Dain, Dwalin, Duneyr and Durathror

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The four deer in the leaves of Yggdrasil. Illustration by WG Collingwood , 1908.

Dain, Dwalin (also Dvalin or Dvalar ), Duneyr and Durathror are four deer in Norse mythology that belong to the animals on the world tree Yggdrasil .

swell

The deer are described in the song Edda in the song Grímnismál .

"Hirtir ero oc fiórir, þeirs af hæfingar á
gaghálsir gnaga:
Dáinn oc Dvalinn,
Duneyrr oc Duraþrór. [...]
Ascr Yggdrasils drýgir erfiði,
meira, enn menn viti;
hiortr bítr ofan, enn á hliðo fúnar,
scerðir Níðhǫggr neðan. "

“There are also four deer that
gnaw at the shoots [Yggdrasils] with curved necks :
Dainn and Dwalinn,
Duneyrr and Durathror. [...]
The Yggdrasil ash endures hardship,
more than is known;
the stag grazes above, and on the side it
rots , Nidhögg damaged below. "

- Grímnismál, Stophe 32, 35 (translation after Arnulf Krause)

In the Prose Edda , Snorri Sturluson repeats the description of verse 33 of the song Grímnismál in the Gylfaginning and then quotes verse 35. The bent necks are not mentioned, the shoot tips that the deer eat are leaves or needles, as the case may be as one translates old Norse barr , which can mean both.

"[...] en fjórir hirtir renna í limum asksins ok bíta barr. Þeir heita svá: Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, Duraþrór. "

“Four deer penetrate the branches [Yggdrasils] and bite off the leaves. Their names are Dainn, Dwalinn, Duneyrr and Durathror. "

- Snorri Sturluson, Prose-Edda: Gylfaginning, Chapter 16 (translation by Arnulf Krause)

Elsewhere in the Prose Edda , in the Skáldskaparmál , Snorri lists the four names as deer names.

In the Þulur three of these names are also called deer names. The stag Dwalin is missing, but the similar name Dvalar is found.

research

The idea of ​​the deer on the World Tree could, like the World Tree itself, go back to Indo-European times. There are also deer on the World Tree in Iranian depictions such as on the gold crown of Novocherkassk , where a tree is framed by two deer. According to another view, the deer on the World Tree are not an Indo-European heritage, but rather they go back to the influence of a high culture from the Middle East, which either directly or indirectly influenced Nordic mythology through Christianity . In Christianity in particular, the depiction of four deer on the four rivers of Paradise is a common motif.

The song Grímnismál mentions four deer names in verse 33, but according to verse 35, only one deer grazes up on the Yggdrasil ash tree. Since the tree Lärad , which is believed to be a variant of the Nordic world tree, also only mentions a deer (named Eikthyrnir ), it is therefore believed that originally only one deer belonged to the Nordic world tree. The concept of four would thus correspond to the multiplication of the dragon Nidhöggr , who dwells below Yggdrasil with a number of other snakes. That is why the name concept of the four deer is said to come from a later, i.e. medieval, period.

Dvalar from the Thulur is likely to be identical with Dwalin. It is also argued that Dvalar is the more original deer name as there is still a dwarf in Norse mythology called Dwalin . However, besides Dwalin there is also the dwarf Dain . It is not known whether there is a connection between the deer and the two dwarfs of the same name. There is a belief that dwarfs can use a deer robe to protect themselves from the sun's rays during the day, which they would otherwise turn to stone.

etymology

  • Dwalin, Old Norse Dvalinn , could go back to Old Norse dvala "to delay". One interpretation is therefore "the slow one, the sleeper".
  • Dvalar, Old Norse Dvalarr , probably comes as Dvalin of Old Norse DVALA , so that mean the same thing both names well.
  • Duneyr, old Norse Duneyrr , is difficult to interpret. One interpretation is “fire-goers”, another “dark ear”, another “the one with the brown or downy ears”.
  • The meaning of the name Durathror, Old Norse Duraþrór , is obscure. The word may be composed of Old Norse dura "slumber", durr "slumber" or major "silence" and Old Norse þrór " dwarf , boar , sword " or "prosperous" (see epithet Odins ). All combinations are possible. For example, "slumber boar" is suggested.

interpretation

Deer interpretations put their number four in the foreground. Accordingly, they could stand for the four main winds or, as dwarfs in deer form, represent the four cardinal points. They could just as well stand for the four seasons and symbolize the ever-renewing life. The eating away of the leaves of the World Tree is also interpreted as buds = hours, blossoms = days and branches = seasons.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lieder-Edda: Grímnismál, verse 32, 35. Text edition based on the Titus project, URL: http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/germ/anord/edda/edda.htm , accessed on April 9 2013
  2. ^ Translation and citation according to Arnulf Krause : Die Götter- und Heldenlieder der Älteren Edda. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 978-3-15-050047-7
  3. ^ Translation and citation after Arnulf Krause: The Edda of Snorri Sturluson. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 978-3-15-000782-2
  4. ↑ Þulur III 34 - Hjartar heiti = Snorri Sturluson: Prose Edda: Nafnaþulur Sækonungar, 96 - Hjörtr. The deer names are in this order: Hjörtr, dyraþrór, hliðr, eikþyrnir, duneyrr, dáinn, dvalarr, mótroðnir.
  5. ↑ Jan de Vries : Old Germanic history of religion, Volume 2: Religion of the North Germanic. Verlag Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin - Leipzig 1937, § 328
  6. ↑ Illustration by Michael Rostovtzeff : Iranians and Greeks in south Russia. 1922, plate 26, p. 137, online
  7. ^ Wilhelm Heizmann: Hirsch - Mythologisches. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde - Vol. 14. 2nd edition. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1999, ISBN 978-3-11-016423-7 , p. 604.
  8. ^ Henry Adams Bellows : The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems. Courier Dover Publications, 2004, ISBN 0-486-43710-8 , pp. 97 f., Notes 33, 35
  9. ^ A b c Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 82.
  10. ↑ John Lindow: Handbook of Norse Mythology. 2001, p. 99
  11. ↑ Lieder-Edda: Völuspá , verse 11 - Snorri Sturluson: Prosa-Edda: Gylfaginning , chapter 14
  12. ↑ a b Kveldulf Gundarsson : Teutonic Religion - Folk Beliefs & Practices of the Northern tradition. Llewellyn Publications Inc., 1993. Electronic Edition 2002, p. 9
  13. ↑ a b c d Gerhard Köbler : Old Norse dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2003, online ( Memento of the original from April 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / homepage.uibk.ac.at
  14. ↑ John Lindow: Handbook of Norse Mythology. 2001, p. 96
  15. ^ Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 68.
  16. ↑ a b Jan de Vries: Old Norse Etymological Dictionary. 2nd Edition. Brill Archive, keyword: dvala
  17. ↑ John Lindow: Handbook of Norse Mythology. 2001, p. 98, which indicates “delayed” as the meaning delayed .
  18. ↑ John Lindow: Handbook of Norse Mythology. 2001, p. 98: "The name appears to mean 'dark-ear'."
  19. ↑ Jan de Vries: Old Norse Etymological Dictionary. 2nd Edition. Brill Archive, keyword: Duneyrr - Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 81.
  20. ↑ Jan de Vries: Old Norse Etymological Dictionary. 2nd Edition. Brill Archive, keyword: Duraþrór - John Lindow: Handbook of Norse Mythology. 2001, p. 98
  21. ^ Friedrich David Gräter : Nordic flowers. Grafische Buchhandlung, 1789, p. 49 Online
  22. ↑ Hansferdinand Döbler: The Germanic peoples. Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1992 (based on the edition of C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1975), ISBN 978-3-8112-0935-0 , p. 140 (keyword: Hirsche)