- Vár
Vár (probably from
Old Norse "várar" : "pledges") is a goddess inNorse Mythology .Snorri Sturluson writes in his "Gylfaginning " that::she harkens to the oaths and compacts made between men and women; wherefore such covenants are called 'vows' ["várar"] . She also takes vengeance on those who perjure themselves.:::—"Gylfaginning" (35), [http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/GylfaginningXXXI-XL.htm#gylf35 Brodeur's translation]
She is invoked during the wedding of the giant
Þrymr and his "bride" (in factThor )::Then loud spake Thrym,:the giants' leader::"Bring in the hammer:to hallow the bride;:On the maiden's knees:let Mjollnir lie,:That us both the hand:of Vor may bless.":::—"Thrymskvitha" (30), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe11.htm Bellows' translation]
But, as Andy Orchard states, "the antiquity of such a ritual is far from clear". [Orchard 2002.]
Britt-Mari Näsström argues that, like many other minor goddesses, Vár was originally one of
Freyja 's names, "later apprehended as independent goddesses". [Näsström 2003:83.]Notes
ources
* Bellows, Henry Adams (trans.). 1923. "The poetic Edda". New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
* Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.). 1916. "Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda". New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
* Orchard, Andy. 2002. "Cassell's dictionary of Norse myth & legend". London: Cassell. First published: 1997. ISBN 0-304-36385-5.
* Näsström, Britt-Mari. 2003. "Freyja - the great Goddess of the North". Harwich Port: Clock & Rose, 2003. First published: University of Lund, 1995. ISBN 1-59386-019-6.
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