View source for Fornjót

{{short description|Norse mythical character}}
{{For|the moon of Saturn named after Fornjót|Fornjot (moon)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox deity|type=norse|name=Fornjót|texts=[[Ynglingatal]], [[Skáldskaparmál]], [[Orkneyinga saga]], [[Hversu Noregr byggdist]]|children=[[Hlér]], [[Logi (mythology)|Logi]], [[Kári]]}}
'''Fornjót''' ([[Old Norse language|Old Norse]]: ''Fornjótr'') is a [[jötunn]] in [[Norse mythology]], and the father of personified natural forces: [[Ægir|Hlér]] ('sea'), [[Logi (mythology)|Logi]] ('fire') and [[Kári]] ('wind').{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=46}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=119}} He is also portrayed as the ancestor of the royal dynasty of [[Ynglings]], ruling over the mythic northern lands of ''Finnland'' ("land of the [[Sámi people|Sámi]]") and ''[[Kvenland]]''.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=118}} The principal study of this figure is by [[Margaret Clunies Ross]].<ref name=":0">Margaret Clunies Ross, '[https://journals.lub.lu.se/anf/issue/view/1853/170 Snorri Sturluson's use of the Norse origin-legend of the sons of Fornjótr in his ''Edda'']', ''Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi'', 98 (1983), 47–66.</ref>

== Name ==
The etymology of the [[Old Norse]] name ''Fornjótr'' remains unclear.{{Sfn|de Vries|1962|pp=138–139}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=119}} It is often interpreted as ''forn-jótr'' ('ancient or primordial [[jötunn]]'), or as ''for-njótr'' ('original owner', or 'destroyer').{{Sfn|de Vries|1962|pp=138–139}}{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=46}} Alternative meanings such as ''Forn-njótr'' ('one-who-enjoys-sacrifices') or ''Forn-þjótr'' ('ancient screamer') have also been proposed.{{Sfn|de Vries|1962|pp=138–139}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=119}}

According to [[Peter Erasmus Müller]] (1818), Fornjótr could be interpreted as the "original owner" (''primus occupans vel utens'') of Norway.<ref>Sagabibliothek, [https://books.google.com/books?id=R78FAAAAQAAJ&q=Mueller+Sagabibliothek p. 436]; cf. Ekendahl (1828) [https://books.google.com/books?id=3clAAAAAcAAJ&dq=Thor+Fornjotr&pg=PA174 p.174]</ref>

An [[Old English]] cognate of ''Fornjótr'' may appear in a plant-name attested in the [[Cleopatra Glossary]] (as ''forneotes folm'') and in [[Bald's Leechbook]] as ''fornetes folm''. ''Folm'' means 'hand, palm', and, lacking a better explanation, scholars have suggested that ''fornetes'' is an Old English form of the name ''Fornjótr'', such that the plant's name meant 'Fornet's palm'. The plant denoted by this name has not been certainly identified, but [[Peter Bierbaumer]] argued for a species of marsh-orchid (''[[Dactylorhiza]]''), partly on account of the supposed similarity of their tubers to hands.<ref>''[http://oldenglish-plantnames.org Dictionary of Old English Plant Names]'', ed. by Peter Bierbaumer and Hans Sauer with Helmut W. Klug and Ulrike Krischke (2007-2009), s.v. ''fornetes folm''.</ref><ref name=":0" />{{rp|49–50}}

==Attestations==

=== Eddas ===
[[Þjóðólfr of Hvinir]], a Norwegian [[skald]] of the late 9th–early 10th century AD cited in ''[[Ynglingatal|Ynglinga tal]]'' <small>(29)</small>, apparently uses the [[kenning]] "son of Fornjót" as a synonym of 'fire', and another skald only known under the name Svein appears to use the kenning "ugly sons of Fornjót" to mean the 'wind'.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=119}}<blockquote>How should the wind be periphrased? Thus: call it son of Fornjót, Brother of the Sea and of Fire, Scathe or Ruin or Hound or Wolf of the Wood or of the Sail or of the Rigging.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Thus spake Svein in the ''Nordrsetu-drápa'':
<blockquote>First began to fly<br />Fornjót's sons ill-shapen.</blockquote></blockquote>
In the [[Nafnaþulur|''þulur'']], Fornjót is also included in a list of [[Jötunn|jötnar]].{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=119}}

=== Sagas ===
In the ''[[Orkneyinga saga]]'' and in ''[[Hversu Noregr byggðist|Hversu Noregr byggdisk]]'' (How Norway Was Settled), Fornjót is portrayed as a king ruling over [[Gotland]] and [[Jutland]], "which is called Finnland (the land of the [[Sámi people|Sámi]]) and [[Kvenland]] [the Finnish-settled part of northern Norway]". Some editors alter "Gotland" or "Jutland" to "that land".{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=118}} In those two sources, Fornjót has three sons: Logi ('fire'), Kári ('wind'), and Hlér ('sea'), "whom we call [[Ægir]]" according to ''Fundinn Noregr''.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=46}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=118}}

==Descendants==
Fornjótr appears as an ancestor-figure of the kings of Norway in several sources.<ref name=":0" /> Here follows two family trees of Fornjótr's descendants. The first is the genealogy as depicted in ''[[Hversu Noregr byggðist]]''. The second is one possible rendering of a mythic [[Yngling]] family tree based on ''[[Historia Norwegiæ]]'', ''[[Ynglinga saga]]'', ''[[Beowulf]]'' and other [[Old Norse]] sources, some of which name Fornjótr; the names of Swedish kings in this second family tree are shown in bold.

{{chart top|The Ættartala (genealogy) of Fornjótr according to ''[[Hversu Noregr byggðist]]''<ref>[http://www.germanicmythology.com/FORNALDARSAGAS/FraFornjotiHardman.html Of Fornjot and his Kinsmen], original text from [[Flateyjarbók]] and English translation by George L. Hardman</ref>}}
Kings are in bold.
{{Tree chart/start|align=center}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | FOR | | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|.|FOR=♂ Fornjótr}}
{{Tree chart| | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | | | | | |!|KEY  | |!| |KEY=<u>KEY</u>|boxstyle_KEY =border:0}}
{{Tree chart| | HLE | | LOG | | KAR | | | | | |!|~|COUPL|!| |HLE=♂ [[Hlér]] (sea)|LOG=♂ [[Logi (mythology)|Logi]] (fire)|KAR=♂ [[Kári]] (wind)|COUPL= Marriage or coupling|boxstyle_COUPL =border:0}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | |!|!|PAREN|!| |PAREN= Parent and child|boxstyle_PAREN =border:0}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | | | | | JOK | | | | | |`|-|-|-|-|'| |JOK=♂ [[Jökul]]}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | }}
{{Tree chart| | | | | EYS | | | SNA | | | | | | | | | | | | |EYS=♂ '''Eystein'''|SNA =♂ '''[[Snær]]'''}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | |!| | | |,|^|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| | |}}
{{Tree chart| SVA |y| ASH | | THO | | FON | | DRI | | MJO | |SVA=♂ Svaða, a [[jötunn]]|ASH=♀ Áshilda|THO=♂ '''[[Þorri]]'''|FON=♀ [[Fönn]]|DRI=♀ [[Drífa]]|MJO=♀ [[Mjǫll|Mjöll]]}}
{{Tree chart| |,|-|a|-|-|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | |}}
{{Tree chart| |!| |`|-|v|-|-|-|b|-|-|-|.| | | |!| | |}}
{{Tree chart| NOR |~| HOD | | GOR | | HRO |~| GOI | NOR=♂ '''[[Nór|Nórr]]'''|HOD=♀ Hödda|GOR=♂ '''Górr'''|GOI=♀ Gói|HRO=♂ '''Hrolf'''}}
{{Tree chart| |!| | | | | | | |!| | |}}
{{Tree chart| NOR | | | | | | GOR | |NOR=''[[Nór#Descendants of Nór|descendants of Nórr]]''|GOR=''[[Nór#Descendants of Gór|descendants of Górr]]''}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{chart bottom}}

{{Yngling family tree}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
*{{Cite book|last=de Vries|first=Jan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sI8eAAAAIAAJ|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=Lindow|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC|title=Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs|date=2001|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|author-link=Andy Orchard}}
*{{Cite book|last=Simek|first=Rudolf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZ24QgAACAAJ|title=Dictionary of Northern Mythology|date=1996|publisher=D.S. Brewer|isbn=978-0-85991-513-7|language=en|author-link=Rudolf Simek}}
{{Norse mythology}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fornjot}}
[[Category:Jötnar]]
[[Category:Orkneyinga saga characters]]