Jörð (Old Norse:Jǫrð,lit. 'earth'), also namedFjorgyn orHlodyn, is thepersonification ofearth and a goddess inNorse mythology. She is the mother of the thunder godThor and a sexual partner ofOdin.[1] Jörð is attested in Danish historyGesta Danorum, composed in the 12th century by Danish historianSaxo Grammaticus; thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century by an unknown individual or individuals; and theProse Edda, also composed in the 13th century. Her name is often employed inskaldic poetry andkennings as a poetic term for land or earth.
Old Norsejǫrð means 'earth, land', serving both as acommon noun ('earth') and as atheonymic incarnation of the noun ('Earth-goddess'). It stems fromProto-Germanic*erþō- ('earth,soil, land'), as evidenced by theGothicairþa,Old Englisheorþ,Old Saxonertha, orOld High German (OHG)erda.[2][3][4] TheAncient Greek wordéra (ἔρα; 'earth') is also possibly related.[2][4] The word is most likelycognate with Proto-Germanic*erwa orerwōn-, meaning 'sand, soil' (cf. Old Norsejǫrfi 'sand, gravel', OHGero 'earth').[3][4]
Fjörgyn is considered by scholars to be another name for Jörð. She is similarly described asThor's mother and her name is also used as a poetic synonym for 'land' or 'the earth' inskaldic poems.[5][6] The nameHlóðyn, mentioned inVöluspá(50) (as "son of Hlódyn" for Thor), is most likely also used as a synonym forJörð.[7] The etymology ofHlóðyn remains unclear, although it is often thought to be related to the goddessHludana, to whomRomano-Germanic votive tablets have been found on the Lower Rhine.[8][9]
Jörð receives mention in Danish historianSaxo Grammaticus'sGesta Danorum asIuritha.[10]
In thePoetic Edda, Jörð receives mention in the poemsVöluspá andLokasenna. InVöluspá, Thor is referred to asmǫgr Hlóðyniar andFjǫrgyniar burr (child of Hlóðyn, Fjörgyn's child).[11][12] Hlóðyn, although etymologically unclear, must therefore have been another name of Jörð.[7]
InLokasenna, Thor is calledJarðar burr ("son of Jörð").[13][14]
Jörð is attested in theProse Edda booksGylfaginning andSkáldskaparmál. According to section 10 ofGylfaginning:[15]Additionally, the section describes Jörð's ancestry as follows (the included note is Faulkes's own; Faulkes uses the anglicizationIord throughout his edition of theProse Edda):
Narfi or Narfi was the name of a giant who lived in Giantland. He had a daughter called Night. She was black and dark in accordance with her ancestry. She was married to a person called Naglfari. Their son was called Aud. Next she was married to someone called Annar. Their daughter was called Iord [Earth].[16]
This section, however, varies by manuscript (see discussion below).
Section 25 ofGylfaginning lists Jörð among theásynjur (Old Norse 'goddesses', singularásynja):
Thor's mother Iord and Vali's mother Rind are reckoned among the Asyniur.[17]
Skáldskaparmál mentions Jörð numerous times, including in several quotes from skaldic poetry. The second section 4 of the book listkennings for the god Thor, including "son of Odin and Iord".[18] Section 17 quotesÞjóðólfr of Hvinir's compositionHaustlöng, in which the skald refers to Thor as "the son of Iord" twice. The poem is quoted again in section 23.[19] Section 18 quotesEilífr Goðrúnarson's compositionÞórsdrápa, in which the skald refers to Thor as "Iord's son".[20]
Section 19 contains a list of kennings for the goddess Frigg, including "rival of Iord and Rind andGunnlod andGerd".[21] Section 90 contains a list of kennings for Jörð, referencing a variety of skaldic kennings for the goddess:
How shall earth be referred to? By calling itYmir's flesh and mother of Thor, daughter of Onar, bride of Odin, rival of Frigg and Rind and Gunnlod, mother-in-law of Sif, floor and base of winds' hall, sea of the animals, daughter of Night, sister of Aud and Day.[22]
The section contains quotes from poems byHallfreðr vandræðaskáld andÞjóðólfr of Hvinir.[23] TheNafnaþulur section ofSkáldskaparmál includes Jörð in a list ofásynjur names.[24]
Additionally, as the common nounjörð also simply means 'earth', references to earth occur throughout theProse Edda.[25]
According to philologistRudolf Simek, Jörð is "[a]n Æsir goddess, even though she is also called a giantess". Simek highlights parallels between Thor and theVedic deityIndra: "Just as Thor's counterpart in Indian mythology, Indra, is begotten by the god of the heavensDyaus and the Earth, so Thor is also the son of the Earth, just like the proto-ancestorTuisto ... ".[26]
According to folkloristJohn Lindow, "Jörd must have been a giantess in the beginning. If so, Odin’s marriage (or, more likely, sexual relationship outside marriage, perhaps not even a willing one on her part) to Jörd should be regarded as parallel to his other strategically minded relationships with giantesses."[1]
Philologist Haukur Thorgeirsson points out that the four manuscripts ofGylfaginning vary in their descriptions of the family relations betweenNótt, Jörð,Dagr, andDellingr. 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 the wife of 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".[27]
Some 19th-century scholars proposed that Thor's brotherMeili should be understood as the son of Jörð.[28]
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