Freyja
Etymology and names
Table:
Name (Old Norse)

Name meaning

Attestations

Notes

Gefn

'the giver'[3]

Gylfaginning, Nafnaþulur

The name Gefn likely means "she who gives (prosperity or happiness) and is generally considered connected to the goddess name Gefjon, but the etymology of the name Gefjon has been a matter of dispute. The root Gef- in Gef-jon is generally theorized as related to the root Gef- in the name Gef-n."[4] The connection between the two names has resulted in etymological results of Gefjun meaning "the giving one".[5] The names Gefjun and Gefn are both related to the Alagabiae or Ollogabiae, Matron groups.[6]

Scholar Richard North theorizes that Old English geofon and Old Norse Gefjun and Freyja's name Gefn may all descend from a common origin; gabia a Germanic goddess connected with the sea, whose name means "giving".[7]

Hörn

'flaxen'(?)[3]

Gylfaginning, Nafnaþulur

Appears in the Swedish place names Härnösand, Härnevi and Järnevi, stemming from the reconstructed Old Norse place name *Hörnar-vé (meaning "Hörn's vé").[8] In addition, the name Hörn also appears as the name of a troll woman in Nafnaþulur.[9]

Mardöll

Potentially 'sea-brightener' by way of mar ('sea') combined with a second element that may be related to Dellingr, indicating light.[10] The name may otherwise mean 'the one who makes the sea swell'.[11]

Gylfaginning, Nafnaþulur

May be connected to the god name Heimdallr.[11]

Skjálf

'shaker'[3]

Nafnaþulur

Also the name the daughter of a Finnish king in Ynglinga saga. Due to necklace imagery in the Finnish Skjálf's tale (Freyja herself owns Brísingamen) a connection between the two names may exist.[12]

Sýr

'sow'[3]

Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál, Nafnaþulur

The pig was an important symbol of the Vanir and sacrificial practices (blót) associated with the group, particularly in association with Freyja and her brother Freyr.[13]

Thröng

'throng'[3]

Skáldskaparmál

Thrungva

'throng'[3]

Nafnaþulur

Valfreyja

'Lady of the Slain' or 'Freyja of the Slain'[3]

Skáldskaparmál

Vanadís

'the dís of the vanir'[3]

Skáldskaparmál

The name "van-child" ('child of the Vanir') for "boar" may be connected.[14]

Leveraging the accompanying table and the supporting text listed below.

State the answer to the question: What is the Old Norse word for the name meaning shining one , and described as the father of Dagr ? Return your answer as JSON: {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Use only the information given.

Old Norse was a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements from about the 9th to the 13th centuries . The Proto-Norse language developed into Old Norse by the 8th century , and Old Norse began to develop into the modern North Germanic languages in the mid- to late 14th century , ending the language phase known as Old Norse . These dates , however , are not absolute , since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century . Old Norse was divided into three dialects : Old West Norse , Old East Norse , and Old Gutnish . Old West and East Norse formed a dialect continuum , with no clear geographical boundary between them . For example , Old East Norse traits were found in eastern Norway , although Old Norwegian is classified as Old West Norse , and Old West Norse traits were found in western Sweden . Most speakers spoke Old East Norse in what is present-day Denmark and Sweden . Old Gutnish , the more obscure dialectal branch , is sometimes included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations . It developed its own unique features and shared in changes to both other branches . The 12th-century Icelandic Gray Goose Laws state that Swedes , Norwegians , Icelanders , and Danes spoke the same language , dǫnsk tunga ( Danish tongue ; speakers of Old East Norse would have said dansk tunga ) . Another term , used especially commonly with reference to West Norse , was norrœnt mál or norrǿnt mál ( Nordic/Northern speech ) . Today Old Norse has developed into the modern North Germanic languages Icelandic , Faroese ( both inherited cases from the language ) , Norwegian , Danish , and Swedish , of which Norwegian , Danish and Swedish retain considerable mutual intelligibility .
Gylfaginning ( Old Norse pronunciation [ ˈɟʏlvaˌɟɪnːɪŋg ] ; Icelandic pronunciation : ​ [ ˈcɪlvaˌcɪnːiŋk ] ; Tricking of Gylfi ; c. 20,000 words ) is the first part of Snorri Sturluson 's 13th century Prose Edda after Prologue . The Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Norse gods , and many other aspects of Norse mythology . The second part of the Prose Edda is called the Skáldskaparmál and the third Háttatal .
Nafnaþulur is a subsection of Snorri Sturluson 's Prose Edda , the last part of the Skáldskaparmál . It is a listing in verse of names that may be used in poetry for various items , such as gods , giants , people , animals , and weapons . The verses are not in all manuscripts of the Edda and appear independently , and are probably a later addition to Snorri 's original composition ; they may have been one of its sources . They are often omitted from editions and translations of the Edda .
In Norse mythology , Gefjon ( alternatively spelled Gefion or Gefjun ) is a goddess associated with ploughing , the Danish island of Zealand , the legendary Swedish king Gylfi , the legendary Danish king Skjöldr , foreknowledge , and virginity . Gefjon is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources ; the Prose Edda and Heimskringla , written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson ; in the works of skalds ; and appears as a gloss for various Greco-Roman goddesses in some Old Norse translations of Latin works . The Prose Edda and Heimskringla both report that Gefjon plowed away what is now lake Mälaren , Sweden , and with this land formed the island of Zealand , Denmark . In addition , the Prose Edda describes that not only is Gefjon a virgin herself , but that all who die a virgin become her attendants . Heimskringla records that Gefjon married the legendary Danish king Skjöldr and that the two dwelled in Lejre , Denmark . Scholars have proposed theories about the etymology the name of the goddess , connections to fertility and ploughing practices , the implications of the references made to her as a virgin , five potential mentions of the goddess in the Old English poem Beowulf ( parallelled by mentions in the Old Saxon poem Heliand ) , and potential connections between Gefjon and Grendel 's Mother and/or the goddesses Freyja and Frigg .
The Matres ( Latin mothers ) and Matronae ( Latin matrons ) were female deities venerated in Northwestern Europe , of whom relics are found dating from the first to the fifth century . They are depicted on votive offerings and altars that bear images of goddesses , depicted almost entirely in groups of three , that feature inscriptions ( about half of which feature Continental Celtic names and half of which feature Germanic names ) and were venerated in regions of Germania , Eastern Gaul , and Northern Italy ( with a small distribution elsewhere ) that were occupied by the Roman army from the first to the fifth century . Matres also appear on votive reliefs and inscriptions in other areas occupied by the Roman army , including southeast Gaul , as at Vertillum ; in Spain and Portugal , where some twenty inscriptions are known , among them several ones which include local epithets like a dedication to the Matribus Gallaicis to the Galician Mothers ; and also in the Romano-Celtic culture of Pannonia in the form of similar reliefs and inscriptions to the Nutrices Augustae , the august Nurses found in Roman sites of Ptuj , Lower Styria .
Flax ( Linum usitatissimum ) , also known as common flax or linseed , is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae . It is a food and fiber crop cultivated in cooler regions of the world . Textiles made from flax are known in the Western countries as linen , and traditionally used for bed sheets , underclothes , and table linen . Its oil is known as linseed oil . In addition to referring to the plant itself , the word flax may refer to the unspun fibers of the flax plant . The plant species is known only as a cultivated plant , and appears to have been domesticated just once from the wild species Linum bienne , called pale flax .
Härnösand is a locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County , Sweden with 17,556 inhabitants in 2010 . It is called the gate to the High Coast because of the world heritage landscape just a few miles north of Härnösand . Härnösand is the seat of the Diocese of Härnösand .
In Germanic paganism , a vé ( Old Norse ) or wēoh ( Old English ) is a type of shrine , sacred enclosure or other place with religious significance . The term appears in skaldic poetry and in place names in Scandinavia ( with the exception of Iceland ) , often in connection with an Old Norse deity or a geographic feature .
A troll is a class of being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore . In Old Norse sources , beings described as trolls dwell in isolated rocks , mountains , or caves , live together in small family units , and are rarely helpful to human beings . Later , in Scandinavian folklore , trolls became beings in their own right , where they live far from human habitation , are not Christianized , and are considered dangerous to human beings . Depending on the source , their appearance varies greatly ; trolls may be ugly and slow-witted , or look and behave exactly like human beings , with no particularly grotesque characteristic about them . Trolls are sometimes associated with particular landmarks , which at times may be explained as formed from a troll exposed to sunlight . Trolls are depicted in a variety of media in modern popular culture .
In Norse mythology , Dellingr ( Old Norse possibly the dayspring or shining one ) is a god . Dellingr is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources , and in the Prose Edda , written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson . In both sources , Dellingr is described as the father of Dagr , the personified day . The Prose Edda adds that , depending on manuscript variation , he is either the third husband of Nótt , the personified night , or the husband of Jörð , the personified earth . Dellingr is also attested in the legendary saga Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks . Scholars have proposed that Dellingr is the personified dawn and his name may appear both in an English surname and place name .
In Norse mythology , Heimdallr is a god who possesses the resounding horn Gjallarhorn , owns the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr , is called the shining god and the whitest of the gods , has gold teeth , and is the son of Nine Mothers ( who may represent personified waves ) . Heimdallr is attested as possessing foreknowledge , keen eyesight and hearing , and keeps watch for invaders and the onset of Ragnarök while drinking fine mead in his dwelling Himinbjörg , located where the burning rainbow bridge Bifröst meets the sky . Heimdallr is said to be the originator of social classes among humanity and once regained Freyja 's treasured possession Brísingamen while doing battle in the shape of a seal with Loki . Heimdallr and Loki are foretold to kill one another during the events of Ragnarök . Heimdallr is additionally referred to as Rig , Hallinskiði , Gullintanni , and Vindlér or Vindhlér . Heimdallr is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material ; in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla , both written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson ; in the poetry of skalds ; and on an Old Norse runic inscription found in England . Two lines of an otherwise lost poem about the god , Heimdalargaldr , survive . Due to the problematic and enigmatic nature of these attestations , scholars have produced various theories about the nature of the god , including his apparent relation to rams , that he may be a personification of or connected to the world tree Yggdrasil , and potential Indo-European cognates .
Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga , originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225 . It is the first section of his Heimskringla . It was first translated into English and published in 1844 by Samuel Laing . Snorri Sturluson based his work on an earlier Ynglingatal which is attributed to the Norwegian 9th-century skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir , and which also appears in Historia Norwegiae . It tells the most ancient part of the story of the House of Ynglings ( Scylfings in Beowulf ) . Snorri described the descent of the kings of Norway from this royal house of Sweden . Ynglinga saga is the first part of Snorri 's history of the ancient Norse kings , the Heimskringla . Snorri 's work covers the history of the Norwegian kings from the mythical prehistoric age until 1177 , with the death of the pretender Eystein Meyla . Interwoven in this narrative are references to important historical events . The saga deals with the arrival of the Norse gods to Scandinavia and how Freyr founded the Swedish Yngling dynasty at Uppsala . Then the saga follows the line of Swedish kings until Ingjald ( Ingjald illråde ) , after which the descendants settled in Norway and became the ancestors of the Norwegian King Harald Fairhair . In the initial stanzas of the poem , Asagarth is the capital of Asaland , a section of Asia to the east of the Tana-kvísl or Vana-Kvísl river ( kvísl is fork ) , which Snorri explains is the Tanais , or Don River , flowing into the Black Sea .
In Norse mythology , Brísingamen ( or Brísinga men ) is the torc or necklace of the goddess Freyja . The name is an Old Norse compound brísinga-men whose second element is men ( ornamental ) neck-ring ( of precious metal ) , torc . The etymology of the first element is uncertain . It has been derived from Old Norse brísingr , a poetic term for fire or amber mentioned in the anonymous versified word-lists ( þulur ) appended to many manuscripts of the Prose Edda , making Brísingamen gleaming torc , sunny torc , or the like . However , Brísingr can also be an ethnonym , in which case Brísinga men is torque of the Brísings ; the Old English parallel in Beowulf supports this derivation , though who the Brísings ( Old Norse Brísingar ) may have been remains unknown .
The wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) , also known as the wild swine , Common wild pig , or simply wild pig , is a suid native to much of the Americas , Eurasia , North Africa , and the Greater Sunda Islands . Human intervention has spread its distribution further , making the species one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world , as well as the most widely spread suiform . Its wide range , high numbers , and adaptability mean that it is classed as least concern by the IUCN and it has become an invasive species in part of its introduced range . The animal probably originated in Southeast Asia during the Early Pleistocene , and outcompeted other suid species as it spread throughout the Old World . As of 1990 , up to 16 subspecies are recognized , which are divided into four regional groupings based on skull height and lacrimal bone length . The species lives in matriarchal societies consisting of interrelated females and their young ( both male and female ) . Fully grown males are usually solitary outside the breeding season . The grey wolf , coyote , american alligator , jaguar , bobcat , lynx , cougar , and black bear , and brown bear is the wild boar 's main predators in the world , throughout most of its range , except in the Far East and the Lesser Sunda Islands , where it is replaced by the tiger , leopard , asiatic lion , and Komodo dragon , respectively . It has a long history of association with humans , having been the ancestor of most domestic pig breeds and a big-game animal for millennia . Boars have also re-hybridized in recent decades with feral pigs ; these boar-pig hybrids have become a serious pest wild animal in Australia , Canada , United States , and Mexico .
The second part of Snorri Sturluson 's Prose Edda the Skáldskaparmál ( Old Norse pronunciation : [ ˈskaldskaparˌmɒːl ] , Icelandic pronunciation : ​ [ ˈskaultskaparˌmauːl ] , language of poetry ; c. 50,000 words ) is effectively a dialogue between Ægir , the Norse god of the sea , and Bragi , the god of poetry , in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined . The origin of a number of kennings is given ; then Bragi delivers a systematic list of kennings for various people , places and things . He then goes on to discuss poetic language in some detail , in particular heiti , the concept of poetical words which are non-periphrastic ( like steed for horse ) , and again systematises these . This in a way forms an early form of poetic thesaurus .
In Norse mythology , the Vanir ( /ˈvɑːnɪr/ ; singular Vanr ) are a group of gods associated with nature , fertility , wisdom , and the ability to see the future . The Vanir are one of two groups of gods ( the other being the Æsir ) and are the namesake of the location Vanaheimr ( Old Norse Home of the Vanir ) . After the Æsir-Vanir War , the Vanir became a subgroup of the Æsir . Subsequently , members of the Vanir are sometimes also referred to as members of the Æsir . The Vanir are attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources ; the Prose Edda and Heimskringla , both written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson ; and in the poetry of skalds . The Vanir are only attested in these Old Norse sources . All sources describe the Njörðr , and his children Freyr and Freyja as members of the Vanir . A euhemerized prose account in Heimskringla adds that Njörðr 's sister - whose name is not provided - and Kvasir were Vanir . In addition , Heimskringla reports a tale involving king Sveigðir 's visit to Vanaheimr , where he meets a woman by the name of Vana and the two produce a child named Vanlandi ( whose name means Man from the Land of the Vanir ) . While not attested as Vanir , the gods Heimdallr and Ullr have been theorized as potential members of the group . In the Prose Edda , a name listed for boars is Van-child . Scholars have theorized that the Vanir may be connected to small pieces of gold foil found in Scandinavia at some building sites from the Migration Period to the Viking Age and occasionally in graves .
Blót is the term for sacrifice in Norse paganism . A blót could be dedicated to any of the Norse gods , the spirits of the land , and to ancestors . The sacrifice involved aspects of a sacramental meal or feast . The cognate term blōt or geblōt in Old English would have referred to comparable traditions in Anglo-Saxon paganism , and comparanda can also be reconstructed for the wider ( prehistoric ) Germanic Indo-European .
Freyr ( Old Norse : Lord ) , sometimes anglicized as Frey , is a widely attested god in Norse mythology , associated with sacral kingship , battle , virility , peace and prosperity , with sunshine and fair weather , and with good harvest . Freyr , sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr , was especially associated with Sweden and seen as an ancestor of the Swedish royal house . According to Adam of Bremen , Freyr was associated with peace and pleasure , and was represented with a phallic statue in the Temple at Uppsala . According to Snorri Sturluson , Freyr was the most renowned of the æsir , and was venerated for good harvest and peace . In the mythological stories in the Icelandic books the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda , Freyr is presented as one of the Vanir , the son of the sea god Njörðr , or Njord , as well as the twin brother of the goddess Freyja . The gods gave him Álfheimr , the realm of the Elves , as a teething present . He rides the shining dwarf-made boar Gullinbursti and possesses the ship Skíðblaðnir which always has a favorable breeze and can be folded together and carried in a pouch when it is not being used . Freyr is also known to have been associated with the horse cult . He also kept sacred horses in his sanctuary at Thrandheim in Norway . He has the servants Skírnir , Byggvir and Beyla . The most extensive surviving Freyr myth relates Freyr 's falling in love with the female jötunn Gerðr . Eventually , she becomes his wife but first Freyr has to give away his sword which fights on its own if wise be he who wields it .
In Norse mythology , a dís ( lady , plural dísir ) is a ghost , spirit or deity associated with fate who can be either benevolent or antagonistic towards mortals . Dísir may act as protective spirits of Norse clans . Their original function was possibly that of fertility goddesses who were the object of both private and official worship called dísablót , and their veneration may derive from the worship of the spirits of the dead . The dísir , like the valkyries , norns , and vættir , are almost always referred to collectively . The North Germanic dísir and West Germanic Idisi are believed by some scholars to be related due to linguistic and mythological similarities , but the direct evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Continental German mythology is limited . The dísir play roles in Norse texts that resemble those of fylgjur , valkyries , and norns , so that some have suggested that dísir is a broad term including the other beings .