What Do the Gods Call the Sky? Naming the Celestial in Old Norse

Abstract

The idea that gods, humans, and other beings have different words for the same things is an archaic one attested in several ancient Indo-European texts from India, Iran, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Greece. The 12th century Old Norse poem Alvíssmál lists different names for the sky, moon, and sun used among humans, gods, giants, elves, and dwarves. Although similar lists of words used among different supernatural beings exist elsewhere, the Norse list is unique in that it focuses on a vocabulary associated with the celestial. The Alvíssmál suggests that while the gods may see the sky as an unwavering vault, this same sky may be a ‘tall house’ to the prosaic and earthbound giants, and a ‘dripping hall’ to the dwarves who prefer to dwell underground. This paper argues that the various sets of non-human words for celestial features in Alvíssmál hint at an underlying awareness that the celestial world does not necessarily carry a fixed meaning, but can be imbued with a range of different interpretations based on the observer’s culture and environment.