Hel ( Old Norse : [ˈhel] ) is an afterlife location in Norse mythology and paganism . It is ruled over by a being of the same name, Hel . In late Icelandic sources, varying descriptions of Hel are given and various figures are described as being buried with items that will facilitate their journey to Hel after their death . In the Poetic Edda , Brynhildr 's trip to Hel after her death is described and Odin , while alive, also visits Hel upon his horse Sleipnir . In the Prose Edda , Baldr goes to Hel on his death and subsequently Hermóðr uses Sleipnir to attempt to retrieve him.
92-454: The Old Norse feminine proper noun Hel is identical to the name of the entity that presides over the realm, Old Norse Hel . The word has cognates in all branches of the Germanic languages , including Old English hell (and thus Modern English hell ), Old Frisian helle , Old Saxon hellia , Old High German hella , and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰 . All forms ultimately derive from
184-441: A Christian addition to the poem. In stanza 66, the völva ends her account with a description of the dragon Níðhöggr , corpses in his jaws, flying through the air. The völva then "sinks down." It is unclear if stanza 66 indicates that the völva is referring to the present time or if this is an element of the post- Ragnarök world. The Vanir god Njörðr is mentioned in relation to Ragnarök in stanza 39 of
276-532: A common parent language . Because language change can have radical effects on both the sound and the meaning of a word, cognates may not be obvious, and it often takes rigorous study of historical sources and the application of the comparative method to establish whether lexemes are cognate. Cognates are distinguished from loanwords , where a word has been borrowed from another language. The English term cognate derives from Latin cognatus , meaning "blood relative". An example of cognates from
368-438: A "rich source" unknown to us for his description of Hel, though it may not have told him very much about the location beyond that it was a hall and that Snorri's description of Hel may at times be influenced by Christian teachings about the after-life. Cognate In historical linguistics , cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in
460-617: A common origin, but which in fact do not. For example, Latin habēre and German haben both mean 'to have' and are phonetically similar. However, the words evolved from different Proto-Indo-European (PIE) roots: haben , like English have , comes from PIE *kh₂pyé- 'to grasp', and has the Latin cognate capere 'to seize, grasp, capture'. Habēre , on the other hand, is from PIE *gʰabʰ 'to give, to receive', and hence cognate with English give and German geben . Likewise, English much and Spanish mucho look similar and have
552-709: A crowing "sooty-red cock from the halls of Hel" is one of three cocks that will signal one of the beginning events of Ragnarök. The other two are Fjalar in Jotunheim and Gullinkambi in Valhalla . In Grímnismál stanza 31, Hel is listed as existing beneath one of the three roots of the world tree Yggdrasil . One of the other two leads to the frost jötnar and the third to Mankind. In Guðrúnarkviða I , as Herborg tells of her grief in having prepared funeral arrangements for various members of her family, her children and her husbands, described it as "arranging their journey to Hel". In
644-520: A daughter at least as beautiful as she, and this daughter will follow the same path as her mother. Vafþrúðnismál stanza 47 is quoted, and so ends the foretelling of Ragnarök in Gylfaginning . Various objects have been identified as depicting events from Ragnarök . Thorwald's Cross , a partially surviving runestone erected at Kirk Andreas on the Isle of Man , depicts a bearded human holding
736-491: A feminine compound noun, and * halja-wītjan , a neutral compound noun. This form is reconstructed from the Latinized Gothic plural noun * haliurunnae (attested by Jordanes ; according to philologist Vladimir Orel , meaning ' witches '), Old English helle-rúne ('sorceress, necromancer ', according to Orel), and Old High German helli-rūna 'magic'. The compound is composed of two elements: * haljō and * rūnō ,
828-565: A later addition often included with modern editions of the Poetic Edda . In the book Gylfaginning , Hel is introduced in chapter 3 as a location where "evil men" go upon death, and into Niflhel . The chapter further details that Hel is in the ninth of the Nine Worlds . In chapter 34, Hel, the being is introduced. Snorri writes that Hel was cast down into Hel by Odin who "made her ruler over Nine Worlds". Snorri further writes that there Hel
920-570: A post- Ragnarök world: Því næst koma þar Baldr ok Höðr frá Heljar, setjask þá allir samt ok talask við ok minnask á rúnar sínar ok rœða of tíðindi þau er fyrrum höfðu verit, of Miðgarðsorm ok um Fenrisúlf. - Eysteinn Björnsson's edition Archived 2009-04-26 at the Wayback Machine "After that Baldr shall come thither, and Hödr, from Hel; then all shall sit down together and hold speech with one another, and call to mind their secret wisdom, and speak of those happenings which have been before: of
1012-677: A quote from Völuspá to highlight that the dragon Níðhöggr harasses the corpses of the dead there. Chapter 53 begins with Gangleri asking if any of the gods will survive and if there will be anything left of the earth or the sky. High responds that the earth will appear once more from the sea, beautiful and green, where self-sown crops grow. The field Iðavöllr exists where Asgard once was, and, there, untouched by Surtr's flames, Víðarr and Váli reside. Now possessing their father's hammer Mjölnir , Thor's sons Móði and Magni will meet them there, and, coming from Hel , Baldr and Höðr also arrive. Together, they all sit and recount memories, later finding
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#17331062360251104-476: A scene interpreted as Víðarr fighting Fenrir. The 11th-century Ledberg stone in Sweden , similarly to Thorwald's Cross, features a figure with his foot at the mouth of a four-legged beast, and this may also be a depiction of Odin being devoured by Fenrir at Ragnarök . Below the beast and the man is a depiction of a legless, helmeted man, with his arms in a prostrate position. The Younger Futhark inscription on
1196-412: A similar meaning, but are not cognates: much is from Proto-Germanic *mikilaz < PIE *meǵ- and mucho is from Latin multum < PIE *mel- . A true cognate of much is the archaic Spanish maño 'big'. Cognates are distinguished from other kinds of relationships. An etymon , or ancestor word, is the ultimate source word from which one or more cognates derive. In other words, it
1288-555: A spear downward at a wolf, his right foot in its mouth, while a large bird sits at his shoulder. Rundata dates it to 940, while Pluskowski dates it to the 11th century. This depiction has been interpreted as Odin, with a raven or eagle at his shoulder, being consumed by Fenrir at Ragnarök . On the other side of the stone is a depiction of a large cross and another image parallel to the Odin figure that has been described as Christ triumphing over Satan. These combined elements have led to
1380-451: Is "a case of reduplication of the anthropogeny , understandable from the cyclic nature of the Eddic eschatology ." Simek says that Hoddmímis holt "should not be understood literally as a wood or even a forest in which the two keep themselves hidden, but rather as an alternative name for the world-tree Yggdrasill . Thus, the creation of mankind from tree trunks ( Askr, Embla ) is repeated after
1472-430: Is a foretold series of impending events, including a great battle in which numerous great Norse mythological figures will perish (including the gods Odin , Thor , Týr , Freyr , Heimdall , and Loki ); it will entail a catastrophic series of natural disasters, including the burning of the world, and culminate in the submersion of the world underwater. After these events, the world will rise again, cleansed and fertile,
1564-399: Is aroar, and that the Æsir are in council. The dwarfs groan by their stone doors. Surtr advances from the south, his sword brighter than the sun. Rocky cliffs open and the jötnar women sink. The gods then do battle with the invaders: Odin is swallowed whole and alive fighting the wolf Fenrir , causing his wife Frigg her second great sorrow (the first being the death of her son,
1656-471: Is built from the spines of snakes, and resembles "a house with walls woven from branches"; the heads of the snakes face the inside of the house and spew so much venom that rivers of it flow throughout the hall, in which oath breakers and murderers must wade. Third here quotes Völuspá stanzas 38 to 39, with the insertion of original prose stating that the worst place of all to be is in Hvergelmir , followed by
1748-436: Is dealing with none other than Odin, whom he refers to as "the wisest of beings," adding that Odin alone could know this. Odin's message has been interpreted as a promise of resurrection to Baldr after Ragnarök . Ragnarök is briefly referenced in stanza 40 of the poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana II . Here, the valkyrie Sigrún 's unnamed maid is passing the deceased hero Helgi Hundingsbane 's burial mound . Helgi
1840-482: Is described. Hermóðr , described as Baldr's brother in this source, sets out for Hel on horseback to retrieve the deceased Baldr. To enter Hel, Hermóðr rides for nine nights through "valleys so deep and dark that he saw nothing" until he arrives at the river Gjöll ("Noisy") and the Gjöll bridge . The bridge is described as having a roof made of shining gold. Hermóðr then proceeds to cross it. Hermóðr encounters Móðguð , who
1932-576: Is harsh in the world, whoredom rife —an axe age, a sword age —shields are riven— a wind age, a wolf age— before the world goes headlong. No man will have mercy on another. The "sons of Mím " are described as being "at play," though this reference is not further explained in surviving sources. Heimdall raises the Gjallarhorn into the air and blows deeply into it, and Odin converses with Mím's head. The world tree Yggdrasil shudders and groans. The jötunn Hrym comes from
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#17331062360252024-527: Is located in Niflheim . Here it is related that she could give out lodging and items to those sent to her that have died of disease or old age. A very large dwelling is described as existing in Niflheim owned by Hel with huge walls and gates. The within of this place is called Éljúðnir , where Hel is described as having a servant, a slave and various possessions. At the end of chapter 49, the death of Baldr and Nanna
2116-535: Is poisoned by the serpent, and manages to walk only nine steps before falling to the earth dead. Fenrir swallows Odin, though immediately afterwards his son Víðarr kicks his foot into Fenrir's lower jaw, grips the upper jaw, and rips apart Fenrir's mouth, killing the great wolf. Loki fights Heimdallr and the two kill each other. Surtr covers the earth in fire, causing the entire world to burn. High quotes stanzas 46 to 47 of Völuspá , and additionally stanza 18 of Vafþrúðnismál (the latter relating information about
2208-492: Is regular. Paradigms of conjugations or declensions, the correspondence of which cannot be generally due to chance, have often been used in cognacy assessment. However, beyond paradigms, morphosyntax is often excluded in the assessment of cognacy between words, mainly because structures are usually seen as more subject to borrowing. Still, very complex, non-trivial morphosyntactic structures can rarely take precedence over phonetic shapes to indicate cognates. For instance, Tangut ,
2300-488: Is the guard of the bridge ("Furious Battler"). Móðguð speaks to Hermóðr and comments that the bridge echoes beneath him more than the entire party of five people who had just passed. This is a reference to Baldr, Nanna and those that were burnt in their funeral pyre passing over the bridge on death. Móðguð also says that the dead in Hel appear as a different color than the living and tells him that to get to Hel he must go "down and to
2392-477: Is the source of related words in different languages. For example, the etymon of both Welsh ceffyl and Irish capall is the Proto-Celtic * kaballos (all meaning horse ). Descendants are words inherited across a language barrier, coming from a particular etymon in an ancestor language. For example, Russian мо́ре and Polish morze are both descendants of Proto-Slavic * moře (meaning sea ). A root
2484-444: Is the source of related words within a single language (no language barrier is crossed). Similar to the distinction between etymon and root , a nuanced distinction can sometimes be made between a descendant and a derivative . A derivative is one of the words which have their source in a root word, and were at some time created from the root word using morphological constructs such as suffixes, prefixes, and slight changes to
2576-472: Is there with a retinue of men, surprising the maid. The maid asks if she is witnessing a delusion since she sees dead men riding, or if Ragnarök has occurred. In stanza 41, Helgi responds that it is neither. Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda quotes heavily from Völuspá and elaborates extensively in prose on the information there, though some of this information conflicts with that provided in Völuspá . In
2668-409: Is unable to assist Odin because he has engaged Jörmungandr in combat. According to High, Freyr fights fiercely with Surtr, but falls because he lacks the sword he once gave to his messenger, Skírnir . The hound Garmr (described here as the "worst of monsters") breaks free from his bonds in front of Gnipahellir , and fights the god Týr, resulting in both of their deaths. Thor kills Jörmungandr but
2760-462: The Ragnarök as well." Simek says that in Germanic regions , the concept of mankind originating from trees is ancient, and additionally points out legendary parallels in a Bavarian legend of a shepherd who lives inside a tree, whose descendants repopulate the land after life there has been wiped out by plague (citing a retelling by F. R. Schröder). In addition, Simek points to an Old Norse parallel in
2852-448: The Ragnarök story, even by a scholar as cautious of such interpretations as David M. Wilson . The Ragnarök battle itself may be depicted on the north side. The cross features various figures depicted in Borre style , including a man with a spear facing a monstrous head, with one foot thrust into the beast's forked tongue and on its lower jaw, and the other is against its upper jaw,
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2944-568: The Prose Edda , written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson . In the Prose Edda and in a single poem in the Poetic Edda , the event is referred to as Ragnarøkkr ( Old Norse for 'Twilight of the Gods';), a usage popularised by 19th-century composer Richard Wagner with the title of the last of his Der Ring des Nibelungen operas, Götterdämmerung (1876), which is "Twilight of
3036-461: The Midgard Serpent and of Fenris-Wolf ." - Brodeur's translation Book I of Gesta Danorum contains an account of what has often been interpreted as a trip to Hel. While having dinner, King Hadingus is visited by a woman bearing stalks of hemlock who asks him if he knows where such fresh herbs grow in winter. Hadingus wants to know; so the woman muffles him with her cloak, pulls him into
3128-789: The Paraguayan Guarani panambi , the Eastern Bolivian Guarani panapana , the Cocama and Omagua panama , and the Sirionó ana ana are cognates, derived from the Old Tupi panapana , 'butterfly', maintaining their original meaning in these Tupi languages . Cognates need not have the same meaning, as they may have undergone semantic change as the languages developed independently. For example English starve and Dutch sterven 'to die' or German sterben 'to die' all descend from
3220-401: The Prose Edda book Gylfaginning , various references are made to Ragnarök . Ragnarök is first mentioned in chapter 26, where the throned figure of High , king of the hall, tells Gangleri (King Gylfi in disguise) some basic information about the goddess Iðunn , including that her apples will keep the gods young until Ragnarök . In chapter 34, High describes the binding of
3312-535: The Vedic god Vishnu in that both have a "cosmic stride" with a special shoe used to tear apart a beastly wolf. Larger patterns have also been drawn between "final battle" events in Indo-European cultures, including the occurrence of a blind or semi-blind figure in "final battle" themes, and figures appearing suddenly with surprising skills. Hilda Ellis Davidson theorizes that the events in Völuspá occurring after
3404-784: The reconstructed Proto-Germanic feminine noun * haljō ('concealed place, the underworld'). In turn, the Proto-Germanic form derives from the o-grade form of the Proto-Indo-European root * kel- , * kol -: 'to cover, conceal, save'. The term is etymologically related to Modern English hall and therefore also Valhalla , an afterlife 'hall of the slain' in Norse Mythology. Hall and its numerous Germanic cognates derive from Proto-Germanic * hallō 'covered place, hall', from Proto-Indo-European * kol- . Related early Germanic terms and concepts include Proto-Germanic * halja-rūnō(n) ,
3496-727: The Æsir in Valhalla , and the third, unnamed soot-red rooster crows in the halls of the underworld location of Hel in stanza 43. After these stanzas, the völva further relates that the hound Garmr produces deep howls in front of the cave of Gnipahellir . Garmr's bindings break and he runs free. The völva describes the state of humanity: Brœðr muno beriaz ok at bǫnom verða[z] muno systrungar sifiom spilla. Hart er í heimi, hórdómr mikill —skeggǫld, skálmǫld —skildir ro klofnir— vindǫld, vargǫld— áðr verǫld steypiz. Mun engi maðr ǫðrom þyrma. Brothers will fight and kill each other, sisters' children will defile kinship. It
3588-566: The German reception of Norse mythology ). Other terms used to refer to the events surrounding Ragnarök in the Poetic Edda include aldar rök ( aldar means age, 'end of an age') from a stanza of Vafþrúðnismál , tíva rök from two stanzas of Vafþrúðnismál , þá er regin deyja ('when the gods die') from Vafþrúðnismál , unz um rjúfask regin ('when the gods will be destroyed') from Vafþrúðnismál , Lokasenna , and Sigrdrífumál , aldar rof ('destruction of
3680-522: The Gods" in German. The Old Norse compound word ragnarok has a long history of interpretation. Its first element is clear: ragna , the genitive plural of regin (n. pl.) 'the ruling powers, gods.' The second element is more problematic, as it occurs in two variants, -rök and -røkkr . Writing in the early 20th century, philologist Geir Zoëga treats the two forms as two separate compounds, glossing ragnarök as 'the doom or destruction of
3772-546: The Middle High German feminine noun helle-wīze . The compound is a compound of * haljō (discussed above) and * wītjan (reconstructed from forms such as Old English witt 'right mind, wits', Old Saxon gewit 'understanding', and Gothic un-witi 'foolishness, understanding'). In reference to Hel, in the poem Völuspá , a völva states that Hel will play an important role in Ragnarök . The völva states that
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3864-575: The North" where he would find the Road to Hel. Continuing along the Road to Hel, Hermóðr encounters the Gates of Hel. Hermóðr remounts and spurs Sleipnir, and the two bound far over it. Hermóðr proceeds further beyond the gates for some distance before arriving at the hall, dismounting and entering. There Hermóðr sees Baldr sitting in a "seat of honor" and Hermóðr spends a night in Hel. The following day, Hermóðr presses Hel,
3956-484: 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 ("to run, go"), which would make its literal meaning "one who travels to the netherworld". Proto-Germanic * halja-wītjan is reconstructed from Old Norse hel-víti 'hell', Old English helle-wíte 'hell-torment, hell', Old Saxon helli-wīti 'hell', and
4048-706: The Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts 'night'. The Indo-European languages have hundreds of such cognate sets, though few of them are as neat as this. The Arabic سلام salām , the Hebrew שלום shalom , the Assyrian Neo-Aramaic shlama and the Amharic selam 'peace' are cognates, derived from the Proto-Semitic *šalām- 'peace'. The Brazilian Portuguese panapanã , (flock of butterflies in flight),
4140-493: The Serpent's venom. The god Freyr fights Surtr and loses. After this, people flee their homes, and the sun becomes black while the earth sinks into the sea, the stars vanish, steam rises, and flames touch the heavens. The völva sees the earth reappearing from the water and an eagle over a waterfall hunting fish on a mountain. The surviving Æsir meet together at the field of Iðavöllr . They discuss Jörmungandr, great events of
4232-544: The activity of their past lives. Moving forward, the two encounter a wall that they cannot find a way over. The woman attempts to leap over it, but despite her slender and wrinkled body, cannot. The woman removes the head of a cock that she was carrying and throws it over the wall. The bird crows immediately; it has returned to life. Hadingus returns to his wife, and foils a threat by pirates. Hilda Ellis Davidson , writing on Snorri's unique description of Hel in his Prose Edda, states that "it seems likely that Snorri's account of
4324-451: The age') from Helgakviða Hundingsbana II , regin þrjóta ('end of the gods') from Hyndluljóð , and, in the Prose Edda , þá er Muspellz-synir herja ('when the sons of Muspell move into battle') can be found in chapters 18 and 36 of Gylfaginning . The Poetic Edda contains various references to Ragnarök : In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá , references to Ragnarök begin from stanza 40 until 58, with
4416-524: The battlefield Vígríðr). At the beginning of chapter 52, Gangleri asks "what will be after heaven and earth and the whole world are burned? All the gods will be dead, together with the Einherjar and the whole of mankind. Didn't you say earlier that each person will live in some world throughout all ages?" The figure of Third, seated on the highest throne in the hall, responds that there will be many good places to live, but also many bad ones. Third states that
4508-475: The being, to allow Baldr to leave. Hel gives him an offer and then Baldr leads him out of the hall. Baldr then gives Hermóðr various gifts from Nanna and himself to bring from Hel to the living Æsir. Hermóðr then retraces his path back to the land of the living. Hel's offer fails and in chapter 50, Loki is blamed for Baldr remaining in Hel. In chapter 53, Hel is mentioned a final time in the Prose Edda . Here, Höðr and Baldr are mentioned as returning from Hel in
4600-617: The beliefs of other related Indo-European peoples . Subsequently, theories have been put forth that Ragnarök represents a later evolution of a Proto-Indo-European belief along with other cultures descending from the Proto-Indo-Europeans. These parallels include comparisons of a cosmic winter motif between the Norse Fimbulwinter , the Iranian Bundahishn and Yima . Víðarr's stride has been compared to
4692-521: The best place to be is Gimlé in the heavens, where a place exists called Okolnir that houses a hall called Brimir —where one can find plenty to drink. Third describes a hall made of red gold located in Niðafjöll called Sindri , where "good and virtuous men will live." Third further relates an unnamed hall in Náströnd , the beaches of the dead, that he describes as a large repugnant hall facing north that
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#17331062360254784-412: The bridge will then break. The sons of Muspell (and their shining battle troop) advance to the field of Vígríðr , described as an expanse that reaches "a hundred leagues in each direction," where Fenrir, Jörmungandr, Loki (followed by "Hel's own"), and Hrym (accompanied by all frost jötnar ) join them. While this occurs, Heimdallr stands and blows the Gjallarhorn with all his might. The gods awaken at
4876-561: The cross as being described as " syncretic art ," a mixture of pagan and Christian beliefs. The Gosforth Cross (920–950), in Cumbria , England, is a standing cross of a typical Anglo-Saxon form, carved on all sides of the long shaft, which is nearly square in section. Apart from panels of ornament, the scenes include a Christian crucifixion , and possibly another scene in Hell, but the other scenes are generally interpreted as narrative incidents from
4968-469: The death of the gods (the sun turning black, steam rising, flames touching the heavens, etc.) may be inspired by the volcanic eruptions on Iceland. Records of eruptions in Iceland bear strong similarities to the sequence of events described in Völuspá , especially the eruption at Laki that occurred in 1783. Bertha Phillpotts theorizes that the figure of Surtr was inspired by Icelandic eruptions and that he
5060-513: The description in the Prose Edda, which may be related to the fact that it was not included in the Codex Regius but is instead a later addition. Niflhel is mentioned as being just outside Hel. The bloody Garmr makes an appearance, encountering Odin on Odin's ride to Hel. Odin continues down the road and approaches Hel, which is described as the "high hall of Hel." There he proceeds to the grave of
5152-410: The east, his shield before him. The Midgard serpent Jörmungandr furiously writhes, causing waves to crash. "The eagle shrieks, pale-beaked he tears the corpse," and the ship Naglfar breaks free thanks to the waves made by Jormungandr and sets sail from the east. The fire jötnar inhabitants of Muspelheim come forth. The völva continues that Jötunheimr , the land of the jötnar ,
5244-422: The edge of Hel to investigate nightmares that Baldr has had. He uses a spell to bring to life the corpse of a völva. Odin introduces himself under a false name and pretense and asks for information from the völva relating to Baldr's dreams. The völva reluctantly proceeds to produce prophecies regarding the events of Ragnarök . The poem gives some information regarding the geographic location of Hel in parallel to
5336-492: The figure of Örvar-Oddr , "who is rejuvenated after living as a tree-man ( Ǫrvar-Odds saga 24–27)." Theories have been proposed about the relation between Ragnarök and the 9th-century Old High German epic poem Muspilli about the Christian Last Judgment , where the word Muspille appears, and the 9th-century Old Saxon epic poem Heliand about the life of Christ , where various other forms of
5428-483: The first sign of Ragnarök will be Fimbulwinter , during which time three winters will arrive without a summer, and the sun will be useless. High details that, before these winters, three earlier winters will have occurred, marked with great battles throughout the world. During this time, greed will cause brothers to kill brothers, and fathers and sons will suffer from the collapse of kinship bonds. High then quotes stanza 45 of Völuspá . Next, High describes that
5520-398: The following engraving: Iarð skal rifna ok upphiminn Earth shall be riven and the over-heaven. Jansson (1987) notes that at the time of the inscription, everyone who read the lines would have thought of Ragnarök and the allusion that the father found fitting as an expression of his grief. Rudolf Simek theorizes that the survival of Líf and Lífþrasir at the end of Ragnarök
5612-500: The forest of Hoddmímis holt , that they will consume the morning dew, and will produce generations of offspring. In stanza 46, Odin asks what sun will come into the sky after Fenrir has consumed the sun that exists. Vafþrúðnir responds that Sól will bear a daughter before Fenrir assails her and that after Ragnarök this daughter will continue her mother's path. In stanza 51, Vafþrúðnir states that, after Surtr's flames have been sated, Odin's sons Víðarr and Váli will live in
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#17331062360255704-458: The god Baldr ). Odin's son Víðarr avenges his father by rending Fenrir's jaws apart and stabbing it in the heart with his spear, thus killing the wolf. The serpent Jörmungandr opens its gaping maw, yawning widely in the air, and is met in combat by Thor . Thor, also a son of Odin and described here as protector of the earth, furiously fights the serpent, defeating it, but Thor is only able to take nine steps afterwards before collapsing dead from
5796-442: The gods' and ragnarøkkr as 'the twilight of the gods.' The plural noun rök has several meanings, including 'development', 'origin', 'cause', 'relation', 'fate.' The word ragnarök as a whole is then usually interpreted as the 'final destiny of the gods.' The singular form ragnarøk(k)r is found in a stanza of the Poetic Edda poem Lokasenna , and in the Prose Edda . The noun røk(k)r means 'twilight' (from
5888-416: The gold game pieces the Æsir once owned. Völuspá stanza 51 is then quoted. High reveals that two humans, Líf and Lífþrasir , will have also survived the destruction by hiding in the wood Hoddmímis holt . These two survivors consume the morning dew for sustenance, and from their descendants, the world will be repopulated. Vafþrúðnismál stanza 45 is then quoted. The personified sun, Sól, will have
5980-471: The great serpent Jörmungandr , also described as a child of Loki in the same source, will breach land as the sea violently swells onto it. The ship Naglfar, described in the Prose Edda as being made from the human nails of the dead, is released from its mooring and sets sail on the surging sea, steered by a jötunn named Hrym . At the same time, Fenrir, eyes and nostrils spraying flames, charges forward with his mouth wide open, his upper jaw reaching to
6072-424: The ground, and they vanish. Saxo reasons that the gods wished for Hadingus to visit in the flesh where he will go when he dies. The two penetrate a dark and misty cloud, and then continue along a path worn from heavy use over the ages. The two see men wearing rich-looking robes, and nobles wearing purple. Passing them, they finally reach sunny regions where the herbs the woman presented Hadingus grow. Hadingus and
6164-422: The heavens, and his lower jaw touching the earth. At Fenrir's side, Jörmungandr sprays venom throughout the air and the sea. During all of this, the sky splits into two. From the split, the "sons of Muspell " ride forth. Surtr rides first, surrounded by flames, his sword brighter than the sun. High says that "Muspell's sons" will ride across Bifröst , described in Gylfaginning as a rainbow bridge, and that
6256-521: The language of the Xixia Empire, and one Horpa language spoken today in Sichuan , Geshiza, both display a verbal alternation indicating tense, obeying the same morphosyntactic collocational restrictions. Even without regular phonetic correspondences between the stems of the two languages, the cognatic structures indicate secondary cognacy for the stems. False cognates are pairs of words that appear to have
6348-419: The night within a cave. Inside the cave they hear noises, witness a pair of immense burning eyes, and then the being with burning eyes recites a poem of 12 stanzas. The poem the being recites contains references to Norse mythology (including a mention of Thor) and also prophecies (including that "mountains will tumble, the earth will move, men will be scoured by hot water and burned by fire"). Surtr's fire receives
6440-434: The past, and the runic alphabet . In stanza 61, in the grass, they find the golden game pieces that the gods are described as having once happily enjoyed playing games with long ago (attested earlier in the same poem). The reemerged fields grow without needing to be sown. The gods Höðr and Baldr return from Hel and live happily together. The völva says that the god Hœnir chooses wooden slips for divination and that
6532-560: The poem Vafþrúðnismál . In the poem, Odin, disguised as Gagnráðr , faces off with the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir in a battle of wits. Vafþrúðnismál references Njörðr's status as a hostage during the earlier Æsir–Vanir War , and that he will "come back home among the wise Vanir" at "the doom of men." In stanza 44, Odin poses the question to Vafþrúðnir as to who of mankind will survive the "famous" Fimbulwinter ("Mighty Winter" ). Vafþrúðnir responds in stanza 45 that those survivors will be Líf and Lífþrasir and that they will hide in
6624-407: The prophecies foretold that he would be the death of Odin." As a consequence of his role in the death of the god Baldr, Loki (described as father of Fenrir) is bound on top of three stones with the internal organs of his son Narfi (which are turned into iron) in three places. There, venom drops onto his face periodically from a snake placed by the jötunn Skaði . Loki's wife Sigyn collects
6716-457: The rest of the poem describing the aftermath. In the poem, a völva (a female seer) recites information to Odin . In stanza 41, the völva says: Fylliz fiǫrvi feigra manna, rýðr ragna siǫt rauðom dreyra. Svǫrt verða sólskin of sumor eptir, veðr ǫll válynd. Vitoð ér enn, eða hvat? It sates itself on the life-blood of fated men, paints red the powers' homes with crimson gore. Black become
6808-983: The same Indo-European root are: night ( English ), Nacht ( German ), nacht ( Dutch , Frisian ), nag ( Afrikaans ), Naach ( Colognian ), natt ( Swedish , Norwegian ), nat ( Danish ), nátt ( Faroese ), nótt ( Icelandic ), noc ( Czech , Slovak , Polish ), ночь, noch ( Russian ), ноќ, noć ( Macedonian ), нощ, nosht ( Bulgarian ), ніч , nich ( Ukrainian ), ноч , noch / noč ( Belarusian ), noč ( Slovene ), noć ( Serbo-Croatian ), nakts ( Latvian ), naktis ( Lithuanian ), nos ( Welsh/Cymraeg ), νύξ, nyx ( Ancient Greek ), νύχτα / nychta ( Modern Greek ), nakt- ( Sanskrit ), natë ( Albanian ), nox , gen. sg. noctis ( Latin ), nuit ( French ), noche ( Spanish ), nochi ( Extremaduran ), nueche ( Asturian ), noite ( Portuguese and Galician ), notte ( Italian ), nit ( Catalan ), nuet/nit/nueit ( Aragonese ), nuèch / nuèit ( Occitan ) and noapte ( Romanian ). These all mean 'night' and derive from
6900-452: The same Proto-Germanic verb, *sterbaną 'to die'. Cognates also do not need to look or sound similar: English father , French père , and Armenian հայր ( hayr ) all descend directly from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr . An extreme case is Armenian երկու ( erku ) and English two , which descend from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ; the sound change *dw > erk in Armenian
6992-428: The short poem Helreið Brynhildar , Hel is directly referenced as a location in the title, translating to "Brynhild's Hel-Ride". While riding along a road on the border of Hel in a lavish cart (the cart her corpse was burnt within), Brynhildr encounters a dead gýgr at a burial mound belonging to her. This results in a heated exchange, during which Brynhildr tells of her life. In Baldrs draumar , Odin rides to
7084-503: The sons of two brothers will widely inhabit the windy world. She sees a hall thatched with gold in Gimlé , where nobility will live and spend their lives pleasurably. Stanzas 65, found in the Hauksbók version of the poem, refers to a "powerful, mighty one" that "rules over everything" and who will arrive from above at the court of the gods (Old Norse regindómr ), which has been interpreted as
7176-460: The sound, and they meet. Odin rides to Mímisbrunnr in search of counsel from Mímir. Yggdrasil shakes, and everything, everywhere fears. High relates that the Æsir and the Einherjar dress for war and head to the field. Odin, wearing a gold helmet and an intricate coat of mail , carries his spear Gungnir and rides before them. Odin advances against Fenrir, while Thor moves at his side, though Thor
7268-412: The stone bears a commonly seen memorial dedication, but is followed by an encoded runic sequence that has been described as "mysterious," and "an interesting magic formula which is known from all over the ancient Norse world." On the early 11th-century Skarpåker Stone , from Södermanland , Sweden, a father grieving his dead son used the same verse form, fornyrðislag , as in the Poetic Edda in
7360-423: The sun's beams in the summers that follow, weathers all treacherous. Do you still seek to know? And what? The völva then describes three roosters crowing: In stanza 42, the jötunn herdsman Eggthér sits on a mound and cheerfully plays his harp while the crimson rooster Fjalar ( Old Norse "hider, deceiver" ) crows in the forest Gálgviðr . The golden rooster Gullinkambi crows to
7452-499: The surviving and returning gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors, Líf and Lífþrasir . Ragnarök is an important event in Norse mythology and has been the subject of scholarly discourse and theory in the history of Germanic studies . The event is attested primarily in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and
7544-439: The temples of the gods, and that Thor's sons Móði and Magni will possess the hammer Mjolnir. In stanza 52, the disguised Odin asks the jötunn about his fate. Vafþrúðnir responds that "the wolf" will consume Odin, and that Víðarr will avenge him by sundering its cold jaws in battle. Odin ends the duel with one final question: what did Odin say to his son before preparing his funeral pyre? With this, Vafþrúðnir realizes that he
7636-409: The underworld is chiefly his own work" and that the idea that the dead entering Hel who have died of sickness and old age may have been an attempt on Snorri's part to reconcile the tradition with his description of Valhalla , citing that "the one detailed account of Hel" that Snorri gives is that of Baldr entering Hel without dying of old age or sickness. Davidson writes that Snorri was potentially using
7728-458: The venom into a bucket, but whenever she leaves to empty it, the drops reach Loki's face, and the pain he experiences causes convulsions, resulting in earthquakes . Loki is further described as being bound this way until the onset of Ragnarök . Chapter 51 provides a detailed account of Ragnarök interspersed with various quotes from Völuspá , while chapters 52 and 53 describe the aftermath of these events. In Chapter 51, High states that
7820-458: The verb røkkva 'to grow dark'), suggesting a translation 'twilight of the gods.' This reading was widely considered a result of folk etymology , or a learned reinterpretation of the original term due to the merger of / ɔ / (spelled ǫ) and / ø / (spelled ø) in Old Icelandic after c. 1200 (nevertheless giving rise to the calque Götterdämmerung 'Twilight of the Gods' in
7912-590: The vowels or to the consonants of the root word. For example unhappy , happily , and unhappily are all derivatives of the root word happy . The terms root and derivative are used in the analysis of morphological derivation within a language in studies that are not concerned with historical linguistics and that do not cross the language barrier. Ragnar%C3%B6k In Norse mythology , Ragnarök ( / ˈ r æ ɡ n ə r ɒ k / RAG -nə-rok or / ˈ r ɑː ɡ -/ RAHG - ; Old Norse : Ragnarǫk [ˈrɑɣnɑˌrɒk] )
8004-399: The völva near the eastern doors where the descriptions of Hel end. In the Prose Edda , more detailed information is given about the location, including a detailed account of a venture to the region after the death of the god Baldr . Snorri 's descriptions of Hel in the Prose Edda are not corroborated outside Baldrs draumar , which does not appear in the original Codex Regius but is
8096-402: The wolf will swallow the sun, then his brother will swallow the moon, and mankind will consider the occurrence as a great disaster resulting in much ruin. The stars will disappear. The earth and mountains will shake so violently that the trees will come loose from the soil, the mountains will topple, and all restraints will break, causing Fenrir to break free from his bonds. High relates that
8188-414: The wolf Fenrir by the gods, causing the god Týr to lose his right hand, and that Fenrir remains there until Ragnarök . Gangleri asks High why, since the gods could only expect destruction from Fenrir, they did not simply kill Fenrir once he was bound. High responds that "the gods hold their sacred places and sanctuaries in such respect that they chose not to defile them with the wolf's blood, even though
8280-417: The woman continue until they arrived at a river of blue-black water that is fast-moving, full of rapids, and filled with various weapons. They cross the bridge, and see two "strongly-matched" armies meeting. Hadingus asks the woman about their identity, and she responds that they are men that have met their death by sword, and that they present an everlasting display of their destruction while attempting to equal
8372-417: The word appear. In both sources, the word is used to signify the end of the world through fire. Old Norse forms of the term also appear throughout accounts of Ragnarök , where the world is also consumed in flames, and, though various theories exist about the meaning and origins of the term, its etymology has not been solved. Parallels have been pointed out between the Ragnarök of Norse religion and
8464-462: Was a volcano demon. Surtr's name occurs in some Icelandic place names, among them the lava tube Surtshellir , a number of dark caverns in the volcanic central region of Iceland. Parallels have been pointed out between a poem spoken by a jötunn found in the 13th-century þáttr Bergbúa þáttr ("the tale of the mountain dweller"). In the tale, Thórd and his servant get lost while travelling to church in winter, and so take shelter for
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