Myrkviðr

Etymology

The word myrkviðr is a compound of two words. The first element is myrkr "dark", which is cognate to, among others, the English adjectives mirky and murky. The second element is viðr "wood, forest".

Attestations

The name is attested as a mythical local name of a forest in the Poetic Edda poem Lokasenna, and the heroic poems Atlakviða, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Hlöðskviða, and in prose in Fornmanna sögur, Flateyjarbók, Hervarar Saga, Ála flekks saga.

The localization of Myrkviðr varies by source:

1. The Ore Mountains in the writings of Thietmar of Merseburg.

2. The forests north of the Ukrainian steppe during the time of the Goths and the Huns in the Norse Hervarar saga

3. The forest that separates the Huns from the Burgundians

4. Kolmården ("the dark forest"), in Sweden, in Sögubrot and in legends such as that of Helge Hundingsbane

5. The forest south of Uppsala in Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa (the present remnant of this forest is called Lunsen)

6. Uncertain locations, such as in the Völundarkviða, where it is probably located elsewhere in Scandinavia (Weyland is here described as a Finnish prince, which would make him a Saami prince). Stanza 1 (on the swan maidens): myrkvið í gögnum, Alvitr unga, örlög drýgja; þær á sævarströnd settusk at hvílask drósir suðrænar, dýrt lín spunnu.}} | Maids from the south through Myrkwood flew, Fair and young, their fate to follow; On the shore of the sea to rest them they sat, The maids of the south, and flax they spun.}}

7. Mythological. In other sources, such as the Poetic Edda, e.g. Lokasenna, the location seems to be between Asgard and Muspelheim, as Muspell's sons ride through it at Ragnarök. Stanza 42: «Gvlli keypta leztv Gymis dottvr oc seldir þitt sva sverþ; enn er Mvspellz synir ríða Myrcviþ yfir, veizta þv þa, vesall! hve þv vegr.»}} | Loki spake: "The daughter of Gymir with gold didst thou buy, And sold thy sword to boot; But when Muspell's sons through Myrkwood ride, Thou shalt weaponless wait, poor wretch."}}

Theories

J. R. R. Tolkien comments on Myrkviðr in a letter to his eldest grandson:

Regarding the forests, Francis Gentry comments that "in the Norse tradition 'crossing the Black Forest' came to signify penetrating the barriers between one world and another, especially the world of the gods and the world of fire, where Surt lives [...]."

Modern influence

Main article: Mirkwood

Myrkviðr was first anglicized as Mirkwood by Sir Walter Scott in Waverley, followed by William Morris in A Tale of the House of the Wolfings from 1888, and later by J. R. R. Tolkien in his fiction.

Notes

References

• Bugge, Sophus (1896). https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_46AdYjlC2zEC Helge-digtene i den Ældre Edda. G. E. C. Gad
• Bjordvand, Harald; Lindeman, Fredrik Otto (2007). Våre arveord. Novus.
• Carpenter, Humphrey (1981). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. London: Allen & Unwin
• Chadwick, Nora K. (1922). https://archive.org/details/anglosaxonnorsep00chadrich Anglo-Saxon and Norse poems. Cambridge: The University press
• Cleasby, Richard; Vigfusson, Gudbrand (1874). http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kurisuto/germanic/oi_cleasbyvigfusson_about.html Icelandic–English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer.

References

1. Simek (2007:224)
2. Gentry (2002:101–102)
3. Bugge (1896:65).
4. Chadwick (1922:201)
5. Bjorvand and Lindeman (2007:770)
6. Cleasby and Vigfusson (1874:703)
7. Cleasby and Vigfusson (1874:549)
8. (1927). "Drei Lygisǫgur. Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana, Ála flekks saga, Flóres saga konungs ok sona hans.". Max Niemeyer Verlag.
9. Eggers, M.. (2002). "Reallexikon der germansichen Altertumskunde". Walter de Gruyter.
10. [http://www.heimskringla.no/original/edda/volundarkvida.php Völundarkviða from heimskringla.no] {{webarchive. link. (2007-05-08)
11. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe17.htm Bellows' translation of Völundarkviða.]
12. [http://www.home.no/norron-mytologi/sgndok/edda/06lokas.htm ''Lokasenna''.]
13. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe10.htm Bellows' translation of ''Lokasenna''.]
14. "Mirkwood". Henneth Annûn Story Archive.
15. "Mirkwood". Henneth Annûn Story Archive.