Odin's Wife: - Germanic Mythology

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As we have seen, Earth is the wife of Odin, the daughter of Night, and sister of Day. Obviously she is well connected in the world of the gods. And our knowledge of her genealogy doesn‟t end there. The sources provide us additional names, such as Jörd‟s brother Aud. Thus it may be fruitful to see how exactly they fit into the family tree. With this in mind, let‟s consider a few verses near the end of the poem Völuspá. There, just before Earth sinks into the sea, Earth‟s many names are repeated in rapid succession, one after another: Þá kømr inn mæri mögr Hlöðynjar, gengr Óðins sonr við ulf vega, drepr hann af móði Miðgarðs véur, - munu halir allir heimstöð ryðja - gengr fet níu Fjörgynjar burr neppr frá naðri níðs ókvíðnum. Then comes the mighty son of Hlódyn: (Odin‟s son goes to fight with the monster); Midgárd´s Veor in his rage will slay the worm. Nine feet will go Fiörgyn´s son, bowed by the serpent, who feared no foe. All men will forsake their homes. Sól tér sortna, sígr fold í mar, hverfa af himni heiðar stjörnur, geisar eimi við aldrnara, leikr hár hiti við himin sjálfan. The sun darkens, earth sinks in the ocean, the bright stars,
fall from heaven fire´s breath assails the all-nourishing tree, towering fire plays against heaven itself. Eddic scholar, Ursula Dronke believes this repetition is intentional. In her commentary on Völuspá 53/2, she states: “The emphasis upon Þórr‟s mother, the earth, is deliberate here, as men are leaving that heimstöð forever. Hlöðyn is probably to be identified with Hludana, a <strong>Germanic</strong> (?earth-)-goddess of the Lower Rhine, named in five inscriptions from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Fjörgynn‟s name is a (rare) heiti for earth" Now, let us return to a verse in Völuspá cited earlier. If indeed Hlin and Frigg are names of the earth, then we can include the following verse in this repetition of earth‟s various names. Þá kømr Hlínar harmr annarr fram, er Óðinn ferr við úlf vega, en bani Belja bjartr at Surti, þá mun Friggjar falla angan. Then comes Hlin‟s second grief to pass, when Odin goes to fight the Wolf and Beli‟s bright bane (Frey) against Surt. Then Frigg‟s angan shall fall. Before earth sinks into the sea, she is invoked as Hlöðyn, Miðgarðr, Fjörgyn, and Fold. If earth is truly “Odin‟s wife,” then the names Hlin and Frigg can be added to this list. When earth rises anew from the sea in Völuspá 56, she is called Jörð, as she was known in her youth. The last verse quoted above may contain an additional allusion to that event. The verse refers to the events of Ragnarök. It informs us that when Odin faces Fenrir, and Frey faces Surt, Frigg's “angan” will fall. The word “angan” is typically understood figuratively and taken to mean “delight” or “joy” based on its literal meaning “sweet scent.” Modern scholars and translators, almost to a person, narrowly interpret the phrase Friggjar angan as “Frigg‟s husband,” i.e. her “delight.” Hlin‟s first grief is understood to mean the death of her son Baldur; her second grief is thus the death of her husband, Odin. So why is Frey mentioned in the verse at all? Once we recognize Hlin and Frigg as alternate names of the Earth, “angan” literally blossoms with new meaning. The word angan is etymologically related to the word angr meaning “grief” or “sorrow,” making the expression Friggjar angan a near doublet of Hlinar harmr. It may also carry additional meaning. “To fall,” figuratively, means to die, as when the poet cited earlier speaks of a dying man “falling to Hlin.” Hlin represents the Earth. Since Hlin is an alternate name for Frigg, when Odin goes to meet the wolf and Frey goes to meet Surt, the "sweet scent" of Earth itself will die. To further emphasize this point, a secondary meaning of the word angan is “spines” or “prickles”
Page 1 and 2: Odin’s Wife: Mother Earth in Germ
Page 3: later Old Norse pantheon, demonstra
Page 7 and 8: Þá mælti Þróttólfr: “Eigi s
Page 9 and 10: verðr síð hlaðit, þeim er á
Page 11 and 12: “There is little doubt that Frigg
Page 13 and 14: Fleygði Óðinn ok í folk of skau
Page 15 and 16: child). 22 In Anglo-Saxon art, boar
Page 17 and 18: Odin. 31 Similarly at the conclusio

Odin's Wife: - Germanic Mythology

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