Editing Bergelmir

{{short description|Norse mythical character}}
{{for|the moon of Saturn|Bergelmir (moon)}}{{Lead too short|date=May 2024}}
'''Bergelmir''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɛər|ˈ|ɡ|ɛ|l|m|ɪər}} {{respell|bair|GEL|meer}}; [[Old Norse]]: {{IPA|non|ˈberˌɡelmez̠|}}) is a [[jötunn]] in [[Norse mythology]].{{Sfn|Lindow|2002|p=74}}

== Name ==
The [[Old Norse]] name ''Bergelmir'' has been variously translated as 'bear-yeller', 'mountain-yeller', or 'bare-yeller'.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=18}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2002|p=74}} According to linguist [[Jan de Vries (linguist)|Jan de Vries]], the name should be read as ''ber-gelmir'' ('who roars like a bear') rather than ''berg-gelmir'' ('who roars in the mountains').{{Sfn|de Vries|1962|p=33}}

== Attestations ==
In ''[[Vafþrúðnismál]]'' (The Lay of [[Vafþrúðnir]]), Bergelmir is portrayed as the son of [[Þrúðgelmir]] and the grandson of the first {{lang|non|jötunn}} [[Ymir|Aurgelmir]] (Ymir). When [[Odin]] asks [[Vafþrúðnir|Vafthrúdnir]] who is the oldest among the [[æsir]] and the [[Jötunn|jötnar]],{{Sfn|Lindow|2002|p=74}} the wise {{lang|non|jötunn}} responds that:
{{Poem quote|text=A great many years before the earth was formed,
Bergelmir was born;
Thrúdgelmir was the father of this one,
And Aurgelmir the grandfather.|char=|sign=|title=''[[Vafthrúdnismál]]''|source=29, trans. [[John Lindow|J. Lindow]], 2002.}}
In the same poem, Odin then asks Vafthrúdnir about the monstrous birth of the offspring of Aurgelmir,{{Sfn|Lindow|2002|p=74}} and Vafthrúdnir responds:
{{Poem quote|text=A great many years before the earth was formed,
Bergelmir was born;
What I first remember is when the wise giant
Was placed on a ''lúðr''.|char=|sign=|title=''Vafthrúdnismál''|source=35, trans. [[John Lindow|J. Lindow]], 2002.}}

In ''[[Gylfaginning]]'' (The Beguiling of [[Gylfi]]), while the blood of [[Ymir]] (Aurgelmir) is flooding the earth after the sons of [[Borr]] (Odin, [[Vili and Vé|Vili, and Vé]]) have killed him, Bergelmir is likewise pictured as escaping on a ''lúðr'' with his wife to re-found the frost-{{lang|non|jötunn}} race.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=18}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2002|p=|pp=74, 324}}

{{Poem quote|text=The sons of Bor killed Ymir the giant. And when he fell, so much blood gushed from his wounds, that  with it all of the frost giants were killed, except one who got away with his family. The giants called that one Bergelmir. He got up on his ''lúðr'' along with his wife and saved himself there, and from them come the families of the frost giants.|char=|sign=|title=''[[Gylfaginning]]''|source=trans. [[John Lindow|J. Lindow]], 2002.}}

Based upon Snorri's account, the [[Old Norse]] word ''lúðr'' might have referred to a 'coffin',{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=18}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2002|p=75}} a 'cradle',{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=18}} a 'chest', or some wooden part of a mill.{{Sfn|Lindow|2002|p=75}}

==Theories==
Robert D. Fulk notes that Snorri's ''Prose Edda'' account "conflicts with the poetic version, as the [''Prose Edda''] presents a [[Noah]]-like figure, while the latter has Bergelmir laid (''lagiðr'') in the ''lúðr'', implying he is an infant, as in the [[Scyld]] story. But Snorri does add the crucial element not made in the explicit verses, that the ''lúðr'' is to serve as a floating vessel."{{sfn|Fulk|1989|p=316}}

Fulk continues that "the key word here is ''lúðr'', which ought to refer to a flour-bin. To be precise, the object is a box or wooden trough, perhaps on legs, in which the stones of a hand-mill sit [...]. It is true that most glossators assume some meaning other than 'flour-bin' in ''Vafþrúðnismál'' and ''Snorra edda'' [an alternate name for the ''Prose Edda''], suggesting instead something in the range of 'coffin (or cradle), chest, ark (i.e. boat)'." Fulk details that "the interpretation of 'ark' derives solely from the passage in ''Snorra Edda'', because of Bergelmir's resemblance to [[Noah]], and the fact that [Old Icelandic] ''ǫrk'' [...] can refer to both [[Noah's ark]] and a chest or a [[sarcophagus]]."{{sfn|Fulk|1989|p=316}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|last=de Vries|first=Jan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O7YeAAAAIAAJ|title=Altnordisches Etymologisches Worterbuch|date=1962|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-05436-3|edition=1977|author-link=Jan de Vries (linguist)}}
*{{Cite book|last=Faulkes|first=Anthony|title=Edda|publisher=Everyman|year=1987|isbn=0-460-87616-3|edition=1995|author-mask=Faulkes, Anthony, trans.}}
*{{citation |last=Fulk |first=Robert D. |year=1989 |title=An Eddic Analogue to the Scyld Scefing Story |journal=The Review of English Studies |series=New Series |volume=40 |issue=159 |pages=313–322|jstor=515992 |doi=10.1093/res/xl.159.313}}
*{{citation |last=Larrington |first=Carolyne, trans. |year=1996 |title=The Poetic Edda |publisher=[[Oxford World's Classics]] |isbn=0-19-283946-2}}
*{{Cite book|last=Lindow|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC|title=Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs|date=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-983969-8|language=en|author-link=John Lindow}}
*{{Cite book|last=Orchard|first=Andy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uIujQgAACAAJ|title=Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend|date=1997|publisher=Cassell|isbn=978-0-304-34520-5|language=en|author-link=Andy Orchard}}
{{refend}}

{{Norse mythology}}

[[Category:Jötnar]]
[[Category:Flood myths]]
[[Category:Ymir]]