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47-454: In Norse mythology , Naglfar or Naglfari ( Old Norse " nail farer") is a boat made entirely from the fingernails and toenails of the dead. During the events of Ragnarök , Naglfar is foretold to sail to Vígríðr , ferrying hordes of monsters that will do battle with the gods. Naglfar is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and

94-455: A female being of the same name , may be ferried away by valkyries to Odin's martial hall Valhalla , or may be chosen by the goddess Freyja to dwell in her field Fólkvangr . The goddess Rán may claim those that die at sea, and the goddess Gefjon is said to be attended by virgins upon their death. Texts also make reference to reincarnation . Time itself is presented between cyclic and linear, and some scholars have argued that cyclic time

141-463: A region in the center of the cosmos. Outside of the gods, humanity, and the jötnar, these Nine Worlds are inhabited by beings, such as elves and dwarfs . Travel between the worlds is frequently recounted in the myths, where the gods and other beings may interact directly with humanity. Numerous creatures live on Yggdrasil, such as the insulting messenger squirrel Ratatoskr and the perching hawk Veðrfölnir . The tree itself has three major roots, and at

188-586: A religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism . The historical religion of the Norse people is commonly referred to as Norse mythology . Other terms are Scandinavian mythology , North Germanic mythology or Nordic mythology . Norse mythology is primarily attested in dialects of Old Norse , a North Germanic language spoken by the Scandinavian people during the European Middle Ages and

235-543: A wolf. The stone is granite and 1.7 meters in height, and the inscription is classified as being carved in runestone style Pr1, which is also known as Ringerike style . The original site of the Tullstorp Runestone is unknown. It was first noted in 1624 when it was installed in the wall of a church, and rediscovered when the old church in Tullstorp was torn down in 1846. Before the historical significance of runestones

282-496: Is Njörðr's unnamed sister (her name is unprovided in the source material). However, there is more information about his pairing with the skiing and hunting goddess Skaði . Their relationship is ill-fated, as Skaði cannot stand to be away from her beloved mountains, nor Njörðr from the seashore. Together, Freyja, Freyr, and Njörðr form a portion of gods known as the Vanir . While the Aesir and

329-406: Is a variant of Old Norse nár (meaning "corpse") and ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European * nok-w-i . Noreen claimed that the notion of Naglfar as a 'nail-ship' is due to a folk etymology ; that elaboration on the folk etymology produced the concept of a "nail-ship". However, Sigmund Feist (1909) rejects the theory on etymological grounds, as does Albert Morley Sturtevant (1951) on

376-523: Is engineered by Loki , and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel , a realm ruled over by an entity of the same name . Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess, Freyja . 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 faraway lands. Freyja's brother,

423-475: Is first mentioned in chapter 43 of Gylfaginning , where the enthroned figure of High notes that while Skíðblaðnir is the best ship—constructed with the finest skill—"the biggest ship is Naglfari , it belongs to Muspell ". In chapter 51, High foretells the events of Ragnarök. Regarding Naglfar , High says that after the stars disappear from the sky, the landscape will shake so severely that mountains fall apart, trees uproot, and all binds will snap, causing

470-613: Is shaped like an ancient galley with beakheads both fore and aft and is unlike any known Viking ship , suggesting from its archaic form that it is a symbolic ship associated with ritual. Other inscriptions with similar features which may depict ancient, symbolic ships include DR 77 in Hjermind, DR 119 in Spentrup, DR 258 in Bösarp, and DR 328 in Holmby. The wolf has a mane and pointed ears similar to

517-596: Is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples , stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The northernmost extension of Germanic mythology and stemming from Proto-Germanic folklore , Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after

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564-463: Is thus likely to be a symbolic ship. The inscription mentions the name Ulfr ("wolf"), and the name Kleppir / Glippir . The last name is not fully understood, but may have represented Glæipiʀ which is similar to Gleipnir which was the rope with which the Fenrir wolf was bound. The two male names may have inspired the theme depicted on the runestone. In his study of treatment of hair and nails among

611-453: Is worth taking care lest anyone die with untrimmed nails, since such a person contributes much material to the ship Naglfar which gods and men wish would take a long time to finish". High adds that the ship will be captained by the jötunn Hrym , and that Naglfar will be carried along with the surging waters of the flood. Further in chapter 51, High quotes the Völuspá stanzas above that references

658-476: 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 . Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse , kennings , and several metrical forms. The Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after

705-646: The Prose Edda , also composed in the 13th century. The boat itself has been connected by scholars with a larger pattern of ritual hair and nail disposal among Indo-Europeans , stemming from Proto-Indo-European custom, and it may be depicted on the Tullstorp Runestone in Scania , Sweden . Some dispute has waged over the etymology of Naglfar . In the late 19th century, Adolf Noreen proposed that nagl- here does not have its usual meaning of " nail ", but, instead,

752-581: The Indo-Europeans (see below). Naglfar is attested in both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda . In the Poetic Edda , Naglfar is solely mentioned in two stanzas found in the poem Völuspá . In the poem, a deceased völva foretells that the ship will arrive with rising waters, carrying Hrym and Loki and with them a horde of others: In the Prose Edda , Naglfar is mentioned four times. The ship

799-612: 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 additional 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 ( Sagas of Icelanders ) to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila

846-687: 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, and this poetry— Eddic poetry—utilizes fewer kennings . In comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively 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

893-601: The Hun ( legendary sagas ). 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 also be interpreted as depictions of subjects from Norse mythology, such as amulets of

940-563: The Indo-Europeans, Bruce Lincoln compares Snorri's Prose Edda comments about nail disposal to an Avestan text, where Ahura Mazdā warns that daevas and xrafstras will spring from hair and nails that lay without correct burial, noting their conceptual similarities. Lincoln comments that "the specific image of Naglfar, the 'Nail-ship', is undoubtedly specific to the Germanic world, although it does date to an ancient date within that area. But

987-647: The Norwegian woman Ragnhild Tregagås —convicted of witchcraft in Norway in the 14th century—and spells found in the 17th century Icelandic Galdrabók grimoire also sometimes make references to Norse mythology. Other traces, such as place names bearing the names of gods may provide further information about deities, such as a potential association between deities based on the placement of locations bearing their names, their local popularity, and associations with geological features. Central to accounts of Norse mythology are

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1034-542: The Vanir retain distinct identification, they came together as the result of the Aesir–Vanir War . While they receive less mention, numerous other gods and goddesses appear in the source material. (For a list of these deities, see List of Germanic deities .) Some of the gods heard less of include the apple-bearing goddess Iðunn and her husband, the skaldic god Bragi ; the gold-toothed god Heimdallr , born of nine mothers ;

1081-532: 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 primarily in the 13th century. These texts include the Prose Edda , composed in the 13th century by the Icelandic scholar, lawspeaker , and historian Snorri Sturluson , and

1128-712: The ancient god Týr , who lost his right hand while binding the great wolf Fenrir ; and the goddess Gefjon , who formed modern-day Zealand , Denmark . Various beings outside of the gods are mentioned. Elves and dwarfs are commonly mentioned and appear to be connected, but their attributes are vague and the relation between the two is ambiguous. Elves are described as radiant and beautiful, whereas dwarfs often act as earthen smiths. A group of beings variously described as jötnar , thursar , and trolls (in English these are all often glossed as " giants ") frequently appear. These beings may either aid, deter, or take their place among

1175-615: The base of one of these roots live the Norns , female entities associated with fate. Elements of the cosmos are personified, such as the Sun ( Sól , a goddess), the Moon ( Máni , a god), and Earth ( Jörð , a goddess), as well as units of time, such as day ( Dagr , a god) and night ( Nótt , a jötunn). The afterlife is a complex matter in Norse mythology. The dead may go to the murky realm of Hel —a realm ruled over by

1222-484: The basic idea on which it is based – that the improper disposal of hair and nails is an act which threatens the well-being of the cosmos – does ascend to the Indo-European period, as can be seen from comparisons [with Iranian myth ]." The ship appears in the videogame The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and in its spin-off game Gwent as the vehicle the evil Wild Hunt uses to travel between worlds. The ship also appears in

1269-486: The cosmological tree Yggdrasil to gain knowledge of the runic alphabet, which he passed on to humanity, and is associated closely with death, wisdom, and poetry. Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Asgard , and leader of the Aesir . Odin's 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 impending death, his death

1316-630: The depiction of the wolf on inscription DR 284 of the Hunnestad Monument and the two wolves on DR 314, the Lund 1 Runestone . The runic text indicates that the stone was raised as a memorial to a man named Ulfr. Besides the Ragnarök myth discussed above, it may be that the image of the wolf was inspired by this man's name, which in Old Norse means "Wolf." It has been pointed out that the Old Norse phrase in

1363-399: The events of Ragnarök when an immense battle occurs between the gods and their enemies, and the world is enveloped in flames, only to be reborn anew. 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 when key texts attracted the attention of

1410-434: The form of three gifts. After the cataclysm of Ragnarok, this process is mirrored in the survival of two humans from a wood; Líf and Lífþrasir . From these two humankind is foretold to repopulate the new and green earth. Tullstorp Runestone The inscription on the Tullstorp Runestone consists of runic text on a serpent band that frames a central image consisting of a ship and a beast, which has been described as being

1457-486: The god Freyr , is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts, and in his association with the weather, royalty, human sexuality, and agriculture brings peace and pleasure to humanity. Deeply lovesick after catching sight of the beautiful jötunn Gerðr , Freyr seeks and wins her love, yet at the price of his future doom. Their father is the powerful god Njörðr . Njörðr is strongly associated with ships and seafaring, and so also wealth and prosperity. Freyja and Freyr's mother

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1504-488: 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 (such as the Old High German Merseburg Incantations ) may also lend insight. Wider comparisons to

1551-453: The gods. The Norns , dísir , and aforementioned valkyries also receive frequent mention. While their functions and roles may overlap and differ, all are collective female beings associated with fate. In Norse cosmology , all beings live in Nine Worlds that center around the cosmological tree Yggdrasil . The gods inhabit the heavenly realm of Asgard whereas humanity inhabits Midgard ,

1598-411: The gods. The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central sacred 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

1645-410: The grounds of major difficulties, and their points have led Bruce Lincoln (1977) to comment that "there is no reason whatever to contend that nagl- does not have its usual meaning of 'nail' and that Naglfar is anything other than the nail-ship, just as Snorri describes it." In addition, Lincoln finds the ship to be a part of a larger pattern of religious disposal and sacrifice of hair and nails among

1692-504: 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, and references to Norse mythology may now be found throughout modern popular culture . The myths have further been revived in

1739-457: The mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths. Only a tiny amount of poems and tales survive of the many mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, and before. Later sources reaching into the modern period, such as a medieval charm recorded as used by

1786-436: The mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, and is wed to the beautiful, golden-haired goddess Sif . The god Odin is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf - and raven -flanked, with a spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the nine realms. In an act of self-sacrifice, Odin is described as having hanged himself upside-down for nine days and nights on

1833-512: The name of the ship sunk in the opening paragraphs of Silverlock , setting his hero loose from the modern world to traipse his adventurous way into realms of myth and legend. Naglfar is the name of a Swedish black metal band. Naglfar is the central focus of the novel The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan , where the main characters go on a quest to prevent its launching. Norse mythology Norse , Nordic , or Scandinavian mythology ,

1880-471: The pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition. The source texts mention numerous gods such as the thunder-god Thor , the raven -flanked god Odin , the goddess Freyja , and numerous other deities . Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with several other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar , beings who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of

1927-592: The plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as with the jötnar , who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of the gods. Numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. As evidenced by records of personal names and place names, the most popular god among the Scandinavians during the Viking Age was Thor the thunder god , who is portrayed as unrelentingly pursuing his foes, his mountain-crushing, thunderous hammer Mjölnir in hand. In

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1974-768: The runic text, reistu kuml ("raised this monument"), is somewhat rare, but does appear on seven other runestones, Sm 27 in Berga, Ög 94 in Harstads, DR 13 in Skivum, DR 383 in Vester Marie, Sö 173 in Tystberga, U 735 in Långarnö (where the wording is reversed), and U 1066 in Åkerby. Locally the stone is known as the Tullstorpstenen . The first normalization is Old West Norse , the second

2021-455: The ship. Naglfar receives a final mention in the Prose Edda in Skáldskaparmál , where it is included among a list of ships. If the images on the Tullstorp Runestone are correctly identified as being from Ragnarök, then Naglfar is shown below the monstrous wolf Fenrir . It has been pointed out that the ship image has beakheads both fore and aft unlike any known Viking ship , and

2068-597: The videogame World of Warcraft in the Legion expansion. In the dungeon, Maw of Souls, players completed the last half of the 2 part dungeon on the Naglfar. This culminates as you defeat the final boss of the dungeon, Helya. In EVE Online , the Naglfar is a dreadnought capital ship. The magic tome of the boss character Lyon in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is named Naglfar. John Myers Myers made Naglfar

2115-486: The wolf Fenrir to break free. After, the Midgardr Serpent Jörmungandr will fly into a rage and swim to the shore, causing the ocean to swell unto land. Naglfar , too, will be break free from its moorings. High describes the composition of Naglfar as that of the untrimmed nails of the dead, and warns about burying the dead with untrimmed nails, stating that "the ship is made of dead people's nails, and it

2162-425: Was the original format for the mythology. Various forms of a cosmological creation story are provided in Icelandic sources, and references to a future destruction and rebirth of the world— Ragnarok —are frequently mentioned in some texts. According to the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda poem, Völuspá , the first human couple consisted of Ask and Embla ; driftwood found by a trio of gods and imbued with life in

2209-469: Was understood, they were often used as materials in the construction of buildings, walls, and roads. The stone first ended up in the wall surrounding the church yard, later it was moved to the current position inside the church yard. It is dated from about 1000 AD. The ship and the wolf in the central image probably reflects the Ragnarök myth, which would make the wolf Fenrir and the ship Naglfar . The ship

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