Urdbrunnen

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Urdbrunnen , also Urdsbrunnen ( Old Norse urðarbrunnr "source of the Urd" or "fateful source"), denotes a source in Norse mythology . The name is used in Skaldik from the 10th century, as well as in Eddic literature . More detailed information on the Urdbrunnen can only be found in the Eddata texts, especially in the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson .

The source then rises under the roots of the world tree Yggdrasil . The three Norns , who are considered to be her guardians, especially Urd, come from her . Every day the three throw the damp spring sand over the world ash to protect it. The water is so sacred that everything in contact with it becomes white. Two birds called “swans” swim in the spring, from which all animals of this name are descended. At the source is the place of justice of the gods and the seat of the Thuls, that is a poet or orator, perhaps here as a name for Odin . In Eddic literature, two other sources are mentioned which, according to Snorri Sturluson, are also due to Yggdrasil's roots, namely Hvergelmir and Mimir's well .

Most of the research is of the opinion that urðarbrunnr originally did not mean “source of the Urd”, but rather stood for “source of fate”, so that the name only passed to the Norne Urd in the high Middle Ages . As a source of fate, however, it only shows the fact that the three Norns are the women of fate and Urd's name literally means "fate".

It can be assumed that the three sources at the foot of Yggdrasil are merely different versions of the same mythical source on the World Tree, which is often attested in Eurasian mythologies.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Compare Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 452, who does not write Urdbrunnen as traditionally, but is grammatically more correct with genitive fugues-s Urd s brunnen.
  2. ^ A b Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 452.
  3. ↑ Lieder-Edda : Völuspá . Verse 19 (citation of the Lieder-Edda after Arnulf Krause: Die Götter- und Heldenlieder der Älteren Edda. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-15-050047-8 )
  4. ^ Snorri Sturluson : Prose-Edda , Gylfaginning . Chapter 15 (Citation of the prose Edda after Arnulf Krause: Die Edda des Snorri Sturluson. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-15-000782-8 )
  5. ^ Snorri Sturluson: Prose-Edda, Gylfaginning. Chapter 16
  6. ↑ Lieder-Edda: Hávamál . Verse 111 (nominative: Thulr)
  7. ↑ Jan de Vries: Old Germanic history of religion. 2nd Edition. 1957, § 585
  8. ^ Snorri Sturluson: Prose Edda. Gylfaginning. Chapter 15
  9. ^ Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 307; Bernhard Maier : The religion of the Teutons - gods, myths, worldview. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2003, p. 62; Gerd Wolfgang Weber: Wyrd - studies on the concept of fate of the Old English and Old Norse nature. Verlag Gehlen, Bad Homburg / Berlin / Zurich 1969, p. 151 f.
  10. ↑ René LM Derolez: Gods and myths of the Germanic peoples. Verlag Suchier & Englisch, Wiesbaden 1974 (translated by Julie von Wattenwyl, title of the original edition: De Godsdienst der Germanen. Verlag JJ Romen & Zonen, Roermond 1959), p. 271; Rudolf Simek: Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X , p. 211; compare also Jan de Vries: Old Germanic Religious History. 2nd Edition. 1957, § 585; critical: Francois Xaver Dillmann: Mimir. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Volume 20. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2001, ISBN 3-11-017163-5 , p. 40 f.