[3] Ván (f.): One of the mythical rivers mentioned in Grí 28/8. According to Gylf (SnE 2005, 29), this river flows from the mouth of the wolf Fenrir. The name Ván is undoubtedly the same word as ON ván f. ‘hope’, which, as a river-name, could possibly imply ‘hope for good fishing’ (cf. Norwegian dialects von ‘a place where one expects to find something, such as a fishing place or a hunting ground’; Hale 1983, 180-1). An attempt to connect the river-heiti Ván with the Swedish Lake Vänern was rejected by Hellquist (1970, 1390-1). For discussion of this suggestion, see Hale (1983, 180-1). The name appears in skaldic kennings (see LP: Vôn).
References
- Bibliography
- 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.
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Hellquist, Elof. 1970. Svensk etymologisk ordbok. 3rd edn. Lund: Gleerup.
- Hale, Christopher. 1983. ‘The River Names in Grímnismál 27-29’. In Glendinning et al. 1983, 165-86.
- 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 4 May 2024)
- Not published: do not cite ()