Barri
In Norse mythology, Barri is the place where Freyr and Gerðr are to consummate their union, as stated in the Skírnismál:
- Barri the grove is named,
- which we both know,
- the grove of tranquil paths.
- Nine nights hence,
- there to Niörd’s son
- Gerd will grant delight.
-
- —För Skirnis eðr Skirnismál (39), Thorpe's translation
In Snorri Sturluson's account of the myth (found in Gylfaginning, 37), the place is called Barrey or Barey:[1]
- And nine nights later she was to come to the place called Barrey, and then go to the bridal with Freyr.
-
- —Gylfaginning (37), Brodeur's translation
The meaning of the name is uncertain. Barri is called a grove (lundr) but Bar(r)ey is probably an island (ey being the Old Norse for "island")[2] and could be connected with Barra, one of the Hebrides islands, which was once called Barrey.[3] The meaning of the first part of the name, barr, is not very enlightening for it has several meanings: "pine needle", "conifer", "tree" or "grain",[4] especially "barley".[2] Magnus Olsen suggested that Barri meant "cornfield". This supports his interpretation of the union of Freyr and Gerðr as a holy wedding between a fertility god and the Earth Mother.[5] But this interpretation has been contested and Barri could be rendered into "coniferous forest" (as Rudolf Simek noticed, it would be a suitable name for a grove[3]) and the signification of Barrey might be "barley-island" or "grain-island", which, John Lindow underlined, "makes no sense in the context of a fertility myth".[6]
Notes
- ^ Two out of the four main manuscripts of the Prose Edda (Codices Trajectinus and Wormianus) have the name Barrey, another (Codex Regius) has the alternative form Barey.
- ^ a b Faulkes 1988.
- ^ a b Simek 1996.
- ^ Dillmann 2003, p.175.
- ^ Olsen, Magnus. "Fra gammelnorsk myte og kultus". Maal og minne. 1909.
- ^ Lindow 2002.
References
- Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.). 1916. Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
- Thorpe, Benjamin (trans.). 1866. Edda Sæmundar Hinns Froða: The Edda Of Sæmund The Learned. London: Trübner & Co.
- Dillmann, François-Xavier (trans.). 2003. Snorri Sturluson. L'Edda. Paris: Gallimard. First published in 1991. ISBN 2-07-072114-0.
- Faulkes, Anthony (ed.). 1988. Snorri Sturluson: Edda. Prologue and Gylfaginning. London: Viking Society for Northern Research. First published by Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-903521-21-0.
- Lindow, John. 2002. Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. New York: Oxford University Press. First published in 2001 by ABC-Clio. ISBN 0-19-515382-0.
- Simek, Rudolf. 1996. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. First published by Alfred Kröner Verlag in 1984. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1.
