Goin and Moin

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Goin and Moin , also Goinn and Moinn or Old Norse Góinn ok Móinn , are two snakes in Norse mythology that live together with other snakes and the snake-like dragon Nidhöggr under the world tree Yggdrasil .

swell

In addition to Nidhöggr and Goinn and Moinn, the song Grímnismál lists four or five other snakes that dwell under the world ash and gnaw at their roots. Grafvitnir is named as the father of the two.

"Ormar fleiri liggja
and aski Yggdrasils,
en þat of hyggi hverr ósviðra apa:
Góinn ok Móinn,
þeir ro Grafvitnis synir,
Grábakr ok Grafvölluðr,
Ófnir ok Sváfnir,
hygg ek, at
ðs kyli mei

“There are more snakes
under the Yggdrasill ash
than any foolish fool would believe;
Goinn and Moinn,
they are Grafwitnir's sons,
Grabak and Grafwöllud;
Ofnir and Swafnir;
I mean that they will always
eat the branches of the tree. "

- Grímnismál 34 (translation by Arnulf Krause)

Snorri Sturluson quotes this passage from the Grímnismál in the Prose Edda and adds:

"En svá margir ormar eru í Hvergelmi með Níðhögg,
at engi tunga má telja."

"There are so many snakes in Hwergelmir near Nidhögg
that she can't count a tongue."

- S NORRI S TURLUSON : Prose-Edda: Gylfaginning Chapter 16 (translation by Arnulf Krause)

According to both traditions, the whereabouts of the snakes are below Yggdrasil . Snorri Sturluson gives the source Hvergelmir as a more detailed location. This does not conflict with the song Grímnismál , since according to its cosmogonic concept the Hvergelmir spring is located below one of the roots of Yggdrasil.

In his poetic language , the Skáldskaparmál , Snorri Sturluson lists all the snake names with the exception of Grafwöllud a second time. All names are also listed in the Þulur as Heiti for snakes. That is, a poet could use the names as another word for snake.

research

The snakes under Yggdrasil are the Nordic echo of an Indo-European , mythical world model, according to which a snake lives at the foot of the tree of life and an eagle in the branches. Since not much more than the mere name has been passed on about these northern snakes, nothing more can be said about them than what results from the interpretation of their names.

  • Goinn, Old Norse Góinn ( [goːinː] , with a long o and a long n ), perhaps means "land animal".
  • Moinn, old Norse Móinn ( [moːinː] ), probably means “bog animal”. The name of the Danish island of Møn could be related to the name Móinsheimar " Home of Móinn".
  • Grafwitnir, Old Norse Grafvitnir , the father of Goinn and Moinn: his name is almost impossible to understand. He is interpreted as "wolf living in a pit", "pit wolf", "gnawing wolf" or "grave creature".
  • Grabak, Old Norse Grábakr , is the "gray back". The name can also be found in a skald poem of the 11th century as a synonym for the ship Ormr inn langi , which gives the snakes another reference to water.
  • Grafwöllud, Old Norse Grafvölluðr , is again difficult to translate. Perhaps the name means "field rodent", "field digger" or "the one who digs underground". Perhaps one should also read the name Grafvöluðr as "the ruler in the pit".
  • Ofnir, Old Norse Ófnir , means "the writhing one " or "the confused one" and is also one of Odin's nicknames .
  • Swafnir, in Old Norse Sváfnir , is the "sleeper" or "who puts you to sleep (ie death?)". This name is also one of Odin's nicknames.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lieder-Edda: Grímnismál. 34. Text edition based on the Titus Project, URL: http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/germ/anord/edda/edda.htm , accessed on December 21, 2009
  2. ↑ Branches seem to be used here as heiti of roots. Compare Arthur Häny: The Edda. (Translation). 3. Edition. Manesse Verlag, Zurich 1989, ISBN 978-3-71751-731-3 , p. 553
  3. ^ Translation and citation according to Arnulf Krause : Die Götter- und Heldenlieder der Älteren Edda. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 978-3-15050-047-7 .
  4. ↑ Text output according to CyberSamurai Encyclopedia of Norse Mythology, URL: Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 21, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cybersamurai.net
  5. ^ Translation and citation after Arnulf Krause: The Edda of Snorri Sturluson. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 978-3-15000-782-2
  6. ^ A b c Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic mythology. 3. Edition. 2006, p. 145
  7. ^ Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic mythology. 3. Edition. 2006, p. 288
  8. ↑ Klaus von See: Commentary on the songs of the Edda. Verlag C. Winter, Heidelberg 1997, Volume 4, p. 147
  9. ↑ Jan de Vries: Old Norse Etymological Dictionary. 2nd Edition. Brill Archive, keyword: grafa - grafvitnir
  10. ^ A b c Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic mythology. 3. Edition. 2006, p. 149
  11. ↑ a b c d Henry Adams Bellows: The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems. Courier Dover Publications, 2004, ISBN 978-0-486-43710-1 , p. 98, note 34
  12. ↑ a b Jesse L. Byock: The prose Edda: Norse mythology. Penguin, 2005, ISBN 978-0-14-044755-2 , p. 163
  13. ^ Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic mythology. 3. Edition. 2006, p. 327
  14. ^ Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic mythology. 3. Edition. 2006, p. 399