Either way, in the charming tale, Sól and Sinthgunt help Óðin to heal Baldr’s horse from injury. When they first emerged as the cosmos … Continue reading Sol and Mani → The reborn gods meet once again, and Sunna, the daughter of Sol, now even outshines her mother. Sól Basics. [10], Rudolf Simek states that Nordic Bronze Age archaeological finds, such as rock carvings and the Trundholm sun chariot, provide ample evidence of the Sun having been viewed as a life-giving heavenly body to the Bronze Age Scandinavians, and that the Sun likely always received an amount of veneration. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. There is an agreement that Sol was the daughter of Mundilfari, who is proposed as either a Norse giant or a human depending on the writings referred to. In Norse mythology, Ragnarök ("fate of the gods") is the battle at the end of the world.It is to be fought between the gods or Æsir, led by Odin; and the fire giants, the Jötnar and other monsters, led by Loki and Surtr.Not only will most of the gods, giants, and monsters die in this battle, but almost everything in the universe will be destroyed.. [7] Simek, Rudolf. Thermal springs, Summer, Midsummer, and the day Sunday. Sol is the Goddess of the sun and sister to the moon God Mani. Who Is Sol? In the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Sól is first presented in chapter 93, where the kennings "daughter of Mundilfæri", "sister of Máni", "wife of Glen", "fire of sky and air" are given for her, followed by an excerpt of a work by the 11th century skald Skúli Þórsteinsson: In chapter 56, additional names for Sól are given; "day-star", "disc", "ever-glow", "all-bright seen", "fair-wheel", "grace-shine", "Dvalinn's toy", "elf-disc", "doubt-disc", and "ruddy". They ride “swiftly” because they’re pursued through the sky by the wolves Skoll (“Mockery”) and Hati (“Hate”),[4] who will overtake them when the cosmos descends back into chaos during Ragnarok. The orb and her team of heavenly steeds are born of the fiery realm of Muspelheim, which existed long before Miðgarðr was created. They raced quickly across the skies as they were being chased by Skoll, an evil wolf.

In the beginning of time, when the cosmos were being created, so too was the Nordic goddess Sol, brought into the universe along with her brother, Mani. 2 (1986): 194-202. www.jstor.org/stable/40848835. Sol is female, and Mani male. Some say Sunna is another name for the goddess Sol and that they are actually one and the same, while others claim that Sunna was the daughter of the goddess.
Sol was so beautiful Mundilfari named her after the sun, and Mani was named for the moon. Simek further theorizes that the combination of sun symbols with ships in religious practices, which occur with frequency from the Bronze Age into Middle Ages, seem to derive from religious practices surrounding a fertility god (such as the Vanir gods Njörðr or Freyr), and not to a personified sun.[19]. Sól thus bears archetypal ties to the mythical divine bird, Phoenix of Persian mythology. Gangleri asks who chases her, to which High responds that two wolves give chase to Sól and Máni.

The oldest known documents about the Germanic pagan religion are called the Merseburg Incantations. One of the two Old High German Merseburg Incantations, written in the 9th or 10th century CE, attests that Sunna is the sister of Sinthgunt. This is the wolf that is forever chasing Sol, the sun Gylfaginning, chapter 10. p. 19. The idea that the sun deity was female, and with a name that means simply “Sun,” is also attested among the continental Germanic peoples.[10]. 1 (1997): 4-20. www.jstor.org/stable/41288919. Her father is Mundilfari (also know as Alfrodull), a god associated with time keeping. The story isn’t attested anywhere else, and very well may be an invention of Snorri’s rather than a traditional, pre-Christian tale. As a proper noun, Sól appears throughout Old Norse literature. During Ragnarok, the “twilight of the gods”, which in Norse mythology is the end of the world, Sol is finally swallowed by the wolf Skoll along with the sun, and the Earth submerges into the waters. A huge battle occurs, along with a series of natural disasters that consume the world.

Mimir mentioned that she and her brother, Mani, became mutinous and refused to move in the sky. There is another discrepancy regarding Sunna. 1993. ... Sól thus bears archetypal ties to the mythical divine bird, Phoenix of Persian mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. High responds that "It is not surprising that she moves with such speed. Hati Hróðvitnisson, the second wolf, runs ahead of Sól to chase after Máni, whom Hati Hróðvitnisson will also catch. Sol or Sunna is the personification of the sun in Norse mythology. Sol and Mani form a sister and brother pair. [9] Snorri Sturluson. Vafþrúðnir responds in a further stanza, stating that before Álfröðull (Sól) is assailed by Fenrir, she will bear a daughter who will ride on her mother's paths after the events of Ragnarök. In doing so, the völva recounts the early days of the universe, in which: In the poem Vafþrúðnismál, the god Odin tasks the jötunn Vafþrúðnir with a question about the origins of the sun and the moon. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. "On the other hand", Simek posits, the "great age of the concept is evident" by the Trundholm sun chariot, which specifically supports the notion of the Sun being drawn across the sky by horses. In order to cool the horses, the gods placed two bellows beneath their shoulders, and that "according to the same lore" these bellows are called Ísarnkol. Norse mythology reflects a fundamental belief in opposites and the dual nature of the world. All rights reserved. In Grminismal, Óðin explains that there is a shield between Sól and the worlds below, and that without which, the earth and seas would otherwise burn up. "Das Indogermanische Wort Für 'Sonne' Und Die Angebliche Gruppe Der 1/n-Heteroklitika." In Norse mythology, Sól is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson.

Sparks were gathered by the gods from Muspellsheim, the Land of Fire, and the sun, moon and stars were created.
Sol was to ride in the sky in a chariot drawn by her horses, Arvak, which translates to early riser, and Allsvinn, meaning swift. Sól Basics.

Vafþrúðnismál, stanza 23. The family varies between different Nordic mythology literature sources. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. The sun, which had originated as a spark in Muspelheim, was pulled through the sky in a chariot, but the chariot had no driver. Godchecker guide to Skoll, the Norse Demon from Norse mythology. It is believed the Roman pantheon had two sun gods. High says that the gods had created the chariot to illuminate the worlds from burning embers flying from the fiery world of Muspelheim. p. 222. In both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda she is described as the sister of the personified Moon, Máni, is the daughter of Mundilfari, is at times referred to as Álfröðull, and is foretold to be killed by a monstrous wolf during the events of Ragnarök, though beforehand she will have given birth to a daughter who continues her mother's course through the heavens. Despite being somewhat of a lesser goddess of the legends, Sunday (Sunnudagr) originated as the specific day in her honor.

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In Norse mythology, the Sun is female while the Moon is male. In the poem Völuspá, a dead völva recounts the history of the universe and foretells the future to the disguised god Odin. The Old Norse Language and How to Learn It, The Swastika – Its Ancient Origins and Modern (Mis)use. , Sól is prophesied to give birth to a second sun: In addition to Saulė of Baltic Europe, Sól was worshiped by the Celts, by the name Sulis, a goddess who presided over thermal springs, thought to be heated by the power of the sun.

Zeitschrift Für Vergleichende Sprachforschung 99, no. This page was last edited on 14 June 2020, at 02:34. Mundilfari has Sól married to a man named Glenr. This article is about the Norse goddess.