Lóðurr (Old Norse:[ˈloːðurː]; alsoLodur orLodurr) is agod inNorse mythology. In thePoetic Edda poemVöluspá, he is assigned a role in animating the first humans, but apart from that he is hardly ever mentioned, and remains obscure. Scholars have variously identified him withLoki,Vé,Vili, andFreyr, but consensus has not been reached on any one theory.
The name's meaning is unknown. It has been speculatively linked to variousOld Norse words, such aslóð, "fruit, land",ljóðar, "people" andlaða, "to attract". TheGothic wordsliudan, "to grow" andlaudi, "shape", as well as theGerman wordlodern, "to blaze", have also been mentioned in this context.
The metrical position of Lóðurr's name in theskaldic poemÍslendingadrápa, composed in the strictdróttkvætt metre, indicates that it contains the sound value /ó/ rather than /o/. This evidence, while strong, is not incontrovertible and some scholars have held out for aLoðurr reading. (Lóðurr's name can also berepresented or anglicized asLóður,Lódurr,Lódur,Lóthurr,Lóthur,Lódhurr,Lódhur,Lodurr,Lodur,Lothurr,Lothur,Lodhurr,Loðurr,Loður, orLodhur.)
Danish and Norwegianlørdag, Swedishlördag, as well as Finnishlauantai, meaning "Saturday", may possibly derive fromLóður Dag[1] although more typically the etymology is proposed to originate from"washing day".
In thePoetic Edda, the nameLóðurr occurs only once; inVöluspá, where the gods animate the first humans.
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The precise meaning of these strophes and their context inVöluspá is debated. Most relevant for the present discussion are Lóðurr's gifts oflá andlitu góða. The wordlá is obscure and the translations "film of flesh" and "blood" are just two of the many possibilities that have been suggested. The phrase "litu góða" is somewhat less difficult and traditionally interpreted as "good colours", "good shape", or even "good looks".
The 19th-century Swedish scholarViktor Rydberg proposed a reading oflitu goða, meaning "shape of gods", and saw the line as indication that the gods created human beings in their own image. While the manuscripts do not distinguish between thephonemes /o/ and /ó/, most other scholars have preferred the /ó/ reading formetrical reasons. The metrical structure ofVöluspá'sfornyrðislag is, however, not very rigid and in 1983 Rydberg's theory was championed again byGro Steinsland. It remains debated.
Apart from the strophe inVöluspá, Lóðurr's name occurs only twice in the original sources. The name is found in theskaldic poemsHáleygjatal andÍslendingadrápa where "Lóðurr's friend" is used as akenning forOdin. This seems consistent with Lóðurr's role inVöluspá.
InSnorri Sturluson'sProse Edda, Lóðurr is conspicuously absent. Here the creation of humans is attributed to the sons ofBorr, whom Snorri names elsewhere as Odin,Vili andVé.
| Normalized text of the R manuscript | Brodeur's translation | |
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Þá er þeir Bors synir gengu með sævarströndu, fundu þeir tré tvau, ok tóku upp tréin ok sköpuðu af menn. Gaf hinn fyrsti [ö]nd ok líf, annarr vit ok hrœring, þriði ásjónu, málit ok heyrn ok sjón; gáfu þeim klæði [ok] nöfn. Hét karlmaðrinn Askr en konan Embla, ok ólusk þaðan af mannkindin, þeim er bygðin var gefin undir Miðgarði | When the sons of Borr were walking along the sea-strand, they found two trees, and took up the trees and shaped men of them: the first gave them spirit and life; the second, wit and feeling; the third, form, speech, hearing, and sight. They gave them clothing and names: the male was called Askr, and the female Embla, and of them was mankind begotten, which received a dwelling-place under Midgard. |
Snorri often quotesVöluspá in his work, but in this case he does not. We cannot know whether he knew the strophes above or whether he was working entirely from other sources.
Another source sometimes brought into the discussion is theNordendorf fibula. This artifact, dating from about 600CE, contains therunic inscriptionlogaþorewodanwigiþonar. This is usually interpreted asLogaþore Wodan Wigiþonar, whereWodan isOdin andWigiþonar probably isThor. It would be natural forlogaþore to be the name of a third god, but there is no obvious identification in Norse mythology as we know it. Both Lóðurr and Loki have been proposed, but the etymological reasoning is tenuous, and firm conclusions cannot be reached.
Since theProse Edda mentions the sons of Borr in the same context asVöluspá does Hœnir and Lóðurr, some scholars have reasoned that Lóðurr might be another name for either Vili or Vé.Viktor Rydberg was an early proponent of this theory, but recently it has received little attention.
A more popular theory proposed by the scholarUrsula Dronke is thatLóðurr is "a third name ofLoki/Loptr". The main argument for this is that the gods Odin, Hœnir, and Loki occur as a trio inHaustlöng, in the prose prologue toReginsmál, and also in theLoka Táttur, aFaroese ballad which is a rare example of the occurrence of Norse gods in folklore. The Odin-kenning "Lóðurr's friend" furthermore appears to parallel the kenning "Loptr's friend" and Loki is similarly referred to as "Hœnir's friend" in Haustlöng, strengthening the trio connection. While many scholars agree with this identification, it is not universally accepted. One argument against it is that Loki appears as a malevolent being later inVöluspá, seemingly conflicting with the image of Lóðurr as a "mighty and loving" figure. Many scholars, includingJan de Vries andGeorges Dumézil, have also identified Lóðurr as being the same deity asLoki.
Recently, Haukur Þorgeirsson of theUniversity of Iceland has suggested that Loki and Lóðurr are in fact different names for the same deity, basing his contention on the observation that Loki is referred to as Lóður in the rimurLokrur. Haukur argues that, regardless of whether the rimur is based on Snorri'sGylfaginning or a folksource, the writer must have derived the information about the identification either from a tradition or drawn the conclusion from a reading of the Eddic poems, since Snorri himself does not mention Lóðurr in his Edda. Since the contents of the Poetic Edda are assumed to have been forgotten around 1400, when the rimur was written, Haukur argues for a traditional identification. Haukur also points toÞrymlur where the same identification is made with Loki and Lóðurr. Haukur Þorgeirsson says that unless the possible but unlikely idea that the 14th and 15th century poets possessed lost written sources unknown to us, the idea must have come from either an unlikely amount of sources from where the poets could have drawn a similar conclusion that Loki and Lóðurr are identical like some recent scholars or that there still were remnants of an oral tradition. Haukur concludes that if Lóðurr was historically considered an independent deity from Loki, then a discussion of when and why he became identified with Loki is appropriate.[2]
An identification withFreyr has also been proposed. This theory emphasizes the possible fertility-related meanings of Lóðurr's name but otherwise has little direct evidence to support it.