Annar

InNorse mythology,according to theGylfaginning,Annar(Old NorseAnnarr'second, another') is the father ofJörð(Mother Earth) byNótt(the Night).The formÓnar(Old NorseÓnarr'gaping') is found as a variant.

Annar/Ónaris also the name of a dwarf in the catalogue of dwarfs in theVöluspáthat is repeated in theGylfaginning.

Attestations

In the pseudo-historical genealogy ofOdin's ancestors in the introduction toSnorri Sturluson'sProse Edda,a certain Athra is said to be he "whom we call Annar". What this refers to is unknown. (SeeSceafafor discussion of the section of this genealogy in which Annar appears.)

In theGylfaginningSnorri writes of Nótt:

She was given to the man namedNaglfari;their son wasAud.Afterward she was wedded to him that was called Annar; Jörð ['Earth'] was their daughter.

Snorri might have been using a source in whichannar'second, another' was intended to meanOdin,for he himself had just previously written of Odin: "The earth was his daughter and his wife...".

But in theSkáldskaparmálSnorri uses the formÓnarinstead, giving "daughter of Ónar" as one of the kennings for Jörð. Snorri also cites fromHallfreðr vandræðaskáld:

In council it was determined

That the King's friend, wise in counsel,
Should wed the Land, sole daughter

Of Ónar, greenly wooded.