Jörð
Jörð (/jɔrð/) (or Jarð in Old East Norse, sometimes Anglicized as Jord or Jorth), is a giantess and the personification of the Earth in Norse mythology. Fjörgyn and Hlôdyn are considered to be other names for Jörð.[1]
In Gylfaginning, the first part of the Prose Edda, Jörð is described as one of Odin's concubines and the mother of Thor.[2] She is the daughter of Annar and Nótt and sister of Auð and Dagr. Otherwise she is essentially unknown. In pre-Christian skaldic poetry recorded in Snorri Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál, Jörð is called the rival of Odin's wife Frigg and his other giantess concubines, Rindr and Gunnlod.[3] Jörð is reckoned a goddess, like other giantesses who coupled with the gods.[4] Jörð's name appears in skaldic poetry both as a poetic term for the land and in kennings for Thor.
Etymology
Jörð is the everyday word for earth in Old Norse, as are its descendants in the modern Scandinavian languages; Icelandic jörð, Faroese jørð, Danish/Swedish/Norwegian jord. It is cognate to English "earth" through Old English eorðe.[5]
Notes
- ^ Bellinger (1997:235).
- ^ Gylfaginning 10, 36.
- ^ Lindow (2001:205).
- ^ Orchard (1997:98).
- ^ "Earth" in Online Etymology Dictionary.
References
- Bellinger, Gerhard J. (1997). Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologi. Weltbild/Bechtermünz, Augsburg: ISBN 3828941559
- Lindow, John (2001). Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515382-0.
- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell, London: ISBN 0304345202