[5] Bestla: This is a giantess, Óðinn’s mother and daughter of the giant Bǫlþorr (or Bǫlþorn) (cf. Hávm 140/3; Gylf, SnE 2005, 11). The meaning of Bestla is unclear, perhaps ‘wife’ (see the discussion in AEW: Bestla). The name Bestla is found in skaldic verse (LP: Bestla), but it is not attested in kennings for ‘woman’. In the rímur the name is used as a heiti for ‘troll-woman’ and appears in kennings for ‘wolf’ and ‘mind’ (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: Bestla).
References
- Bibliography
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Finnur Jónsson. 1926-8. Ordbog til de af samfund til udg. af gml. nord. litteratur udgivne Rímur samt til de af Dr. O. Jiriczek udgivne Bósarímur. SUGNL 51. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=113> (accessed 3 June 2024)
- Not published: do not cite ()