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InGermanic paganism andmythology,Sun, orSunna (Old Norse:Sól[ˈsoːl],Sun,[4]Sunna;[5]Old English:Siġel,Sunne;Old Frisian:Sunne,Old Saxon:Sunna,Old High German:Sunna,Gothic:𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌽𐍉,romanized: Sunnō), is thesun personified as agoddess. InNorse mythology, she's anAesir, and travels across the sky in a horse drawn wagon, a motif dating all the way back to theNordic Bronze Age, as depicted on theTrundholm sun chariot. As aproper noun, Sól appears throughout Old Norse literature. Scholars have produced theories about the development of the goddess from potentialNordic Bronze Age andProto-Indo-European roots.
One of the twoOld High GermanMerseburg Incantations, written in the 9th or 10th century CE, attests that Sunna is the sister ofSinthgunt. The Norse depiction,Sól, is attested in both thePoetic Edda andProse Edda, based on source material from around the 10th century. She is described as the daughter ofMundilfari and the night personified,Nótt. She is the sister of the personified moon,Máni, and married to the godGlenr ("opening in the clouds"). At times, she is referred to asÁlfrǫðull, the name of her chariot. It is foretold, that duringRagnarök ("the final battle upon end of the world"), she will be eaten by a monstrous wolf (Fenrir), though beforehand she will have given birth to a daughter who continues her mother's course through the heavens.
One of the two Merseburg Incantations (the "horse cure"), recorded inOld High German, mentions Sunna, who is described as having a sister,Sinthgunt. The incantation describes howPhol andWodan rode to a wood, and thereBalder'sfoal sprained its foot. Sinthgunt sang charms, her sister Sunna sang charms,Friia sang charms, her sisterVolla sang charms, and finally Wodan sang charms, followed by a verse describing the healing of the foal's bone.[6]
In the poemVöluspá, a deadvölva recounts the history of the universe and foretells the future to the disguised god Odin. In doing so, the völva recounts the early days of the universe, in which:
Benjamin Thorpe translation:
- The sun from the south, the moon's companion,
- her right hand cast about the heavenly horses.
- The sun knew not where she a dwelling had,
- the moon know not what power he possessed,
- the stars knew not where they had a station.[7]
Henry Adams Bellows translation:
- The sun, the sister of the moon, from the south
- Her right hand cast over heaven's rim;
- No knowledge she had where her home should be,
- The moon knew not what might was his,
- The stars knew not where their stations were.[8]
In the poemVafþrúðnismál, the godOdin tasks thejötunnVafþrúðnir with a question about the origins of the sun and the moon. Vafþrúðnir responds thatMundilfari is the father of both Sól and Máni, and that they must pass through the heavens every day to count the years for man:
- Mundilfæri hight he, who the moon's father is,
- and eke the sun's;
- round heaven journey each day they must,
- to count years for men.[9]
- "Mundilferi is he who began the moon,
- And fathered the flaming sun;
- The round of heaven each day they run,
- To tell the time for men."[10]
In a stanzaVafþrúðnismál, Odin asks Vafþrúðnir from where another sun will come from onceFenrir has assailed the current sun. Vafþrúðnir responds in a further stanza, stating that before Álfröðull (Sól) is assailed by Fenrir, she will bear a daughter who will ride on her mother's paths after the events of Ragnarök.[11]
In a stanza of the poemGrímnismál, Odin says that before the Sun (referred to as "the shining god") is a shield namedSvalinn, and if the shield were to fall from its frontal position, mountain and sea "would burn up". In stanza 39 Odin (disguised asGrimnir) says that both the Sun and the Moon are pursued through the heavens by wolves; the Sun, referred to as the "bright bride" of the heavens, is pursued bySköll, while the Moon is pursued byHati Hróðvitnisson.[12]
In the poemAlvíssmál, the godThor questions thedwarfAlvíss about the Sun, asking him what the Sun is called in each of the worlds. Alvíss responds that it is called "sun" by mankind, "sunshine" by the gods, "Dvalinn's deluder" by the dwarves, "everglow" by thejötnar, "the lovely wheel" by theelves, and "all-shining" by the "sons of theÆsir".[13]
Sól is referenced in theProse Edda bookGylfaginning, where she is introduced in chapter 8 in a quote from stanza 5 ofVöluspá. In chapter 11 ofGylfaginning, Gangleri (described asKing Gylfi in disguise) asks the enthroned figure ofHigh how the Sun and Moon are steered. High describes that Sól is one of the two children of Mundilfari, and states that the children were so beautiful they were named after the Sun (Sól) and the Moon (Máni). Mundilfari has Sól married to a man named Glenr.[14]
High says that the gods were "angered by this arrogance" and that the gods had the two placed in the heavens. There, the children were made to drive the horsesÁrvakr and Alsviðr that drew thechariot of the sun. High says that the gods had created the chariot to illuminatethe worlds from burning embers flying from the fiery world ofMuspelheim. In order to cool the horses, the gods placed twobellows beneath their shoulders, and that "according to the same lore" these bellows are called Ísarnkol.[15]
In chapter 12 ofGylfaginning, Gangleri tells High that the sun moves quickly, almost as if she were moving so quickly that she fears something, that she could not go faster even if she were afraid of her own death. High responds that "It is not surprising that she moves with such speed. The one chasing her comes close, and there is no escape for her except to run." Gangleri asks who chases her, to which High responds that two wolves give chase to Sól and Máni. The first wolf,Sköll, chases Sól, and despite her fear, Sköll will eventually catch her.Hati Hróðvitnisson, the second wolf, runs ahead of Sól to chase after Máni, whom Hati Hróðvitnisson will also catch.[15] In chapter 35, Sól's status as a goddess is stated by High, along withBil.[16]
In chapter 53, High says that after the events ofRagnarök, Sól's legacy will be continued by a daughter that is no less beautiful than she, who will follow the path she once rode, and, in support,Vafþrúðnismál stanza 47 is then quoted.[17]
In theProse Edda bookSkáldskaparmál, Sól is first presented in chapter 93, where thekennings "daughter of Mundilfæri", "sister of Máni", "wife of Glen", "fire of sky and air" are given for her, followed by an excerpt of a work by the 11th century skaldSkúli Þórsteinsson:
- God-blithe bedfellow of Glen
- steps to her divine sanctuary
- with brightness; then descends the good
- light of grey-clad moon.[18]
In chapter 56, additional names for Sól are given; "day-star", "disc", "ever-glow", "all-bright seen", "fair-wheel", "grace-shine", "Dvalinn's toy", "elf-disc", "doubt-disc", and "ruddy".[19] In chapter 58, following a list of horses, the horses Arvakr and Alsviðr are listed as drawing the sun,[20] and, in chapter 75, Sól is again included in a list of goddesses.[21]
The Norse name for the s-runeᛋ was "Sun" (Old Norse:Sól orSun), referencing either the mythological goddess or the sun itself, etc. The goddess is hinted at in the commonIcelandic rune poem, as well as in one archaic Swedish rune poem, recorded by Swedish copper engraver andvicarSven Digelius [sv] in 1776.[4]
| Rune poem | English translation |
|---|---|
Old Icelandic[22] | |
Old Swedish[4] | Sun skies' shield |
Scholars have proposed that Sól, as a goddess, may represent an extension of an earlierProto-Indo-European deity due toIndo-European linguistic connections between NorseSól,SanskritSurya,Common BrittonicSulis,LithuanianSaulė,LatinSol, andSlavicTsar Solnitse.[23]
Regarding Sól's attested personifications in Norse mythology,John Lindow states that "evenkennings like 'hall of the sun' for sky may not suggest personification, given the rules of kenning formation"; that in poetry only stanzas associated with Sól in the poemVafþrúðnismál are certain in their personification of the goddess; and "that Sól is female and Máni male probably has to do with the grammatical gender of the nouns: Sól is feminine and Máni is masculine." Lindow states that, while the Sun seems to have been a focus of older Scandinavian religious practices, it is difficult to make a case for the placement of the sun in a central role in surviving sources for Norse mythology.[14]
Rudolf Simek states thatNordic Bronze Age archaeological finds, such as rock carvings and theTrundholm sun chariot, provide ample evidence of the Sun having been viewed as a life-giving heavenly body to the Bronze Age Scandinavians, and that the Sun likely always received an amount of veneration. Simek states that the only evidence of the Sun assuming a personification stems from the Old High German Incantation reference and fromPoetic Edda poems, and that both of these references do not provide enough information to assume a Germanic sun cult. "On the other hand", Simek posits, the "great age of the concept is evident" by the Trundholm sun chariot, which specifically supports the notion of the Sun being drawn across the sky by horses. Simek further theorizes that the combination of sun symbols with ships in religious practices, which occur with frequency from the Bronze Age intoMiddle Ages, seem to derive from religious practices surrounding a fertility god (such as theVanir godsNjörðr orFreyr), and not to a personified sun.[24]
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