Naglfar
In Norse mythology, Naglfar or Naglfari (Old Norse "nail farer") is a boat made entirely from the fingernails and toenails of the dead. During the events of Ragnarök, Naglfar is foretold to sail to Vígríðr, ferrying hordes of monsters that will do battle with the gods. Naglfar is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, also composed in the 13th century. The boat itself has been connected by scholars with a larger pattern of ritual hair and nail disposal among Indo-Europeans, stemming from Proto-Indo-European custom,[2] and it may be depicted on the Tullstorp Runestone in Scania, Sweden.
Etymology
Some dispute has waged over the etymology of Naglfar. In the late 19th century, Adolf Noreen proposed that nagl- here does not have its usual meaning of "nail", but, instead, is a variant of Old Norse nár (meaning "corpse") and ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European *nok-w-i. Noreen claimed that the notion of Naglfar as a 'nail-ship' is due to a folk etymology; that elaboration on the folk etymology produced the concept of a "nail-ship".[3]
However, Sigmund Feist (1909) rejects the theory on etymological grounds, as does Albert Morley Sturtevant (1951) on the grounds of major difficulties, and their points have led Bruce Lincoln (1977) to comment that "there is no reason whatever to contend that nagl- does not have its usual meaning of 'nail' and that Naglfar is anything other than the nail-ship, just as Snorri describes it." In addition, Lincoln finds the ship to be a part of a larger pattern of religious disposal and sacrifice of hair and nails among the Indo-Europeans (see below).[3]
Attestations
Naglfar is attested in both the
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In the Prose Edda, Naglfar is mentioned four times. The ship is first mentioned in chapter 43 of
In chapter 51, High foretells the events of Ragnarök. Regarding Naglfar, High says that after the stars disappear from the sky, the landscape will shake so severely that mountains fall apart, trees uproot, and all binds will snap, causing the wolf
Naglfar receives a final mention in the Prose Edda in Skáldskaparmál, where it is included among a list of ships.[10]
Tullstorp Runestone
If the images on the
The inscription mentions the name Ulfr ("wolf"), and the name Kleppir/Glippir. The last name is not fully understood, but may have represented Glæipiʀ which is similar to Gleipnir which was the rope with which the Fenrir wolf was bound. The two male names may have inspired the theme depicted on the runestone.[13][14]
Interpretations and theories
In his study of treatment of hair and nails among the Indo-Europeans, Bruce Lincoln compares Snorri's Prose Edda comments about nail disposal to an
Cultural influence
The ship appears in the videogame The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and in its spin-off game Gwent as the vehicle the evil Wild Hunt uses to travel between worlds.
The ship also appears in the videogame World of Warcraft in the Legion expansion. In the dungeon, Maw of Souls, players completed the last half of the 2 part dungeon on the Naglfar. This culminates as you defeat the final boss of the dungeon, Helya.
In
The magic tome of the boss character Lyon in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is named Naglfar.
John Myers Myers made Naglfar the name of the ship sunk in the opening paragraphs of Silverlock, setting his hero loose from the modern world to traipse his adventurous way into realms of myth and legend.
Naglfar is the name of a Swedish black metal band.
Naglfar is the central focus of the novel The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan, where the main characters go on a quest to prevent its launching.
See also
- Naglfari, depending on manuscript, a figure with a similar or identical name
Citations
- ^ "När Fenrir fick färg". k-blogg.se. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- S2CID 161384998.
- ^ a b c Lincoln (1977:360—361).
- ^ Völuspá 50–51; text from https://www.voluspa.org/voluspa.htm
- ^ Thorpe (1906:7).
- ^ Bellows (1923:21—23).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:36—37).
- ^ a b Faulkes (1995:53).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:55).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:162).
- ^ Merrony (2004:136); Crumlin-Pedersen & Thye (1995:170).
- ^ McKinnell (2005:114).
- ^ När Fenrir fick färg, by Magnus Källström, chief runologist at Swedish National Heritage Board.
- ^ Analysis supported as convincing in "Bite me" runestones by Henrik Williams, professor of North Germanic languages at Uppsala University.
General and cited references
- ISBN 0486437108.
- Crumlin-Pedersen, Ole & Thye, Birgitte Munch (eds.) (1995). The Ship as Symbol in Prehistoric and Medieval Scandinavia: Papers from an International Research Seminar at the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen, 5th-7th May 1994. Nationalmuseet. ISBN 87-89384-01-6
- Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. ISBN 0-460-87616-3
- ISBN 0-7661-5813-6.
- Lincoln, Bruce (1977). "Treatment of Hair and Fingernails among the Indo-Europeans" from History of Religions, Vol. 16, No. 4, The Mythic Imagination (May, 1977), pages 351—362. University of Chicago Press.
- ISBN 0-19-515382-0.
- Merrony, Mark (2004). The Vikings: Conquerors, Traders and Pirates. Periplus. ISBN 1-902699-54-8.
- McKinnell, John (2005). Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend. D. S. Brewer. ISBN 1-84384-042-1.
- Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1906). The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson, Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson. Norrœna Society.