Given the difference between their roles and emphases, some scholars have speculated that the interactions between the Æsir and the Vanir reflect the types of interaction that were occurring between social classes (or clans) within Norse society at the time. Loki is a jötunn, and Njörðr is a Vanir hostage, but they are often ranked among the Æsir. Heimdallr and Ullr's connection with the Æsir is not clearly mentioned. Odin's sons by giantesses are naturally counted as Æsir. Originally, there are just three: Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé. In surviving tales, the origins of many of the Æsir are unexplained. In the Prose Edda, Njörðr was introduced as "the third among the Æsir", and among the Asynjur, Freya is always listed second only to Frigg. For example, in the poem Skírnismál, Freyr was called "Prince of the Æsir". In the Eddas, however, the word Æsir is used for gods in general, while Asynjur is used for the goddesses in general. The Vanir appear to have mainly been connected with cultivation and fertility and the Æsir were connected with power and war. The names of the first three Æsir in Norse mythology, Vili, Vé and Odin all refer to spiritual or mental state, vili to conscious will or desire, vé to the sacred or numinous and óðr to the manic or ecstatic.Ī second clan of gods, the Vanir, is also mentioned in Norse mythology: the god Njörðr and his children, Freyr and Freyja, are the most prominent Vanir gods who join the Æsir as hostages after a war between Æsir and Vanir. The two clans of gods fought battles, concluded treaties, and exchanged hostages (Freyr and Freyja are mentioned as hostages).Īn áss like Ullr is almost unknown in the myths, but his name is seen in a lot of geographical names, especially in Sweden, and may also appear on the 3rd century Thorsberg chape, suggesting that his cult was widespread in prehistoric times. While other cultures have had "elder" and "younger" families of gods, as with the Titans versus the Olympians of ancient Greece, the Æsir and Vanir were portrayed as contemporaries. The interaction between the Æsir and the Vanir has provoked an amount of scholarly theory and speculation. Hittite hass- "to procreate, give birth", Tocharian B ās- "to produce"). It is widely accepted that this word is further related to * h₂ens- "to engender" (cf. Avestan aŋhū "lord lifetime", ahura "godhood", Sanskrit ásu "life force", ásura "demons" ( * h₂n̥suró). * ansuz, itself comes from Proto-Indo-European * h₂énsus (gen. The ansuz rune, ⟨ ᚫ⟩, was named after the Æsir. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic form is * ansuz (plural * ansiwiz). Gothic has ans- as reported by Jordanes, who wrote in the 6th century CE, presumably a Latinized form of actual plural * anseis), as a name for euhemerized semi-divine early Gothic rulers. The Old High German is reconstructed as * ans, plural * ensî. In Old High German, Old Dutch and Old Saxon, the word is only attested in personal and place names, e.g. " elfshot", jaculum divorum et geniorum). Osborne, Oswald) and some place-names, and as the genitive plural ēsa ( ēsa gescot and ylfa gescot, "the shots of anses and of elves", i.e. Áss is attested in other Germanic languages, such as Old English ōs (plural ēse), denoting a deity in Anglo-Saxon paganism, preserved only as a prefix Ōs- in personal names (e.g. A cognate word for "goddess" is not attested outside Old Norse, and a corresponding West Germanic word would have been separately derived with the feminine suffixes - inī or - injō. The feminine suffix -ynja ( Proto-Norse: - unjō ) is known from a few other nouns denoting female animals, such as apynja "female monkey", vargynja "she-wolf". The feminine form is ásynja (plural ásynjur). "god ride" (Thor riding in his wagon), resulting in the modern Swedish word for atmospheric thunder – åska (the form åsekia attested as late as the 17th c.). There is also Old East Norse dialectal * ās-ækia (OWN: * áss-ekja), i.e. Landâs "national god" ( patrium numen) is a title of Thor, as is allmáttki ás "almighty god", while it is Odin who is "the" ás. in Ása-Þórr ("Thor of the Æsir"), besides ás- found in ás-brú "gods' bridge" (the rainbow), ás-garðr, ás-kunnigr "gods' kin", ás-liðar "gods' leader", ás-mogin "gods' might" (especially of Thor), ás-móðr "divine wrath" etc. In genitival compounds, it takes the form ása-, e.g. That Thor caused lightning and thunder was still a living tradition in the countryside when compulsory education started teaching what was known from the Eddas. The modern Swedish word for atmospheric thunder – åska – "the god's ride" – retains the name.
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