download - Sage's Lore Library

OF THE GODS. 127
Beings (tir signifying glory, honor); another form
of the same name, more rarely occurring, is Diar,
from which is derived Disir {sing. Dis),* Goddesses.
4. Vear {sing. Veorr), Holy Beings ; from ve,t holi-
ness. 5. Regin, Buling Powers, Deliberating Dei-
ties. 6. Bond {jplwr. of band, a band), the United,
the Co-worTcing. 7. Hopt {jplur. of hapt, binding,
restraining), the Moderators. Of these the three
first-mentioned terms are of most general occur-
rence. All these names for the gods generally de-
note, so far as- their derivation is known, the attributes
which were ascribed to them. The last two
are remarkable because they express the idea of the
intimate co-working of the gods in the government
of the world.
The significance of Odin as the Soul of the World
and the God of Heaven, has been already alluded
to. , He is named All-father—AlfaSir, Alf68r,—as
the being from whom the Life of Nature and the
Powers revealing themselves through it, the Grods,
were thought to come forth. He is called the
Father of Generations—^AldafaSir—with especial
reference to mankind as his creation. Lastly, he is
called ValfaSir as the God of War, in which charac-
*. Tivar occurs often in the O. Edda: Vafjiriidnm. 40, 42 ; Grim-
nism. 5 ; Hamarsheimt, 14, &c. ; often also the oompoimds Valtlvarj
Chosen or Grlorious Gods ; Sigtivar, Victorious Gods. Diar
occurs in no genuine Eddaic poem, for the so-called Hrafngaldr
OSins where it is found, is doubtless a production of later times.
f The word ve was used to express a particular god, and the
plur. ve also denoted sacred places. It is cogn. with the Old
Germ, wih, a grove ; Old Saxon wUi, a temple ; Goth, veihan
Germ, weihen, to consecrate.
;