Nótt

Nótt
Nótt rides her horse in this 19th-century painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo.
Goddess of the Night
General Information
Species	Goddess/Gýgr
Abodes	Ásgarðr
Languages
Dansk(Danish)	Nat
Dǫnsk tunga(Old Norse)	Nátt Nāt (Old Danish, Old Swedish) Nǫ́tt (Old West Norse) Nótt (Old Icelandic)
Føroyskt(Faroese)	Nátt
International Phonetic Alphabet	[ˈnoːtː] (Old Norse)
Íslenska(Icelandic)	Nátt Nótt
Norsk bokmål(Norwegian bokmål)	Natt
Proto-Germanic	ᚾᚨᚺᛏᛊ (Nahts)
Skånsk(Scanian)	Nøtt
Svenska(Swedish)	Natt

Nótt (Old Norse: [ˈnoːtː]) is the goddess of night in Norse mythology. She was the daughter of Nǫrvi.

She married thrice. Her first marriage to Naglfari produced her first son, Auðr, a god of prosperity. Her second marriage, to Annarr, produced her only daughter, the giantess Jǫrð, who, by Óðinn, was the mother of Þórr. Her third and only lasting marriage is to Dellingr, the god of dawn and mornings.

Their union produced Nótt's second son, Dagr, the god of day. She rides upon a black horse named Hrimfaxi. The spit of Hrimfaxi is dew.

Attestations

Poetic Edda

In stanza 24 of the poem Vafþrúðnismál, the god Óðinn (disguised as "Gagnráðr") asks the jǫtunn Vafþrúðnir from where the day comes, and the night and its tides. In stanza 25, Vafþrúðnir responds:

Delling hight he who the day's father is,

but night was of Nörvi born;

the new and waning moons the beneficent powers created,

to count the years for men.

In stanza 14 of the Vafþrúðnismál, Odin states that the horse Hrímfaxi "draws every night to the beneficent gods" and that he lets foam from his bit fall every morning, from which dew comes to the valleys. In stanza 30 of the poem Alvíssmál, the god Þórr asks the dwarf Alvíss to tell him what night is called in each of the nine worlds, whom "Nórr" birthed. Alvíss responds that night is referred as "night" by mankind, "darkness" by the gods, "the masker" by the mighty Powers, "unlight" by the jötunn, "joy-of-sleep" by the elves, while dwarves call her "dream-Njǫrun" (meaning "dream-goddess").

In Sigrdrífumál, after the valkyrja Sigrdrífa is woken from her sleep curse by the hero Sigurðr, Sigurðr asks her name, and she gives him a "memory-drink" of a drinking horn full of mead, and then Sigrdrifa says a heathen prayer. The first verse of this prayer features a reference to the "sons of Dagr" and the "daughter of Nótt":

Hail to the Day! Hail to the sons of Day!

To Night and her daughter hail!

With placid eyes behold us here,

and here sitting give us victory.

Hail to the Æsir! Hail to the Asyniur!

Hail to the bounteous earth!

Words and wisdom give to us noble twain,

and healing hands while we live!

Prose Edda

In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, Nótt is again personified. In chapter 10, the enthroned figure of High states that Nótt is the daughter of a jötunn from Jǫtunheimr by the name of "Norfi or Narfi". Nótt is described as "black and swarthy", and has had three marriages. Her first marriage was with Naglfari, and the two produced a son by the name of Auðr. Nótt's second marriage was to Annarr, resulting in their daughter Jǫrð, the personified earth. Finally, Nótt marries the god Dellingr, and the couple have Dagr, who takes after his "father's people" in brightness and fairness. Odin took Nótt and her son Dagr, placed them into the sky with a chariot and a horse each, and they ride around the earth every 24 hours. Nótt rides before Dagr, and foam from her horse Hrímfaxi's bit sprinkles the earth.

However, scholar Haukur Thorgeirsson points out that the four manuscripts of Gylfaginning vary in their descriptions of the family relations between Nótt, Jǫrð, Dagr, and Dellingr. In other words, depending on the manuscript, either Jǫrð or Nátt is the mother of Dagr and partner of Dellingr. Haukur details that "the oldest manuscript, U, offers a version where Jǫrð is the wife of Dellingr and the mother of Dagr while the other manuscripts, R, W and T, cast Nótt in the role of Dellingr's wife and Dagr's mother", and argues that "the version in U came about accidentally when the writer of U or its antecedent shortened a text similar to that in RWT. The results of this accident made their way into the Icelandic poetic tradition".

In the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, means of referring to Jǫrð are provided, including "daughter of Nótt". Chapter 58 states that "Hrimfaxi or Fiorsvartnir draw the night", and in chapter 64, "nótt" is stated as one of various words for time and a version of the Alvíssmál passage is cited.

Family

Jǫtunn genealogy in Norse mythology

Names in Bold are Jǫtnar/Gýgr

Names in Italics are Gods/Goddesses

Ymir                                                   Þrúðgelmir                                                   Bergelmir                                                                                                                                         Bǫlþorn   Naglfari     Narfi   Dellingr       Aurgelmir       Fornjótr   Alvaldi                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Mímir                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Iði   Gangr   Þjazi                                                                     Bestla   Borr         Nótt           Dagr   Fárbauti   Laufey   Kári   Logi   Rán   Ægir   Gymir   Aurboða                                                                                                                                                                   Sister of Njǫrðr   Njǫrðr   Skaði                             Vili         Auðr             Annarr   Helblindi   Býleistr           Glǫð     Eisa and Eimyrja   Nine Maidens                                                                                                                                             Gerðr   Freyr             Vé                                     Sigyn           Loki         Angrboða   Heimdallr                                                                                                                                                                               Óðinn   Jǫrð                     Narfi   Váli         Jǫrmungandr   Hel   Fenrir   Hyrrokkin                                                                                                                 Þórr   Sif                     Svaðilfari                                                                                                                               Sleipnir                 Skǫll   Hati Hróðvitnisson               Þrúðr Frigg

Vanir genealogy in Norse mythology

Names in Bold are Vanir

Names in Italics are Æsir/Ásynjur

Frigg was mother to Baldr and Hǫðr by Óðinn

Sif was mother to Magni, Móði and Þrúðr by Þórr

Fjǫrgynn                                                                                                               Nótt   Dellingr   Njǫrðr   Sister of Njǫrðr   Mundilfari   Hreða   Frigg   Óðinn                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Dagr                 Freyja   Óðr   Skírnir   Svalingr   Sinthgunt       Vǫlundr   Sól   Þórr   Sif   Unknown                                                                                                                                                                                 Gerðr   Freyr     Gersemi   Hnoss           Sjǫfn   Snotra   Lofn   Sigyn   Loki             Ullr   Skaði                                                                                                                                                                                   Váli         Narfi

References

• Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2006). The Prose Edda. Penguin Classics. ISBN: 0-14-044755-5

• Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. Everyman. ISBN: 0-460-87616-3

• Jónsson, Finnur (1931). Lexicon poeticum. S. L. Møllers bogtrykkeri.
• Haukur Thorgeirsson (2008). "Hinn fagri foldar son" as published in Gripla XIX, pages 159–168. Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies.
• Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). The Poetic Edda. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN: 0-19-283946-2

• Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN: 0-304-34520-2

• Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1907). The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson. Norrœna Society.

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