Note to Anon Krm 29^VIII

[3] frá höllu Herjans ‘from the hall of Herjan <= Óðinn> [= Valhǫll]’: Herjan(n) is listed as one of the names of Óðinn in Þul Óðins 2/5^III (see Note to that line), and (by Óðinn himself) in Grí 46/3. Valkyries are referred to as nǫnnur Herjans ‘ladies of Herjan’ in Vsp 30/12 (NK 7). In Guðr I 19/4 (NK 205) the term dís Herjans occurs in the meaning ‘valkyrie’ (see the previous Note), while in Anon (TGT) 12/5^III and in HaukrV Ísldr 11/5^IV the name occurs in the gen. as the determinant in a helmet-kenning and shield-kenning respectively. The origin of the name is disputed (see Lorenz 1984, 91), but a relationship of some kind with herr ‘host, army’ seems clear, and it is likely that its meaning is ‘leader of a host’. If so, it is an eminently suitable name for Óðinn, given his capacities as god of war and father of gods and men (cf. Turville-Petre 1964, 50-6), and the name Herjafǫðr ‘father of armies’ applied to him in Grí 19/1 (NK 61). AEW, ÍO: Herjann both relate the name to the tradition of Óðinn’s (or Wodan’s) leadership of the Wild Hunt, on which see Simek (1993, 372-3) and Orchard (1997, 182-3) with references.

References

1. Bibliography
2. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
3. Turville-Petre, Gabriel. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
4. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
5. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
6. Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
7. Lorenz, Gottfried, ed. 1984. Snorri Sturluson: Gylfaginning. Texte, Übersetzung, Kommentar. Texte zur Forschung 48. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftlichen Buchgesellschaft.
8. Orchard, Andy. 1997. Dictionary of Old Norse Myth and Legend. London: Cassell.
9. Internal references
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, The Third Grammatical Treatise’ in Tarrin Wills (ed.), The Third Grammatical Treatise. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=32> (accessed 3 June 2024)
11. Not published: do not cite (HaukrV Ísldr^IV)
12. Not published: do not cite ()
13. Not published: do not cite ()
14. Not published: do not cite ()
15. Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Óðins nǫfn’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 731. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3228> (accessed 3 June 2024)