Editing Sinmara (section)

==Etymology==

===Nightmare===
The etymology of the name ''Sinmara'' is obscure. However, the name has been associated with the [[nightmare]]/[[succubus]] spirit (''[[Mara (folklore)|mara]]'') of folklore since [[Árni Magnússon]] (Magnæus)'s  ''[[Poetic Edda]]'' (1787-1828). The "-mara" ending is thought cognate with ''mara'' or "night-mare".<ref name="Magnaeus_ed_gloss">{{harvp|Magnæus|1828}}. {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=e04_AAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA696 |2='''3''': 696–697}}. Sinmara is described as ''nervis {{linktext|illustris}}'' and lists the cognates {{langx|ang|Mære}}, {{langx|sv|Mara}}, {{langx|da|Mare}}, {{langx|de|Nacht-Mär}}, [[Flemish dialects|Flemish]]: ''Nacht-Maer'', Night-Mare</ref><ref name="Magnaeus-ed">{{harvp|Magnæus|1828}} '''1''':295 glosses Sinmara's name as '{{lang|la|{{linktext|nervis| illustrem}}}}'.</ref> The initial ''sin-'' element is here identified as meaning "sinew" or rather "nerves", so that the total phrase comes out as "nervous (or nerve-afflicting) nightmare".<ref name="Magnaeus_ed_gloss"/> Árni's edition also explained Sinmara to be a sort of "night fury" ({{langx|la|furia nocturna}}).<ref name="Magnaeus_ed_gloss"/>

{{interlanguage link|Johannes Henrik Tauber Fibiger|fi||sv|lt=J. Fibiger}} also embraced the interpretation half-way, stating the name meant "the great [night]mare", where the ''Sin''- meaning great can be compared to [[Old High German]] ''sinfluth'' or ''sinvlout'' 'great flood'.{{sfnp|Fibiger|1854|p=20}}

Adolfo Zavaroni and Emilia Reggio suggest the interpretation "Perpetual-[[incubus]]".{{sfnp|Zavaroni|Emilia|2006|p=72}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The ''sin''- element is here theorized as being the same as in the male name ''Sinwara'', found in a [[Runic alphabet|runic inscription]] on the "Næsbjerg brooch" from [[Denmark]], [[Old High German]] ''sin-vlout'' "great flood", [[Old English]] ''sin-niht(e)'' and [[Old Saxon]] ''sin-nahti'' "eternal night", and [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''sin-teins'' "daily".{{sfnp|Zavaroni|Emilia|2006|p=72}}}}

It has also been proposed that the ''sin-'' element may refer to ''sindr'' ([[Old Norse]] "cinders").<ref name=GUTENBRUNNER1940>{{harvp|Simek|2007|p=285}} citing {{harvp|Gutenbrunner|1940|p=17}}.</ref> This is consistent with the attestation in the poem ''Fjölsvinnsmál'' that she is ''hin fölva gýgr'' ("the pale giantess",{{sfnp|Thorpe|1907|p=99}} or perhaps "ashes-coloured giantess").<ref name="rydberg-ashes"/> [[Rudolf Simek]], while assessing that ''sin'' cannot be related to the term ''sindr'', states this would equal a "meaningful interpretation in regard to the colour"; he theorizes that a more likely interpretation is "the pale (night-)mare", noting that this would fit the wife of a fire jötunn.{{sfnp|Simek|2007|p=285}}

=== Sinew-maimer ===

[[Viktor Rydberg]] proposed that the name ''Sinmara'' is composed of  ''sin'', meaning "sinew", and ''mara'', meaning  "the one that maims", noting that ''mara'' is related to the [[verb]] ''merja'' (citing [[Guðbrandur Vigfússon]]'s dictionary{{efn|While Anderson's English translation of Rydberg's ''Teutonic Mythology'' gives the word "maim" and cites Gudbrand Vigfusson's ''Icelandic-English Dictionary'' (1874), the dictionary has "to bruise, crush" in its entry for ''Merja'' on page 424.}}), Rydberg concludes that the name ''Sinmara'' thus means "the one who maims by doing violence to the sinews," thus identifying her as Nidhad's wife, who orders Völund's sinews cut to prevent his escape, in the eddic poem ''[[Völundarkviða]]''.<ref name=RYDBERG518>Rydberg (2004:518) = Rydberg Vol. 2 (1907:518)</ref>