Bestla (Old Norse:[ˈbestlɑ]) is ajötunn inNorse mythology, and the mother of thegodsOdin,Vili and Vé (by way ofBorr). She is also the sister of an unnamed man who assisted Odin, and the daughter (or granddaughter depending on the source) of thejötunnBölþorn. Odin is frequently called "Bestla's son" in both skaldic verses and thePoetic Edda.[1]
Bestla is attested in thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, theProse Edda, written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson, and in the poetry ofskalds. Scholars have commented on the obscurity of the figure's name and have proposed various theories to explain the role and origin of the giantess.
The meaning of theOld Norse nameBestla remains uncertain. Scholars have proposed potential meanings such as 'wife', or 'bark,bast'.[1] It might stem from*Bastilōn (perhaps a yew goddess, originally a 'bast-donor'), or from*Banstillōn (via an intermediate form*Böstla), related toOld Frisianbös ('marriage, union', originally 'wife').[2]
According toRudolf Simek, "the name appears to be very old" due to its obscurity.[3]
InGylfaginning (The Beguiling ofGylfi), she is portrayed as the daughter of the giantBölþorn and as the spouse ofBorr, while the enthroned figure ofHárr (High) tells Gangleri (described as kingGylfi in disguise) of the genealogy of the godOdin.[4]
He married that woman who was called Bestla, the daughter of the giant Bölthorn. They had three sons; the first was called Odin, the second Vili, the third Vé.
— Snorri Sturluson,Gylfaginning, 5–7, trans.J. Lindow, 2002.
InSkáldskaparmál (The Language of Poetry), a poem by theskaldEinarr Helgarson refers to Odin as "Bestla's son".[5]
Hávamál(140) makes Bölþor(n) the grandfather of Bestla.[4] Odin recounts his gaining ofninemagical songs from Bestla's unnamed brother. If nothing indicates a family relationship between Odin and the man in the stanza (although skalds were certainly aware of Bestla as Odin's mother), and if the mead was allegedly stolen according to other sources, it is possible that Odin obtained magical songs from his maternal uncle.[4]
- H. A. Bellows translation (1923):
- Nine mighty songs I got from the son
- Of Bolthorn, Bestla's father;
- And a drink I got of the goodly mead
- Poured out from Othrorir.[7]
On the basis of theHávamál stanza handled above (wherein Odin learns nine magic songs from the unnamed brother of Bestla), some scholars have theorized that Bestla's brother may in fact be the wise beingMímir, from whose severed head the god Odin gains wisdom.[8]
Since Odin is descended from the jötnar on his mother's side, the slaying ofYmir by him and his brothers could be seen as an intra-familial killing and, according to scholarJohn Lindow, "the slaying or denial of a maternal relation".[4]
Waltraud Hunke has argued that Bestla should be regarded as the bark of theworld tree on which Odin was perhaps born, alluding toHávamál(141): "then I started to grow fruitful".[4]
In his translation of thePoetic Edda,Henry Adams Bellows comments that such the position of the stanza 140 inHávamál appears to be the result ofmanuscript interpolation, and that its meaning is obscure.[7]