Snotra
InNorse mythology,Snotra(Old Norse:[ˈsnotrɑ],"clever" )[1]is agoddessassociated with wisdom. Snotra is attested in theProse Edda,written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson,and in theGautreks Saga,where she is the mother of Gautrek son of Gauti, the eponymous ancestor of theGeats,andGoths,a son of Oðinn as King of Sviþjoð. Scholars have proposed theories about the implications of the goddess.
Attestations
[edit]In chapter 35 of theProse EddabookGylfaginning,Highprovides brief descriptions of 16ásynjur.High lists Snotra thirteenth, and says that Snotra "is wise and courteous". In addition, High adds that, after Snotra's name, a wise man or woman can be calledsnotr.[2]In theProse EddabookSkáldskaparmál,Snotra is included among a list of 27 ásynjur names.[3]Apart from these two sources, Snotra is otherwise unattested.[4]
Reception
[edit]Andy Orchard andRudolf Simekstate that, as Snotra is unattested beyond theProse Edda,Snotra may be an invention of Snorri's.[5]Orchard theorizes that, otherwise, Snorri may have had access to a lost source, and that the little information Snorri presents may be derived from the meaning of her name.[1]
Simek says that Snorri may have invented Snotra from the Old Norse wordsnotr( "clever" ) and "placed [her] next to other insignificant goddesses."[4]However, Simek also writes that the goddesses Snotra,Sága,Hlín,Sjöfn,Vár,andVörshould be considered vaguely defined figures who "should be seen as female protective goddesses" that are all responsible for "specific areas of the private sphere, and yet clear differences were made between them so that they are in many ways similar tomatrons."[7]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995).Edda.Everyman.ISBN0-460-87616-3
- Orchard, Andy (1997).Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend.Cassell.ISBN0-304-34520-2
- Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall.Dictionary of Northern Mythology.D.S. Brewer.ISBN0-85991-513-1