Page:Younger Edda (Anderson, 1880).djvu/250

 Odin I now am called,

Ygg was my name before,

Before that 1 hight Thund,

Vak and Skilfing,

Vafud and Hroptatyr,

Got and Jalk 'mong the gods,

Ofner and Svafner.

All these names, 1 trow,

Have to me alone been given.

'V What the etymology of all these names is, it is not yf easy to tell. The most of them are clearly Norse words, and express the various activities of their owner. It is worthy of notice that it is added when and where Odin bore this or that name (his name was Grim at Geirrod's, Jalk at Asmund' s, etc.), and that the words sometimes indicate a progressive development, as Thund, then Ygg, and then Odin. First he was a mere sound in the air (Thund), then he took to thinking (Ygg), and at last he became the inspiring soul of the universe. Although we are unable to define all these names, they certainly each have a distinct meaning, and our ancestors certainly understood them perfectly. Har = the High One; Jafnhar = the Equally High One; Thride = the Third {Zebq akXuq and Tpiroq); Alfather probably contracted from AldcddÅhev = the Father of the Ages and the Creations; Yeratyr—the Lord of Beings; Kogner = the Ruler (from regin); Got (Gautr, from gjota^ to cast)—the Creator, Lat. Instillator; Mjotud = the Creator, the word being allied to Anglo-Saxon meotod^ metod^ Germ. Messe7 and means originally cutter; but to cut and to make are synonymous. Such names as these have reference to Odin's divinity as creator, arranger and ruler of gods and men. Svid and Fjol-