Dís
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In Norse mythology, the dísir ("ladies") are fate goddesses or minor deities who can be both benevolent and antagonistic towards mortal people, and they include the norns.[1] They could also be the protective spirits of Norse clans, and especially in connection with war expeditions, a function for which they were named fylgjas.[2] Moreoever, in later sources, the dísir also appear as Odin's shieldmaidens, called valkyries, and they determine the outcome of battle.[2]
Their original function was possibly that of fertility goddesses who were the object of both private and official worship called dísablót,[2] and their veneration probably derives from the worship of the spirits of the dead.[1] A particular trait of the dísir is the fact that they appear as collective beings.[2]
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[edit] Name
Many have pointed out that dísir seems to be the original term for the valkyries (lit. "choosers of the slain"), which in turn would be a kenning for dís.[3] As opposed to valkyrja and norn, the term dís never appears in the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson. The name dís is the Old Norse cognate of Old High German itis, Old Saxon idis and the Anglo-Saxon ides, all meaning "lady",[1] and idisi appears as the name of the valkyries in the only surviving pagan source from Germany, the Merseburg Incantations (see below).[4] Dís also had the meaning "lady" in Old Norse poetry[1] as in the case of Freyja who is called Vanadís ("lady of the vanir"). Adding to the ambiguous meaning of dís is the fact that just like supernatural women were called dísir in the sense "ladies", mortal women were frequently called by names for supernatural women, as noted by Snorri Sturluson in Skáldskaparmál:
| “ | Woman is also metaphorically called by the names of the Asynjur or the Valkyrs or Norns or women of supernatural kind.[5] | ” |
The name dís appears in several place names in Norway and Sweden.[2] Moreover, it was a common element in girls' names as evidenced on runestones,[6] and it still is in Iceland.
[edit] Worship
- Main article dísablót.
The dísir were important deities and the dísablót was a sacrificial holiday (blót) in honor of them. This holiday is mentioned in Hervarar saga, Víga-Glúms saga, Egils saga and the Heimskringla. Its purpose was to enhance the coming harvest.[7] In a part of the Heimskringla called the Ynglinga saga, Aðils, the king of Sweden, died when he administered the dísablót and rode around the shrine at the temple at Uppsala. According to another part of Heimskringla called St.Olav's Saga, the dísablót was celebrated at Uppsala during pagan times in late February or early March, and the sacrifices to the Dísir were followed by a popular assembly known as the Thing of all Swedes, or Dísaþing, and a yearly fair. When Christianity arrived, the market was moved to early February and renamed kyndelsting.[8] The name Disting remained in use, however, and the fair is still held every year in Uppsala – the first Tuesday in February.[9] It may be one of the oldest fair traditions in Sweden.[9]
The shrine where the dísir were worshiped was called dísarsalr and this building is mentioned in the Ynglinga saga concerning king Aðils' death. In addition, it also appears Hervarar saga, where a woman becomes so infuriated over the death of her father by the hands of Heiðrekr, her husband, that she hangs herself in the shrine.
[edit] Old Norse sources
The generic dísir appears instead of the more specific labels norns, fylgjas and valkyries in a couple of Eddic and skaldic poems, and in various kennings.
The eddic poem Hamðismál deals with how Hamðir and Sörli go to the Gothic king Ermanaric to exact vengeance for the cruel death of their half-sister Svanhild. On the way, they kill their reluctant brother Erpr. Knowing that he is about to die at the hands of the Goths, Sörli talks of the cruelty of the dísir who incited him to kill Erpr, who would have cut off the head of Ermanaric and made their expedition successful. In this poem, dísir appears as a synonym of norn and the translator Henry Adams Bellows simply translates dísir as norns:
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In Grímnismál, the wise Grímnir (Odin) predicts king Geirröðr's death, which he attributes to the wrath of the dísir. Again, dísir is used as a synonym for the norns[12]:
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In Reginsmál, the unmarried girl Lyngheiðr is called dís ulfhuguð (dís/lady with the soul of a wolf) as an insult. Later in the same poem, there is a stanza, where the dísir appear as female spirits accompanying a warrior in order to see him dead in battle, a role where they are synonymous with valkyries:
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An additional instance where dís is synonymous with valkyrie is the skaldic poem Krákumál – composed by Ragnarr Loðbrók while awaiting his death in a snake pit. It features the line: Heim bjóða mér dísir (the dísir invite me home), as one of several poetic circumscriptions for what awaits him.
An ambiguous reference to dís as "valkyrie" or "lady" appears in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, where the hero Helgi Hundingsbane meets the valkyrie Sigrún for the first time. In his translation, Bellows simply translates it as "maiden":
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An instance of where dísir is shown to include the protective goddesses called fylgias is found in Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. The warrior Útsteinn has arrived in Denmark where he is staying with an otherwise unknown Danish king named Eysteinn. One of the king's warriors whose name is Úlfr considers Útsteinn as a thorn in his side and so they begin to quarrel.
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[edit] Merseburg incantations
A single remnant exists of the belief in the dísir in Germany. It is called the Merseburg Incantations and it uses the Old High German form of dísir, idisi, for the Valkyries [21], who free from their shackles warriors caught during battle. The last two lines contain the magic words "Leap forth from the fetters, escape from the foes" that are intended to release the warriors.
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Eiris sazun idisi |
Once the Idisi set forth, |
Once sat women, |
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b c d The article Dis in Nordisk familjebok (1907).
- ^ a b c d e The article Diser in Nationalencyklopedin (1991).
- ^ Including: Ström, Folke (1954) Diser, nornor, valkyrjor: Fruktberhetskult och sakralt kungadöme i Norden; Näsström, Britt-Mari (1995) Freyja: The Great Goddess of the North; and Hall, Alaric (2004) The Meanings of Elf, and Elves, in Medieval England.
- ^ Calvin, Thomas. 'An Anthology of German Literature', D. C. Heath & co. ASIN: B0008BTK3E,B00089RS3K. P5.
- ^ Skáldskaparmál in translation by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916), at Northvegr.
- ^ Rundata
- ^ "Disablot", Nationalencyklopedin.
- ^ The article Disatinget, in the encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok.
- ^ a b The article Distingen, in the encyclopedia Nationalencyklopedin.
- ^ Hamðismál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The Ballad of Hamther in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ See Bellows' commentary
- ^ Grímnismál at Northvegr.
- ^ Thorpe's translation at Northvegr.
- ^ Reginsmál at Northvegr.
- ^ Bellows' translation at Northvegr.
- ^ Helgakviða Hundingsbana I Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The Saga of Half & His Heroes, translated by Peter Tunstall (2005), at Northvegr.
- ^ Calvin, Thomas. 'An Anthology of German Literature', D. C. Heath & co. ASIN: B0008BTK3E,B00089RS3K. P5.
- ^ Jeep, John. 'Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia'. Routledge; 2001. PP112-113. ISBN 0-8240-7644-3
[edit] See also
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