TheOld Norse nameNǫrr has been related to theOld Saxonnarouua ('night'), a name which occurs in the versenarouua naht an skion of the fragmentaryGenesis poem.[n 1] Inadjectival form, the Old Norsenǫrr means 'narrow',[1] and the nameNar(f)i may have shared the same meaning.[2]
Thus, the jötunn's name, as first suggested byAdolf Noreen, may be a synonym for "night" or, perhaps more likely, an adjective related toOld Englishnearwe, "narrow", meaning "closed-in" and thus "oppressive".[3][4][5]
Snorri Sturluson citesNarfi as an alternative form of the name of thejötunn Nörfi, and the variantsNör andNörvi also appear in Norse poetry.[2]
According to theGylfaginning section ofSnorri Sturluson'sProse Edda, Nótt is the daughter of thejötunn "Nörfi or Narfi".[6][7] However, in thePoetic Edda, Nótt's father is called Nörr (not to be confused withNór), primarily for reasons of alliteration.[6] This name is only recorded in the dative formNǫrvi (variant spellingNaurvi).[8]
The name of Nótt's father is recorded in several forms in Old Norse sources:[9]
Naurr, Nörr (dative Naurvi, Nörvi): "Vafþrúðnismál" 25"Nótt var Naurvi borin", "Alvíssmál" 29"Nótt in Naurvi kennda".
Various scholars have argued that Snorri based his genealogy of Nótt on classical models.[8][10] They relate Narfi toErebus, which would makenipt Nera, used in "Helgakviða Hundingsbana I" for aNorn who comes in the night, an appellation derived from theParcae, who were Erebus' daughters.[11]
^Sophus Bugge,The Home of the Eddic poems: With Especial Reference to the Helgi-Lays, tr. William Henry Schofield, Grimm library 11, London: Nutt, 1899,OCLC2857921,p. 99.
^Hugo Gering and Barend Symons,Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda, Germanistische Handbibliothek 7(3), Halle: Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1927,OCLC277594015,p. 14.
^Tette Hofstra, "A note on the 'Darkness of the night' motif in alliterative poetry, and the search for the poet of the Old Saxon Heliand", inLoyal Letters: Studies on Mediaeval Alliterative Poetry & Prose, ed. L. A. J. R. Houwen and A. A. MacDonald, Mediaevalia Groningana 15, Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1994,ISBN9789069800752,p. 104.
^ab"Nǫrr",Rudolf Simek, tr. Angela Hall,Dictionary of Northern Mythology, Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1993, repr. 2000,ISBN9780859915137, p. 235.
^"Nótt (Night)",John Lindow,Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs, Oxford/New York: Oxford University, 2001,ISBN9780195153828, p. 246.
