InNorse mythology, theVanir (/ˈvɑːnɪər/;[1]Old Norse:, singularVanr) are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future. The Vanir are one of two groups of gods (the other being theÆsir) and are the namesake of the locationVanaheimr (Old Norse "Home of the Vanir"). After theÆsir–Vanir War, the Vanir became a subgroup of the Æsir. Subsequently, at least some members of the Vanir are at times also referred to as being Æsir.
The Vanir are attested in thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; theProse Edda andHeimskringla, both written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson; and in the poetry ofskalds. The Vanir are attested only in theseOld Norse sources.
All sources describe the godNjörðr, and his childrenFreyr andFreyja as members of the Vanir. Aeuhemerized prose account inHeimskringla adds thatNjörðr's sister—whose name is not provided—andKvasir were Vanir. In addition,Heimskringla reports a tale involving kingSveigðir's visit to Vanaheimr, where he meets a woman by the name of Vana and the two produce a child namedVanlandi (whose name means "Man from the Land of the Vanir").
While not attested as Vanir, the godsHeimdall andUllr have been theorized as potential members of the group. In theProse Edda, a name listed forboars is "Van-child". Scholars have theorized that the Vanir may be connected tosmall pieces of gold foil found in Scandinavia at some building sites from theMigration Period to theViking Age and occasionally in graves. They have speculated whether the Vanir originally representedpre-Indo-European deities orIndo-European fertility gods, and have theorized a form of the gods as venerated by thepagan Anglo-Saxons.
Numerous theories have been proposed for the etymology ofVanir. ScholarR. I. Page says that, while there is no shortage of etymologies for the word, it is tempting to link the word with Old Norsevinr ('friend') and LatinVenus ('goddess of physical love').[2]Vanir is sometimes anglicized toWanes (singularWane).[a]
In thePoetic Edda, the Vanir, as a group, are specifically referenced in the poemsVöluspá,Vafþrúðnismál,Skírnismál,Þrymskviða,Alvíssmál, andSigrdrífumál. InVöluspá, a stanza describes the events of theÆsir–Vanir War, noting that during the war the Vanir broke the walls of the stronghold of the Æsir, and that the Vanir were "indomitable, trampling the plain".[3]
InVafþrúðnismál,Gagnráðr (the godOdin in disguise) engages in a game of wits with thejötunnVafþrúðnir. Gagnráðr asks Vafþrúðnir where the Van godNjörðr came from, for though he rules over manyhofs andhörgrs, Njörðr was not raised among the Æsir. Vafþrúðnir responds that Njörðr was created inVanaheimr ("home of the Vanir") by "wise powers" and details that during the Æsir–Vanir War, Njörðr was exchanged as a hostage. In addition, when the world ends (Ragnarök), Njörðr "will return to the wise Vanir".[4]
Alvíssmál consists of question and answer exchanges between the dwarfAlvíss and the godThor. In the poem, Alvíss supplies terms that various groups, including the Vanir, use to refer to various subjects. Alvíss attributes nine terms to the Vanir; one for Earth ("The Ways"), Heaven ("The Weaver of Winds"), clouds ("Kites of the Wind"), calm ("The Hush of the Winds"), the sea ("The Wave"), fire ("Wildfire"), wood ("The Wand"), seed ("growth"), and ale ("The Foaming").[5]
The poemÞrymskviða states that the godHeimdallr possesses foreknowledge, "as the Vanir also can".[6]Sigrdrífumál records that the Vanir are in possession of a "sacredmead". In the poem, thevalkyrieSigrdrífa provides mystical lore aboutrunes to the heroSigurd. Sigrdrífa notes that runes were once carved on to various creatures, deities, and other figures, and then shaved off and mixed with a "sacredmead". This mead is possessed by the Æsir, theelves, mankind, and the Vanir.[7]
InSkírnismál, the beautifuljötunnGerðr first encounters the godFreyr's messengerSkírnir, and asks him if he is of the elves, of the Æsir, or of the "wise Vanir". Skírnir responds that he is not of any of the three groups.[8] Later in the poem, Skírnir is successful in his threats against Gerðr (to have Gerðr accept Freyr's affections), and Gerðr offers Skírnir a crystal cup full of mead, noting that she never thought that she would love one of the Vanir.[9]
The Vanir are mentioned in theProse Edda booksGylfaginning andSkáldskaparmál. In chapter 23 ofGylfaginning, the enthroned figure ofHigh relates that Njörðr was raised inVanaheimr. High says that during theÆsir–Vanir War, the Vanir sent Njörðr as a hostage to the Æsir, and the Æsir sent to the Vanir the godHœnir. The sending of Njörðr as a hostage resulted in a peace agreement between the Æsir and the Vanir.[10]
Chapter 35 provides information regarding the goddessFreyja, including that one of her names is "Dís of the Vanir". In the same chapter, High tells that the goddessGná rides the horseHófvarpnir, and that this horse has the ability to ride through the air and atop the sea.[11] High continues that "once some Vanir saw her path as she rode through the air" and that an unnamed one of these Vanir says, in verse (for which no source is provided):
"What flies there?
What fares there?
or moves through the air?"[12]
Gná responds:
"I fly not
though I fare
and move through the air
onHofvarpnir
the one whomHamskerpir got
withGardrofa."[12]
In chapter 57 ofSkáldskaparmál, the godBragi explains the origin of poetry. Bragi says the origin of poetry lies in the Æsir–Vanir War. During the peace conference held to end the war both the Æsir and the Vanir formed a truce by spitting into a vat. When they left, the gods decided that it should not be poured out, but rather kept as a symbol of their peace, and so from the contents they made a man; Kvasir. Kvasir is later murdered bydwarves, and from his blood theMead of Poetry is made.[13]
In chapter 6, poetic names for Njörðr are provided, including "descendant of Vanir or a Van". As reference, a poem by the 11th centuryskaldÞórðr Sjáreksson is provided where Njörðr is described as a Vanr. In chapter 7, poeticnames for Freyr are listed, including names that reference his association with the Vanir; "Vanir god", "descendant of Vanir", and "a Van".[14] Freyja is also repeatedly cited as a Vanr. In chapter 20, some of Freyja's names are listed and include "Van-deity" and "Van-lady", and chapter 37 provides skaldic verse referring to Freyja as "Van-bride".[15] In chapter 75, names forpigs are provided, including "Van-child", aname shared with Freyr.[16][17]
TheHeimskringla bookYnglinga saga (chapter 4) provides aneuhemerized account of theÆsir–Vanir War. As a peace agreement, the two sides agreed to trade hostages. The Vanir sent Njörðr and Freyr to the Æsir, and in turn the Æsir sentHœnir andMímir to the Vanir.
Upon receivingMímir, the Vanir sent the "cleverest amongst them",Kvasir. In Vanaheimr, the Vanir made Hœnir a chieftain. However, whenever Hœnir appeared at assemblies or meetings where the Vanir asked him his opinion on difficult issues, his response was "let others decide". The Vanir suspected that they had been cheated by the Æsir in the hostage exchange, and so grabbed hold of Mímir, cut off Mímir's head, and sent it to the Æsir.[18]
The same chapter describes that while Njörðr lived among the Vanir, his wife (unnamed) was his sister, and the couple had two children: Freyr and Freyja. However, "among the Æsir it was forbidden to marry so near a kin". By Odin's appointment, Njörðr and his son Freyr becamepriests overofferings of sacrifice, and they were recognized as gods among the Æsir. Freyja was priestess at the sacrifices, and "it was she who first taught the Æsir magic as was practiced among the Vanir".[18]
In chapter 15, the kingSveigðir is recorded as having married a woman named Vana in "Vanaland", located inSweden. The two produced a child, who they namedVanlandi (Old Norse "Man from the Land of the Vanir".[19][20]
Small pieces of gold foil decorated with pictures of figures dating from theMigration Period into the earlyViking Age (known asgullgubber) have been discovered in various locations inScandinavia, in one case almost 2,500. The foil pieces have been found largely at sites of buildings, only rarely in graves.
The figures are sometimes single, occasionally an animal, sometimes a man and a woman with a leafy bough between them, facing or embracing one another. The human figures are almost always clothed and are sometimes depicted with their knees bent. ScholarHilda Ellis Davidson says that it has been suggested that the figures are partaking in a dance, and that they may have been connected with weddings and linked to the Vanir, representing the notion of a divine marriage, such as in thePoetic Edda poemSkírnismál; the coming together of the Vanir god Freyr and his love, Gerðr.[21]
Much of the discussion among scholars on the topic of the Vanir has historically been on the question of whether the Vanir are the reflection of a purported historic meeting between different peoples in the ancient past (historicists) or an extension ofProto-Indo-European mythology where such a narrative may have existed for complex social reasons (structuralists) among the early Indo-European peoples, and thereafter spread to their descendants. Notable proponents of the historicist position includeKarl Helm,Ernst Alfred Philippson,Lotte Motz, and Lotte Headegger, whereas notable proponents of the structuralist view includeGeorges Dumézil,Jan de Vries, andGabriel Turville-Petre. The structuralist view has generally gained the most support among academics, although with caveats, including amongJens Peter Schjødt,Margaret Clunies Ross, andThomas DuBois.[22][b]
Like the Vanr goddess Freyja, the Vanir as a group are not attested outside Scandinavia. Traditionally, followingVöluspá and theProse Edda, scholarship on the Vanir has focused on the Æsir–Vanir War, its possible basis in a war between peoples, and whether the Vanir originated as the deities of a distinct people. Some scholars have doubted that they were known outside Scandinavia; however, there is evidence that the god Freyr is the same god as the Germanic deityIng (reconstructed asProto-Germanic*Ingwaz), and that, if so, he is attested as having been known among theGoths.[23]
Hilda Ellis Davidson theorizes that all of the wives of the gods may have originally been members of the Vanir, noting that many of them appear to have originally been children ofjötnar.[21] Davidson additionally notes that "it is the Vanir and Odin who seem to receive the most hostile treatment in Christian stories about mythological personages".[24]
Joseph S. Hopkins and Haukur Þorgeirsson, building on suggestions by archaeologistOle Crumlin-Pedersen and others, link the Vanir toship burial customs among theNorth Germanic peoples, proposing an early Germanic model of a ship in a "field of the dead" that may be represented both by Freyja's afterlife fieldFólkvangr and by the Old EnglishNeorxnawang (the mysterious first element of which may be linked to the name of Freyja's father, Njörðr).[25]
Richard North theorizes that glossing Latinvanitates ("vanities", "idols") for "gods" inOld English sources implies the existence of*uuani (areconstructed cognate to Old NorseVanir) inDeiran dialect and hence that the gods thatEdwin of Northumbria and the northern Angles worshiped in pre-ChristianAnglo-Saxon England were likely to have been the *uuani. He comments that they likely "shared not only the name but also the orgiastic character of the [Old Icelandic]Vanir".[26]
Alaric Hall has equated the Vanir with theelves.[27]
In a 2010 piece building on an earlier proposal byLotte Motz,Rudolf Simek argues thatvanir was originally nothing more than a general term for deities likeæsir, and that its employment as a name for a distinct group of deities was an invention of Snorri, whom he identifies as the author of theProse Edda. According to Simek, the Vanir are therefore "a figment of imagination from the 13th to 20th centuries". Simek states that he "believe[s] that these are not mistakes that we are dealing with here, but a deliberate invention on the part of Snorri".[28]
Simek's argument receive some level of support from Frog and Jonathan Roper (2011), who analyze the small corpus of poetic usages ofVanir. The authors suggest that this implies thatvanir was a "suspended archaism" used as a metrical alternative toÆsir but with the caveat that "These observations should not, however, be considered to present a solution to the riddle ofvanir".[29] In a collection of papers in honor of Simek, Frog (2021) states support for Simek's proposal.[30]
However, Simek's proposal has been rejected by several scholars, including Clive Tolley,[31] Leszek P. Słupecki,[32] Jens Peter Schjødt,[33] and Terry Gunnell.[34] Tolley argues that the term must have originated in historical usage, and that "it is something of a misrepresentation of the evidence to suggest that Snorri is the main source for thevanir". Tolley continues:
Słupecki argues that the Vanir remained distinct from the Æsir – except for Freyja and Freyr, whom he follows theProse Edda in seeing as having been born after Njörðr became a hostage among the Æsir, and thus regards as Æsir – and therefore thatRagnarök "[has] no importance for their world".[36]
According to Jens Peter Schjødt,
Schjødt, in response to Simek's piece, says:
Terry Gunnell proposes that the Vanir's
Gunnell concludes that
The Vanir are featured in the poem "Om vanerne" byOehlenschläger (1819).[38] SomeGermanic Neopagans refer to their beliefs asVanatrú (meaning "those who honor the Vanir").[39]
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