In Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

, Dagr (Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 "day") is day

Day

A day is a unit of time, commonly defined as an interval equal to 24 hours. It also can mean that portion of the full day during which a location is illuminated by the light of the sun...

 personified. This personification appears in the Poetic Edda

Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...

, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda

Prose Edda

The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...

, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

. In both sources, Dagr is stated to be the son of the god Dellingr and is associated with the bright-maned horse Skinfaxi, who "draw[s] day to mankind". The Prose Edda adds that Dagr is Dellingr's son by Nótt

Nótt

In Norse mythology, Nótt is night personified. In both the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, Nótt is listed as the daughter of a figure by the name of Nörvi and is associated with the...

, the personified night. Otherwise, Dagr appears as a common noun simply meaning "day" throughout Old Norse works. Connections have been proposed between Dagr and other similarly named figures in Germanic mythology

Germanic mythology

Germanic mythology is a comprehensive term for myths associated with historical Germanic paganism, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, Continental Germanic mythology, and other versions of the mythologies of the Germanic peoples...

.

Poetic Edda

Dagr is mentioned in stanzas 12 and 25 of the poem Vafþrúðnismál

Vafþrúðnismál

In Norse mythology, Vafþrúðnismál is the third poem in the Poetic Edda. It is a conversation in verse form conducted initially between the Æsir Odin and Frigg, and subsequently between Odin and the giant Vafþrúðnir...

. In stanza 24, the god Odin

Odin

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

 (disguised as "Gagnráðr") asks the jötunn Vafþrúðnir

Vafþrúðnir

Vafþrúðnir is a wise jötunn in Norse mythology. In the Poetic Edda poem Vafþrúðnismál, Vafþrúðnir acts as both Odin's host and opponent in a deadly battle of wits, resulting in Vafþrúðnir's defeat....

 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 beneficient powers created,

to count the years for men.

In stanza 12, the horse Skinfaxi, his mane gleaming, is stated by Vafþrúðnir as "drawing day to mankind".

In Sigrdrífumál

Sigrdrífumál

Sigrdrífumál is the conventional title given to a section of the Poetic Edda text in Codex Regius....

, after the valkyrie

Valkyrie

In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle , the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin...

 Sigrdrífa is woken from her sleep curse by the hero Sigurd

Sigurd

Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...

, Sigurd asks her name, and she gives him a "memory-drink" of a drinking horn

Drinking horn

A drinking horn is the horn of a bovid used as a drinking vessel. Drinking horns are known from Classical Antiquity especially in Thrace and the Balkans, and remained in use for ceremonial purposes throughout the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period in some parts of Europe, notably in Germanic...

 full of mead

Mead

Mead , also called honey wine, is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by fermenting a solution of honey and water. It may also be produced by fermenting a solution of water and honey with grain mash, which is strained immediately after fermentation...

, and then Sigrdrifa says a prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

. 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

Æsir

In Old Norse, áss is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in Norse paganism. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir...

! Hail to the Asyniur

Æsir

In Old Norse, áss is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in Norse paganism. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir...

!

Hail to the bounteous earth!

Words and wisdom give to us noble twain,

and healing hands while we live!

In the poem Hrafnagaldr Óðins

Hrafnagaldr Óðins

Hrafnagaldr Óðins or Forspjallsljóð is an Icelandic poem in the style of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved only in late paper manuscripts. In his influential 1867 edition of the Poetic Edda, Sophus Bugge reasoned that the poem was a 17th century work, composed as an introduction to Baldrs draumar...

, the appearance of Dagr and his horse and chariot are described:

The son of Delling

urged on his horse

adorned with

precious jewels.

Over Mannheim

Midgard

Midgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is an old Germanic name for our world and is the home of Humans, with the literal meaning "middle enclosure".-Etymology:...

 shines

the horse's mane,

the steed Dvalin's deluder

dew in his chariot.

Prose Edda

In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning, or the Tricking of Gylfi , is the first part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda after Prologue. The Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Norse gods, and many other aspects of Norse mythology...

, Dagr is again personified. In chapter 10, the enthroned figure of High states that Dagr is the son of the couple of Dellingr of the Æsir

Æsir

In Old Norse, áss is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in Norse paganism. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir...

 and his wife Nótt ("night"). Dagr is described as "as bright and beautiful as his father's people". Odin took Dagr and his mother Nótt, gave them each a chariot and a horse — Dagr receiving the horse Skinfaxi, whose mane illuminates all the sky and the earth — and placed them in the sky to ride around the earth every 24 hours.

Dagr is again personified in chapter 24 of the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál

Skáldskaparmál

The second part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda the Skáldskaparmál or "language of poetry" is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined...

, where he is stated as a brother of Jörð

Jörð

In Norse mythology, Jörð and also called Jarð as in Old East Norse, is a female jötunn. She is the mother of Thor and Meili, and the personification of the Earth. Fjörgyn and Hlôdyn are considered to be other names for Jörð...

. As a common noun, Dagr appears in chapter 58, where "Skinfaxi or Glad" is stated as pulling forth the day, and chapter 64, where Dagr is stated as one of various words for time.

Theories

Otto Höfler

Otto Höfler

Otto Höfler was an Austrian scholar of German studies. He was a student of Rudolf Much, and adopted Much's "Germanic Continuity Theory," which argued for continuity of ancient Germanic culture into present-day German folklore...

 theorized that Dagr may be related to (or may be the same figure as) the hero Svipdagr (whose name means "the suddenly dawning day") who is attested in various texts. Among other sources, this figure is found in two poems compiled together and known as Svipdagsmál

Svipdagsmál

Svipdagsmál or The Lay of Svipdagr is an Old Norse poem, a part of the Poetic Edda, comprising two poems, The Spell of Gróa and The Lay of Fjölsviðr. The two works are grouped since they have a common narrator, Svipdagr. Moreover they would appear to have a common origin since they are closely...

in the Poetic Edda, the Prologue to the Prose Edda, and by the name Swæfdæg in the mythical genealogies of the Anglian houses of Anglo-Saxon England

History of Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...

. Otto Höfler also proposed that Svipdagr may have been a "Dagr of the Suebi

Suebi

The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c...

", and because of the names of his family members, Sólbjartr ("the sun-light", indicating a potential god of the skies) and Gróa

Gróa

In Norse mythology, Gróa is a völva and practitioner of seiðr, the wife of Aurvandil the Bold.-Prose Edda:Gróa appears in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, in the context of Thor's battle with the jötunn Hrungnir...

 ("growth", indicating a possible goddess of growth), and his wooing of Menglöð (often identified with the goddess Freyja), he further suggested that Svipdagr may have been a fertility god.