Thursday, August 15, 2013

Var/Vor




Var/Vor is the Norse goddess wisdom, marriage, faith,oaths,promises and contracts.
In the Poetic Edda, the blessed Vor is invoked by the king of the jotunn (giant) Thrymr after his "bride" ( who was actually the god Thor disguised as Freyja) is sacred with Mjolnir, the stolen hammer of Thor, at their wedding.

  In the 35th chapter of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, High,one of the three men who answer question posed to them by Gangleri (Gylfi in disguise) about the asynjur. High list Vor as nineth among the sixteen asynjur he presents in the chapter and provides some information about her:
 

     Ninth Var : she listens to peoples oaths and private agreements that women and men make between each other. Thus these oaths are called varvar.She punishes those that break them.

  Also, Var makes two more appearances in the Prose Edda. In Chapter 75 of the Prose Edda book Skaldskaparmal Var 's name appears in a list of 27 asynjur names. In Chapter 87 the name Var is used in a kenning referring to the goddess Skaoi ("bow-string-Var") in the poem Haustlong . A runic inscription inscribed on a stick in Beregen, Norway around 1300 records a common mercantile transaction follwed by a verse of an unsatisfied customer that mentions Var.

     'Wise Var of wire ( "woman of filigree" meaning "wise bejeweled woman") makes (me) sit unhappy.
       Eir(woman) of mackerels'  ground (likely gold) takes often and much sleep from me."

  There are theories regarding the importance of Var as a goddess. Britt-Mari Nasstrom argues that Var was like many other minor goddesses and was one of the many names of the goddess Freyja and was "later apprehended as independent goddesses".
                                                                                                                                                           
The Austrian Germanist and philologist, Rudolf Simek says that the goddesses Saga, Hlin, Snotra, Vor and Var should be considered vaguely defined figures who"who should be seen as female protective goddesses" that are responsible for 'specific areas of the private sphere, and yet clear differences were made between them so they are in many ways similar to matrons."





3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Vor is my patron Goddess

Anonymous said...

Vor is my patroness, but I can't find her sigil...

Anonymous said...

As she us mine, but I can't find her sigil. Do you know it?