In the medieval Icelandic tradition preserved in the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, Dagr is presented as a son of Dellingr. Snorri Sturluson (Gylfaginning) reports that Odin gave Dagr a chariot and the horse Skinfaxi and placed him in the sky to ride around the Earth, bringing daylight each day. Manuscript variation in Snorri's Gylfaginning affects details of mothering/genealogy (some variants name Nótt or Jörð), a point noted in modern discussions of the texts.
The sources give brief, poetically framed descriptions: Dagr is described as bright and beautiful (Prose Edda, Gylfaginning). He rides a horse, Skinfaxi, whose gleaming mane is said to illuminate the sky and the Earth (Vafþrúðnismál; Prose Edda). Hrafnagaldr Óðins includes a verse where the son of Delling urges on a horse 'adorned with precious jewels' and the horse's mane shines over mankind, emphasizing radiance rather than detailed anthropomorphic features.
Dagr's principal role is the personification and ordering of the daylight cycle: he rides across the sky such that Skinfaxi's mane 'draws day to mankind' and illuminates the world. Snorri frames this as a regular, roughly 24-hour cyclic motion. Beyond bringing daylight and participating in the familial cosmology of personified natural phenomena, the medieval sources do not attribute additional magical powers or hostile behavior to Dagr. Scholarly proposals (e.g., Otto Höfler) linking Dagr with the heroic name Svipdagr are interpretive hypotheses rather than direct textual claims.
Alvaldi
Alvaldi (Old Norse: Alvaldi / Ölvaldi) is a jötunn in Norse mythic genealogies, attested chiefly as the father of the notable jötunn Þjazi and described in one source as exceedingly rich in gold. He survives in the record mainly as a familial antecedent and an etiological figure rather than as an active participant in preserved narratives.
Andhrímnir
Andhrímnir is the named cook of the Æsir and the einherjar in Old Norse myth, responsible for slaughtering and preparing the beast Sæhrímnir daily in Valhalla and for producing the gods' mead from Heiðrún's milk. He is attested in the Poetic Edda and summarized in modern reference works.
Austri, Vestri, Norðri and Suðri
A quartet of named dwarfs in Old Norse cosmology positioned at the four cardinal points who are described in medieval sources as holding up the sky after the gods made heaven from Ymir’s skull. They function as structural/cosmogonic supports and are attested in the Prose Edda and the Dvergatal of Völuspá, with echoes in skaldic kennings and in later scholarly interpretation linking their role to roof-beam terminology.
Bestla
Bestla is a jötunn (giantess) in Old Norse mythic genealogies, attested as the mother of Odin, Vili, and Vé by the giant Borr. She functions primarily as a maternal progenitor in the medieval Icelandic corpus (Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, and skaldic verse), and surviving references to her are sparse and fragmentary.
Brimir
In Old Norse mythic tradition the name Brimir appears in two closely related roles: as a name applied to a primordial jötunn (often equated with Ymir/Aurgelmir) whose body supplies the material of the world, and as the name of a beer‑hall or hall of plenty that Snorri interprets as an afterlife dwelling for virtuous survivors after Ragnarök.
Búri
Búri is an Old Norse primordial divinity attested in the Prose Edda and a skaldic verse as an early ancestor of the Æsir. He is presented as a first-born godlike figure who is freed from salty rime by the primeval cow Auðumbla and is genealogically prior to later gods such as Borr and, by descent, the Æsir.
Býleistr
Býleistr is an Old Norse mythic name attested as a brother of Loki. He appears only as a kin-term in skaldic and Eddic contexts and in Snorri Sturluson's prose lists; no independent deeds or narratives are preserved for him in the cited sources.
Durinn
Durinn is an early named dwarf (Old Norse: dvergr) attested in the medieval Norse corpus; counted as the second-created dwarf after Mótsognir and associated in saga tradition with exceptional smithcraft, including a role in forging the magic sword Tyrfing.
Dvalinn
Dvalinn is an Old Norse mythic name attested in the Poetic Edda and several sagas applied to at least two distinct figures: a named dwarf among the dwarf-kind (craftsman, rune‑figure, leader in some lists) and one of the four harts/stags that feed among the branches of the world‑tree Yggdrasill. The corpus does not reconcile these uses of the same name into a single coherent biography.
Eitri
Eitri (also attested as Sindri) is an Old Norse dwarf smith celebrated in the Skáldskaparmál episode for forging three famous artifacts — Gullinbursti, Draupnir, and Mjöllnir — while working with his brother Brokkr. He is presented as a master craftsman whose work directly affects the gods, not as a deity.
Eldir
Eldir is a named servant of the sea-being Ægir in Old Norse myth, attested in the poem Lokasenna where he stands outside Ægir's hall and speaks with Loki. His name, Old Norse Eldir, is glossed as 'fire-stoker' and marks him as a household attendant and threshold interlocutor rather than a deity.
Fornjótr
Fornjótr (Old Norse Fornjótr) is an Old Norse mythic jötunn presented in medieval sources as the father of the personified forces Hlér (sea), Logi (fire) and Kári (wind). In saga and genealogical material he is also portrayed in some manuscripts as a legendary ruler of northern lands (Finnland/Kvenland) and appears as an ancestral figure in certain royal genealogies.
Community Record
- [1]Poetic Edda: Vafþrúðnismál (stanza referencing Skinfaxi). Poetic Edda, Vafþrúðnismál — stanza noting Skinfaxi 'drawing day to mankind' and the horse's mane gleaming (cited in secondary sources and summaries).literary
- [2]Prose Edda: Gylfaginning ch.10. Prose Edda, Gylfaginning ch.10 — passage stating Dagr is 'as bright and beautiful as his father's people', that Odin gave him the horse Skinfaxi whose mane illuminates sky and Earth, and that they ride around the Earth every 24 hours (Snorri's account; manuscript variation noted in scholarship).literary
- [3]Hrafnagaldr Óðins (stanza). Hrafnagaldr Óðins — verse describing 'the son of Delling' urging on a horse 'adorned with precious jewels' and the horse's mane shining over mankind (poetic emphasis on radiance).literary
- [4]Secondary commentary on manuscript variation and scholarly hypotheses. Modern summaries note manuscript variation in Snorri's genealogical details (e.g., whether Nótt or Jörð is named) and record interpretive proposals (Otto Höfler) linking Dagr to Svipdagr; these connections are presented as scholarly hypotheses rather than established textual facts.other