InNorse mythology,Dellingr (Old Norse possibly "the dayspring"[1] or "shining one"[2]) is agod. Dellingr is attested in thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in theProse Edda, written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson. In both sources, Dellingr is described as the father ofDagr, the personifiedday. TheProse Edda adds that, depending on manuscript variation, he is either the third husband ofNótt, the personifiednight, or the husband ofJörð, the personified earth. Dellingr is also attested in the legendarysagaHervarar saga ok Heiðreks. Scholars have proposed that Dellingr is the personifieddawn and his name may appear both in an English surname and place name.
Dellingr is referenced in thePoetic Edda poemsVafþrúðnismál andHávamál. In stanza 24 ofVafþrúðnismá, the godOdin (disguised as "Gagnráðr") asks thejötunnVafþrúðnir from where the day comes, and the night and its tides. In stanza 25, Vafþrúðnir responds:
- Delling hight he who the day's father is, but
- night was of Nörvi born; the new and waning moons the
- beneficent powers created, to count the years for men.[3]
InHávamál, thedwarf Þjóðrœrir is stated as having recited an unnamed spell "before Delling's doors":
In the poemFjölsvinnsmál,Svipdagr asks "What one of the gods has made so great the hall I behold within?"Fjölsviðr responds with a list of names, includingDellingr.[5] In a stanza of the poemHrafnagaldr Óðins, the appearance of Dagr, horse, and chariot are described, and Dagr himself is referred to as "the son of Delling."[6]
In chapter 10 of theProse Edda bookGylfaginning, the enthroned figure of High states that Dellingr is agod and the third husband of Nótt. The couple haveDagr, who carries the features of his "father's people", which are described as "bright and beautiful". Odin placed both Dellingr's son, Dagr, and Dellingr's wife, Nótt, in the sky, so that they may ride across it with their horses and chariots every 24 hours.[7]
However, scholar Haukur Thorgeirsson points out that the four manuscripts ofGylfaginning vary in their descriptions of the family relations between Nótt, Jörð, Dagr, and Dellingr. In other words, depending on the manuscript, either Jörð or Nótt is the mother of Dagr and partner of Dellingr. Haukur details that "the oldest manuscript, U, offers a version where Jǫrð is married to Dellingr and the mother of Dagr while the other manuscripts, R, W and T, cast Nótt in the role of Dellingr's wife and Dagr's mother", and argues that "the version in U came about accidentally when the writer of U or its antecedent shortened a text similar to that in RWT. The results of this accident made their way into the Icelandic poetic tradition".[8]
Five riddles found in the poemHeiðreks gátur contained in thelegendary sagaHervarar saga ok Heiðreks employ the phrase "Delling's doors" (Old NorseDellings durum) once each. As an example, in one stanza where the phrase is usedGestumblindi (Odin in disguise) poses the following riddle:
- What strange marvel
- did I see without,
- in front of Delling's door;
- its head turning
- toHel downward,
- but its feet ever seek the sun?
- This riddle ponder,
- O princeHeidrek!
'Your riddle is good, Gestumblindi,' said the king; 'I have guessed it. It is theleek; its head is fast in the ground, but it forks as it grows up.'[9]
Jacob Grimm states that Dellingr is the assimilated form ofDeglingr, which includes the name of Dellingr's son Dagr. Grimm adds that if the-ling likely refers to descent, and that due to this Dellingr may have been the "progenitor Dagr before him" or that the succession order has been reversed, which Grimm states often occurs in old genealogies.[10] Benjamin Thorpe says that Dellingr may be dawn personified, similarly to his son Dagr, the personified day.[11]
Regarding the references to "Delling's door" as used inHervarar saga ok Heiðreks,Christopher Tolkien says that:
- What this phrase meant to the maker of these riddles is impossible to say. InHávamál 160 it is said that the dwarf Thjódrørir sang before Delling's doors, which (as Delling is the father of Dag (Day) inVafþrúðnismál 25) may mean that he gave warning to his people that the sun was coming up, and they must return to their dark houses; the phrase would then virtually mean 'at sunrise.' As regardingdǫglings forDellings inH, andDǫglingar were the descendants ofDagr (according toSnE. 183).[12]
John Lindow says that some confusion exists about the reference to Dellingr inHávamál. Lindow says that "Dellingr's doors" may either be a metaphor forsunrise or the reference may refer to the dwarf of the same name.[13]
The Englishfamily nameDallinger has been theorized as deriving fromDellingr.[14] The English place nameDalbury (south ofDerbyshire) derives fromDellingeberie, which itself derives fromDellingr.[15]
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