Vili

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Odin, Vili and Vé lift the land out of the Ginnungagap , illustration by Lorenz Frølich

Vili , also Wili ( Old Norse Vili "will"), is the brother of Odin , the supreme god, and of Vé , with whom he is always mentioned , in Norse mythology .

The Icelander Snorri Sturluson (13th century) reports in his Prose Edda that the three brothers are descended from the giantess Bestla and from Borr , whom Buri sired. Since they kill the prehistoric giant Ymir and build the world from his body parts, they are the creators of the world. At the end of the work of creation, they create the first humans named Ask and Embla . In addition, Snorri tells in his work Heimskringla in the Ynglinga saga that Vili and Vé take over Odin's rule during a long absence and share his wife Frigg because they believe he will not come back. Their reign finally ends with the return of Odin.

With this, Snorri outlines all the myths in which Vili and Vé are at all significant. Other sources in Norse mythology attest to the brotherhood of the three gods. Likewise the descent of Odin from Burr (Borr) and Bestla. The sources also agree that Vili and Vé are co-creators of the world, but the Völuspá seems to describe a world creation model that is not based on the killing of Ymir. After her, Burr's sons lifted the country out of the Ginnungagap, in which some important voices in research see a creation of the world from the primordial sea, as it is typical for many mythologies of Eurasia. The creation of the first humans in the Völuspá is carried out in clear contradiction by Odin, Hönir and Lodur . It is assumed that in Snorri's work deliberate interventions in the myths come to the fore, with the aim of clearing up contradictions between the individual myths. Apparently, Snorri couldn't do much with creating the world out of water, he simply ignores the relevant information. He evidently equated the trinity of the creators of the world under the leadership of Odin with the trinity of creators of men, who are also led by Odin.

Overall, the Nordic myths of Vili and Vé paint a rather pale picture. They are hardly mentioned and do not have a life of their own unrelated to Odin. Their names are easy to translate, but they do not express anything that would be echoed in myths. In the older research there were therefore some voices who said that Vili and Vé, based on the Christian trinity, were introduced into Norse mythology late. This means that they neither belonged to folk mythology nor are of pagan origin. But Odin's brothers almost certainly date back to ancient Germanic times, since the names of the three brothers originally formed a W- alliteration , which only disintegrated in Nordic times, when * Wodanaz changed to Odin. Among the Nordic gods, Odin is also the god who prefers to appear in the context of triads. This is also not uncommon, as there are several cases among the Indo-European peoples in which the supreme god is surrounded by two brothers.

Although Buri is only attested in Snorri, the ancestry series »Buri → Burr → three sons« is based on an old genealogical model. In the Germania of Tacitus , in a comparable situation with »Tuisto → Mannus → three sons«, the same ancestry pattern appears. Here, too, there are Indo-European, but also non-Indo-European parallels.

The most significant myth of Vili and Vé is that of the seizure of power during Odin's absence. This myth also seems to have a great age. In Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum , two other absences of Othin (Odin) are cited, although in different contexts, but it can be deduced from this that Odin probably did not go voluntarily, as Snorri put into the room, but that he was probably banished. This is strongly reminiscent of ancient Indian, Greek and Sumerian myths, in which the brothers (or sons) of the supreme god overthrow him and usurp the rule.

A Celtic parallel can be found in the Welsh myth of Math and his two rival nephews Gwydyon and Gilfaethwy , which has been handed down in the Mabinogion . If one equates the two stories with one another, it follows that part of the myth would have been lost in the Nordic tradition, according to which a son emerged from adultery, who in Nordic mythology could not be anyone other than Balder .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ For example, Arnulf Krause: The songs of gods and heroes of the Elder Edda. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 978-3-15050-047-7 and René LM Derolez: Götter and Mythen der Teutons. Verlag Suchier & Englisch, Wiesbaden 1974 (original title De Godsdienst der Germanen. Published in 1959, translated by Julie von Wattenwyl), pp. 72, 110, 284
  2. ↑ Jan de Vries: Old Germanic history of religion. 2nd edition, 1957, § 517
  3. ^ Snorri Sturluson: Prose-Edda, Gylfaginning . Chapter 6 (citation of the prose Edda after Arnulf Krause: Die Edda des Snorri Sturluson. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 978-3-15000-782-2 )
  4. ^ Snorri Sturluson: Prose-Edda, Gylfaginning. Chapter 7 f.
  5. ^ Snorri Sturluson: Prose-Edda, Gylfaginning. Chapter 9
  6. ↑ Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga. Chapter 3
  7. ↑ Several times in Skaldik , but also Lieder-Edda, Lokasenna . Verse 26 (citation of the song Edda after Arnulf Krause: The songs of gods and heroes of the Elder Edda. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 978-3-15050-047-7 )
  8. ↑ Lieder-Edda: Voluspá. Verse 4
  9. ^ Franz Rolf Schröder : The goddess of the primordial sea and her male partner. In: Contributions to the history of the German language and literature. (PBB), Volume 82 (1960), Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 1960, pp. 221-264 (pp. 252 f.); Kurt Schier : The creation of the earth from the primordial sea and the cosmogony of the Völospá. In: Hugo Kuhn, Kurt Schier (eds.): Fairy tales, myths, poetry - commemorative publication for Friedrich von der Leyen's 90th birthday on August 19, 1963. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1963; Jan de Vries: Old Germanic history of religion, Volume 2: Religion of the North Germanic. Verlag Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin and Leipzig 1937, § 320; Heinrich Beck : Earth. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Volume 7. 2nd edition. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1989, ISBN 978-3-11-011445-4 , p. 438; Anders Hultgård: Creation Myths. In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Volume 27. 2nd edition. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2004, ISBN 978-3-11-018116-6 , p. 251; rejecting 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. 237.
  10. ↑ Lieder-Edda: Voluspá. Verse 17
  11. ↑ Jan de Vries: Old Germanic history of religion, Volume 2: Religion of the North Germanic. Verlag Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin and Leipzig 1937, §316 with reference to Eugen Mogk: Grundriss der Germanischen Philologie. Volume 1, p. 235 and Sigurður Jóhannesson Nordal: Völuspà. P. 120.
  12. ↑ Compare Jan de Vries: Old Germanic Religious History. 2nd edition, 1957, § 517; 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. 470.
  13. ↑ Jan de Vries: Old Germanic history of religion. 2nd edition, 1957, § 517
  14. ^ 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. 237 with reference to C. Scott Littleton: The 'Kingship in Heaven' Theme. In: Jaan Puhvel (Ed.): Myth and Law among the Indo-Europeans: Studies in Indo-European Comparative Mythology. University of California Press, Berkeley, etc. 1970, pp. 83-121. - Kurt Schier: The creation of the earth from the primordial sea and the cosmogony of the Völospá. In: Hugo Kuhn, Kurt Schier (eds.): Fairy tales, myths, poetry - Festschrift for Friedrich von der Leyen's 90th birthday on August 19, 1963. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1963, p. 106: Karl Viktor Müllenhoff opened pay close attention to these equations; Franz Rolf Schröder found correspondences between the Greeks and the Scythians for twofold three numbers, and Adolf Dyroff compared the pattern of descent especially with the Greek generation sequence Uranos → Kronos → Zeus , Hades , Poseidon .
  15. ↑ Compare Jan de Vries: Old Germanic Religious History. 2nd edition, 1957, § 517; 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. 323.
  16. ↑ Karen Bek-Pedersen: Interpretations of Ynglingasaga and the Mabinogi. Some Norse-Celtic correspondences. In: Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives: origins, changes, and interactions: an international conference in Lund, Sweden, June 3-7, 2004. Nordic Academic Press, 2007, Volume 8, p. 332