Glæsisvellir

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As Glæsisvellir ( Old Norse : glittering plains), an area in Jötunheim (Riesenheim) is referred to in Norse mythology , which is mentioned in some stories such as the Bósa saga ok Herrauðs or the Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs . Guðmundr was the name of the king of this land.

background

About Guðmundr von Glæsisvellir is reported in some Forndaldarsögur (prehistoric sagas from the 14th to 15th centuries). Here he is described as a powerful pagan ruler of an empire of giants ( Jötunn ). In the Hervarar saga (saga of Hervör, a female warrior disguised as a man) there is talk of a place called "Ódáinsakr" (field of the undying ~ field of immortality). It is said of Guðmundr that he resided as King of Jotunheim in an area called Glæsisvellir. Guðmundr died after living for 500 years and was subsequently worshiped like a god. In the Bósa saga he is also given as the ruler of Glæsisvellir.

“It is said that in ancient times there was a country in the north in Finnmark called Jotunheim […] Gudmund was the name of a king in Jotunheim. His homeland was called Grund and his country Glasisvellir. He was a big believer in the old gods. He was a wise and powerful man, and very old, and so were all of his men, as if they lived several normal lifetimes. For this reason, the pagans believe that in his realm, the Óðains-acre [land of the non-dead], there is a place where everyone who gets there heals, as sickness and old age disappear from them and they no longer die. "

- Hervarar saga og Heiðreks, chapters 5–6.

The Glæsisvellir and the Ódáinsakr find an exact counterpart in the traditions of Irish literature of the early and high Middle Ages and are likely to be based on a Viking Age reception of these Irish motifs by Scandinavian settlers who were on their way to Iceland on the British Isles with the relevant Irish Legend motifs had come into contact.

literature

  • Matthias Egeler: Avalon, 66 ° North. On early history and the reception of a myth. (= Supplementary volumes to the Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 95), Berlin - Boston: de Gruyter 2015.
  • Viktor Rydberg , Rasmus Bj Anderson: Teutonic Mythology - Gods and Goddesses of the Northland. Lightning Source UK Ltd, ISBN 978-1-245-17702-3 .
  • Wilhelm Heizmann : Hvanndalir - Glæsisvellir - Avalon. Traditional hikes in the north and north-west of Europe. in: Early Medieval Studies. de Gruyter, Berlin 2010, ISSN  1613-0812 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gods and Goddesses of the Northland. from books.google.de, accessed April 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ King Guðmundr of Glæsisvellir. on germanicmythology.com, accessed April 2, 2013.
  3. ^ Matthias Egeler: Avalon, 66 ° North. de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2015.
  4. ^ Matthias Egeler: Celtic Influences in Germanic Religion: a survey . Utz, Munich 2013, p. 122-126 .