Editing Nótt

{{Short description|Personification of night in Norse mythology}}
[[File:Peter Nicolai Arbo - Natten - Nasjonalmuseet - NG.M.03666.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Nótt rides her horse in this 19th-century painting by [[Peter Nicolai Arbo]].]]
In [[Norse mythology]], '''Night''', [[Old West Norse]]: {{lang|non|'''Nótt'''}} ({{IPA|non|ˈnoːtː|}}), [[Old East Norse]]: {{lang|non|'''Nátt'''}} ({{IPA|non|ˈnɔːtː|}}),<ref name=ORCHARD120>Orchard (1997:120).</ref> is a [[goddess]] and personification of the [[night]]. In both the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', composed in the 13th century, Nótt is listed as the daughter of a figure by the name of [[Nörvi]] (with variant spellings) and is associated with the horse [[Hrímfaxi]], while the ''Prose Edda'' features information about Nótt's ancestry, including her [[Numbers in Germanic paganism|three]] marriages. Nótt's third marriage was to the god [[Dellingr]] and this resulted in their son [[Dagr]], the personified day (although some manuscript variations list [[Jörð]] as Dellingr's wife and Dagr's mother instead). As a [[Proper noun#Proper nouns and common nouns|proper noun]], the word ''nótt'' appears throughout Old Norse literature.

==Attestations==

===''Poetic Edda''===
In stanza 24 of the poem ''[[Vafþrúðnismál]]'', the god [[Odin]] (disguised as "[[List of names of Odin|Gagnráðr]]") asks the [[jötunn]] [[Vafþrúðnir]] from where the day comes, and the night and its tides. In stanza 25, Vafþrúðnir responds:
<blockquote>
:Delling hight he who the day's father is,
:but night was of Nörvi born;
:the new and waning moons the beneficent powers created,
:to count the years for men.<ref name=THORPE13>Thorpe (1907:13).</ref>
</blockquote>
In stanza 14 of the ''Vafþrúðnismál'', Odin states that the horse [[Hrímfaxi]] "draws every night to the beneficent gods" and that he lets foam from his bit fall every morning, from which dew comes to the valleys.<ref name=LARRINGTON41>Larrington (1996:42).</ref> In stanza 30 of the poem ''[[Alvíssmál]]'', the god [[Thor]] asks the dwarf [[Alvíss]] to tell him what night is called in each of the nine worlds, whom "[[Narfi|Nórr]]" birthed. Alvíss responds that night is referred as "night" by mankind, "darkness" by the gods, "the masker" by the mighty Powers, "unlight" by the jötunn, "joy-of-sleep" by the [[elf|elves]], while dwarves call her "dream-[[Njörun]]" (meaning "dream-goddess").<ref name=DREAMGODDESS>Translation of all of this section minus "dream-Njörun" from Larrington (1996:113). Larrington glosses ''draum-Njörun'' (Jónsson (1931:84, Old Norse "dream-Njörun") as "dream-goddess".</ref>

In ''[[Sigrdrífumál]]'', after the [[valkyrie]] [[Sigrdrífa]] is woken from her sleep curse by the hero [[Sigurd]], Sigurd asks her name, and she gives him a "memory-drink" of a [[drinking horn]] full of [[mead]], and then Sigrdrifa says a [[prayer]]. The first verse of this prayer features a reference to the "sons of Dagr" and the "daughter of Nótt":
<blockquote>
:Hail to the Day! Hail to the sons of Day!
:To Night and her daughter hail!
:With placid eyes behold us here,
:and here sitting give us victory.

:Hail to the [[Æsir]]! Hail to the [[Æsir|Asyniur]]!
:Hail to the bounteous earth!
:Words and wisdom give to us noble twain,
:and healing hands while we live!<ref name=THORPE181>Thorpe (1907:181).</ref>
</blockquote>

===''Prose Edda''===
In the ''Prose Edda'' book ''[[Gylfaginning]]'', Nótt is again personified. In chapter 10, the enthroned figure of High states that Nótt is the daughter of a jötunn from [[Jötunheimr]] by the name of "[[Narfi|Norfi or Narfi]]". Nótt is described as "black and swarthy", and has had three marriages. Her first marriage was with [[Naglfari]], and the two produced a son by the name of [[Auðr (mythological character)|Auðr]]. Nótt's second marriage was to [[Annar]], resulting in their daughter [[Jörð]], the personified earth. Finally, Nótt marries the god Dellingr, and the couple have [[Dagr]], who takes after his "father's people" in brightness and fairness. Odin took Nótt and her son Dagr, placed them into the sky with a chariot and a horse each, and they ride around the Earth every 24 hours. Nótt rides before Dagr, and foam from her horse Hrímfaxi's [[Bit (horse)|bit]] sprinkles the Earth.<ref name=BYOCK19>Byock (2005:19).</ref>

However, scholar Haukur Thorgeirsson points out that the four manuscripts of ''Gylfaginning'' vary in their descriptions of the family relations between Nótt, Jörð, Dagr, and Dellingr. In other words, depending on the manuscript, either Jörð or Nátt is the mother of Dagr and partner of Dellingr. Haukur details that "the oldest manuscript, U, offers a version where Jǫrð is married to Dellingr and the mother of Dagr while the other manuscripts, R, W and T, cast Nótt in the role of Dellingr's wife and Dagr's mother", and argues that "the version in U came about accidentally when the writer of U or its antecedent shortened a text similar to that in RWT. The results of this accident made their way into the Icelandic poetic tradition".<ref name="HAUKUR-159-168">Haukur (2008:159—168).</ref>

In the ''Prose Edda'' book ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'', means of referring to Jörð are provided, including "daughter of Nótt".<ref name=FAULKES90>Faulkes (1995:90).</ref> Chapter 58 states that "Hrimfaxi or Fiorsvartnir draw the night",<ref name=FAULKES137>Faulkes (1995:137).</ref> and in chapter 64, "nótt" is stated as one of various words for time and a version of the ''Alvíssmál'' passage is cited.<ref name=FAULKES144>Faulkes (1995:144).</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of night deities]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2006). ''The Prose Edda''. [[Penguin Classics]]. {{ISBN|0-14-044755-5}}
* Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). ''Edda''. [[Everyman's Library|Everyman]]. {{ISBN|0-460-87616-3}}
* [[Finnur Jónsson (philologist)|Jónsson, Finnur]] (1931). ''Lexicon poeticum''. S. L. Møllers bogtrykkeri.
* Haukur Thorgeirsson (2008). "Hinn fagri foldar son" as published in ''Gripla XIX'', pages 159–168. [[Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies]].
* Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). ''The Poetic Edda''. [[Oxford World's Classics]]. {{ISBN|0-19-283946-2}}
* Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. [[Orion Publishing Group|Cassell]]. {{ISBN|0-304-34520-2}}
* [[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe, Benjamin]] (Trans.) (1907). ''The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson''. [[Norrœna Society]].
* {{Cite book|last=Calaway|first=Bernie L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BkDVDwAAQBAJ&dq=Nott+-+Thor%27s+Grandmother&pg=PA356|title=History and Mystery: The Complete Eschatological Encyclopedia of Prophecy, Apocalypticism, Mythos, and Worldwide Dynamic Theology Vol 4|date=2019-10-22|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-387-70316-6|language=en}}
{{Refend}}

{{Norse cosmology}}
{{Norse mythology}}

{{Good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nott}}
[[Category:Gýgjar]]
[[Category:Night goddesses]]
[[Category:Personifications in Norse mythology]]