![]() In the poem Alvíssmál(‘The Song of All-Wise’) in the Poetic Edda, the Norse god of thunder Thor outwits the dwarf Alviss by purposely keeping him up all night until dawn at which point Alviss turned into stone.īoth the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda describe dwarfs as having the tendency to act in a brut and vengeful manner, even sometimes acting in a murderous and sexually devious manner. ![]() When compared to the Aesir and Vanir races of gods, the dwarfs are behind in terms of trickery, wisdom, and spiritual enlightenment. According to early Norse myths, they were often made small and ugly thereby making them inferior to other powerful beings in the nine realms. The shape that the Aesir gods gave to the dwarfs was a very peculiar one – they were made extremely short with a dark skin and a long beard. gold-laden mines and halls – had some of the most precious materials in all the nine realms. Additionally, the Aesir bestowed upon them a very high level of intelligence, in some cases, even higher than some of the Aesir gods.ĭwarfs in Norse Mythology | Dwarfs in Norse mythology were said to be pitch-black skin creatures who live underground in a place called Svartalfheim. Disgusted by their looks, the Aesir gods transformed them into a more human form. They were basically born without any distinguishable form or any iota of intelligence. In Gylfaginning– the first part of the Prose Edda – the dwarfs are said to have emerged from the decomposing corpse of Ymir, the first frost giant. Symbols: gold, precious gems and metals, hammers, forges, bellows, anvils Origins Most famous for: Wisdom, smithing, mining, crafting, and healing abilitiesĪppearance: Short, hairy, quick-tempered, and sometimes ugly Other names: Fullangr (in Old Norse), Hár (in Old Norse), Dweorg (in Anglo-Saxon), Svartalf (black elf), Twerg, Dvergr, DvergarĪbode: Reside in the mountains and in caves deep in the earth ![]() Image: Two dwarfs as depicted in a 19th-century edition of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá (1895) by Lorenz Frølich. For example, in the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, dwarfs emerged as maggots from the flesh of the first frost giant Brimir (also known as Ymir). The Poetic Edda (a 13th century compilation of Norse poems and myths) and the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda have different origin stories of dwarfs in Norse mythology.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |