Mime (blacksmith)
Mime , also Mimir , is a blacksmith from the saga with mythical features.
In the German heroic songs of the Middle Ages, the blacksmith was consistently called mime. In a Norse translation, the Thidrek saga , however, his name is Mimir , like a giant in Norse mythology . Probably both do not go back to the same mythical figure. The blacksmithing trade is not typical for a giant and suggests a dwarf nature of Mimes. However, there is no ultimate certainty.
The contexts in which mime appears are mythical. Blacksmiths were considered to be knowledgeable and capable of magic in German superstition. “The metal swords, initially only in the possession of a few because of their high value, were considered endowed with secret powers because of their superiority over the preceding stone axes; therefore gods and god beings appear as their producers, and blacksmithing is magic. "
In the Nordic Thidrek saga , Mimir Sigfrit (Siegfried) and Velent (Wieland) are apprentices. As a result, Velent forges a sword and names it Mimungr / Minnungr after his teacher. The Thiddrek saga is an Old Norse tradition of Low German heroic songs from the Dietrich von Bern saga . The oldest surviving manuscript in the saga dates from the 13th century.
The German heroic epic Biterolf and Dietleib , which also dates from the 13th century, tells the story of the blacksmith Mime, "a smidemeister guot" who lives near Toledo . His apprentice Wielant forges a sword called Mimminc 'Miming'.
In the 12th century Saxo Grammaticus mentions the Danish forest spirit Mimingus, "Mimingo silvarum Satyro", who owns a sword, a bracelet and wonderful jewelry.
In his operas Rheingold and Siegfried, Richard Wagner draws on the Nordic heroic song tradition, but calls the blacksmith Mime. In it he is also the brother of the dwarf king Alberich .
Individual evidence
- ^ Francois Xaver Dillmann: Mimir. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Eds.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , Vol. 20. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 2001, ISBN 3-11-017163-5 , p. 40.
- ↑ Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli (Ed.): Concise dictionary of German superstition . Vol. 9, Col. 257-258.
- ↑ Thiddrek Saga 84, 105-107
- ↑ Biterolf and Dietleib 124–179
- ^ Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum . 3.2.5-6.