Naglfar
Encyclopedia
In Norse mythology
, Naglfar or Naglfari (Old Norse
"nail
ship") is a boat made entirely from the fingernails and toenails of the dead. During the events of Ragnarök
, Naglfar is foretold to sail to Vígríðr
, ferrying hordes that will there battle with the gods. Naglfar is attested in the Poetic Edda
, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda
, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson
. The boat itself has been connected by scholars with a larger pattern of ritual hair and nail disposal among Indo-European
s, stemming from Proto-Indo-European
custom, and it may be depicted on the Tullstorp Runestone
in Scania
, Sweden
.
proposed that nagl- here does not have its usual meaning of "nail
", but, instead, is a variant of Old Norse nár (meaning "corpse") and ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European
*nok-w-i. Noreen claimed that the notion of Naglfar as a "nail-ship" is due to a folk etymology; that elaboration on the folk etymology produced the concept of a "nail-ship".
However, Sigmund Feist
(1909) rejects the theory on etymological grounds, as does Albert Morley Sturtevant (1951) on the grounds of major difficulties, and their points have led Bruce Lincoln
(1977) to comment that "there is no reason whatever to contend that nagl- does not have its usual meaning of "nail" and that Naglfar is anything other than the nail-ship, just as Snorri describes it." In addition, Lincoln finds the ship to be a part of a larger pattern of religious disposal and sacrifice of hair and nails among the Indo-European
s (see below).
and the Prose Edda
. In the Poetic Edda, Naglfar is solely mentioned in two stanzas found in the poem Völuspá
. In the poem, a deceased völva
foretells that the ship will arrive with rising waters, carrying Hrym
and Loki
and with them a horde of others:
In the Prose Edda, Naglfar is mentioned four times. The ship is first mentioned in chapter 43 of Gylfaginning
, where the enthroned figure of High
notes that while Skíðblaðnir
is best the ship—constructed with the finest skill—"the biggest ship is Naglfari, it belongs to Muspell".
In chapter 51, High foretells the events of Ragnarök. Regarding Naglfar, High says that after the stars disappear from the sky, the landscape will shake so severely that mountains fall apart, trees uproot, and all binds will snap, causing the wolf Fenrir to break free. After, the Midgardr Serpent Jörmungandr
will fly into a rage and swim to the shore, causing the ocean to swell unto land. Naglfar, too, will be break free from its moorings. High describes the composition of Naglfar as that of the untrimmed nails of the dead, and warns about burying the dead with untrimmed nails, stating that "the ship is made of dead people's nails, and it is worth taking care lest anyone die with untrimmed nails, since such a person contributes much material to the ship Naglfar which gods and men wish would take a long time to finish". High adds that the ship will be captained by the jötunn Hrym
, and that Naglfar will be carried along with the surging waters of the flood. Further in chapter 51, High quotes the Völuspá stanzas above that references the ship.
Naglfar receives a final mention in the Prose Edda in Skáldskaparmál
, where it is included among a list of ships.
are correctly identified as being from Ragnarök
, then Naglfar is shown below the monstrous wolf Fenrir. It has been pointed out that the ship image has beaks both fore and aft unlike any known Viking ship, and is likely to be a symbolic ship.
warns that daeva
s and xrafstras will spring from hair and nails that lay without correct burial, noting their conceptual similarities. Lincoln comments that "the specific image of Naglfar, the "Nail-ship," is undoubtedly specific to the Germanic world, although it does date to an ancient date within that area. But the basic idea on which it is based—that the improper disposal of hair and nails is an act which threatens the well-being of the cosmos-does ascend to the Indo-European period, as can be seen from comparisons [with Iranian myth
]."
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...
, Naglfar or Naglfari (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....
"nail
Nail (anatomy)
A nail is a horn-like envelope covering the dorsal aspect of the terminal phalanges of fingers and toes in humans, most non-human primates, and a few other mammals. Nails are similar to claws, which are found on numerous other animals....
ship") is a boat made entirely from the fingernails and toenails of the dead. During the events of Ragnarök
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...
, Naglfar is foretold to sail to Vígríðr
Vígríðr
In Norse mythology, Vígríðr or Óskópnir, is a large field foretold to host a battle between the forces of the gods and the forces of Surtr as part of the events of Ragnarök. The field is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, and in the Prose...
, ferrying hordes that will there battle with the gods. Naglfar is attested 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...
. The boat itself has been connected by scholars with a larger pattern of ritual hair and nail disposal among Indo-European
Indo-European
Indo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan race, a 19th century and early 20th century term for those peoples who are the native speakers of Indo-European languages...
s, stemming from Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language , a reconstructed prehistoric language of Eurasia.Knowledge of them comes chiefly from the linguistic reconstruction, along with material evidence from archaeology and archaeogenetics...
custom, and it may be depicted on the Tullstorp Runestone
Tullstorp Runestone
The Tullstorp Runestone is a Viking Age memorial runestone, listed as DR 271 in the Rundata catalog, that is located in Tullstorp, Scania, Sweden.-Description:...
in Scania
Scania
Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Etymology
Some dispute has waged over the etymology of Naglfar. In the late 19th century, Adolf NoreenAdolf Noreen
Adolf Gotthard Noreen was a Swedish linguist who served as a member of the Swedish Academy from 1919 until his death.-Biography:...
proposed that nagl- here does not have its usual meaning of "nail
Nail (anatomy)
A nail is a horn-like envelope covering the dorsal aspect of the terminal phalanges of fingers and toes in humans, most non-human primates, and a few other mammals. Nails are similar to claws, which are found on numerous other animals....
", but, instead, is a variant of Old Norse nár (meaning "corpse") and ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
*nok-w-i. Noreen claimed that the notion of Naglfar as a "nail-ship" is due to a folk etymology; that elaboration on the folk etymology produced the concept of a "nail-ship".
However, Sigmund Feist
Sigmund Feist
Sigmund Feist was a German Jewish pedagogue and historical linguist. He was the author of the Germanic substrate hypothesis as well as a number of important works concerning Jewish ethnic and racial identity. Feist served as the director of the Jewish Reichenheim Orphanage in Berlin from 1906 to...
(1909) rejects the theory on etymological grounds, as does Albert Morley Sturtevant (1951) on the grounds of major difficulties, and their points have led Bruce Lincoln
Bruce Lincoln
Bruce Lincoln is Caroline E. Haskell Professor of the History of Religions in the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.For many years his primary scholarly concern was the study of Indo-European religion, where his work came to criticize the ideological presuppositions of research on...
(1977) to comment that "there is no reason whatever to contend that nagl- does not have its usual meaning of "nail" and that Naglfar is anything other than the nail-ship, just as Snorri describes it." In addition, Lincoln finds the ship to be a part of a larger pattern of religious disposal and sacrifice of hair and nails among the Indo-European
Indo-European
Indo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan race, a 19th century and early 20th century term for those peoples who are the native speakers of Indo-European languages...
s (see below).
Attestations
Naglfar is attested in both the Poetic EddaPoetic 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...
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...
. In the Poetic Edda, Naglfar is solely mentioned in two stanzas found in the poem Völuspá
Völuspá
Völuspá is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin...
. In the poem, a deceased völva
Völva
A vǫlva or völva is a shamanic seeress in Norse paganism, and a recurring motif in Norse mythology....
foretells that the ship will arrive with rising waters, carrying Hrym
Hrym
In Norse mythology, Hrym is a jötunn and the captain of the ship Naglfar according to the Gylfaginning . During the end time conflict of Ragnarök he will set sail from Jotunheim, transporting the legions of jötnar toward the battlefield of Vígríðr to confront the gods in the final battle.Yet in...
and Loki
Loki
In Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi...
and with them a horde of others:
- Benjamin Thorpe
Benjamin ThorpeBenjamin Thorpe was an English scholar of Anglo-Saxon.-Biography:After studying for four years at Copenhagen University, under the Danish philologist Rasmus Christian Rask, he returned to England in 1830, and in 1832 published an English version of Caedmon's metrical paraphrase of portions of the...
translation:- Hrym steers from the east, waters rise,
- the mundane snake
JörmungandrIn Norse mythology, Jörmungandr , mostly known as Jormungand, orJörmungand , or Midgard Serpent , or World Serpent, is a sea serpent, and the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and the god Loki...
is coiled in jötun-rage.- The worm
WyrmWyrm , or wurm, is the Old English term for a dragon or a dragon-like creature, especially one that is serpentine. It is used as an archaism in English folklore and modern fantasy to distinguish it from its Modern English counterpart worm...
beats the water, and the eagle screams:- the pale of beak tears carcasses; Naglfar is loosed.
- That ship fares from the east:
- come will Muspell's people o'er the sea, and Loki steers.
- The monster's kin goes all with the wolf;
- with them the brother of
LokiIn Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi...
ByleistByleistBýleistr is a giant, the brother of Loki in Norse mythology. His parents are Laufey and Fárbauti.Nothing is known about him, apart from this kinship...
on their course.Henry Adams Bellows Henry Adams BellowsHenry Adams Bellows was a lawyer, state legislator, and jurist born in Rockingham, Vermont. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Littleton, New Hampshire in 1839. He was subsequently elected again to the House from Concord, New Hampshire in 1856–1857, and served as...
translation:From the east comes Hrym with shield held high; In giant-wrath does the serpent writhe; O'er the waves he twists, and the tawny eagle Gnaws corpses screaming; Naglfar is loose. O'er the sea from the north there sails a ship With the people of Hel, at the helm stands Loki; After the wolf do wild men follow, And with them the brother of Byleist goes.
In the Prose Edda, Naglfar is mentioned four times. The ship is first mentioned in chapter 43 of 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...
, where the enthroned figure of High
High, Just-As-High, and Third
High, Just-As-High, and Third are three men that respond to questions posed by Gangleri in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning...
notes that while Skíðblaðnir
Skíðblaðnir
In Norse mythology, Skíðblaðnir is the best of ships. Skíðblaðnir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, both written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...
is best the ship—constructed with the finest skill—"the biggest ship is Naglfari, it belongs to Muspell".
In chapter 51, High foretells the events of Ragnarök. Regarding Naglfar, High says that after the stars disappear from the sky, the landscape will shake so severely that mountains fall apart, trees uproot, and all binds will snap, causing the wolf Fenrir to break free. After, the Midgardr Serpent Jörmungandr
Jörmungandr
In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr , mostly known as Jormungand, orJörmungand , or Midgard Serpent , or World Serpent, is a sea serpent, and the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and the god Loki...
will fly into a rage and swim to the shore, causing the ocean to swell unto land. Naglfar, too, will be break free from its moorings. High describes the composition of Naglfar as that of the untrimmed nails of the dead, and warns about burying the dead with untrimmed nails, stating that "the ship is made of dead people's nails, and it is worth taking care lest anyone die with untrimmed nails, since such a person contributes much material to the ship Naglfar which gods and men wish would take a long time to finish". High adds that the ship will be captained by the jötunn Hrym
Hrym
In Norse mythology, Hrym is a jötunn and the captain of the ship Naglfar according to the Gylfaginning . During the end time conflict of Ragnarök he will set sail from Jotunheim, transporting the legions of jötnar toward the battlefield of Vígríðr to confront the gods in the final battle.Yet in...
, and that Naglfar will be carried along with the surging waters of the flood. Further in chapter 51, High quotes the Völuspá stanzas above that references the ship.
Naglfar receives a final mention in the Prose Edda in 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 it is included among a list of ships.
Archaeological record
If the images on the Tullstorp RunestoneTullstorp Runestone
The Tullstorp Runestone is a Viking Age memorial runestone, listed as DR 271 in the Rundata catalog, that is located in Tullstorp, Scania, Sweden.-Description:...
are correctly identified as being from Ragnarök
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...
, then Naglfar is shown below the monstrous wolf Fenrir. It has been pointed out that the ship image has beaks both fore and aft unlike any known Viking ship, and is likely to be a symbolic ship.
Interpretations and theories
In his study of treatment of hair and nails among the Indo-Europeans, Bruce Lincoln compares Snorri's Prose Edda comments about nail disposal to an Avestan text, where Ahura MazdāAhura Mazda
Ahura Mazdā is the Avestan name for a divinity of the Old Iranian religion who was proclaimed the uncreated God by Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism...
warns that daeva
Daeva
Daeva in Avestan language meaning "a being of shining light", is a term for a particular sort of supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. Equivalents in Iranian languages include Pashto dêw , Baluchi dêw , Persian dīv , Kurdish dêw...
s and xrafstras will spring from hair and nails that lay without correct burial, noting their conceptual similarities. Lincoln comments that "the specific image of Naglfar, the "Nail-ship," is undoubtedly specific to the Germanic world, although it does date to an ancient date within that area. But the basic idea on which it is based—that the improper disposal of hair and nails is an act which threatens the well-being of the cosmos-does ascend to the Indo-European period, as can be seen from comparisons [with Iranian myth
Iranian mythology
Iranian mythologies include:*Persian mythology*Scythian mythology*Ossetic mythology...
]."