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Geri and Freki

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The god Odin enthroned and flanked by the wolves Geri and Freki and the ravens Huginn and Muninn as illustrated (1882) by Carl Emil Doepler.

In Norse mythology, Geri and Freki (Old Norse, both meaning "the ravenous-one" or "the greedy one") are two wolves that accompany the god Odin. Odin feeds the wolves while he himself only consumes wine. Geri and Freki are attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson; and in the poetry of skalds.

Scholars[who?] have noted[citation needed] connections between Germanic wolf-warrior bands and Geri and Freki. Scholars[who?] have cited[citation needed] parallels between Odin and his wolves Geri and Freki, and similar associations with wolves among the Vedic deity Rudra and the Roman god Mars.[citation needed]

Etymology

Rudolf Simek translates the Old Norse names Geri and Freki as both meaning "the greedy one" while John Lindow translates the names as both meaning "the ravenous one".[1] Lindow comments that both names are nothing more than definitive forms of adjectives.[2]

Attestations

In the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál, the god Odin (disguised as Grímnir) provides the young Agnarr with information about Odin's companions. He tells Agnarr that Odin feeds Geri and Freki yet consumes only wine:

Benjamin Thorpe translation:
Geri and Freki the war-wont sates,
the triumphant sire of hosts;
but on wine only the famed in arms,
Odn, ever lives.[3]
Henry Adams Bellows translation:
Freki and Geri does Heerfather feed,
The far-famed fighter of old:
But on wine alone does the weapon-decked god,
Othin, forever live.[4]

In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning (chapter 38), the enthroned figure of High explains that Odin gives all of the food on his table to his wolves Geri and Freki and that Odin requires no food, for wine is for Odin both meat and drink. High then quotes the above mentioned stanza from the poem Grímnismál in support.[5] In chapter 75 of the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál a list of names for wargs and wolves is provided that includes both Geri and Freki.[6]

In skaldic poetry Geri and Freki are used as common nouns for "wolf" in chapter 58 of Skáldskaparmál (quoted in works by the skalds Þjóðólfr of Hvinir and Egill Skallagrímsson) and Geri is again used as a common noun for "wolf" in chapter 64 of the Prose Edda book Háttatal.[7] Geri is referenced in kennings for "blood" in chapter 58 of Skáldskaparmál ("Geri's ales" in a work by the skald Þórðr Sjáreksson) and in for "carrion" in chapter 60 ("Geri's morsel" in a work by the skald Einarr Skúlason).[8] Freki is also used in a kenning for "carrion" ("Freki's meal") in a work by Þórðr Sjáreksson in chapter 58 of Skáldskaparmál.[9]

Theories

A Vendel era bronze plate found on Öland, Sweden depicting a wolf-pelt warrior drawing a sword beside a dancing figure.

Freki is also a name applied to the monstrous wolf Fenrir in the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá. Scholar John Lindow points to irony in the usage for both of these figures, noting that Odin feeds one Freki at his dinner table and another—Fenrir—with his flesh during the events of Ragnarök.[10]

Scholar Michael Spiegel connects Geri and Freki with archaeological finds depicting figures wearing wolf-pelts and frequently found wolf-related names among the Germanic peoples, including Wulfhroc ("Wolf-Frock"), Wolfhetan ("Wolf-Hide"), Isangrim ("Grey-Mask"), Scrutolf ("Garb-Wolf") and Wolfgang ("Wolf-Gait"), Wolfdregil ("Wolf-Runner"), and Vulfolaic ("Wolf-Dancer") and myths regarding wolf warriors from Norse mythology (such as the Úlfhéðnar).[11]

Spiegel points to a pan-Germanic wolf-warrior band cult centered around Odin that waned away after Christianization. Speigel points to Indo-European parallels in that to the "Vedic Indians the wolf was the animal of Rudra, to Romans the animal of Mars, to Germani the animal of Woden. This is why Geri and Freki, the wolves at Woden's side, also glowered on the throne of the Anglo-Saxon kings. Wolf-warriors, like Geri and Freki, were not mere animals but mythical beings: as Woden's followers they bodied forth his might, and so did wolf-warriors."[11]

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Geri and Freki.
  1. ^ Simek (2007:106 and 90) and Lindow (2001:120 and 139).
  2. ^ Lindow (2001:120 and 139).
  3. ^ Thorpe (1907:21).
  4. ^ Bellows (1923:92).
  5. ^ Faulkes (1995:33).
  6. ^ Faulkes (1995:64).
  7. ^ Faulkes (1995:135 and 204).
  8. ^ Faulkes (1995:136 and 138).
  9. ^ Faulkes (1995:136).
  10. ^ Lindow (2001:120).
  11. ^ a b Spiegel (2004:24—28).

References

  • Bellows, Henry Adams (1923). The Poetic Edda. American-Scandinavian Foundation.
  • Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. Everyman. ISBN 0-4608-7616-3
  • Lindow, John (2001). Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515382-0
  • Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0859915131
  • Spiegel, Michael (2004). Ancient Germanic warriors: warrior styles from Trajan's column to Icelandic sagas. Routledge. ISBN 0415311993
  • Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans) (1907). Edda Sæmundar Hinns Frôða The Edda of Sæmund the Learned. Part I. London Trübner & Co
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