Aurvandill (Old Norse) is a figure inGermanic mythology. InNorse mythology, the godThor tosses Aurvandill's toe – which had frozen while thethunder god was carrying him in a basket across theÉlivágar rivers – into the sky to form a star calledAurvandils-tá ('Aurvandill's toe'). In wider medieval Germanic-speaking cultures, he was known asĒarendel inOld English,Aurendil inOld High German,Auriwandalo inLombardic, and possibly as𐌰𐌿𐌶𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌹𐌻 (auzandil) inGothic. AnOld Danish Latinized version,Horwendillus (Ørvendil), is also the name given to the father ofAmlethus (Amleth) inSaxo Grammaticus'Gesta Danorum.^[1][2][3]

Comparative studies of the various myths where the figure is involved have led scholars to reconstruct aCommon Germanic mythical figure named*Auza-wandilaz, meaning 'light-beam' or 'ray of light' (from*auza- 'shiny [liquid]' attached to*wanđ- '[flexible] rod'). According to the Old English and Gothic sources, and to a lesser degree the Old Norse text (where a star is mentioned without additional details), this figure seems to have personified the 'rising light' of the morning, possibly theMorning Star (Venus). However, the German and Old Danish evidence remain difficult to interpret in this model.^[4][5][2][6]

TheOld Norse nameAurvandill stems from aProto-Germanic form reconstructed as*Auza-wandilaz,^[1]*Auzi-wandalaz,^[7] or*Auzo-wandiloz.^[8] It iscognate withOld EnglishĒarendel,Old High GermanAurendil (≈Orentil), andLombardicAuriwandalo.^[1][2][9] TheGothic wordauzandil, which can be read in theGothica Bononiensia according to the interpretation of several experts, may be another cognate.^[10][11]

The original meaning of the Common Germanic name remains obscure.^[1][5][2] The mostsemantically plausible explanation is to interpret*Auza-wandilaz as acompound meaning 'light-beam' or 'ray of light', by deriving theprefix*auza- from Proto-Germanic*auzom ('shiny [especially of liquids]'; cf. ONaurr 'gold', OEēar 'wave, sea'),^{[note 1]} and*-wandilaz from*wanđuz ('rod, cane'; cf. Goth.wandus, ONvǫndr).^{[note 2][14]} The latter probably stems from the root*wanđ- ('to turn, wind'), so that the etymological connotation is that of suppleness or flexibility.^[13]

In a wider Germanic context, this theory is encouraged by the Old English association of the idea of 'rising light' withĒarendel,^[15][16][17] whose name has been translated as 'radiance, morning star',^[5][18][9] or as 'dawn, ray of light'.^[19] The Gothic wordauzandil, translating theKoine Greek wordheōsphóros ('dawnbringer') from theSeptuagint, which in Latin is renderedlucifer ('light-bringer, morning star'), may provide further evidence to this interpretation.^[3]

Alternatively, the Old Norse prefixaur- has also been interpreted as coming from Proto-Germanic*aura- ('mud, gravel, sediment'; cf. ONaurr 'wet clay, mud', OEēar 'earth'), withAurvandill being rendered as 'gravel-beam' or 'swamp-wand'.^[20][21][22] According to philologistChristopher R. Fee, this may imply the idea a phallic figure related to fertility, the name of his spouse in the Old Norse myth,Gróa, literally meaning 'Growth'.^[22]

In less frequent scholarly interpretations, the second element has also been derived by some researchers from*wanđilaz ('Vandal'; i.e. 'the shining Vandal'),^[23] from a stem*wandila- ('beard'),^[24] or else compared to aNorse word forsword.^[25]

Commentators since at least the time ofJacob Grimm'sDeutsche Mythologie, first published in 1835, have emphasized the great age of the tradition reflected in the mythological material surrounding this name, without being able to fully reconstruct the motifs of a Common Germanic myth. The task is complicated because the mythical stories of Orendel and Horwendillus appear to be unrelated to that of Ēarendel and Aurvandill. However, some scholars, includingGeorges Dumézil, have attempted to demonstrate that Saxo's Horwendillus and Snorri's Aurvandill are based on the same archetypal myth.^[5] Furthermore, the apparent discrepancies may be explained by the fact that derivatives of*Auza-wandilaz were also used as personal names in the Lombardic and German traditions, as attested by historical figures who are namedAuriwandalo andAurendil by the 8th century AD.^[4][26][9] Thus, theOrendel of theMiddle High German myth may have been a different figure sharing the same name.^[4]

At any rate, scholarsRudolf Simek andJohn Lindow contend that the linguistic relation between the Old Norse and Old English names may suggest a Common Germanic origin of the myth despite the absence of Aurvandill from thePoetic Edda. They argue that Aurvandill was probably already connected with a star in the original myth, but that Snorri may have modelled the story ofAurvandils-tá ('Auvandill's Toe') on the tale of the stars emerging fromÞjazi's eyes while Thor throws them into the sky.^[18][19]

TheOld NorseAurvandill is mentioned once inNorse mythology, inSkáldskaparmál, a book ofSnorri Sturluson's 13th-centuryProse Edda, where he is described as the husband of the witch Gróa:^[27]

Thor went home to Thrúdvangar, and thehone remained sticking in his head. Then came the wise woman who was calledGróa, wife of Aurvandill the Valiant: she sang her spells over Thor until the hone was loosened. But when Thor knew that, and thought that there was hope that the hone might be removed, he desired to reward Gróa for her leech-craft and make her glad, and told her these things: that he had waded from the north over Icy Stream and had borne Aurvandill in a basket on his back from the north out of Jötunheim. And he added for a token, that one of Aurvandill's toes had stuck out of the basket, and became frozen; wherefore Thor broke it off and cast it up into the heavens, and made thereof the star called Aurvandill's Toe. Thor said that it would not be long ere Aurvandill came home: but Gróa was so rejoiced that she forgot her incantations, and the hone was not loosened, and stands yet in Thor's head. Therefore it is forbidden to cast a hone across the floor, for then the hone is stirred in Thor's head.

This passage seems to be part of a larger story where Aurvandill is abducted by thejǫtnar; the thunder-god Thor confronts one of them (Hrungnir in Snorri's version) and eventually liberates Aurvandill, but leaves the scene with the weapon of the jǫtunn stuck in his head.^[28]

At the end of the story, Aurvandill's frost-bitten toe is made into a new star by Thor. However, it is not clear what celestial object is indicated in this passage. Guesses as to the identity of this star have includedSirius, the planetVenus, or the blue-white starRigel, which could be viewed as forming the foot of the constellationOrion.^[29]

The oldest attestation of this name may occur in theGothica Bononiensia, a sermon fromOstrogothic Italy written in theGothic language not later than the first half of the 6th century, and discovered in 2009.^[10] Onfolio 2recto, in the context of a quotation fromIsaiah 14:12, linguist P. A. Kerkhof suggested to see the word𐌰𐌿𐌶𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌹𐌻 (auzandil) in a difficult-to-read part of thepalimpsest. This reading, which has been accepted by various experts such asCarla Falluomini and Roland Schuhmann,^[11] translates theKoine Greek wordἑωσφόρος (heōsphóros, 'dawnbringer') from theSeptuagint, which in Latin is renderedlucifer ('light-bringer, morning star'):^[3]

...ƕaiwa usdraus us himina auzandil sa in maurgin urrinnanda ...
... how Lucifer did fall from heaven, he who emerges in the morning ...

The termēarendel (≈eorendel,earendil) appears seven times in theOld English corpus, where it is used in certain contexts to interpret the Latinoriens ('rising sun'),lucifer ('light-bringer'),aurora ('dawn') oriubar ('radiance').^[30] According to scholar J. E. Cross, textual evidence indicate that it originally meant 'coming or rising light, beginning of light, bringer of light', and that later innovations led to an extended meaning of 'radiance, light'.^[31] Philologist Tiffany Beechy writes that "the evidence from the early glossary tradition showsearendel to be a rare alternative for common words for the dawn/rising sun."^[32] According to her, the "Anglo-Saxons appear to have knownearendel as a quasi-mythological figure who personified a natural phenomenon (sunrise) and an astrological/astronomical object (the morning star)."^[33]

The lines 104–108 of the Old English poemCrist I (Christ I) describe the coming of Ēarendel to the earth:

The impetus of the poem comes from the LatinAdvent Antiphon:O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae et sol justitiae: veni et illumina sedentem in tenebris et umbra mortis ("O Orient/Rising One, splendour of eternal light and sun of justice: come and illuminate one sitting in darkness and the shadow of death"). Scholars agree thatĒarendel was chosen inCrist I as an equivalent of the LatinOriens, understood in a religious-poetic context as the 'source of true light', 'the fount of light', and the 'light (which) rises from the Orient'.^[37][38][39]

Traditionally, Ēarendel inCrist I is taken to personify eitherJohn the Baptist orChrist himself, depicted as the rising sun, the morning star, or the dawn.^[40] In the poem, he is described as the "true(st) light of the sun" (soðfæsta sunnan leoma) and as the "brightest of angels [≈ messengers]" (engla beorhtast). This portrayal suggests the idea of a heavenly or divine radiance sent both physically and metaphorically over the earth for the benefit of mankind. The lines 107b–8 (þu tida gehwaneof sylfum þe symle inlihtes), translated as "all spans of time you, of yourself, enlighten always", or as "you constantly enlighten all seasons by your presence", may also imply that Ēarendel exists in the poem as an eternal figure existing outside of time, and as the very force that makes time and its perception possible.^[41]

Beechy argues that the expressionĒalā Ēarendel ('OĒarendel') could be an Old English poetic stock formula, as it finds "phonetic-associative echoes" in the expressionseorendel eall andeorendel eallunga from the Durham Hymnal Gloss.^[42]

Ēarendel also appears in theBlickling Homilies (10th century AD), where he is explicitly identified withJohn the Baptist:

The passage is based on a Latin sermon by the 5th-century Archbishop of RavennaPetrus Chrysologus:Sed si processurus est, iam nascatur Ioannes, quia instat nativitas Christi; surgat novus Lucifer, quia iubar iam veri Solis erumpit ("But since he is about to appear, now let John spring forth, because the birth of Christ follows closely; let the new Lucifer arise, because now the light of the true Sun is breaking forth"). Since the Old English version is close to the original Latin,ēarendel can be clearly identified in theBlickling Homilies withlucifer, meaning inliturgical language the 'light bearer, the planet Venus as morning star, the sign auguring the birth of Christ'.^[44][45] In this context,ēarendel is to be understood as the morning star, the light whose rising signifies Christ’s birth, and whose appearance comes in the poem before the "gleam of the true Sun, God himself".^[45]

In the Durham Hymnal Gloss (early 11th century AD), the termēarendel is used in specific contexts to gloss the Latinaurora ('dawn; east, orient') instead of the more commonly used equivalentdægrima ('dawn'). Hymns 15.8 and 30.1 imply thatēarendel appearswith the dawn, as the light that "quite suffuses the sky", rather than being thedawn itself ("the dawn comes up in its course,eorendel steps fully forth").^[46]

The Épinal Glossary, written in England in the 8th century, associatesēarendel with the Latiniubar ('brightness, radiance' [especially of heavenly bodies]) as an alternative to the more frequent equivalentleoma (Old English: 'ray of light, gleam').^[49][46] Two copies of the Épinal Glossary were produced in the late 8th or early 9th century: theÉpinal-Erfurt Glossary, which gives the equationleoma vel earendiI (≈leoma vel oerendil), and theCorpus Glossary, which was redacted from an archetype of the Épinal-Erfurt exemplar.^[46]

The formsAurendil (≈Horindil,Urendil), dating from the 8th century, andOrendil (≈Orentil), dating from the 9th–10th century, were used inOld High German as personal names.^[50][26] A Bavarian count namedOrendil is recorded in 843.^[51]

TheMiddle High German epic poemOrendel, written in the late 12th century, presents a fictional story of how the Holy Mantle of Christ arrived in the city ofTrier. This narrative was likely inspired by the actual transfer of the Mantle to the main altar ofTrier Cathedral in 1196. The poem's style, characterized by its "paratactic organization of episodes and the repetition of poetic formulas", suggests it may be rooted in an older oral tradition.^[52]

The eponymous hero of the tale, Orendel, son of King Ougel, sets sail with a formidable fleet to reach the Holy Land and seek the hand of Bride,Queen of Jerusalem. After enduring a shipwreck, Orendel is rescued by a fisherman and eventually retrieves the lost Mantle from the belly of a whale.The coat grants him protection, enabling him to win Bride's hand in marriage. Together, they rule Jerusalem for a time and embark on numerous adventures. In the end, Orendel disposes of the Holy Coat after bringing it to Trier.^[52]

The appendix to theStrassburger Heldenbuch (15th c.) names King Orendel (≈Erentel) of Trier as the first of the heroes that were ever born.^[53][54]

The name also gave way to various toponyms found in present-day Germany, includingOrendileshûs (inGrabfeld),Orendelsall (now part ofZweiflingen), andOrendelstein (inÖhringen).^[55]

TheLombardic formAuriwandalo appears as a personal name in the 8th century.^[26]

A Latinized version of theOld Danish name,Horwendillus (Ørvendil), appears inSaxo Grammaticus'Gesta Danorum (ca. 1200) as the father ofAmlethus (Amlet):^[56]

Now Ørvendil, after controlling the [Jutland] province for three years, had devoted himself to piracy and reaped such superlative renown that Koller, the king of Norway, wishing to rival his eminent deeds and widespread reputation, judged it would suit him very well if he could transcend him in warfare and cast a shadow over the brilliance of this world-famed sea-rover. He cruised about, combing various parts of the seas, until he lit upon Ørvendil's fleet. Each of the pirates had gained an island in the midst of the ocean and they had moored their ships on different sides. (...)

Both gave and accepted their word of honour on this point and fell to battle. They were not deterred from assailing each other with their blades by the novelty of their meeting or the springtime charm of that spot, for they took no heed of these things. Ørvendil's emotional fervour made him more eager to set upon his foe than to defend himself; consequently he disregarded the protection of his shield and laid both hands to his sword. This daring had its results. His rain of blows deprived Koller of his shield by cutting it to pieces; finally he carved off the other’s foot and made him fall lifeless. He honoured their agreement by giving him a majestic funeral, constructing an ornate tomb, and providing a ceremony of great magnificence. After this he hounded down and slew Koller's sister Sæla, a warring amazon and accomplished pirate herself and skilled in the trade of fighting.

Three years were passed in gallant military enterprises, in which he marked the richest and choicest of the plunder for Rørik, to bring himself into closer intimacy with the king. On the strength of their friendship Ørvendil wooed and obtained Rørik's daughter Gerutha for his bride, who bore him a son, Amleth.

In view of Saxo's tendency toeuhemerise and reinterpret traditional Scandinavian myths, philologistGeorges Dumézil has proposed that his story was based on the same archetype as Snorri's Aurvandill. In what could be a literary inversion of the original myth, Horwendillus is portrayed as a warrior who injures and vanquishes his adversary, whereas Aurvandill was taken as a hostage by thejǫtnar and wounded during his deliverance. Dumézil also notes that, although the event does not take a cosmological turn in Saxo's version, Aurvandill's toe was broken off by Thor, while Collerus' (Koller's) entire foot is slashed off by Horwendillus.^[57]

The English writerJ. R. R. Tolkien discovered the lines 104–105 of Cynewulf'sCrist in 1913.^[58] According to him, the "great beauty" of the name Ēarendel, and the myth he seems to be associated with, inspired the character ofEärendil depicted inThe Silmarillion.^[59] In 1914, Tolkien published a poem originally entitled "The Voyage of Earendel the Evening Star" as an account of Ēarendel's celestial course as the bright Morning-star.^[29] In a personal letter from 1967, Tolkien wrote:

When first studying A[nglo]-S[axon] professionally (1913) ... I was struck by the great beauty of this word (or name), entirely coherent with the normal style of A-S, but euphonic to a peculiar degree in that pleasing but not 'delectable' language ... it at least seems certain that it belonged to astronomical-myth, and was the name of a star or star-group. Before 1914, I wrote a 'poem' upon Earendel who launched his ship like a bright spark from the havens of the Sun. I adopted him into my mythology in which he became a prime figure as a mariner, and eventually as a herald star, and a sign of hope to men.Aiya Earendil Elenion Ancalima (II 329) 'hail Earendil brightest of Stars' is derived at long remove fromÉala Éarendel engla beorhtast.^[59]

Tolkien interpreted Ēarendel as a messenger, probably inspired by his association with the wordengel ('angel, messenger') in bothCrist I(104) and theBlickling Homilies(21 & 35), and his identification withJohn the Baptist in the latter text.^[29] Tolkien's depiction of Eärendil as a herald also has echoes in the interpretation of the Old English Ēarendel as the Morning-star physically heralding the rising of the sun, which finds a figurative parallel in theBlickling Homilies, where Ēarendel heralds the coming of the "true Sun", Christ.^[60] Another pervasive aspect of Tolkien's Eärendil is his depiction as a mariner. Carl F. Hostetter notes that, although "the association of Eärendil with the sea was for Tolkien a deeply personal one", the Danish Horvandillus and the German Orendel are both portrayed as mariners themselves.^[60]

In 2022, a group of scientists led by astronomer Brian Welch named starWHL0137-LS "Earendel" from the Old English meaning.^[61][62]

In the 2022 revenge-thriller filmThe Northman, written and directed byRobert Eggers, Aurvandill is portrayed byEthan Hawke. In the film Aurvandill is mentioned as the Raven King, who is the father ofAmleth, the protagonist of the film, portrayed by the Swedish actorAlexander Skarsgård. The film is based primarily on the medieval Scandinavian legend ofAmleth, which is the direct inspiration behind the characterHamlet fromWilliam Shakespeare's 16th century tragedy of the same name.^[63]

• Iubar
• Proto-Germanic folklore
• Lucifer

Primary sources:

Secondary sources:

• Laistner, Ludwig (1894). "Der germanische Orendel".Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur.38:113–135.ISSN 0044-2518.JSTOR 20651106.
• Ker, W. P. (1897)."Notes on Orendel and Other Stories".Folklore.8 (4):289–307.doi:10.1080/0015587X.1897.9720426.ISSN 0015-587X.JSTOR 1253421.
• Much, Rudolf (1934). "Aurvandils tá".Festschrift H. Seger. Breslau.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Tarcsay, Tibor (2015). "Chaoskampf, Salvation, and Dragons: Archetypes in Tolkien's Earendel".Mythlore.33 (2):139–150.ISSN 0146-9339.

• Characters in Norse mythology
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• Amleth
• Venusian deities
• Dawn gods

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