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{{Short description|Moon personified in Germanic mythology}}
[[File:Máni and Sól by Lorenz Frølich.jpg|thumb|A depiction of Máni and Sól (1895) by [[Lorenz Frølich]].]]

'''Máni''' ([[Old Norse]]: {{IPA|non|ˈmɑːne|}}; "Moon"<ref name=ORCHARD109>Orchard (1997:109).</ref>) is the [[Lunar deity|Moon personified]] in [[Germanic mythology]]. Máni, personified, is attested in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', written in the 13th century by [[Snorri Sturluson]]. Both sources state that he is the brother of the personified sun, [[Sól (Sun)|Sól]], and the son of [[Mundilfari]], while the ''Prose Edda'' adds that he is followed by the children [[Hjúki and Bil]] through the heavens. As a [[proper noun]], Máni appears throughout Old Norse literature. Scholars have proposed theories about Máni's potential connection to the [[Northern Europe]]an notion of the [[Man in the Moon]], and a potentially otherwise unattested story regarding Máni through [[skald]]ic [[kenning]]s.

==Attestations==

===''Poetic Edda''===
[[File:The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani.jpg|thumb|right|''The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani'' (1909) by [[John Charles Dollman|J. C. Dollman]]]]
In the poem ''[[Völuspá]]'' Odin recounts the history of the universe and foretells the future. In doing so, he recounts the early days of the universe:
<blockquote>
{| MÁNI RÆKJUDELI, MANI BJÖRNSSON. 1999.

|
<small>[[Benjamin Thorpe]] translation:</small>
:The sun from the south, the moon's companion,
:her right hand cast about the heavenly horses Arvak and Alsvid.
:The sun knew not where she a dwelling had,
:the moon knew not what power he possessed,
:the stars knew not where they had a station.<ref name="THORPE1">Thorpe (1907:1).</ref>
:
|
<small>[[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] translation:</small>
:The sun, the sister of the moon, from the south
:Her right hand cast over heaven's rim;
:No knowledge she had where her home should be,
:The moon knew not what might was his,
:The stars knew not where their stations were.<ref name="BELLOWS4">Bellows (1923:4).</ref>
|
|}
</blockquote>

In stanza 23 of the poem ''[[Vafþrúðnismál]]'', the god [[Odin]] (disguised as "[[List of names of Odin|Gagnráðr]]") tasks the [[jötunn]] [[Vafþrúðnir]] with a question about the origins of the Sun and the Moon, whom he describes as journeying over mankind. Vafþrúðnir responds that Mundilfari is the father of both Sól and Máni, and that they must pass through the heavens every day to count the years for mankind:
<blockquote>
{|
|
:Mundilfæri hight he, who the moon's father is,
:and eke the sun's;
:round heaven journey each day they must,
:to count years for men.<ref name="THORPE12">Thorpe (1907:12).</ref>
|
:"[[Mundilferi]] is he who began the moon,
:And fathered the flaming sun;
:The round of heaven each day they run,
:To tell the time for men."<ref name="BELLOWS74">Bellows (1923:7).</ref>
|
|}
</blockquote>

In stanza 39 of the poem ''[[Grímnismál]]'', Odin (disguised as ''[[List of names of Odin|Grímnir]]'') says that both the Sun and the Moon are pursued through the heavens by wolves; the Sun, referred to as the "shining god" is pursued by [[Sköll]] to the "protecting woods", while the moon is pursued by [[Hati Hróðvitnisson]].<ref name=LARRINGTON57>Larrington (1999:57).</ref> In stanza 13 of the poem ''[[Alvíssmál]]'', the god [[Thor]] questions the [[Norse dwarves|dwarf]] [[Alvíss]] about the Moon, asking him what the Moon is called in each of the worlds. Alvíss responds that it is called "moon" by mankind, "fiery one" by the gods, "the whirling wheel" in [[Hel (location)|Hel]], "the hastener" by the [[Jötunn|jötnar]], "the shiner" by the dwarves, and "the counter of years" by the [[Elf|elves]].<ref name=LARRINGTON111>Larrington (1999:111).</ref>

===''Prose Edda''===
[[File:Far away and long ago by Willy Pogany.png|thumb|right|"Far away and long ago" (1920) by [[Willy Pogany]].]]
In the ''Prose Edda'' book ''[[Gylfaginning]]'', Máni is referenced in three chapters. In chapter 8, the enthroned figure of High quotes stanza 5 of ''Völuspá'', and the figure of Third, also enthroned, adds that this occurred prior to the creation of the Earth.<ref name=BYOCK17>Byock (2005:17).</ref> In chapter 11, High says that Máni and his sister Sól are the children of a man by the name of Mundilfari. The children were so fair that Mundilfari named them "moon" and "sun". Perceiving this as arrogance, the gods were so angered that they placed the brother and sister in the heavens. There, Máni "guides the path of the moon and controls its waxing and waning."<ref name=BYOCK19>Byock (2005:19).</ref>

Additionally, Máni is followed through the heavens by the brother and sister children [[Hjúki and Bil]] "as can be seen from the earth", whom he took from the Earth while they fetched water from a well.<ref name=BYOCK19/> In chapter 51, High foretells the events of Ragnarök, including that Máni will be consumed by one of two wolves chasing the heavenly bodies.<ref name=BYOCK71>Byock (2005:71).</ref>

In the ''Prose Edda'' book ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'', Sól is referred to in chapter 26 as "sister of Máni",<ref name=FAULKES93>Faulkes (1995:93).</ref> and in chapter 55 names are given for the Moon: "lune", "waxer", "waner", "year-counter", "clipped", "shiner", "gloam", "hastener", "squinter" and "gleamer".<ref name=FAULKES134>Faulkes (1995:134).</ref>

==Theories==
[[File:Man-in-the-Moon-from-L-Richter.jpg|thumb|A 19th century depiction of ''The Man in the Moon'' from folklore in areas of Germanic Europe]]
Kennings in the [[skald]]ic corpus for female [[Jötunn|jötnar]] have been identified (such as "desired woman of Máni" used by the 10th century skald [[Guthormr sindri]]) as pointing to a potential marriage or sexual union between Máni and a female [[jötunn]]. John Lindow states that if a story about Máni having such a relationship with a female jötunn existed, then "it has left no other trace in the extant mythology.<ref name=LINDOW222-223>Lindow (2001:222—223).</ref> [[Rudolf Simek]] states that in two skaldic kennings "Máni is apparently a gigantic being in a myth of which we otherwise know nothing".<ref name=SIMEK201-202>Simek (2007:201—202).</ref>

John Lindow theorizes on Máni's fate at Ragnarök in that "as part of the creation of the [[æsir]], that is, the cosmos, Máni must be destroyed at Ragnarök, but this is not explicitly stated, except perhaps [[Prose Edda|by Snorri]], who tells about [[Mánagarmr|Mánagarm]], who will swallow a heavenly body that may be the moon".<ref name=LINDOW222-223/>

Rudolf Simek connects the account of Máni, and [[Hjúki and Bil]] (featuring, as Simek states, "a man with a pole and a woman with a bushel") found in chapter 11 of ''Gylfaginning'' with modern accounts of the [[Man in the Moon]] found in modern folklore in [[Scandinavia]], [[England]], and [[North Germany]]. Simek additionally points out that a stanza appearing early in the poem ''[[Völuspá]]'' states that the Æsir had set up the Moon "in order to be able to reckon the year", which Simek connects with Germanic computation of time having been directed towards the Moon rather than the Sun, and that shorter amounts of time were given in nights rather than days.<ref name=SIMEK201-202/>

==See also==
*[[Germanic calendar]], the lunar calendar of the Germanic peoples
*[[Monday]], the day of the week named after the Moon
*[[Nótt]], goddess of night
*[[Sól (sun)|Sunna]], the Sun personified as a goddess in Old High German
*[[List of lunar deities]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Bellows, Henry Adams]] (1923). The Poetic Edda. [[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]]
* Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2005). ''The Prose Edda''. [[Penguin Classics]]. {{ISBN|0-14-044755-5}}
* Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). ''Edda''. [[Everyman's Library|Everyman]]. {{ISBN|0-460-87616-3}}
* Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). ''The Poetic Edda''. [[Oxford World's Classics]]. {{ISBN|0-19-283946-2}}
* [[John Lindow|Lindow, John]] (2001). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs]''. [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-19-515382-0}}
* Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. [[Orion Publishing Group|Cassell]]. {{ISBN|0-304-34520-2}}
* [[Rudolf Simek|Simek, Rudolf]] (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. [[Boydell & Brewer|D.S. Brewer]]. {{ISBN|0-85991-513-1}}
* [[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe, Benjamin]] (Trans.) (1907). ''The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson''. [[Norrœna Society]].
{{refend}}

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

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[[Category:Æsir]]
[[Category:Germanic gods]]
[[Category:Lunar gods]]
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[[Category:Personifications in Norse mythology]]
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