Garmr
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In Norse mythology, Garmr or Garm (Old Norse "rag"[1]) is a dog associated with both Hel and Ragnarök, and described as a blood-stained watchdog that guards Hel's gate.
Attestations
[edit]Poetic Edda
[edit]The Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál mentions Garmr:
- The best of trees | must Yggdrasil be,
- Skíðblaðnir best of boats;
- Of all the gods | is Óðinn the greatest,
- And Sleipnir the best of steeds;
- Bifröst of bridges, | Bragi of skalds,
- Hábrók of hawks, | and Garm of hounds.[2]
One of the refrains of Völuspá uses Garmr's howling to herald the coming of Ragnarök:
- Now Garm howls loud | before Gnipahellir,
- The fetters will burst, | and the wolf run free;
- Much do I know, | and more can see
- Of the fate of the gods, | the mighty in fight.[3]
After the first occurrence of this refrain the Fimbulvetr is related; the second occurrence is succeeded by the invasion of Jötnar (giants) in the world of gods; after the last occurrence, the rise of a new and better world is described.
Baldrs draumar describes a journey which Odin makes to Hel. Along the way he meets a dog.
- Then Óðinn rose, | the enchanter old,
- And the saddle he laid | on Sleipnir's back;
- Thence rode he down | to Niflhel deep,
- And the hound he met | that came from hell.
- Bloody he was | on his breast before,
- At the father of magic | he howled from afar;
- Forward rode Óðinn, | the earth resounded
- Till the house so high | of Hel he reached.[4]
Although unnamed, this dog is normally assumed to be Garmr.[5] Alternatively, Garmr is sometimes assumed to be identical to Fenrir. Garmr is sometimes seen as a hellhound, comparable to Cerberus.
Prose Edda
[edit]The Prose Edda book Gylfaginning assigns him a role in Ragnarök:
- Then shall the dog Garmr be loosed, which is bound before Gnipahellir: he is the greatest monster; he shall do battle with Týr, and each become the other's slayer.[6]
Etymology
[edit]Bruce Lincoln brings together Garmr and the Greek mythological dog Cerberus, relating both names to a Proto-Indo-European root *ger- "to growl" (perhaps with the suffixes -*m/*b and -*r).[7] However, as Ogden (2013)[8] notes, this analysis actually requires Cerberus and Garmr to be derived from two different Indo-European roots (*ger- and *gher- respectively), and in this opinion does not establish a relationship between the two names. However, the two roots are similar enough that a connection can still be argued.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Orchard (1997:52).
- ^ Bellows (1923.)
- ^ Bellows (1923).
- ^ Bellows (1923).
- ^ Lincoln (1991:97)
- ^ Brodeur (1916).
- ^ Lincoln, Bruce (1991). Death, war, and sacrifice: studies in ideology and practice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-226-48199-9.
- ^ Ogden, Daniel (2013). Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN 0199557322.
References
[edit]- Bellows, Henry Adams (trans.). 1923. The Poetic Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
- Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.). 1916. Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
- Lincoln, Bruce (1991). Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-48199-9.
- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2
- Simek, Rudolf. 1996. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. First published by Alfred Kröner Verlag in 1984. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1.