Page:Younger Edda (Anderson, 1880).djvu/251

 svid = the swift, the wise; Ganglere, Gangrad and Vegtam = the wanderer, the waywont; Vidrer = the weather-ruler, together with serpent-names like Ofner, Svafner, etc., refer to Odin's knowledge, his journeys, the various shapes he assumes. Permeating all nature, he appears in all its forms. Names like Sidhot—the slouchy hat; Sidskeg = the long-beard; Baleyg = the burning-eye; Grimner = the masked; Jalk (Jack) = the youth, etc., express the various forms in which he was thought to appear,—to his slouchy hat, his long beard, or his age, etc. Such names as Sanngetal = the true investigator; Farmatyr = the cargo-god, etc., refer to his various occupations as inventor, discoverer of runes, protector of trade and commerce, etc. C Finally, all such names as Herfather = father of hosts; Herjan = the devastator; Sigfather = the father of victory; Sigtyr = god of victory; Skilling = producing trembling; Hnikar = the breaker, etc., represent Odin as the god of war and victory. Oske = wish, is thus called because he gratifies our desires. Gimle, as will be seen later, is the abode of the blessed after Ragnarok. Vingolf (Yin and golf) means friends' floor, and is the hall of the goddesses. Hel is the goddess of death, and from her name our word hell is derived. Our ancestors divided the universe into nine worlds: the uppermost was Muspelheim (the world of light); the lowest was Niflheim (the world of darkness). Compare the Greek word vzipily = mist. (See Norse Mythology, p. 187.) (^^ "^

GiNUNGAGAP. Ginn means wide, large, far-reaching, perhaps also void (compare the Anglo-Saxon gin = gaping, open, spacious; ginian = to gap; and gin-