Beli (Old Norse:[ˈbele]) is ajötunn inNorse mythology. He is said in eddic poetry to have been killed by the godFreyr.[1]Saturn's moonBeli is named after him.
The Old Norse nameBeli has been translated as 'roarer'.[2][3] It is related to the Old Norseweak verbbelja ('to roar';cf.Icelandicbelja,Old Swedishbälia 'to roar').[2]
InGylfaginning (The Beguiling ofGylfi), the godFreyr is forced to fight weaponless against the giant Beli, since he has given his sword to his servant Skírnir before sending him to court Gerðr for his master. Freyr eventually manages to kill the giant with theantler of ahart (stag).[3][1]
InVöluspá (Prophecy of theVölva), Freyr is portrayed as"Beli's slayer" (bani Belja,53).[3][4]
InHáleygjatal, written by 10th-centuryskaldEyvindr skáldaspillir, Freyr is called"Beli's enemy" (Belja dólgr), andÞjóðólfr of Hvinir uses thekenning "evil troop of Beli" (bölverðung Belja) in hisHaustlöng.[4]
According to scholarJohn Lindow, the killing of Beli is part of an older myth that has been lost and "can be glimpsed only in passing".[1]
Elsewhere inSkírnismál (The Lay ofSkírnir),Gerðr complains of the slaying of her brother by Frey, which some scholars have interpreted as evidence that she was the sister of Beli.[1] According toOrchard, "it is clear that Gerd’s reluctance to accept Frey’s favours is based in no small part on her grief for her unnamed brother, whom Frey might have killed. It is therefore possible that Beli is the brother of Gerd, although Frey’s traditional weaponlessness, most tellingly atRagnarok againstSurt, renders the identification uncertain."[3]
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