Æsir

File:Baldr dead by Eckersberg.jpg

Æsir gathered around the body of Baldr. Painting by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, 1817

Æsir (Old Norse; singular: ) or ēse (Old English; singular: ) are gods in Germanic paganism. In Old Nordic religion and mythology, the precise meaning of the term "" is debated, as it can refer either to the gods in general or specifically to one of the main families of gods, in contrast to the Vanir, with whom the Æsir waged war, ultimately leading to a joining of the families. The term can further be applied to local gods that were believed to live in specific features in the landscape – such as fells. The Old English medical text Wið færstice refers to the Ēse, along with elves, as harmful beings that could cause a stabbing pain, although exactly how they were conceived of by the author of the text is unclear.

and its cognate forms feature in many Germanic names, such as Oswald and , and in some place-names in Norway and Sweden. The Æsir further likely give their name to the A-rune, attested in the Elder Futhark, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc and Younger Futhark.

Terminology

Etymology

File:Reykjavik - Thor-Figur 1.jpg

The Eyrarland Statue, typically interpreted as depicting Thor. Thor's riding across the sky is likely reflected in the modern Swedish word for "thunderstorm" - Template:Langx, deriving from an earlier form meaning "the driving of the áss".

The modern English term "Æsir" is derived from the plural Old Norse term , the singular of which is .Template:Sfn In Old English, the term used is the cognate (Template:Plural form ).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In continental West Germanic languages, the word is only attested in personal and place names such as Ansila, Ansgeir and Anshram.Template:Sfn The cognate term was recorded as a Latinised form of an original Gothic word by Jordanes, in the 6th century CE work Getica, as a name for euhemerised semi-divine early Gothic rulers.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn The Old High German is reconstructed as *, plural *.Template:Sfn

The corresponding feminine form in Old Norse is (Template:Plural form:), formed by the addition of the suffix, denoting a female form.Template:Sfn A cognate word for "female " is not attested outside Old Norse, and a corresponding West Germanic word would have been separately derived with the feminine suffixes -inī or -injō.Template:Sfn

The Proto-Germanic form is typically reconstructed as .Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This form of the word is attested in Proto-Germanic during the Roman Imperial Age as a component of the name of the goddess (potentially translating to "Battle-goddess") and probably also in an inscription from around 200 CE on a buckle from Vimose that reads a(n)sau wīja ("I dedicate this to the Æsir").Template:Sfn The word is in turn is typically derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ems-u-, making the terms closely related to Template:Langx, Template:Langx ("god" or "lord") and Template:Langx ("to give birth" or "to beget").Template:Sfn An alternative is that the terms for "Æsir" are related to ("beam" or "post"), the ancestor of Template:Langx ("the main beam of a house").Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In this case, the name would likely have originated due to the equation of gods and carved posts in Germanic religion.Template:Sfn

Snorri Sturluson and Saxo Grammaticus proposed that the term "Æsir" instead derives from " ("Asians"), and the idea that the gods originated in Asia, later migrating into Northern Europe. This is however not supported by modern scholars and attributed to medieval scholarship on the matter and an attempt to connect the Scandinavian peoples with Classical antiquity and Christianity rather than a reflection of actual Germanic mythology.Template:Sfn

Derived terms

is further found in Old Norse compound nouns such as ("Æsir's bridge"), ("home" or "enclosure of the Æsir"), ("strength of the Æsir") and the names for Thor ("Æsir-Thor") and ("Æsir-lord").Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The only modern word that is derived from terms for , other than learned borrowings from medieval languages is Template:Langx, meaning "thunderstorm", which is derived from earlier ("the driving of the áss"), which would derive from the reconstructed Old East Norse:. This is likely in reference to the belief in thunderstorms originating from Thor's riding across the skies.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Terms for Æsir form parts of Germanic names in multiple Germanic languages. Examples of this include Template:Langx, , (Modern English: Oswald) and their corresponding Old Norse equivalents, , and . Other examples include Template:Langx and Template:Langx.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Some Proto-Norse personal names feature such as , and .Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Old Norse sources

Meaning of the term "Æsir"

Distinctions between "áss", "goð" and "vanr"

File:Æsir-Vanir war by Frølich.jpg

Óðinn throws his spear in the Æsir-Vanir war, illustration by Lorenz Frølich (1895)

It has been proposed that in Old Norse poetry, the term "" was typically chosen over "" for metrical reasons, fitting better with the required alliteration or rhyme, rather than so as to create a semantic distinction between the two terms.Template:Sfn Following from this, it has been argued that the term "" acts as a synonym to "" and is inclusive of Njörðr and his descendants, typically referred to as the Vanir. Examples of this are seen in the þulur, where Njöðr and Freyr are listed in the ("Poetic equivalents for áss") and Freyja in that for the .Template:Sfn

The main tales that present the Æsir and Vanir as distinct family groups are those concerning the Æsir-Vanir war, which are contained within Völuspá, Ynglinga saga and Skáldskaparmál. This conflict between the gods occurred long in the past and in Ynglinga saga ends with the exchange of Hœnir and Mímir as hostages from the Æsir with Njörðr, Freyr and Kvasir from the Vanir. Skáldskaparmal alternatively says that at the end of the war, the two groups mixed their spit in a vat and created Kvasir from it.Template:Sfn The inclusion of gods typically referred to as Vanir as Æsir is that the Vanir may have been seen as fully integrated into the Æsir after the resolution of this war between the two groups.Template:Sfn

Proposed origins of a distinction with Vanir

Despite the inclusion of at least some of the Vanir within the Æsir, some scholars have argued that some differences between the two groups remain, such as the Vanir appearing to have mainly been connected with cultivation and fertility and the Æsir with power and war. Conversely, it has been argued that this division of domains is not reflected in the sources, with the Vanir being instead more associated with kingship and the Æsir with creation.Template:Sfn

One idea is that the Vanir (and the fertility cult associated with them) may be more archaic than that of the more warlike Æsir, such that the mythical war may mirror a half-remembered religious conflict. This argument was first suggested in Wilhelm Mannhardt's Antike Vald-und Feldkulten.Template:Sfn

On a similar note, Marija Gimbutas argues that the Æsir and the Vanir represent the displacement of an indigenous group by a tribe of warlike Indo-European invaders as part of her Kurgan hypothesis.Template:Sfn Another historical theory is that the inter-pantheon interaction may be an apotheosisation of the conflict between the Roman Kingdom and the Sabines.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Finally, the noted comparative religion scholar Mircea Eliade speculated that this conflict is actually a later version of an Indo-European myth concerning the conflict between and eventual integration of a pantheon of sky/warrior/ruler gods and a pantheon of earth/economics/fertility gods, with no strict historical antecedents.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn

Specific beings referred to as Æsir

File:Snæfellsjökull in the Morning (7622876302).jpg

Snæfell in Iceland, where according to Barðar saga, Barðr Snæfellsáss became an áss who was worshipped in the region and protected those who lived there.Template:Sfn

Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda contains two lists of Æsir, one in Gylfaginning and one in the þulur. Though these sources largely agree, they are not identical.Template:Sfn Gylfaginning lists the male Æsir as Odin,Template:Efn Thor, Njörðr,Template:Efn Freyr,Template:Efn Týr, Heimdallr, Bragi, Víðarr, Váli, Ullr, Forseti and Loki and the ásynjur as Frigg, Sága, Eir, Gefjon, Fulla, Freyja, Sjöfn, Lofn, Vár, Vör, Syn, Hlín, Snotra, Gná, Sól, BilTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The þulur add to this the ásynjur Skaði, Sigyn, Hnoss, Gerðr, Jörð, Iðunn, Ilmr, Njörun, Nanna, Rindr, Þrúðr, Rán.Template:Sfn Some scholars have noted, however, that the Prose Edda does not reflect a worldview held by all heathen Nordic, or more widely Germanic, people throughout time and space. Terry Gunnell further challenges the idea that all North-Germanic people conceived of the gods as Snorri portrays them - living as a pantheon of Æsir and Vanir in Ásgarð together and all being ruled by Óðinn who is the ancestor of many of them. He proposes that this view of Óðinn as the leader of a distinct family of gods, the Æsir, would likely not have been held by the majority of heathens, instead resulting from the material that Snorri presents coming from the elite warrior class, with whom Óðinn was closely associated.Template:Sfn

Beyond this, a runic inscription on the 9th century CE Engstad whalebone pin has been interpreted as referencing an Template:Langx ("yard-áss" or "áss of the settled space"). In this context, it has been proposed that the term would refer to a local god or being of that specific farmstead rather than of the whole world more generally.Template:EfnTemplate:Sfn Similarly, the Old Norse term ("land-áss") is used in a poem attributed to Egill Skallagrímsson to refer to one of a list of gods which he wishes to turn against King Eiríkr. This god is often interpreted as being Thor, though it is also possible that it refers to a local land spirit, possibly the ("land-elf") referred to in the next stanza of the poem.Template:Sfn Æsir closely associated with specific fells or hills are also found in the Old Norse record such as ("the áss of Svínfell"), referred in an insult in Njáls saga, and Barðr Snæfellsáss ("áss of Snæfell"), a man who got his name, according to his eponymous saga, because he of the worship he received by those living around Snæfell and the help he in turn gave them when they were in need.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn

In the context of ritual speech, an unnamed áss is the ("almighty áss") mentioned along with Frey and Njörð in a formula said by individuals swearing an oath on a ring. This has been variously identified by scholars as Thor, Ullr and Odin, although the possibility remains that it is a result of Christian work that was written as a foreshadowing of the establishment of Christianity, as an example of the "noble pagan" motif.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The term is further used in translations of works into Old Norse such as in Díalógar Gregors páfa, in which the phrase ("áss of the sun") is used to refer to Apollo, in the phrase ("god of the sea") and in ("god of dreams").Template:Sfn Morkinskinna further describes copper images of æsir, Völsungs and Gjúkings at the hippodrome in Constantinople. This has been interpreted as translating Greek gods and heroes into a Germanic context, however, other proposals include that this should be seen as stemming from a euhemeristic angle, with the Æsir being descended from Trojans, as they are depicted by Snorri in the Prose Edda and Ynglinga Saga.Template:Sfn

Relation with jötnar

It has been proposed that most narratives in Old Nordic mythology portray existence as broadly divided into "this world", inhabited by the Æsir and men, and "the otherworld" inhabited by beings such as jötnar.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn These narratives often centre on the journey of an áss to the otherworld, either to obtain something important from there, or to resolve an issue that has arisen in Ásgarð through social exchange with the otherworld.Template:Sfn The jötnar also are presented as a constant threat to the Æsir, leading them into confrontation with Thor who stops the jötnar overrunning Ásgarð and Miðgarð.Template:Sfn

Despite this general juxtaposition between the Æsir and the jötnar, they were not conceived of as necessarily "biologically" distinct from one another, with many of the Æsir being descended from jötnar such as Odin, Thor, and Loki.Template:Sfn Many Æsir also marry and have children with gýgjar (jötunn women) such as Odin, who marries Jörð and fathers Thor with her, and Freyr who weds Gerð, founding the Yngling family.Template:Sfn In descriptions of weddings celebrated by the Æsir, the gýgjar spouses appear to be fully integrated into the Æsir.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Furthermore, the Æsir are depicted as having strong positive relations with some jötnar such as Ægir, who hosts them for a feast where they all drink together in the poem Lokasenna.Template:Sfn Other jötnar are seen by the Æsir as sources of knowledge, such as Vafþrúðnir, with whom Odin has a wisdom contest in Vafþrúðnismál, and to whom Freyja travels in the poem Hyndluljóð to find out the lineage of Ottar.Template:Sfn

Old English sources

File:BL Harleian 585 f 175v With Faerstice (cropped).png

The word "ēsa", as written on the bottom line of a page recording Wið færstice from the Lācnunga, Harleian collection, British Library

Wið færstice

The Wið færstice text from the late 10th or early 11th century Lācnunga is an Old English remedy against harm caused by several beings including ēse and ælfe (often translated as "elves").Template:Sfn

The collocation of ēse and elves Wið færstice is paralleled in Old Norse writings as the alliterative phrase "æsir and álfar".Template:SfnTemplate:Efn It is not clear whether this formula dates back to the ancestral community speaking the ancestor of Old Norse and Old English and thus had always existed in both languages, or was the result of a later loaning due to the close cultural contact.Template:Sfn

It has been proposed that just like in early Old Norse-speaking communities, those speaking Old English early on would also have placed ēse and ælfe in contrast with monstrous beings such as eotenas and wyrmas, although it is unclear exactly how the beings were conceived of in English-speaking communities by the time that Wið færstice was written.Template:Sfn

The A-rune (ᚫ, ᚩ or ᚬ)

The Proto-Germanic name of the A rune, written in Elder Futhark as Template:Runic and Anglo-Saxon Futhorc as Template:Runic, is typically reconstructed as Template:Langx, an áss (or heathen god).Template:Sfn This identification is principally based on the Icelandic rune poem which reads as records the name of the Younger Futhark form of the rune, Template:Runic, as , referring to Odin:

Standardised Old Norse textTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn	Modern English translationTemplate:Sfn
	Heathen god/Óðinn is ancient Gautur and Ásgarðr’s prince and Valhall’s ruler.

Some scholars have translated the name of the rune in the Old English rune poem as ("god"), with the word commonly accepted as being a cognate of , however others interpret it as meaning "mouth" that would have come to Old English from Proto-Germanic or result from influence from either Template:Langx ("river mouth") or Template:Langx ("mouth").Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Old Swedish and Old Norwegian rune poems both refer to the name as meaning "river mouth" rather than "god".Template:Sfn

Modern worship

Ásatrú, meaning "faith in the Æsir", is a new religious movement also known as Heathenry that aims to reconstruct and practise a modern form of Germanic paganism. As of 2007, Ásatrú is a religion officially recognized by the governments of Denmark,Template:Sfn Iceland,Template:Sfn Norway,Template:Sfn and Sweden.Template:Sfn In the United Kingdom, the organisation Asatru UK is registered as a community interest company for religious activities.Template:Sfn

Most adherents do not emphasise worship of the Æsir in particular and may also refer to their practice as "forn sed / sidr / siður" meaning old customs. The Icelandic Ásatrúarfélagið describes Ásatrú as "Nordic pantheism" involving "belief in the Icelandic/Nordic folklore" including all the "spirits and entities" besides "gods and other beings" this entails.Template:Efn

Place-names

Place-names containing the word or cognate terms have been proposed for the following:

Sweden:

• AspbergTemplate:Sfn
• ÅslundaTemplate:Sfn

Norway

• ÁsarállTemplate:Sfn

No such locations have yet been found in England that are widely accepted by scholars.Template:Sfn

See also

• Proto-Germanic paganism
• Family trees of the Norse gods
• Horses of the Æsir
• Tuatha Dé Danann
• Twelve Olympians
• Anunnaki