InNorse mythology, adís (Old Norse:[ˈdiːs], "lady",pluraldísir[ˈdiːsez̠]) is a female deity, ghost, or spirit associated withFate who can be either benevolent or antagonistic toward mortals. Dísir may act as protective spirits ofNorse clans. It is possible that their original function was that offertility goddesses who were the object of both private and official worship calleddísablót,[1] and their veneration may derive from the worship of the spirits of the dead.[2] The dísir, like thevalkyries,norns, andvættir, are always referred collectively in surviving references.[1][3] TheNorth Germanic dísir andWest GermanicIdisi are believed by some scholars to be related due to linguistic and mythological similarities,[4] but the direct evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Continental German mythology is limited. The dísir play roles in Norse texts that resemble those offylgjur,valkyries, andnorns, so that some have suggested that dísir is a broad term including the other beings.[2]
Researchers suggest that the basic meaning of the word dís is "goddess".[5]
It usually is said to be derived from the Indo-European root *dhēi-, "to suck, suckle" and a formdhīśana.[6]
Scholars have associated the Dísir with the West GermanicIdisi,[4] seeing the initiali- as having been lost early in Old orProto-Norse.Jacob Grimm points out thatdís Skjöldunga in theEddicHelgakviða Hundingsbana II (v. 52) is exactly parallel toides Scildinga "Scylding queen" inBeowulf (l. 1168).[7] He also suggests thatIðunn may be a reflex of the original form of the word.[8] However, except for theFirst Merseburg Charm, in which they work battle-magic,idis only occurs with the meaning "lady", sometimes "maiden."[9][10] The words are not presumed to be directly related by some scholars, although the resemblance evidently led to influence on Old Norse poetic use.[11]
Other scholars group all female deities and spirits associated with battle under the class of idis, dis, valkyrie, and other names, such assigewif (victory-women, associated by the Anglo-Saxons with a swarm of bees), and find the commonalities both linguistically and in surviving myths and magic charms sufficient cause to group together all variations on this theme from various Germanic cultures.[4]
Stories from these and other cultures survive from earlier dates than the Eddas and it is difficult to conclusively construct a clear pre-Christian mythology without conjecture. However, the Germanic languages appear to have had a northward, rather than southward, progression from the initial contact with the speakers ofIndo-European languages near Denmark or Jutland.[12] H. Davidson notes a similar northward progression of mythology where elements of Proto-Germanic concepts have metamorphosed or been combined by the time of the initial recording of the Icelandic sagas.[4]
According toRudolf Simek, Old Norsedís appears commonly as simply a term for 'woman', just as Old High Germanitis, Old Saxonidis, and Anglo-Saxonides. It also may have been used to denote a type of goddess. According to Simek, "several of the Eddic sources might lead us to conclude that thedisir were valkyrie-like guardians of the dead, and, indeed, inGuðrúnarkviða I 19 the valkyries are even calledHerjans disir 'Odin's disir'. Thedisir are explicitly called dead women inAtlamál 28. A secondary belief that thedisir were the souls of dead women (seefylgjur) also underlies thelanddísir ofIcelandic folklore."[13]
Simek says that "as the function of thematrons was also extremely varied – fertility goddess, personal guardians, but also warrior-goddesses – the belief in thedísir, like the belief in the valkyries, norns, and matrons, may be considered to be different manifestations of a belief in a number of female (half-?) goddesses."[13]
There is considerable evidence that the dísir were worshipped in Scandinavia in pagan times.
Firstly, a sacrificial festival (blót) honouring them, thedísablót, is mentioned in one version ofHervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs and inVíga-Glúms saga,Egils saga, and theHeimskringla.[14] According toVíga-Glúms saga it was held atWinter Nights (at the onset of winter).[15]
InHervarar saga, the dísablót is also held in autumn, and is performed by a woman, the daughter of King Álfr of Álfheim, who "reddens thehörgr with sacrifices and is subsequently rescued by the godThor after she has been abducted.John Lindow suggests that, on its face the text depicts a mythological model for human behavior.[16] In western Scandinavia, dísablót appears to have been a private observance. Even the large gathering inVíga-Glúms saga was for family and friends.[17]
In contrast, according to theSaga ofSt. Olaf inHeimskringla, atGamla Uppsala the dísablót was celebrated during the month of Gói, i.e. in late February or early March, and accompanied by apopular assembly known as theThing of all Swedes orDísaþing and a yearly fair. WhenChristianity arrived, the assembly and market were moved to a Christian feast at the beginning of February:
At the time when heathendom still prevailed in Sweden, it was an old custom there that the main sacrifices were held in Uppsala in the month of Gói... Sacrifices were to be made at that time for peace and victory for the king, and people from all over Sweden were to resort there. At that place and time also was to be the assembly of all Swedes, and there was also a market and a fair which lasted a week. Now when Christianity was introduced, the general assembly and the market were still held there. But at present, when Christianity is general in Sweden and the kings have ceased residing at Uppsala, the market has been shifted to meet atCandlemas... but now it lasts only three days. The general assembly of the Swedes is there.[18]
The name Dísaþing (nowDisting) remained in use, however, and the Fair is still held every year inUppsala on the first Tuesday in February. It may be one of the oldest in Sweden.[19]
The stated purpose of the dísablót at Uppsala is to sacrifice for peace and victory. Norwegian places calledDisin, from Old NorseDísavin, "meadow of the dísir", and the possible relationship of the word to the Indiandhīsanas have suggested to some scholars that the dísir were fertility deities.[20]
There are two mentions of a hall or temple of a dís. Hollander translatesdísarsálr as "the hall of the goddess". In theYnglinga saga part ofHeimskringla,Aðils, theking of Sweden, dies when he rides one of his horses around thedísarsálr at the time of Dísablót and he is thrown and brains himself on a rock, perhaps suggesting a ritual killing.[21] It also appears inHervarar saga where Helga becomes so infuriated over the death of her father at the hands ofHeiðrekr, her husband, that she hangs herself in the shrine.[22]
Although Snorri Sturluson does not mention the dísir in theProse Edda, he does listVanadís—'dís of theVanir'— as a name forFreyja, andöndurdís—'snow-shoe dís'—as a name forSkaði.[23] He notes that in both cases the compound using dís immediately follows one usinggoð, 'deity':Vanagoð,öndurgoð.Lotte Motz suggested that dís was the original Old Norse word for 'goddess' and that it had been replaced later byásynja, which is simply the feminine ofáss.[24]
In many texts, the dísir are equated to or seem to play the same role as other female figures.
InÞiðranda þáttr ok Þórhalls, the youth Þiðrandi is killed by dísir dressed in black, riding black horses, while a troop of dísir dressed in white and riding white horses are unable to save him. The two groups represent the struggle between heathenry and Christianity. The benevolent dísir here play the role of tutelary spirits associated with a family, and Thorhall the Prophet explains them asfylgjur.[25] The dísir are also referred to as if they are, or include, protective fylgjur in an exchange of verses inHálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. Útsteinn quarrels with Úlfr at the court of King Eysteinn of Denmark, saying he believes "our dísir" have come with him, armed, to Denmark. Úlfr replies that he thinks all the dísir of Útsteinn and his men are dead and their luck run out.[26]
InHelgakviða Hundingsbana I, when the heroHelgi Hundingsbane first meets the valkyrieSigrún, the poet calls her a "dís of the south".Henry Adams Bellows rendered this simply "the southern maid".[27]
The dísir are also equated with or play the role of norns. They give an impression of great age, but by the time of the oldest surviving texts, their significance had become blurred and the word had lost almost all distinct meaning.[28]
Accordingly, some scholars have argued thatdísir may be the original term for thevalkyries (lit. "choosers of the slain"), which in turn would be akenning fordís.[29] Unlike the mentions of thevalkyrja andnorn, the termdís never appears in theProse Edda bySnorri Sturluson.
As stated above,dís has been regarded ascognate withOld High Germanitis,Old Saxonidis and theAnglo-Saxonides, all meaning "lady",;[2] andidisi appears as the name of the valkyries in the only surviving pagan source from Germany, theMerseburg Incantations (see below).[30]Dís also had the meaning "lady" inOld Norse poetry,[2] as in the case ofFreyja, whose name means "lady" (frawjō) and who is calledVanadís ("lady of thevanir").
Adding to the ambiguous meaning ofdís is the fact that just as supernatural women were calleddísir in the sense "ladies", mortal women were frequently called by names for supernatural women, as noted bySnorri Sturluson inSkáldskaparmál:
Woman is also metaphorically called by the names of theÁsynjur or theValkyrs orNorns or women of supernatural kind.[31]
The namedís appears in several place names inNorway and Sweden.[1] Moreover, it was a common element in the names of girls, as evidenced onrunestones,[32] and it still is inIceland.
The word appears as a first element in Old High German female given names such as Itispuruc and Itislant. More frequent are Old Norse given names such as Thórdís, Hjördís, Ásdís, Vigdís, Halldís, Freydís.
In a couple ofEddic andskaldic poems, and in variouskennings the genericdísir appears instead of the more specific labelsnorns,fylgjas, andvalkyries.
Theeddic poemHamðismál deals with howHamðir and Sörli go to the Gothic kingErmanaric to exact vengeance for the cruel death of their half-sisterSvanhild. On the way, they kill their reluctant brother Erpr. Later, knowing that he is about to die at the hands of the Goths, Sörli talks of the cruelty of the dísir who incited him to kill Erpr, because he would have cut off the head of Ermanaric and made their expedition successful. In this poem,dísir appears as a synonym ofnorns and the translatorHenry Adams Bellows simply translatesdísir asnorns:
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InGrímnismál, the wise Grímnir (Odin) predicts king Geirröðr's death, which he attributes to the wrath of the dísir. Again,dísir is used as a synonym for the norns:[35]
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InReginsmál, the unmarried Lyngheiðr is calleddís ulfhuguð (dís/lady with the soul of a wolf) as an insult. Later in the same poem, there is a stanza, where the dísir appear as female spirits accompanying a warrior in order to see him dead in battle, a role where they are synonymous with valkyries:
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An additional instance where dís is synonymous with valkyrie is the skaldic poemKrákumál – composed byRagnarr Loðbrók while awaiting his death in a snake pit. It features the line:Heim bjóða mér dísir (the dísir invite me home), as one of several poetic circumscriptions for what awaits him.
One source seems to describe the Dísir as the ghosts or spirits of dead women. InAtlamál, believed to have been written inGreenland in the twelfth century, the characterGlaumvör warns her husbandGunnar that she had a dream about the Dísir. Some of the surrounding text has been lost and it is not known whatGunnar may have said prior to this, and there is disagreement on which stanza number this should be given. A possible translation of the material is given as follows by John Lindow in his 2001 bookNorse Mythology:
"I thought dead women
came hither into the hall,
not poorly decked out.
They wished to choose you,
would've invited you quickly
to their benches;
I declare of no value
these dísir to you."
