Gungnir

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Lee Lawrie, Odin (1939). Library of Congress John Adams Building, Washington, D.C.

In Norse mythology, Gungnir (/ˈɡʌŋ.nɪər/, "the rocking") is the spear of the god Odin. It is known for always hitting the target of the attacker regardless of the attacker's skill.

Attestations

Poetic Edda

In the Poetic Edda poem

runes
. She gives Sigurd advice and shares with him lore, including that runes were carved on the tip of Gungnir.

Prose Edda

According to chapter 51 of the

mail and carrying Gungnir. He will then attack the wolf Fenrir
with it.

In

Dvalin. The spear was obtained from the dwarfs by Loki, the result of a scheme he concocted as a partial reparation for his cutting of the goddess Sif
's hair. The spear is described as being so well balanced that it could strike any target, no matter the skill or strength of the wielder.

Archaeological record

If the rider on horseback on the image on the Böksta Runestone has been identified as Odin, then Odin is shown carrying Gungnir while hunting an elk.[1]

In the Ring of the Nibelung

In

Brünnhilde from her magic sleep, Siegfried breaks the spear in two and Wotan flees. In the concluding opera Götterdämmerung Wotan is said to have returned to his stronghold Valhalla
with the broken spear and withdrawn from worldly matters.

See also

  • Bracteate
  • Gae Bolga, the Irish legendary hero Cú Chulainn's similar magic spear
  • Migration period spear
  • SAAB RBS_15 Mk. IV Gungnir long-range fire-and-forget surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missile.

References

  1. ^ Silén (1993:88–91).

Sources

External links

  • Media related to Gungnir at Wikimedia Commons