Bifröst
In Norse mythology, Bifröst (/ˈbɪvrɒst/ ⓘ[1]), also called Bilröst, is a burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard (Earth) and Asgard, the realm of the gods. The bridge is attested as Bilröst in the Poetic Edda; compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and as Bifröst in the Prose Edda; written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the poetry of skalds. Both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda alternately refer to the bridge as Ásbrú (Old Norse "Æsir's bridge").[2]
According to the Prose Edda, the bridge ends in heaven at
Etymology
Scholar
Attestations
Two poems in the Poetic Edda and two books in the Prose Edda provide information about the bridge:
Poetic Edda
In the Poetic Edda, the bridge is mentioned in the poems Grímnismál and Fáfnismál, where it is referred to as Bilröst. In one of two stanzas in the poem Grímnismál that mentions the bridge, Grímnir (the god Odin in disguise) provides the young Agnarr with cosmological knowledge, including that Bilröst is the best of bridges.[5] Later in Grímnismál, Grímnir notes that Asbrú "burns all with flames" and that, every day, the god Thor wades through the waters of Körmt and Örmt and the two Kerlaugar:
- Benjamin Thorpe translation:
- Körmt and Ormt, and the Kerlaugs twain:
- these Thor must wade
- each day, when he to council goes
- at
ash;- for as the As-bridge is all on fire,
- the holy waters boil.[6]
- Henry Adams Bellows translation:
- Kormt and Ormt and the Kerlaugs twain
- Shall Thor each day wade through,
- (When dooms to give he forth shall go
- To the ash-tree Yggdrasil;)
- For heaven's bridge burns all in flame,
- And the sacred waters seethe.[7]
In Fáfnismál, the dying
Prose Edda
The bridge is mentioned in the Prose Edda books
High notes that, although the bridge is strong, it will break when "Muspell's lads" attempt to cross it, and their horses will have to make do with swimming over "great rivers." Gangleri says that it doesn't seem that the gods "built the bridge in good faith if it is liable to break, considering that they can do as they please." High responds that the gods do not deserve blame for the breaking of the bridge, for "there is nothing in this world that will be secure when Muspell's sons attack."[9]
In chapter 15 of Gylfaginning,
In chapter 17, High tells Gangleri that the location of
In the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, the bridge receives a single mention. In chapter 16, a work by the 10th century skald Úlfr Uggason is provided, where Bifröst is referred to as "the powers' way."[15]
Theories
In his translation of the Prose Edda, Henry Adams Bellows comments that the Grímnismál stanza mentioning Thor and the bridge stanza may mean that "Thor has to go on foot in the last days of the destruction, when the bridge is burning. Another interpretation, however, is that when Thor leaves the heavens (i.e., when a thunder-storm is over) the rainbow-bridge becomes hot in the sun."[7]
John Lindow points to a parallel between Bifröst, which he notes is "a bridge between earth and heaven, or earth and the world of the gods", and the bridge Gjallarbrú, "a bridge between earth and the underworld, or earth and the world of the dead."[16] Several scholars have proposed that Bifröst may represent the Milky Way.[17]
Adaptations
In the final scene of
The Bifröst appears in comic books associated with the
Notes
- ^ "Definition: Bifrost". Collins Dictionary. n.d. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ^ Simek (2007:19).
- ^ Orchard (1997:19).
- ^ Simek (2007:36–37).
- ^ Larrington (1999:44).
- ^ Thorpe (1907:22).
- ^ a b Bellows (1923:96).
- ^ Larrington (1999:160).
- ^ a b Faulkes (1995:15).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:17–18).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:20).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:25).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:34).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:53).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:77).
- ^ Lindow (2002:81).
- ^ Lindow (2002:81) and Simek (2007:36).
- ISBN 978-1-57467-070-7.
- ^ "Under the Microscope: Thor". The Science & Entertainment Exchange. National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
References
- Bellows, Henry Adams (1923). The Poetic Edda. American Scandinavian Foundation.
- Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. ISBN 978-0-460-87616-2.
- Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). The Poetic Edda. ISBN 978-0-19-283946-6.
- ISBN 978-0-19-515382-8.
- ISBN 978-0-304-34520-5.
- ISBN 978-0-85991-513-7.
- Thorpe, Benjamin (1907). Edda Sæmundar Hinns Frôða: The Edda of Sæmund the Learned Part I. London: Trübner & Co.
External links
- Media related to Bifröst at Wikimedia Commons