Jörð
Earth goddess in Norse mythology
Jörð (Old Norse: Jǫrð, lit. 'earth'), also named Fjörgyn or Hlödyn, is the personification of Earth and a goddess in Norse mythology. She is the mother of the thunder god Thor and a sexual partner of Odin. Jörð is attested in Danish history Gesta Danorum, composed in the 12th century by Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus; the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century by an unknown individual or individuals; and the Prose Edda, also composed in the 13th century. Her name is often employed in skaldic poetry and kennings as a poetic term for land or Earth.
Name
Etymology
Old Norse jǫrð means 'earth, land', serving both as a common noun ('earth') and as a theonymic incarnation of the noun ('Earth-goddess'). It stems from Proto-Germanic *erþō- ('earth, soil, land'), as evidenced by the Gothic airþa, Old English eorþ, Old Saxon ertha, or Old High German (OHG) erda. The Ancient Greek word éra (ἔρα; 'earth') is also possibly related. The word is most likely cognate with Proto-Germanic *erwa or erwōn-, meaning 'sand, soil' (cf. Old Norse jǫrfi 'sand, gravel', OHG ero 'earth').
Alternative names
Fjörgyn is considered by scholars to be another name for Jörð.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jörð” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.