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Disen ( an . Nom. Sg. Dís ; Pl. Dísir ) are female mythical beings in Norse mythology, whose character cannot be precisely determined. Modern science suspects lower vegetation deities in them . Sometimes a connection with the old Germanic matron cult and the Anglo-Saxon festival modraniht " Mother's Night " is suspected, which was celebrated in winter.

Essence

Old Norse sources describe the Disen as midwives, personal guardian spirits of individual persons or entire clans, and slaughter assistants as well as heralds of approaching death, even as women who bring death. This brings the Disen close to the Norns , Fylgjen and Valkyries . Besides that, dís can also just mean "woman".

In late medieval Iceland, it was customary to see the souls of deceased women in the Disen, one of the foundations of Icelandic popular belief.

cult

The Disen enjoyed cultic veneration in Scandinavia. Many Norwegian and Swedish place names go back to the Disenglauben, for example Disin (»Disenwiese«), Diseberg, Disevid (»Disenwald«), Disasen.

Dísablót

The Dísablót (»Disenopfer«) was a nightly sacrificial festival in autumn or at the beginning of winter, with a banquet and beer feast, which was celebrated in Norway ( Víga-Glúms saga 6; Egils saga 44). In the Swedish Uppsala , a center of Ynglingen , a Disentempel was (at. Dísarsalr : Ynglinga saga 33). The Ynglingatal reports how the Yngling king Adils fell to his death during a festive tour of this sanctuary.

Disting

The Disting (aschwed. Disaþing ) was a Swedish festival, the beginning of February, more specifically to the full moon the new moon after the rough nights rises, was held in Uppsala. The exact dating rule is: När trettondags nyt i fylle gå, då disating i Uppsala står , which in German means something like: When the thirteenth day of the new moon becomes a full moon, then Disting is in Uppsala. The festival is likely to have been comparable in essence to the carnival .

etymology

The etymology of the word is not explained. In addition is pulled Skt . dhiśanā " woman of the gods" and at the root dhaya- "suckle". Since the word dís also means »woman«, a possible connection with ahd . itis suspected, whereby the initial vowel remains unexplained.

Idisen

In the first Merseburg Incantations mentioned idisi that intervene in acts of war, are often associated with the Nordic Disen in conjunction. The battlefield Idistaviso mentioned by Tacitus was interpreted by Jacob Grimm as * idisiaviso "women's meadow" and also connected with the Idisen and the Nordic Valkyries.

literature

  • Bernhard Maier : The religion of the Teutons . Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-50280-6 .
  • Robert Nedoma: On the first Merseburg spell. In: "insprinc haptbandun". Lectures of the colloquium on the Merseburg magic spells at the XI. Symposium of the Indo-European Society in Halle / Saale (September 17-23, 2000). Heiner Eichner, Robert Nedoma (Eds.). Published in: The Language. Journal of Linguistics. Wiener Sprachgesellschaft, Volume 42, Issue 1/2. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2001. ISSN  0376-401X
  • Rudolf Simek : Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 368). Kröner, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-520-36801-3 .