View source for Gullveig

{{short description|Norse mythical character}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
[[File:Gullveig by Frølich.jpg|thumb|The Æsir lift Gullveig on spears over fire as illustrated by [[Lorenz Frølich]] (1895)]]

'''Gullveig''' ([[Old Norse]]: {{IPA|non|ˈɡulːˌwɛiɣ|}}) is a [[Vanir|Vanir goddess]] in [[Norse mythology]] associated with the [[Æsir–Vanir War|legendary war]] between the [[Æsir]] and [[Vanir]]. In the poem ''[[Völuspá]]'', she came to the hall of [[Odin]] ([[Hár and Hárr|Hár]]) where she is speared by the [[Æsir]], burnt three times, and yet thrice reborn. Upon her third rebirth, she began practicing [[seiðr]] and took the name [[Heiðr]].{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|pp=154–155}}

Gullveig/Heiðr is solely attested in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material. Scholars have variously proposed that Gullveig/Heiðr is the same figure as the goddess [[Freyja]], that Gullveig's death may have been connected to corruption by way of gold among the Æsir, and/or that Gullveig's treatment by the Æsir may have led to the [[Æsir–Vanir War]].

==Etymology==
The [[etymology]] of the [[Old Norse]] name ''Gullveig'' remains uncertain. It is a [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] formed with the Old Norse word for 'gold' (''gull''), yet the second element–found in other personal names like ''Rannveig'', ''Sölveig'', or ''Thórveig''–remains obscure. It could have meant  'power, strength' (cf. [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] ''veig'', [[Faroese language|Faroese]] ''veiggj''), 'intoxicating drink' (cf. [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] ''veigja''), possibly 'lady' (cf. Norw. ''veiga'') or even 'gold, gold thread' (cf. [[Old English]] ''wāg'', [[Old Saxon]] ''wēg'').{{Sfn|de Vries|1962|p=651}} The name has been variously translated as 'Gold-drink', 'Gold-drunk',{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=52}} or as 'Gold-draught'.''{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=67}}'' ''Gullveig'' is sometimes held to be a personification of gold itself, purified through repeated smelting.''{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=67}}''

The name ''[[Heiðr]]'', which in adjectival form means 'bright, clear',{{Sfn|de Vries|1962|p=217}} is [[Semantics|semantically]] related. Scholar [[Rudolf Simek]] comments that although Gullveig's name changes to ''Heiðr'', the meaning still remains basically the same.{{sfn|Simek|1996|pp=123–124}}

==Attestations==
[[File:Loki finds Gullveigs Heart - John Bauer.jpg|thumb|Loki finds Gullveig's heart from Our Father's Godsaga. Art by [[John Bauer (illustrator)|John Bauer]] (1911)]]
Gullveig is solely attested in a [[stanza]] of ''[[Völuspá]]'' (Prophecy of the [[Völva]]) immediately preceding the story of the [[Æsir–Vanir War]]''.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=67}}'' A völva (seeress) recalls that Gullveig was pierced by spears before being burnt three times in the hall of [[Hár and Hárr|Hárr]] (one of [[List of names of Odin|Odin's names]]), and yet was three times reborn. Presumably after her burning, Gullveig became known as ''Heiðr'', a knowledgeable völva who could perform great feats:

<blockquote>
{|
|
<small>[[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|H. A. Bellows]] translation (1923):</small>
:The war I remember, the first in the world,
:When the gods with spears had smitten Gollveig,
:And in the hall of Hor had burned her,
:Three times burned, and three times born,
:Oft and again, yet ever she lives.
:Heith they named her who sought their home
:The wide-seeing witch, in magic wise;
:Minds she bewitched that were moved by her magic,
:To evil women a joy she was.<ref name="BELLOWS10">Bellows (1923:10).</ref>
|<small>[[Andy Orchard|A. Orchard]] translation (1997):</small>
Then [the sibyl] remembered the first great war in the world,

when they stabbed at Gullveig with spears,

and they burned her in Odin ’s hall;

thrice they burned the thrice-bom girl,

often, not once, but still she lived.

They called her heid, when she came to the house,

a sibylline witch, who knew the skill of wands,

she practised ''[[Seiðr|seid]]'' where she could, practised ''seid'' in a trance;

she was always a delight to wicked women.''{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=67}}''
|<small>[[John Lindow|J. Lindow]] translation (2001):</small>
She remembers the war of peoples first in the world,

When Gullveig with spears they studded

And in Hár’s hall burned her;

Thrice burned, thrice born,

Often, unseldom, though she yet lives.

Heid they called her, wherever she came to houses,

A seeress skilled in prophecy, she observed magic staffs;

She performed ''seid'', wherever she could, she performed ''seid'' in a trance,

She was ever the joy of an evil woman.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=154}}
|}
</blockquote>
==Theories==
Starting with scholar [[Gabriel Turville-Petre]], many scholars such as [[Rudolf Simek]] and [[John Lindow]] have theorized that Gullveig/Heiðr is the same figure as Freyja.{{sfn|Simek|1996|pp=123–124}}{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=52}} Lindow notes that "since ''[[Ynglinga saga]]'' says that Freyja first brought [[Seiðr|''seid'']] to the [[æsir]], it is not impossible that Gullveig is Freyja, and that she brought ''seid'' to the æsir in the first instance either as a strategy in the war, or that her bringing of seid started the war."{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|pp=154–155}} Orchard further mentions that Freyja, like Gullveig, is associated with gold and with the form of magic known as ''seid''.''{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=67}}''

==See also==
*[[List of names of Freyja]], a list of various names attributed to the goddess Freyja

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Bellows, Henry Adams]] (1923). ''The Poetic Edda''. [[American-Scandinavian Foundation]].
* {{Cite book|last=de Vries|first=Jan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hLceAAAAIAAJ|title=Altnordisches Etymologisches Worterbuch|date=1962|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-05436-3|edition=1977|author-link=Jan de Vries (linguist)|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423165144/https://books.google.com/books?id=hLceAAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lindow|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC|title=Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs|date=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-983969-8|language=en|author-link=John Lindow}}
* {{Cite book|last=Orchard|first=Andy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uIujQgAACAAJ|title=Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend|date=1997|publisher=Cassell|isbn=978-0-304-34520-5|author-link=Andy Orchard}}
* [[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe, Benjamin]] (Trans) (1907). ''Edda Sæmundar Hinns Frôða The Edda of Sæmund the Learned''. Part I. London Trübner & Co.
* {{Cite book|last=Simek|first=Rudolf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZ24QgAACAAJ|title=Dictionary of Northern Mythology|date=1996|publisher=D.S. Brewer|isbn=978-0-85991-513-7|language=en|author-link=Rudolf Simek|access-date=20 August 2019|archive-date=20 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420122659/https://books.google.com/books?id=MZ24QgAACAAJ|url-status=live}}
{{refend}}

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[[Category:Women in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Freyja]]
[[Category:Vanir]]
[[Category:Magic goddesses]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in folklore and mythology]]