View source for Fulla

{{short description|Norse deity}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Frigg and Fulla 1874.jpg|right|thumb|A depiction of Fulla kneeling beside her mistress, [[Frigg]], (1865) by [[Ludwig Pietsch]].]]
'''Fulla''' ([[Old Norse]]: {{IPA|non|ˈfulːɑ|}}, possibly 'bountiful') or '''Volla''' ([[Old High German]], 'plenitude') is a [[Ásynjur|goddess]] in [[Germanic paganism|Germanic mythology]]. In [[Norse mythology]], Fulla is described as wearing a golden band and as tending to the [[Fraxinus excelsior|ashen]] box and the footwear owned by the goddess [[Frigg]], and, in addition, Frigg confides in Fulla her secrets. Fulla is attested in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', written in the 13th century by [[Snorri Sturluson]]; and in [[skald]]ic poetry. Volla (''Folla'') is attested in the "Horse Cure" [[Merseburg Incantations|Merseburg Incantation]], recorded anonymously in the 10th century in [[Old High German]], in which she assists in healing the wounded [[foal]] of Phol and is referred to as Frigg's sister. Scholars have proposed theories about the implications of the goddess.

== Name ==
The [[Old Norse]] name ''Fulla'' has been translated as 'bountiful'.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=49}} It stems from [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] ''*fullōn'' ('fullness, plenitude'; cf. [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''fullo'' 'fullness', [[Old High German|OHG]] ''folla'' 'plenitude'), itself a [[Morphological derivation|derivative]] of the adjective ''*fullaz'' ('full'; cf. ON ''fullr'', Goth. ''fulls'', OHG ''foll'', all meaning 'full'). The latter derives from [[Proto-Indo-European]] *''plh₁-nó-'' ('filled, full'; cf. [[Sanskrit|Skt]] ''pūrṇá'' 'full', [[Lithuanian language|Lith.]] ''pìlnas'', [[Old Church Slavonic|OCS]] ''plьnь'' 'filled, full'), a past [[participle]] of the verbal root ''*pelh₁-'' ('to fill').{{Sfn|Orel|2003|p=118}}

==Attestations==
[[File:Frigg by Doepler.jpg|thumb|The goddess Frigg sits on her throne, accompanied by two goddesses: Fulla, holding a wooden box, and [[Hlín]], standing and observing everything. Facing them are the warrior goddess [[Gná]] and her horse [[Hófvarpnir]]. Illustration by [[Carl Emil Doepler]] (1882).]]

===''Poetic Edda''===
In the prose introduction to the ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''[[Grímnismál]]'', Frigg makes a wager with her husband the god [[Odin]] over the hospitality of their human patrons. Frigg sends her servant maid Fulla to warn the king [[Geirröðr|Geirröd]]—Frigg's patron—that a magician (actually Odin in disguise) will visit him. Fulla meets with Geirröd, gives the warning, and advises to him a means of detecting the magician:
<blockquote>
{|
|
:<small>[[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] translation:</small>
:Frigg sent her handmaiden, Fulla, to Geirröth. She bade the king beware lest a magician who was come thither to his land should bewitch him, and told this sign concerning him, that no dog was so fierce as to leap at him.<ref name=BELLOWS86>Bellows (1923:86).</ref>
|
:<small>[[Benjamin Thorpe]] translation:</small>
:Frigg sent her waiting-maid Fulla to bid Geirröd be on his guard, lest the [[troll]]mann who was coming should do him harm, and also say that a token whereby he might be known was, that no dog, however fierce, would attack him.<ref name=THORPE20>Thorpe (1866:20).</ref>
|
|}
</blockquote>

===''Prose Edda''===
In chapter 35 of the ''[[Prose Edda]]'' book ''[[Gylfaginning]]'', [[High, Just-As-High, and Third|High]] provides brief descriptions of 16 [[ásynjur]]. High lists Fulla fifth, stating that, like the goddess [[Gefjun]], Fulla is a [[virgin]], wears her hair flowing freely with a gold band around her head. High describes that Fulla carries Frigg's ''eski'', looks after Frigg's footwear, and that in Fulla Frigg confides secrets.{{Sfn|Faulkes|1987|p=29}}

In chapter 49 of ''Gylfaginning'', High details that, after the death of the deity couple [[Baldr]] and [[Nanna (Norse deity)|Nanna]], the god [[Hermóðr]] wagers for their return in the underworld location of [[Hel (realm)|Hel]]. [[Hel (being)|Hel]], ruler of the location of the same name, tells Hermóðr a way to resurrect Baldr, but will not allow Baldr and Nanna to leave until the deed is accomplished. Hel does, however, allow Baldr and Nanna to send gifts to the living; Baldr sends Odin the ring [[Draupnir]], and Nanna sends Frigg a robe of linen, and "other gifts." Of these "other gifts" sent, the only specific item that High mentions is a finger-ring for Fulla.{{Sfn|Faulkes|1987|p=50}}

The first chapter of the ''Prose Edda'' book ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'', Fulla is listed among eight ásynjur who attend an evening drinking banquet held for [[Ægir]].{{Sfn|Faulkes|1987|p=59}} In chapter 19 of ''Skáldskaparmál'', poetic ways to refer to Frigg are given, one of which is by referring to her as "queen [...] of Fulla."{{Sfn|Faulkes|1987|p=86}} In chapter 32, poetic expressions for [[gold]] are given, one of which includes "Fulla's [[Snood (headgear)|snood]]."{{Sfn|Faulkes|1987|p=94}} In chapter 36, a work by the [[skald]] [[Eyvindr skáldaspillir]] is cited that references Fulla's golden headgear ("the falling sun [gold] of the plain [forehead] of Fulla's eyelashes shone on [...]").{{Sfn|Faulkes|1987|pp=97–98}} Fulla receives a final mention in the ''Prose Edda'' in chapter 75, where Fulla appears within a list of 27 ásynjur names.{{Sfn|Faulkes|1987|p=157}}

==="Horse Cure" Merseburg Incantation===
[[File:Wodan Heilt Balders Pferd by Emil Doepler.jpg|thumb|''Wodan Heals Balder's Horse'' (1905) by Emil Doepler]]
One of the two [[Merseburg Charms]] (the "horse cure"), recorded in [[Old High German]], mentions a deity named Volla. The incantation describes how Phol and [[Wodan]] rode to a wood, and there [[Baldr|Balder's]] [[foal]] sprained its foot. [[Sinthgunt]] sang charms, her sister [[Sól (Sun)|Sunna]] sang charms, [[Frigg|Friia]] sang charms, her sister Volla sang charms, and finally Wodan sang charms, followed by a verse describing the healing of the foal's bone. The charm reads:
<blockquote>
:Phol and Wodan went to the forest.
:Then Balder's horse sprained its foot.
:Then Sinthgunt sang charms, and Sunna her sister;
:Then Friia sang charms, and Volla her sister;
:Then Wodan sang charms, as he well could:
:be it bone-sprain, be it blood-sprain, be it limb-sprain:
:bone to bone, blood to blood,
:limb to limb, so be they glued together.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=227}}
</blockquote>

==Theories==
[[File:Frigg And Her Maidens.jpg|thumb|Fulla holds Frigg's ''eski'' in ''Frigg and Her Maidens'' (1902).]]
Andy Orchard comments that the seeming appearance of Baldr with Volla in the Merseburg Incantation is "intriguing" since Fulla is one of the three goddesses (the other two being Baldr's mother Frigg and his wife Nanna) the deceased Baldr expressly sends gifts to from Hel.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=49}} [[John Lindow]] says that since the name ''Fulla'' seems to have something to do with fullness, it may also point to an association with fertility.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=132}}

[[Rudolf Simek]] comments that while Snorri notes that Baldr sends Fulla a golden ring from Hel in ''Gylfaginning'', "this does not prove that she plays any role in the Baldr myth, but merely shows that Snorri associated her with gold" because of kennings used associating Fulla with gold. Simek says that since Fulla appears in the poetry of Skalds as early as the 10th century that she was likely "not a late personification of plenty" but that she is very likely identical with Volla from the Merseburg Incantation. Simek adds that it is unclear as to who Fulla actually is, and argues that she may be an independent deity or simply identical with the goddess [[Freyja]] or with Frigg.{{Sfn|Simek|1996|p=96}}

John Knight Bostock says that theories have been proposed that the Fulla may at one time have been an aspect of Frigg. As a result, this notion has resulted in theory that a similar situation may have existed between the figures of the goddesses Sinthgunt and Sunna, in that the two may have been understood as aspects of one another rather than entirely separate figures.<ref name=BOSTOCK29>Bostock (1976:29).</ref>

[[Hilda Ellis Davidson]] states that the goddesses Gefjun, [[Gerðr]], Fulla, and [[Skaði]] "may represent important goddesses of early times in the North, but little was remembered about them by the time Snorri was collecting his material." On the other hand, Davidson notes that it is also possible that these goddesses are viewable as aspects of a single [[Goddess|Great Goddess]].<ref name=DAVIDSON10>Davidson (1998:10).</ref> Davidson calls Fulla and Volla "vague, uncertain figures, emerging from odd references to goddesses which Snorri has noted in the poets, but they suggest the possibility that at one time three generations were represented among the goddesses of fertility and harvest in Scandinavia."<ref name=DAVIDSON86>Davidson (1998:86).</ref>

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

==References==
{{commons category}}
{{refbegin}}
* Bostock, John Knight. King, Charles Kenneth. McLintock, D. R. (1976). ''A Handbook on Old High German Literature''. [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-19-815392-9}}
* [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Bellows, Henry Adams]] (Trans.) (1923). ''The Poetic Edda: Translated from the Icelandic with an introduction and notes by Henry Adams Bellows''. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
* [[Hilda Ellis Davidson|Davidson, Hilda Roderick Ellis]] (1998). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9IAyyYi0OC4C&q=Roles+of+the+Northern+Goddess Roles of the Northern Goddess]{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}''. [[Routledge]]. {{ISBN|0-415-13610-5}}
* {{Cite book|last=Faulkes|first=Anthony|title=Edda|publisher=Everyman|year=1987|isbn=0-460-87616-3|edition=1995|author-mask=Faulkes, Anthony, trans.}}
* {{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=Orel|first=Vladimir E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LY1iAAAAMAAJ|title=A Handbook of Germanic Etymology|date=2003|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-12875-0|language=en|author-link=Vladimir Orel}}
* {{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}}
* [[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe, Benjamin]] (Trans.) (1907). ''The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson''. [[Norrœna Society]].
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{{Norse mythology}}

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[[Category:Ásynjur]]
[[Category:Frigg]]
[[Category:Virgin goddesses]]