Aurboða

Aurboða (also Aurboda; Old Norse "gravel-bidder" or "gravel-offerer") is a jötunn in Norse mythology. She is the wife of the jötunn Gymir and the mother of Gerðr.[1][2]

Name

The Old Norse name Aurboða has been translated as 'gravel-bidder',[1] or 'gravel-offerer'.[2]

In Fjölsvinnsmál (The Lay of Fjölsvinn), an unrelated figure named Aurboða is one of the nine maidens sitting at the knees of their mistress the giantess Menglöd.[1][2]

It is sometimes anglicized as Aurboda.[1][2]

Attestation

In both Hyndluljód (The Lay of Hyndla) and Gylfaginning (Beguiling of Gylfi), Aurboða is portrayed as the mother of the jötunn Gerðr.[2]

Frey possessed Gerd, she was the daughter of Gymir [corrected from Geymir]
Of the race of giants, and of Aurboda.

— Hyndluljód, 30:5–8, transl. J. Lindow, 2002.

There was someone called Gymir, and his wife Aurboda. She was of the race of mountain-giants. Gerd is their daughter, the most beautiful of all women.

— Gylfaginning, 35–37, transl. A. Faulkes, 1987.

See also

Notes
  1. Orchard 1997, p. 11.
  2. Lindow 2002, p. 64.

References
  • Lindow, John (2002). Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-983969-8.
  • Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-34520-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)


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