Laufey ( Old Norse: [ˈlɔuvˌœy]) or Nál [ˈnɑːl] is a figure in Norse mythology and the mother of Loki. The latter is frequently mentioned by the matronymic Loki Laufeyjarson ( Old Norse 'Loki Laufey's son') in the Poetic Edda, rather than the expected traditional patronymic Loki Fárbautason ('son of Fárbauti'), in a mythology where kinship is usually reckoned through male ancestry. [1] [2]
Name
The meaning of the Old Norse name Laufey is not clear, but it is generally taken to be related to lauf (' leaves, foliage'), [3] [1] perhaps attached to the suffix -ey (found in female personal names like Bjargey, Þórey), or deriving from an hypothetical tree-goddess named *lauf-awiaz ('the leafy'). [3] [note 1]
Since the name of her spouse Fárbauti means "dangerous hitter", a possible natural mythological interpretation has been proposed by some scholars, with lightning hitting the leaves, or needles of a tree to give rise to fire. [4] [5]
Attestations
In Gylfaginning ('The Beguiling of Gylfi'), High introduces Loki as the son of Fárbauti, that "Laufey or Nál" is his mother, and that his brothers are Býleistr and Helblindi. [6] Elsewhere in the same poem, Loki is referred to by the matronymic Laufeyson ('Laufey's son'). [7] This occurs twice more in Gylfaginning and once in Skáldskaparmál. [8]
Skaldskaparmal ('The Language of Poetry') mentions Loki as 'son of Fárbauti' or 'son of Laufey'. [9]
Laufey is listed among Ásynjar (goddesses) in one of the þulur, [1] an ancestry that perhaps led her son Loki to be "enumerated among the Æsir", as Snorri Sturluson puts it in Gylfaginning. [10]
Nál is mentioned twice in the Prose Edda as "Laufey or Nál"; once in Gylfaginning and once in Skáldskaparmál. [11]
In the poem Sörla tháttr, Nál and Laufey are portrayed as the same person: "She was both slender and weak, and for that reason she was called Nál [Needle]." [12] According to scholar John Lindow, however, "the late date of the text makes this piece of information suspect." [10]
See also
References
Footnotes
- ^ de Vries 1957, p. 263 n. 1 and de Vries 1962, p. 347 also indicate that Hugo Gering interpreted Nál as "killer" and Laufey as "member of a distinguished clan", comparing the name with the Gothic ga-laufs ('valuable, costly') and the Old High German ga-loub ('inspiring trust'). Lindow 2001, p. 208 states that "her name looks as though it should mean 'Leaf-island', but that would be a strange name."
Citations
- ^ a b Simek 1996, pp. 186–187.
- ^ Lindow 2001, pp. 207–208.
- ^ a b de Vries 1962, p. 347.
- ^ Axel Kock, "Etymologisch-mythologische Untersuchungen", Indogermanische Forschungen 10 (1899) 90-111; summary in Jahresbericht über die Erscheinungen auf dem Gebiete der germanischen Philologie 21 (1899) p. 37 (in German)
- ^ Simek 1996, p. 78, but p. 227 he doubts that Nál is the same person as Laufey, and considers relating the latter name to death, as in Naglfar.
- ^ Faulkes 1987, p. 26.
- ^ Faulkes 1987, p. 35.
- ^ Faulkes 1987, pp. 48, 50, & 96.
- ^ Faulkes 1987, p. 76.
- ^ a b Lindow 2001, p. 208.
- ^ Faulkes 1987, pp. 26, 76.
- ^ bæði mjó ok auðþreiflig, ed. Carl Christian Rafn, Fornaldar Sögur Norðrlanda Volume 1, Copenhagen, 1829, p. 392.
Bibliography
- de Vries, Jan (1957). Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte. Vol. 2 (1970 ed.). Walter De Gruyter.
- de Vries, Jan (1962). Altnordisches Etymologisches Worterbuch (1977 ed.). Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-05436-3.
- Faulkes, Anthony, trans. (1987). Edda (1995 ed.). Everyman. ISBN 0-460-87616-3.
- Lindow, John (2001). Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-983969-8.
- Simek, Rudolf (1996). Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 978-0-85991-513-7.