In the Old Norse mythic corpus Durinn is presented as one of the primordial dwarves. In the dwarf-list of the poem Völuspá (as preserved in the Poetic Edda and repeated in the Prose Edda's Gylfaginning) dwarves are described as having been 'grown from the earth' and chosen for craft; Durinn is named there as the second-created dwarf after Mótsognir. Later sagas (variant texts of Hervarar saga) recount Durinn (sometimes Dulinn) as a skilled smith who, with the dwarf Dvalin, forged the magic sword Tyrfing. These attestations place Durinn among the foundational, earth-linked artisan-kind in Norse cosmogony.
The provided sources supply no individualized physical description of Durinn. He appears in the same literary contexts that characterize dwarves generally as earth-grown, subterranean craftsmen and master handicrafters; beyond this general dwarf typology (grown from the earth, long-lived, skilled in smithcraft) no direct description of Durinn's size, clothing, or iconography is recorded in the supplied materials.
Across the attestations Durinn's central trait is exceptional smithing and handicraft. Völuspá's placement of Durinn as second-created indicates a foundational, ancestral status among the dvergar; Hervarar saga tradition attributes the forging of the enchanted sword Tyrfing (in collaboration with Dvalin) to Durinn, marking him as a maker of powerful, magical artifacts. A later secondary source (Biblical Cyclopedia) characterizes Durinn as a famous dwarf 'whom Odin endowed with human form and powers of mind,' but this claim is not corroborated by the primary Old Norse poetic and saga summaries provided and should be treated as a late secondary interpretation.
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.
Dagr
Dagr is the Old Norse personification of the day: a luminous being who rides across the sky on the horse Skinfaxi, bringing daylight in the mythic cosmology preserved in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. The lexical item Dagr functions both as the common noun for 'day' and as a proper name for this mythic actor.
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]Durinn — Wikipedia (summary of attestations). Wikipedia, 'Durinn' (summary noting Völuspá, Prose Edda, and Hervarar saga attestations)wiki
- [2]Völuspá (stanza 10) — dwarf-list context. Völuspá stanza 10 and explanatory commentary (dwarves as earth-grown craftsmen)literary
- [3]Durinn — Biblical Cyclopedia (secondary interpretation). Biblical Cyclopedia entry asserting Odin endowed Durinn with human form and powers of mind (marked as a later secondary source in notes)other
- [4]Dúrnir — Wikipedia (related name/attestation in skaldic verse). Wikipedia entry for Dúrnir (similarly named dwarf attested in skaldic contexts; relationship to Durinn uncertain)wiki
- [5]Durinn — reception in modern fiction (examples). Example modern receptions and reuses of the name Durin/Durinn in later fiction and games (treated in notes as reception, not as Old Norse attestations)other