InNorse mythology,Sága (Old Norse pronunciation:[sɑːɣɑ], possibly meaning "seeress"[1]) is agoddess associated with the locationSökkvabekkr (Old Norse:[ˈsøkːwɑˌbekːz̠]; "sunken bank", "sunken bench", or "treasure bank"[2]). At Sökkvabekkr, Sága and the godOdin merrily drink as cool waves flow. Both Sága and Sökkvabekkr are attested in thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in theProse Edda, written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson. Scholars have proposed theories about the implications of the goddess and her associated location, including that the location may be connected to the goddessFrigg'sfen residenceFensalir and that Sága may be another name forFrigg.
Theetymology of the nameSága is generally held to be connected to the Old Norse verbsjá, meaning "to see" (fromProto-Germanic*sehwan). This may mean that Sága is to be understood as aseeress. Since Frigg is referred to as a seeress in the poemLokasenna, this etymology has led to theories connecting Sága to Frigg.Rudolf Simek says that this etymology raises vowel problems and that a link tosaga andsegja (meaning "say, tell") is more likely, yet that this identification is also problematic.[3]
In thePoetic Edda poemGrímnismál, Sökkvabekkr is presented fourth among a series of stanzas describing the residences of various gods. In the poem, Odin (disguised asGrímnir) tells the youngAgnar that Odin and Sága happily drink there from golden cups while waves resound:
- Benjamin Thorpe translation:
- Sökkvabekk is fourth is named
- o'er which
- the gelid waves resound
- Odin and Saga there,
- joyful each day,
- from golden beakers quaff.[4]
- Henry Adams Bellows translation:
- Sökkvabekk is the fourth, where cool waves flow,
- And amid their murmur it stands;
- There daily do Othin and Saga drink
- In gladness from cups of gold.[5]
In thePoetic Edda poemHelgakviða Hundingsbana I, the heroSinfjötli references Sága in the name of a location found in a stanza where Sinfjötliflyts withGuðmundr. The location name,nes Ságu,[6] has been variously translated as "Saga'sHeadland,"[7] "Saga'sCape,"[8] and "Saga'sness"[9] Part of the stanza may bemissing and, due to this, some editors have joined it with the stanza prior.[8]
Sága is mentioned once in both theProse Edda booksGylfaginning andSkáldskaparmál, while Sokkvabekk is only mentioned once, inGylfaginning. In chapter 35 ofGylfaginning,High tellsGangleri (described as kingGylfi in disguise) about theásynjur. High follows a description of Frigg and her dwelling Fensalir with "Second is Saga. She dwells in Sokkvabekk, and that is a big place."[10] In chapter 75 of the bookSkáldskaparmál, Sága is present among a list of 27 ásynjur, but no information is provided about her there.[11]
John Lindow says that due to similarity between Sökkvabekkr and Fensalir, "Odin's open drinking with Sága", and the potential etymological basis for Sága being a seeress has "led most scholars to understand Sága as another name for Frigg."[12]Stephan Grundy states that the wordsSága andSökkvabekkr may be by-forms ofFrigg andFensalir, respectively, used for the purpose of composingalliterative verse.[13]
Britt-Mari Näsström theorizes that "Frigg's role as a fertility goddess is revealed in the name of her abode, Fensalir [...]", that Frigg is the same as Sága, and that both the namesFensalir andSökkvabekkr "imply a goddes [sic] living in the water and recall the fertility goddessNerthus". Näsström adds that "Sökkvabekkr, the subterranean water, alludes to thewell of Urd, hidden under the roots ofYggdrasil and thechthonic function, which is manifest inFreyja's character."[14]
Rudolf Simek says that Sága should be considered "one of the not closer defined Asyniur" along withHlín,Sjöfn,Snotra,Vár, andVör, and that they "should be seen as female protective goddesses." Simek adds that "these goddesses were all responsible for specific areas of the private sphere, and yet clear differences were made between them so that they are in many ways similar tomatrons."[3]
19th century scholar Jacob Grimm comments that "the gods share their power and influence with goddesses, the heroes and priests with wise women." Grimm notes that Sökkvabekkr is "described as a place where cool waters rush" and that Odin and Sága "day to day drink gladly out of golden cups." Grimm theorizes that the liquid from these cups is:
- the drink of immortality, and at the same time of poesy.Saga may be taken as wife or as daughter of Oðinn; in either case she is identical to him as god of poetry. With theGreeks theMusa was a daughter ofZeus, but often hear of three or nineMuses, who resemble ourwise women,norns and schöpferins (shapers of destiny), and dwell beside springs or wells. The cool flood well befits theswanwives, daughters of Wish.Saga can be no other than our sage (saw, tale), the 'mære' [...] personified and deified.[15]
