Ægir

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Aegir_Molin.jpgÆgir (1866) by J. P. Molin. ([WWW]©)Ægir (also: Ägir, Aegir, Oegir; Old Norse: "sea"1) is a figure in Nordic mythology who is closely identified with and possibly a personification of the sea.2

  1. Etymology
  2. Characterization
  3. Heiti
    1. Gymir
    2. Hlér
  4. Kennings
  5. Place Names
  6. Suggested Survivals
    1. Éagor
    2. Âgez
    3. Ecke
  7. Comparisons
  8. Portrayals in Popular Culture
  9. Notes
  10. References
  11. External Links

Etymology

The name Ægir is thought to be connected with Proto-Germanic *ahwō, Latin aqua "water".3 In Old Norse, the term denotes both the mythological figure as well as the sea, though it remains unclear which of the two meanings arose first.4 As a descriptive euphemism, Ægir has been interpreted to mean either "Man of the Waters"5 or "Master of the Sea"6

An alternative etymology begins with the form Oegir,7 believed to be derived from Old Norse œgja "terror".8 This has been traced back to Proto-Germanic *agis "fear, terror" and related to Proto-Germanic *agwi, Sanskrit ahi, Greek ἐχις and ὄφις "serpent, snake".9

Characterization

Aegir_Winge.jpgÄger och Ran samt deras nio döttrar (1898) by M.E. Winge. ([WWW]©)Ægir is said to host sumbels or celebratory feasts in his hall which all the gods attend.10 The Lokasenna relates that the hall is illuminated with glittering gold instead of fire,11 that the ale pours itself, and that the peace (Old Norse: griðastaðr) experienced there is great.12 The Hymiskviða13 provides a description of the scene at such a feast:

Näcken_och_Ägirs_döttrar.jpgNäcken och Ägirs döttrar (1850) by N.J.O. Blommér. ([WWW]©)Ægir is also said to be the husband of the sea-goddess Rán (Old Norse: "Thief"),16 with whom he fathered nine daughters, the names of which appear to be poetic descriptions of waves.17 It is commonly assumed that Ægir's daughters are also the mothers of Heimdall18 despite the fact that the names of Heimdall's mothers given in the Hyndluljóð19 do not correspond to those given for Ægir's daughters in the Skáldskaparmál.20 The latter records their names as follows:

Both the Skáldskaparmál32 and the Lokasenna33 report that, in addition to his wife and daughters, Ægir had two þjónustumenn or servants: Fimafengr (Old Norse: "Swift Handler"34 or "Five-Finger"35), who was later killed by Loki, and Eldir (Old Norse: "Man of Fire"36 or "Fire-Kindler"37).

Heiti

Ægir is referred to by at least two other names in the skaldic and Eddic tradition of heiti.

Gymir

In the prose prologue of the Lokasenna, Ægir is explicitly identified with Gymir,38 and in his Skáldskaparmál, Snorri Sturluson strengthens this identification by quoting a verse from the 11th century skald Refr:39

The Thulur lists Gymir both under the heiti for "sea" and under the heiti for "jötunn", and it is commonly assumed that Gymir as a heiti for Ægir and the jötunn Gymir, the father of Gerðr, are two entirely different figures.42

Hlér

In the narrative framework of Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál, which has been noted as being strongly reminiscent of the narrative framework of the same author's Gylfaginning,43 Ægir is identified as a man named Hlér (Old Norse: "sea")44 living on the island of Hlésey (lit: "Hlér's Isle"):

The identification of Ægir with Hlér is strengthened by the existence of early skaldic kennings which seem to equate the two.48 In the section of the Flateyjarbók entitled Hversu Noregr Byggðist, it is related that Hlér had special command over the sea:

This genealogy, continuing in the Flateyjarbók for several more generations, is thought to represent what was originally a genealogy of the jötunn and then recast in the Middle Ages as part of Norway's prehistory.51 Along with his brothers Logi (Old Norse: "fire") and Kári (Old Norse: "wind"), Ægir or Hlér would thus appear to be a personification of an elemental force of nature, i.e. the sea itself.52

Kennings

Sea_Sunset.jpgÆgir was connected with kennings for both the sea and gold. ([WWW]©)The Skáldskaparmál records several kennings which refer to Ægir, all of which are of the genitive phrase type. The first group of kennings appear in Skáldskaparmál 25 for the term sea:

The second group of kennings appear in Skáldskaparmál 32 for the term gold:

Place Names

The river Eider in present-day Germany was referred to as Egidora, Agadora or Aegidora in the 8th and 9th centuries.59 This name is considered cognate to Old Norse Oegisdyr "sea door", and was originally applied to the estuary where the river meets the North Sea.60 The ambiguity of the term œgir in this context has led to the alternate interpretation of Oegisdyr as "the gate through which one approaches the hall of Oegir".61 The Anglo-Saxons and the Frisians referred to the same river as Fîfeldor "giant’s gate". 62 This, in addition to the appearance of the phrase fîfelcynnes eard "land of the ocean sprites" in Beowulf, led Jacob Grimm and others to assume Fîfel as another name for Ægir.63

Suggested Survivals

The 19th century saw several attempts to document survivals of the figure of Ægir in later Germanic cultures. The credibility of these suggested survivals remains unclear.

Éagor

Jacob Grimm made note of what he believed to be the remains of a cult of Éagor in England, quoting Thomas Carlyle, who wrote: "To this day [1866], on our river Trent, as I learn, the Nottingham bargemen, when the river is in a certain flooded state (a kind of backwater, or eddying swirl it has, very dangerous to them), call it Eager; they cry out, 'Have a care, there is the eager coming!' ... The oldest Nottingham bargemen had believed in the God Aegir."64

Âgez

Karl Simrock, Nikolaus Hocker and Franz Müller proposed that the name and figure of Âgez,65 the "master thief" appearing in the work of several medieval German poets (most notably that of Reinmar von Zweter), is a derivation of Ægir as the thieving sea,66 and Wilhelm Müller identified him as the personification of the storm.67 Karl Müllenhoff disagreed, however, arguing that Âgez is the personification of forgetfulness (presumably from Old High German âgezôn "forget").68

Ecke

Scholars including Jacob Grimm, Clemens Friedrich Meyer, Karl Simrock and Robert Ferguson proposed that the name and figure of Ecke as recorded in the Middle High German Heldenbuch is a survival of Ægir.69 Grimm further noted a parallel in characteristics between the three brothers Ægir/Hlér, Kári and Loge in the Old Norse tradition and the three brothers Ecke, Fasolt and Abentrot in the Heldenbuch.70

Comparisons

Ægir is often compared with figures from other systems of mythology. Due to his functional characteristic as lord of the sea, he has been referred to with epithets such as "the Scandinavian Poseidon",71 "the Poseidon of the North",72 and "the Neptune of Northern Mythology".73 As Hlér, Ægir has also been compared with Llŷr of Welsh and Lêr of Irish mythology.74 Other figures with which Ægir has been connected include the Vedic Ahi,75 the Greek Oceanus and the Finnish Ahti or Ahto.76

Portrayals in Popular Culture

Ægir appears in the epic poem Nordens Guder by Danish poet Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger.77 Ægir is also the name and subject of a poem by Frederick Morgan.78

Notes

References

External Links


Categories: Mythological Figures
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