InNorse mythology,Night (Old West Norse:Nótt,[ˈnoːtː];Old East Norse:Nátt;[ˈnɔːtː]),[1] is agoddess and personification of thenight. In both thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and theProse Edda, composed in the 13th century, Nótt is listed as the daughter of a figure by the name ofNörvi (with variant spellings) and is associated with the horseHrímfaxi, while theProse Edda features information about Nótt's ancestry, including herthree marriages. Nótt's third marriage was to the godDellingr and this resulted in their sonDagr, the personified day (although some manuscript variations listJörð as Dellingr's wife and Dagr's mother instead). As aproper noun, the wordnótt appears throughout Old Norse literature.
In stanza 24 of the poemVafþrúðnismál, 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.[2]
In stanza 14 of theVafþrúðnismál, Odin states that the horseHrímfaxi "draws every night to the beneficent gods" and that he lets foam from his bit fall every morning, from which dew comes to the valleys.[3] In stanza 30 of the poemAlvíssmál, the godThor asks the dwarfAlvíss to tell him what night is called in each of the nine worlds, whom "Nórr" birthed. Alvíss responds that night is referred as "night" by mankind, "darkness" by the gods, "the masker" by the mighty Powers, "unlight" by the jötunn, "joy-of-sleep" by theelves, while dwarves call her "dream-Njörun" (meaning "dream-goddess").[4]
InSigrdrífumál, after thevalkyrieSigrdrífa is woken from her sleep curse by the heroSigurd, Sigurd asks her name, and she gives him a "memory-drink" of adrinking horn full ofmead, and then Sigrdrifa says aprayer. The first verse of this prayer features a reference to the "sons of Dagr" and the "daughter of Nótt":
- Hail to the Day! Hail to the sons of Day!
- To Night and her daughter hail!
- With placid eyes behold us here,
- and here sitting give us victory.
In theProse Edda bookGylfaginning, Nótt is again personified. In chapter 10, the enthroned figure of High states that Nótt is the daughter of a jötunn fromJötunheimr by the name of "Norfi or Narfi". Nótt is described as "black and swarthy", and has had three marriages. Her first marriage was withNaglfari, and the two produced a son by the name ofAuðr. Nótt's second marriage was toAnnar, resulting in their daughterJörð, the personified earth. Finally, Nótt marries the god Dellingr, and the couple haveDagr, who takes after his "father's people" in brightness and fairness. Odin took Nótt and her son Dagr, placed them into the sky with a chariot and a horse each, and they ride around the Earth every 24 hours. Nótt rides before Dagr, and foam from her horse Hrímfaxi'sbit sprinkles the Earth.[6]
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 Nátt 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".[7]
In theProse Edda bookSkáldskaparmál, means of referring to Jörð are provided, including "daughter of Nótt".[8] Chapter 58 states that "Hrimfaxi or Fiorsvartnir draw the night",[9] and in chapter 64, "nótt" is stated as one of various words for time and a version of theAlvíssmál passage is cited.[10]
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