Litr
{{short description|Norse mythical character}}
{{Distinguish|Litre|Litter}}
Litr (also Lit; Old Norse: {{IPA|non|ˈlitz̠|}}, 'colour, appearance') is the name borne by a dwarf and a jötunn in Norse mythology.
Name
The Old Norse name Litr has been translated as 'colour', 'hue', or 'appearance'.{{Sfn|de Vries|1962|p=359}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=209}}{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=190}} It stems from a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as *ulituz (compare with Gothic wlits 'shape, appearance', or Old English wlite 'clearness, sparkle').{{Sfn|de Vries|1962|p=359}}
Dwarf
In Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning (49), Litr is kicked into Baldr's funeral pyre by Thor:
:Then Thor stood by and hallowed the pyre with Mjöllnir; and before his feet ran a certain dwarf which was named Litr; Thor kicked at him with his foot and thrust him into the fire, and he burned.
:
::—Gylfaginning, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080219080109/http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/GylfaginningXLI-LIV.htm#gylf49 Brodeur's translation]
Litr is also listed as a dwarf in Völuspá (12).
A dwarf named Litr also appears in Áns saga bogsveigis, where he is coerced by the protagonist Án to build him a bow.
Jötunn
In a stanza by Bragi BoddasonThis stanza belongs either to Ragnarsdrápa (according to [http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20070508213208/http://www.heimskringla.no/original/skaldekvad/ragnarsdrapa2.php Finnur Jónsson's edition]) or to an independent poem about Thor's fishing (according to [http://skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/db.php?table=poems&id=11094 Margaret Clunies Ross' edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831173810/http://skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/db.php?table=poems&id=11094 |date=2007-08-31 }}). quoted in Snorri's Skáldskaparmál (42) Litr is also mentioned in a kenning for Thor: "Lit's men's fight-challenger"Faulkes 1995. ("Litar flotna fangboði"). Given that Thor is the enemy of {{lang|non|jötnar}}, it is generally assumed that, in this kenning, Litr must refer to a giant.Faulkes 1995, Lindow 2002. Litr is also a {{lang|non|jötunn}} in one version of the poem about Thor by Þorbjörn dísarskáld, where the skald lists {{lang|non|jötnar}} and {{lang|non|gýgjar}} killed by the god (but Litr only appears in one manuscript, the others mentioning Lútr instead).Lindow 2002.
This led John Lindow to suggest that there may have been originally only one Litr, a {{lang|non|jötunn}}, for "it would not have been inappropriate for Thor to have killed a giant in some earlier version of the funeral of Baldr".
References
=Bibliography=
- {{Cite book|last=de Vries|first=Jan|title=Altnordisches Etymologisches Worterbuch|date=1962|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-05436-3|edition=1977|author-link=Jan de Vries (linguist)}}
- {{Cite book|last=Faulkes|first=Anthony|title=Edda|publisher=Everyman|year=1987|isbn=0-460-87616-3|edition=1995|author-mask=Faulkes, Anthony, trans.}}
- {{Cite book|last=Lindow|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC|title=Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs|date=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-983969-8|language=en|author-link=John Lindow}}
- {{Cite book|last=Orchard|first=Andy|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnors0000orch|title=Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend|date=1997|publisher=Cassell|isbn=978-0-304-34520-5|author-link=Andy Orchard|url-access=registration}}
{{Norse mythology}}