Dúrnir
Dúrnir was a dwarf who appears in three Old Norse skaldic poems, which suggests that he once was a well-known dwarf in Norse mythology.
The most notable poem is Ynglingatal:
- En dagskjarr
- Dúrnis niðja
- salvörðuðr
- Sveigði vétti,
- þá er í stein
- enn stórgeði
- Dusla konr
- ept dvergi hljóp,
- ok salr bjartr
- þeira Sökmímis
- jötunbyggðr
- við jöfri gein.[1][2]
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- By Diurnir's elfin race,
- Who haunt the cliffs and shun day's face,
- The valiant Swegde was deceived,
- The elf's false words the king believed.
- The dauntless hero rushing on,
- Passed through the yawning mouth of stone:
- It yawned – it shut – the hero fell,
- In Saekmime's hall, where giants dwell.[3][4]
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A more literal translation:
- The day-fearing
- spawn of Durnir
- warden of the hall
- betrayed Sveigdir
- who into stone
- the rash hero
- ran after the dwarf.
- The bright hall
- of Soekmimir
- built of giants
- was enriched
- by the chieftain`s presence.
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He also appears in a list of Dwarves in the anonymous Dverga heiti:
- Alþjófr, austri,
- aurvangr ok dúfr,
- ái, andvari,
- ónn ok draupnir,
- dori ok dagfinnr,
- dulinn ok ónarr,
- alfr ok dellingr,
- óinn ok durnir.[5]
The third poem is found in Laufás-Edda:
- Kveða skal hróðr fyr hríðar
- hræ-blakks viðum sævar,
- drykkr var Durnis rekkum
- døkkr, ljósara nøkkvi.[6]
Snorri also includes Dúrnir in a list of giants in the Skáldskaparmál section of his Prose Edda (Faulkes translation, p.157).
It is possible that the name Durnir is an emendation (or a case variety) of Durinn, mentioned as the father of dvarfs in Dvergatal. Both names mean door, or door-warden. The names Durinn og Durnir do not appear in the same texts. The Norwegian translation of Ynglinga Saga from 1900 uses the name of Durinn instead of Durnir.
Notes
- ^ Ynglinga saga at Norrøne Tekster og Kvad
- ^ A second online presentation of Ynglingatal
- ^ Laing's translation at the Internet Sacred Text Archive
- ^ Laing's translation at Northvegr
- ^ Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages
- ^ At Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages
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