Nyi and Nidi

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Nyi and Nidi are the names of two dwarfs in Norse mythology who are associated with the phases of the moon. In the Völuspá's catalog of dwarfs , the Dverga Valley , they are named as the first in the dwarf series. As earth dwarfs, they belong to the Modsognir family of dwarfs . Their names are also used in the Þulur as dwarf names.

There is a connection to the phases of the moon if one understands their names as speaking names. Nyi and Nidi, Old Norse Nýi ok Niði , are derived from Old Norse ný ' new moon ' and Old Norse nið 'new moon, waning moon.'. Strictly speaking, however, ný denotes the phase of the renewing, waxing moon up to the full moon, while nið means the phase of the waning moon up to the new moon. Thus, the dwarf names could also be translated as 'the new light' and 'the fading light'.

The gods gave the moon phases to humans to calculate the year. Mani , the moon god, guides the course of the moon and determines the full moon and new moon. It is not known what the dwarves' task was. Possibly they were personifications of the phases of the moon. Perhaps behind the name is the idea that the two dwarfs were born in the corresponding phases of the moon.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lieder-Edda : Völuspá 11 - Prose-Edda : Gylfaginning 14. - Citation of the Lieder-Edda according to Arnulf Krause: Die Götter- und Heldenlieder der Älteren Edda. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-15-050047-8 . Citation of the Prose Edda after Arnulf Krause: The Edda of Snorri Sturluson. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-15-000782-8 .
  2. ↑ Þulur III 40 Dverga heiti, verses 1 and 2
  3. ↑ Jan de Vries: Old Norse Etymological Dictionary. 2nd Edition. Brill Archive, S. 412 = Gerhard Köbler: Old Norse Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2003, p. 62. Online .
  4. ↑ Jan de Vries: Old Norse Etymological Dictionary. 2nd Edition. Brill Archive, p. 409 = Gerhard Köbler: Old Norse dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2003, p. 59. Online .
  5. ^ Walter Baetke: Dictionary of Norse prose literature. 1st & 2nd edition. In digital version, Greifswald 2006, pp. 444, 448: nið 'new moon' actually means 'waning moon' and ný 'full moon' (!) Actually means 'the renewing, waxing moon'.
  6. ↑ Jacob Grimm : German Mythology. 3 volumes. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-86539-143-8 , p. 534 (reprint of the 4th edition. Berlin 1875-78) (p. 592 in the old print).
  7. ↑ Lieder-Edda: Vafþrúðnismál 25.
  8. ^ Prose Edda: Gylfaginning 11.
  9. ^ Edgar C. Polomé: Notes on the dwarfs in Germanic tradition. In: Einar Ingvald Haugen, Einar Haugen, Stig Eliasson, Ernst Håkon Year: Language and Its Ecology: Essays in Memory of Einar Haugen. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1997, ISBN 3-11-014688-6 , p. 443. Online excerpt.
  10. ^ Edgar C. Polomé: Notes on the dwarfs in Germanic tradition. In: Einar Ingvald Haugen, Einar Haugen, Stig Eliasson, Ernst Håkon Year: Language and Its Ecology: Essays in Memory of Einar Haugen. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1997, ISBN 3-11-014688-6 , p. 443 with reference to Gottfried Lorenz : Snorri Sturluson - Gylfaginning - texts, translation, commentary. Scientific Book Society, Wiesbaden 1984, p. 220.