Radzin, Hilda

English

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Literary Onomastics Studies
Volume 8 Article 7
1981
The Names of Gods and Goddesses in Snorri
Sturluson's Edda
Hilda Radzin
St. John's University
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Radzin, Hilda (1981) "The Names of Gods and Goddesses in Snorri Sturluson's Edda," Literary Onomastics Studies: Vol. 8 , Article 7.
Available at: http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/los/vol8/iss1/7
THE NAMES OF GODS AND GODDESSES 
IN SNORRI STURLUSON'S EDDA 
Hi:I:da Radzin 
St. John's University 
LQS 39 
Iq Snorri Sturluson's time (1179 - 1241), the Icelandic 
..... 
I 
writers could look back on a long history o� the influence of 
Christian ideas on the heathen thoughts concerning the nature 
of the world. After the Icelanders were converted to Christianity 
in the year A.D. 1000, much of their ancient p::etry and prose 
presenting their traditions of heathendom survived the relig�ous 
change. 
The Icelandic poetry preserved in manuscripts can be divided 
into the Eddie and the Skaldic poetry. The Eddie poems have mostly 
free alliteration. Most of the Eddie poetry is preserved in a 
manuscript now called Elder Edda or Poetic Edda.1 This ma�uscript 
was written in Iceland c. A.D. l270. Its poems are several cen-
turies o�der, mostly of heathen times. These poems may be divided 
into mythological and the heroic poems. The mythological poems 
contain stories about heathen gods, words of wisdom, and descriptions 
of the world. 
Skaldic poetry was often m�de Jn praise of the chieftains of 
Norway and other Scandin�vian lands. The Skaldic verse forms were 
first devised in Norway in the ninth century. They differ from the 
LOS 4'0 
Eddie forms. The syllables were counted. Co�plicated systems 
of alliteration and internal rhyme were used. Skaldic poetry 
flourished �hroughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Toward 
the end of the twelfth century, the Skaldic poetry gradually de-
creased• There was a growing fashion for Europeanized verse forms. 
In the thirteenth century, Snorri Sturluson (1179-12 41) maae 
qn attempt to infuse new interest in the art of Skaldic poetry. 
�his is reflected in Snorri's Prose Edda2 which was the fiTSt of his 
) 
works, written c. 12 2 0. The older poems of the Poetic Edda were 
Snorri's sources for a large part of his Edda, consisting of three 
parts: (1) Gylfaginning, a survey of Norse mythology; (2} SkAlds-
.. 
kaparmal, an analysi� of' the diction or the skalds and their allu-
sions to ancient gods and heroes; (3) Hattatal, examples by Snorri 
himself of the Skaldic poetry. The Prose Edda was written as a 
handbook of prosody and poetic diction from which young skalds could 
learn their art, and as a manual on Scandinavian .mythology. One can 
., ' 
understand such a combination considering one of the characteristics 
of the Skaldic poetry -- its use of Kennings. Kennings are metaphor-
ical paraphrases in which a person or an object is not named. It is 
·-described by a function, or by references to an associated story. 
Many kennings include mythological knowledge. 
The first part of the Prose Edda, called Gylfaginriing ("The 
Tricking of Gylfi '1)1 is devoted to Old' Norse mythology. It opens 
( 
LOS 4;� 
, 
w:i:.t.h Forma,li ("Foreword").,. -lt :gresent$ S.no;;-ri ·.�· int��J;Prej:�tion, 
of the origins of the Qelie� in heathen gods� Ma�y m�qieyal thin-
kers explained.it as the work of the devil. Sqqrri,pres�nts. rno�re 
sophisticated thoughts. After the Flo9d, mQPt of, Noqh's descendants 
forgot tne ravelations of God. But their observations of the earth 
and the &ky, the growth and tne h�vest, inppi��d th�� to deify the 
ear�h and. the heavenly bodi�s. Througp wickedness men l9st knowledge 
of God. However, God' sti� gave them iQtell�ctual ·ab�lity: So they 
knew all earthly matters. Men were �w�re of the livj�g nature of the 
earth. Perhaps it was the confrontation qf �ath�n rny�h:wi�h �hris-
tian thoughts that formed Snorri'� apologY. for � �isd9m qiveu to 
heathen men, though they had lost -the knowledge of G9d� Snorri sup-
plements these thoughts by an ancient theory, Euhemerism. According 
to this theory, ancient gods were merely human beings. They were 
�eified mortals, either heroe�who had b�en deified after tpeir death, 
I 
or Pontiff-chieftains who had presented themselves �s gods. These 
deified mortals found some people naive enough to believe in their 
pretended divinity. 
The first part of the Prose Edda, Gylfaginning, ���ates how a 
Swedish King, named·Gylfi, set out on his journey tQ_A�gard, the 
terres'bial instead of the celestial dwelling of ggd:;:;· �esir. According 
to Snorri, the designation of go<ts (sing. Ass'· pl.: }!�sir) is thought 
to be derived from the place-name "Asia." Sn�,ri geclares that the 
Norse gods I rorr ("Thor") and 06inn ("Odin") I were deified mortals. 
LOS 42 
They �ere·kings in Asia. They descended'rrbm Priam or�roy an6 
from a wise woman, named Sibil .("Sibyl") • .  �Later d6inri and his 
relatives wandere� to Sweden. There he and his sons became rulers. 
They were revered ror their magical po�ers. In Asgard Gylfi ques-
�ioned these magicians conc�rning their might� the origin of the 
world arid i�� end. The magic�ans �old Gylfi long stories about 
goas and tricked him into repeating them to all mankind in such a 
way that men identified these magicians '1.\tith the gdds. At the end 
�ylfi is freed from the enchantment. These stories are the tra­
' 
ditional Scandinavian myths. 
In SkAldskaparmal Snorri explains peculiar poetic usages: 
Prenn er grein skaldskaparmals . . . 
sva at nefna hvern hlut, sem heitir; 
9nnur grein er su, er heitir forn9fn; 
en iii ma�sgrein er su, er-k9llu6 �r 
k . 3 enning 
. 
·• . 
t The types of.scaldic ·metaphor are three. 
(first), calling everything by its name; the 
second type �s that which is ca!leo 'substitution; ' 
• th�·third type of metaphor is that which is 
called k�nnlng 
I 
LOS 4} 
Snorri uses here the word forn<;>fn ("s®st:itutim\'t) as he 
elsewhere uses the word heit!.i'. lt is a word or name wl'!.fch may 
appe�r frequently in seaiaidpoetry. Heit� are "con�ained in 
pulur, lists of synonyms or near-synonyms for peopie, a� wePl 
as godsJand goddesses. To tbe god �6inn about -ISO names are 
given. According to Snorri, ��inn l'!.ad so many �ames because 
he was wor'shipped by many peoples (p. !OJ. TI'ie naxtte ����inn" 
contains a clue to the essence of his nature'; i� is related ' 
to an adjective· meaning "frenzied, mad." 'Other names ·f<:>r .6oinn 
emphasize one or another aspect of l'!.is character. �6inn is 
Herjann (war-god) and wields a spear and is accompanied by ravens, 
wolves and eagles. �6inn �s Yggr' (the tervifiev). His foes he 
strikes with panic, or with a kind of paralysis. But·��inn!s. 
favours are capricious: sooner or•' later he deserts his worship-
per, leaving him to be slain. For this reason 6�inn. is the god 
I 
of death. 
P0rr' ("tliunder"'} was �6inn' s eldest son, and the strqngest 'of 
gods. 'He \-las 'a sky-goa, more particularly a storm-god,' \Yielding 
a hammer which syfubolise� a thunderBolt. He appears as a great 
fighter, of huge size and strength. He is the god·whose power does 
r 
most to•guard men from forces of evil. 
Freyr is a god of fertility, and especially of agriculture. 
Freyr rules over the rain and the shining sun, and1also fruit of 
the earth. 
LOS 44-
Freyia "is -tqe, faires,t ·of g9,ddes$eS. SJte is t:Qe !:!is�el': of 
�yr. �he was a de�tY. of fertility! Her .name anq Freyr'� �re 
related 1;,o ,Old Norse WQ:J;'d ·fryg� ("bloqm'•). •. She was especially 
the goddeq,s of love •• 
Goddesses have many �ames and have�FrobablY. absorbed oth�r 
goddesses whose cult. has been fprg6tteq.: Hlq�yn ,in some scaldic 
poems ,is a na� .for PorT's mother,; J�:ro, @ut ori.giria,.lly sh� "{as 
probably a distit1ct .goddes .. s. 
Kennings are useq.widely br·s�q��i. Gods are often desi�a�ed 
by their•relatioQs4iP tppther gods� 6oinn is th� f�ther of Magni, 
.. Porr i!:! the son .,of hi� father, 6�inn (6�:i_ns .. burr) .-
Some of·the'kennings require a'kqowle�g� of myt�. ,Porr.was the 
chief enemy of; giants, apd so he. wa�. mellu ·mogfellan(li ("�estroyer 
of the kinsman of the giantess!') . 
the young scalds that they, the Christian poets, should not-believe 
in heatheo gods, nQr in the truth of the apcient·heathen myths. Yet 
the young scalds shoul� increas� the��-stQre 9f figur�s with tradi-
tiona! metaphors containt?d in the A_eath�n�l!lyths. 
Hilda Radzin 
St. John's University 
LOS 45 
NOTES 
l"Edda Saemundar," in Codex Regius, MS. No. 2365 quarto in 
the Old Royal Collection in the Royal Library of Copenhagen 
(Copenhagen11937). 
2Manuscripts of the Prose Edda are numerous; the most 
important is Codex Regius 2367 quarto (early 14th century) • 
The best editions are by Finnur J6nson, Copenhagen, 1925 and 
1931. 
3Edda Snorra Stutlusonar, ed. Finnur Jonsson (1931), p. 86. 
All translations from the Old Icelandic language have been 
made by the author of this article, and further references to 
this work appear in the text. 


The Names of Gods and Goddesses in Snorri Sturluson\u27s Edda

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The Names of Gods and Goddesses in Snorri Sturluson\u27s Edda

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