Fimbulwinter
The Fimbulwinter (from Old Norse Fimbulvetr , "huge winter") is in Norse mythology the first of the four eschatological catastrophes that lead to the downfall of the gods, called Ragnarök .
It is an ice age with three severe winters, with no summer in between, with snow, freezing frost and icy storms. There is speculation that climate change, which began in Scandinavia at the end of the Nordic Bronze Age , founded the legend of the Fimbulwinter. Other authors suspect a connection with the weather anomaly of 535/536 and the following years or the eruptions of the Eldgjá in Iceland in the years 939 and 940. The latter thesis is supported by the greater temporal proximity to the time around 1000, in which the content of the Ragnarök based on current knowledge. Possibly it reflects the experiences of Icelandic settlers.
While Snorri Sturluson mentions the Fimbulwinter in the Prose Edda as a prelude to Ragnarök, it is used as a synonym for the end of the world in the Wafthrudnir song of the Lieder Edda. Nowadays, the term Fimbulwinter in Scandinavian countries colloquially describes an exceptionally cold and harsh winter.
literature
- The large Bertelsmann Lexicon Library. 1967 edition. Volume 2: Can – Frl, C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Gütersloh 1967, column 1197, article "Fimbulwinter"
- Brockhaus encyclopedia in twenty-four volumes. Nineteenth, completely revised edition. Seventh volume: EX-FRT, FA Brockhaus GmbH, Mannheim 1988, ISBN 3-7653-1107-3 , DNB 880936584, page 299, article "Fimbulwinter"
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bo Gräslund and Neil Price: Twilight of the gods? The 'dust veil event' of AD 536 in critical perspective . In: Antiquity . tape 86 , no. 332 , January 2012, doi : 10.1017 / S0003598X00062852 ( Html ).
- ↑ Mathias Nordvig and Felix Riede: Are There Echoes of the ad 536 event in the Viking Ragnarok Myth? A critical appraisal . In: Environment and History . August 2018, doi : 10.3197 / 096734018X15137949591981 .