J. G. Harker

Sure. My point is just that the concept of women who are in charge of fate was not borrowed into Germanic mythology from Greek mythology. It’s native to both traditions.

Ah ok, then I should have said “copious notes and citations”

Völuspá 2 in Bellows says “Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree” based on a traditional reading of “níu íviði” in the manuscript. But Karlsson 1979 used x-ray analysis to show that the word as written should be read “íviðjur”, changing the meaning to “Nine worlds I knew, nine jotun women”.

Bellows’ translation is dated in some areas. Several decades of research and manuscript analysis has changed the way some passages are interpreted by modern scholars. Example below. Crawford’s translation is not bad but it is somewhat opinionated and he doesn’t provide notes or the O.N. text.

Beowulf very probably also appears in ancient Norse literature in the Saga of Hrolf Kraki. In this saga, his name is Bǫðvarr Bjarki and he is tasked with killing a monster that annually attacks King Hrolf’s kingdom at Yule.

Might I offer a third option: the nerdy, academically-oriented way :)

Some of us have Star Wars, some of us have football, and some of us have the elusive puzzle of ancient language, culture, and religion.

Right, and in fact, if you were to show some ancient Norse people a video of modern Somali pirates, they would absolutely use the word “víkingar” to describe them. The term was never a racial/ethnic descriptor.

Yes! AND, it’s not lifted from Greek mythology. Greek and Germanic mythology are both evolutions of the Proto-Indo-European tradition. Women authoring fate are native components to both of these ancient religions.

Likewise, the Viking Society for Northern Research makes available a free PDF of Anthony Faulkes’ Prose Edda. vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/SNORRA%20EDD... #vikings #norse #mythology

The Poetic Edda: A Dual-Language Edition This book is an edition and translation of one of the most important and celebrated sources of Old Norse-Icelandic mythology and heroic legend, namely the medieval poems now known collectively as the ...

If anybody is interested in a free translation of the Poetic Edda with side-by-side English and Old Norse, I highly recommend downloading Edward Pettit’s edition. It’s among the best I’ve seen. www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...