InNorse mythology,Meili (Old Norse:[ˈmɛile]) is agod, a brother of the godThor. Meili is attested in thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and theProse Edda, written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson. In thenafnaþulur, a section at the end of theProse Edda that may be later, he is named as a son of the godOdin. No additional information is provided about Meili in either source.
In thePoetic Edda poemHárbarðsljóð, Thor declares that, even if he were anoutlaw, he would reveal his name and his homeland, for he is the son of Odin, the brother of Meili, and the father ofMagni.[1]
Meili receives four mentions in theProse Edda bookSkáldskaparmál. In chapter 17, verses from the poemHaustlöng (attributed to the 10th-centuryskaldÞjóðólfr of Hvinir) are provided, where Thor is referred to as "Meili's brother".[2] The lines mentioning Meili are also quoted in chapter 23.[3] In chapter 22, additional quotes fromHaustlöng are provided where akenning is employed for the godHœnir that refers to Meili ('step-Meili').[4] In thenafnaþulur at the end of theProse Edda, Meili is listed among names of theÆsir and as a son of Odin (between the godBaldr and the godVíðarr).[5]
The name Meili is of unknown etymology and meaning.Rudolf Simek suggestedder Liebe, 'the dear one'.[6][7]
Scholars have generally accepted that Meili, like Thor, is a son of Odin. Some 19th-century scholars proposed that he should also be understood as having the same mother as Thor,Jörð, a goddess and the personified Earth.[8] Also during the 19th century,Viktor Rydberg theorized thatBaldr and Meili are one and the same.[9]