Waberlohe
The Waberlohe ( called vafrlogi in Old Norse texts ) is an almost impenetrable, ring-shaped closed fire wall in Germanic mythology .
In the legend of Brünhild, for example, the castle in which the Valkyrie , who has been put into a magical sleep, is surrounded by the Waberlohe, until Siegfried ( Sigurd ) finally manages to penetrate it and thus reaches Brünhild.
In Eddic poetry , the Waberlohe, in which the female hero figures are enclosed and which can only be penetrated with the help of particularly suitable horses, appears several times.
The motif can be found in Skírnismál 8, when Skírnir crosses the Waberlohe on the way to Gerðr . In "Skirnir's journey" it says (after Simrock) in the eighth stanza:
" Give me your swift steed that will lead me safely
through the flickering flame "
The motif can also be found in Fjölsvinnsmál 31, in which Menglöð is surrounded by a Waberlohe that the hero Svipdagr has to pass through.
The motif also appears in the Völsunga saga . In the 29th chapter Sigurd manages to ride through the Waberlohe that surrounds Brynhild's residence.
Jacob Grimm finally established a connection between the legendary figure Brynhild, who was enclosed by the Waberlohe, and the fairytale figure Sleeping Beauty .
See also
Web links
- Notes in: "Die Edda" by Karl Simrock, Stuttgart 1876
Individual evidence
- ↑ Waberlohe , duden.de
- ↑ on page 234: "Heineman proposes that Brynhildr already knows that Sigurðr has married Guðrún at the point when she sets the condition that only the man who rides through the vafrlogi is worthy of her." in: Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir The Origins, Development and Interpretation of the Maiden-King Narrative , academia.edu
- ↑ Skîrnisför , The Edda (Simrock 1876)
- ↑ Older Edda - Fiölsvinnsmâl , The Edda (Simrock 1876)
- ↑ Part 8 , The Saga of the Völsungen
- ^ Jacob Grimm: About the burning of the corpses , page 54 , Berlin 1849