Sól (Sun)
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![The 18th to 16th century BCE Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse has been interpreted as representing the goddess Sól.[citation needed]](../../../../images/shared/thumb/c/ca/Solvogn.jpg/200px-Solvogn.jpg)
Sól or Sunna is the goddess of the Sun in Germanic mythology. One of the Merseburg Incantations, written in the 9th or 10th century CE, relates that she was the sister of Sinthgunt (of which nothing else is known). In later Norse mythology, Sól appears in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson.
In both Eddas she is described as the sister of Máni, (the god of the moon) and daughter of Mundilfari. In the Prose Edda, she is described as the daughter of Mundilfari and Glaur as well as the wife of Glen. Sól gives her name to the Younger Futhark s rune. In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá Sól is referred to as Alfrodull.
Sól also was called Sunne, and Frau Sunne, from which the words sun and Sunday are derived.
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[edit] Merseburg Incantations
One of the two Merseburg Incantations (the "horse cure"), recorded in Old High German, mentions Sunna, who is described as having a sister, Sinthgunt, who is otherwise unattested.[1] The incantation describes how Phol and Wodan ride to a wood, and that Balder's foal injures its foot. Amongst others, Sinthgunt enchants it, her sister Sunna enchants it, Friia enchants it, her sister Uolla enchants it, and finally Wodan enchants it. Afterwards, a verse describing the healing of the bone is recorded.
[edit] Norse mythology
Sól, the sun, is mentioned frequently in Old Norse sources but is seldom personified. John Lindow states that "even kennings like 'hall of the sun' for sky may not suggest personification, given the rules of kenning formation" and "that Sól is female and Máni male probably has to do with the grammatical gender of the nouns: Sól is feminine and Máni is masculine."[2]
[edit] Poetic Edda
Sól, personified, is referred to a single time in the Poetic Edda. In the poem Vafþrúðnismál stanza 23, Odin tasks the Jötunn Vafþrúðnir with a question about the origins of the sun and the moon. Vafþrúðnir responds that Mundilfari is both the father of Sól and Máni, and that they must past through the heavens every day to count the years for man.
[edit] Prose Edda
Sól as a personified differently in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning. In chapter 11 of Gylfaginning, Gangleri (described as King Gylfi in disguise) asks the mysterious High how how the sun and moon are steered. High describes that Sól is one of the two children of Mundilfari. The children are described as being so beautiful they they are named after the sun (Sól) and the moon (Máni). Mundilfari has Sól married to a man named Glen, who is otherwise unattested.[2]
High states that the gods were "angered by this arrogance"[3] and that gods had the two put into the heavens. Now in the heavens, the children were made to drive the horses Arvak and Alsvid that drew the chariot of the sun. High relates that the gods had created the chariot to illuminate the worlds from burning embers flying from the fiery world of Muspelheim. In order to cool the horses, the gods placed two bellows beneath their shoulders and that "according to the same lore"[3] the bellows are called Ísarnkol.
In chapter 12 of Gylfaginning, Gangleri states to High that the sun moves quickly, almost as if she were moving so quickly that she was afraid of something and that she could not go faster even if she were afraid of her own death. High responds that:
'It is not surprising that she moves with such speed. The one chasing her comes close, and there is no escape for her except to run.'[3]
Gangleri asks who is chasing her. High responds that two wolves give chase to Sól and Máni. The first wolf, Sköll, chases Sól. High states that Sól fears Sköll and that Sköll will eventually catch her. Hati Hróðvitnisson, the second wolf, runs ahead of Sól to chase after Máni, whom Hati Hróðvitnisson will also catch.
[edit] See also
- Dagr, the personification of the day in Norse mythology
- Nótt, the personification of the night in Norse mythology
- Máni, the personification of the moon in Norse mythology
- Sigelwara Land, an etymologic essay by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Sowilo rune
[edit] References
- ^ Bostock, John Knight. (1976) A Handbook on Old High German Literature, page 32. Oxford University Press ISBN 0198153929
- ^ a b Lindow, John. (2001) Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs, pages 198 to 199. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515382-0.
- ^ a b c Byock, Jesse. (Trans.) The Prose Edda, page 19 to 20. (2006) Penguin Classics ISBN 0140447555
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