon interaction may be an apotheosisation of the conflict between the Roman Kingdom and the Sabines; the noted comparative religion scholar Mircea Eliade speculated that this conflict is a version of an Indo-European myth concerning the conflict between and eventual integration of a pantheon
Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 13th century author Saxo Grammaticus. It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history, it is one of the oldest known written documents about the history of Estonia and Latvia. Consisting of sixteen books written in Latin on the invitation of Archbishop Absalon, Gesta Danorum describes Danish history and to some degree Scandinavian history in general, from prehistory to the late 12th century. In addition, Gesta Danorum offers singular reflections on European affairs in the High Middle Ages from a unique Scandinavian perspective, supplementing what has been handed down by historians from Western and Southern Europe; the sixteen books, in prose with an occasional excursion into poetry, can be categorized into two parts: Books 1-9, which deal with Norse mythology and semi-legendary Danish history, Books 10-16, which deal with medieval history. Book 9 ends with Gorm the Old.
The last three books, which describe Danish conquests on the south shore of the Baltic Sea and wars against Slavic peoples, are valuable for the history of West Slavic tribes and Slavic paganism. Book 14 contains a unique description of the temple on the island of Rügen; when Gesta Danorum was written is the subject of numerous works. The last event described in the last book is King Canute VI of Denmark subduing Pomerania under Duke Bogislaw I, in 1186; however the preface of the work, dictated to Archbishop Anders Sunesen, mentions the Danish conquest of the areas north of the Elbe in 1208. Book 14, comprising nearly one-quarter of the text of the entire work, ends with Absalon's appointment to archbishop in 1178. Since this book is so large and Absalon has greater importance than King Valdemar I, this book may have been written first and comprised a work on its own, it is possible that Saxo enlarged it with Books 15 and 16, telling the story of King Valdemar I's last years and King Canute VI's first years.
It is believed that Saxo wrote Books 11, 12, 13. Svend Aagesen's history of Denmark, Brevis Historia Regum Dacie, states that Saxo had decided to write about "The king-father and his sons," which would be King Sweyn Estridson, in Books 11, 12, 13, he would add the first ten books. This would explain the 22 years between the last event described in the last book and the 1208 event described in the preface; the original manuscripts of the work are lost, except for four fragments: the Angers Fragment, Lassen Fragment, Kall-Rasmussen Fragment and Plesner Fragment. The Angers Fragment is the biggest fragment, the only one attested to be in Saxo’s own handwriting; the other ones are copies from. 1275. All four fragments are in the collection of the Danish Royal Library in Denmark; the text has, survived. In 1510–1512, Christiern Pedersen, a Danish translator working in Paris, searched Denmark high and low for an existing copy of Saxo’s works, which by that time was nearly all but lost. By that time most knowledge of Saxo’s work came from a summary located in Chronica Jutensis, from around 1342, called Compendium Saxonis.
It is in this summary that the name Gesta Danorum is found. The title Saxo. Christiern Pedersen found a copy in the collection of Archbishop Birger Gunnersen of Lund, Skåne, which he gladly lent him. With the help of printer Jodocus Badius, Gesta Danorum was printed; the first printed press publication and the oldest known complete text of Saxo’s works is Christiern Pedersen's Latin edition and published by Jodocus Badius in Paris, France on 15 March 1514 under the title of Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae. The edition features the following colophon:...impressit in inclyta Parrhisorum academia Iodocus Badius Ascensius Idibus Martiis. MDXIIII. Supputatione Romana.. The full front page reads in Latin: Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae stilo eleganti a Saxone Grammatico natione Zialandico necnon Roskildensis ecclesiae praeposito, abhinc supra trecentos annos conscriptae et nunc primum literaria serie illustratae tersissimeque impressae. Danish language: De danske Kongers og Heltes Historie, skrevet i pyntelig Stil for over 300 Aar siden af Saxo Grammaticus, en Sjællandsfar og Provst ved Kirken i Roskilde, og nu for første Gang oplyst ved et Register og omhyggeligt trykt.
English language: Histories of the Kings and heroes of the Danes, composed in elegant style by Saxo Grammaticus, a Zealander and provost of the church of Roskilde, over three hundred years ago, now for the first time illustrated and printed in a learned compilation. The source of all existing translations and new editions is Christiern Pedersen's Latin Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae. There exist a number of different translations today, some complete, some partial: Christiern Pedersen, Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae Johannes Oporinus, Saxonis Grammatici Danorum Historiae Libri XVI Philip Lonicer, Danica Historia Libris XVI Stephan Hansen Stephanius, Saxonis Grammatici Historiæ Danicæ Libri XVI Christian Adolph Klotz, Saxonis Grammatici Historiae Danicae libri XVI Peter Erasmus Müller, Saxonis Grammatici Historia Danica Alfred Holder, Saxonis Grammatici Gesta Danorum Jørgen Olrik.
Hœnir
In Norse mythology, Hœnir is one of the Æsir. He is mentioned as the one. In Ynglinga saga, along with Mímir, he went to the Vanir as a hostage to seal a truce after the Æsir-Vanir War. There, Hœnir was indecisive and relied on Mímir for all of his decisions, grunting noncommital answers when Mímir was absent. In Völuspá, at the creation of the first human beings and Embla, Hœnir and Lóðurr help Odin. According to the Prose Edda, Hœnir is said to have given reason to man.'In Gylfaginning, Vili and Vé are mentioned instead. As Snorri Sturluson knew Völuspá, it is possible. According to Völuspá, Hœnir was one of the few gods that would survive Ragnarök. Hœnir has a minor role in Haustlöng and Reginsmál. Hoenir crater on Callisto is named after him. MyNDIR Illustrations of Hœnir from manuscripts and early print books. Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it
Norse mythology
Norse mythology is the body of myths of the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Norse paganism and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, into the Scandinavian folklore of the modern period. The northernmost extension of Germanic mythology, Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, folk tradition; the source texts mention numerous gods, such as the hammer-wielding, humanity-protecting thunder-god Thor, who relentlessly fights his foes. Most of the surviving mythology centres on the plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar, beings who may be friends, foes or family members of the gods; the cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as beings. Various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, the first two humans are Ask and Embla.
These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök when an immense battle occurs between the gods and their enemies, the world is enveloped in flames, only to be reborn anew. There the surviving gods will meet, the land will be fertile and green, two humans will repopulate the world. Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century, when key texts were brought to the attention of the intellectual circles of Europe. By way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology. During the modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, references to Norse mythology may now be found throughout modern popular culture; the myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism. The historical religion of the Norse people is referred to as Norse mythology. In certain literature the terms Scandinavian mythology or Nordic mythology have been used.
Norse mythology is attested in dialects of Old Norse, a North Germanic language spoken by the Scandinavian people during the European Middle Ages, the ancestor of modern Scandinavian languages. The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Iceland, where the oral tradition stemming from the pre-Christian inhabitants of the island was collected and recorded in manuscripts; this occurred in the 13th century. These texts include the Prose Edda, composed in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, the Poetic Edda, a collection of poems from earlier traditional material anonymously compiled in the 13th century; the Prose Edda was composed as a prose manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Old Norse poetry composed by skalds. Composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse and various metrical forms; the Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after the Christianization process and frequently refers back to the poems found in the Poetic Edda.
The Poetic Edda consists entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, this poetry—Eddic poetry—utilizes fewer kennings. In comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is unadorned; the Prose Edda features layers of euhemerization, a process in which deities and supernatural beings are presented as having been either actual, magic-wielding human beings who have been deified in time or beings demonized by way of Christian mythology. Texts such as Heimskringla, composed in the 13th century by Snorri and Gesta Danorum, composed in Latin by Saxo Grammaticus in Denmark in the 12th century, are the results of heavy amounts of euhemerization. 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. Objects and monuments such as the Rök Runestone and the Kvinneby amulet feature runic inscriptions—texts written in the runic alphabet, the indigenous alphabet of the Germanic peoples—that mention figures and events from Norse mythology.
Objects from the archaeological record may be interpreted as depictions of subjects from Norse mythology, such as amulets of the god Thor's hammer Mjölnir found among pagan burials and small silver female figures interpreted as valkyries or dísir, beings associated with war, fate or ancestor cults. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology may lend insight. Wider comparisons to the
Rán
In Norse mythology, Rán is a goddess and a personification of the sea. Rán and her husband Ægir, a jötunn who personifies the sea, have nine daughters, who personify waves; the goddess is associated with a net, which she uses to capture sea-goers. According to the prose introduction to a poem in the Poetic Edda and in Völsunga saga, Rán once loaned her net to the god Loki. Rán is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Old Norse common noun rán means'plundering' or'theft, robbery'. In turn, scholars view the theonym Rán as meaning, for example,'theft, robbery'. On the etymology of the theonym, scholar Rudolf Simek says, "although the meaning of the name has not been clarified, Rán was understood as being'robber'... and has nothing to do with ráða'rule'. Because Rán is a personification of the sea, skalds employ her name in a variety of kennings to refer to the sea. Examples include Ránar-land, -salr, -vegr, rán-beðr and meaning'the bed of the sea'.
Rán receives mention in poem Sonatorrek composed by Icelandic skald Egill Skallagrímsson in the 10th century. In the poem, Egill laments the death of his son Böðvar. In doing so, he mentions Rán: Rán receives three mentions in the Prose Edda, twice in poetry and once in prose; the first mention occurs in a stanza in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, when the valkyrie Sigrún assists the ship of the hero Helgi as it encounters ferocious waters: In the notes for her translation, Larrington says that Rán "seeks to catch and drown men in her net" and that "to give someone to the sea-goddess is to drown them."The second instance occurs in a stanza found in Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar. In this stanza, the hero Atli references Rán while flyting with Hrímgerðr, a female jötunn: Finally, in the prose introduction to Reginsmál, Loki visits Rán to borrow her net: sent Loki to get the gold. Translator Henry Adams Bellows notes how this version of the narrative differs from how it appears in other sources, where Loki catches the pike with his own hands.
The Prose Edda sections Skáldskaparmál and Háttatal contain several references to Rán. Section 25 of Skáldskaparmál manners in which poets may refer to the sea, including "husband of Ran" and "land of Ran and of Ægir's daughters", but "father of Ægir's daughters". In the same section, the author cites a fragment of a work by the 11th century Icelandic skald Hofgarða-Refr Gestsson, where Rán is referred to as'Gymir's... völva': Standardized Old Norse Ok sem kvað Refr: Fœrir bjǫrn, þar er bára brestr, undinna festa opt í Ægis kjǫpta *ursǫl Gymis vǫlva. Anthony Faulkes translation And as Ref said: Gymir's spray-cold spæ-wife brings the twisted-rope-bear into Ægir's jaws where the wave breaks; the section's author comments that the stanza" that they are all Ægir and Hler and Gymir. The author follows with a quote from another stanza by the skald that references Rán: But sea-crest-Sleipnir, spray-driven, tears his breast, covered with red paint, out of white Ran's mouth. Chapter 33 of Skáldskaparmál discusses why skalds may refer to gold as "Ægir's fire".
The section traces the kenning to a narrative surrounding Ægir, in which the jötunn employs "glowing gold" in the center of his hall to light it "like fire". The section explains that "Ran is the name of Ægir's wife, the names of their nine daughters are as was written above... The Æsir discovered that Ran had a net in which she caught everyone that went to sea... so this is the story of the origin of gold being called fire or light or brightness of Ægir, Ran or Ægir's daughters, from such kennings the practice has now developed of calling gold fire of the sea and of all terms for it, since Ægir and Ran's names are terms for the sea, hence gold is now called fire of lakes or rivers and of all river-names."In the Nafnaþulur section of Skáldskaparmál, Rán appears in a list of goddesses. Rán receives a single mention in Völsunga saga. Like in the prose introduction to the eddic poem Reginsmál, "they sent Loki to obtain the gold, he went to Ran and got her net."In the legendary saga Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna, Friðþjófr and his men find themselves in a violent storm, the protagonist mourns that he will soon rest in Rán's bed: The protagonist decides that as they are to "go to Rán" they would better do so in style with gold on each man.
He divides the gold and talks of her again: According to Rudolf Simek, "... Rán is the ruler of the realm of the dead at the bottom of the sea to which people who have drowned go." Simek says that "while Ægir personifies the sea as a friendly power, Rán embodies the sinister side of the sea, at least in the eyes of the late Viking Age Icelandic seafarers."
