Myrkviðr
A dark forest crossing between worlds in Norse myth.
Myrkviðr, an Old Norse term meaning 'dark wood' or 'black forest', refers to several European forests in Germanic mythology. The name was anglicised as 'Mirkwood' by Sir Walter Scott and William Morris, and later popularized by J. R. R. Tolkien. Its direct derivatives appear as place names in Sweden and Norway, with related forms such as the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) elsewhere in Europe.
Quick Facts
- Old norse meaning
- dark wood or black forest
- Anglicised by
- Sir Walter Scott and William Morris
- Popularized by
- J. R. R. Tolkien
- Anglicised form
- Mirkwood
- Related european form
- Black Forest (Schwarzwald)
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- J. R. R. Tolkien commented on Myrkviðr in a letter to his eldest grandson.
- Francis Gentry noted that crossing the Black Forest in Norse tradition signified penetrating barriers between worlds, especially the world of the gods and the world of fire where Surt lives.
- The present remnant of the forest south of Uppsala is called Lunsen.
Attestations
The name Myrkviðr appears in the Poetic Edda poems Lokasenna, Atlakviða, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, and Hlöðskviða, as well as in prose works such as Fornmanna sögur, Flateyjarbók, Hervarar Saga, and Ála flekks saga. Its location varies by source: the Ore Mountains are indicated in the writings of Thietmar of Merseburg; the forests north of the Ukrainian steppe appear in Hervarar saga; it separates the Huns from the Burgundians in some accounts; Kolmården in Sweden is identified in Sögubrot and Helge Hundingsbane legends; a forest south of Uppsala appears in Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa; and uncertain locations occur in Völundarkviða. In Lokasenna, the forest lies between Asgard and Muspelheim, through which Muspell's sons ride at Ragnarök.
More in Places in Norse Mythology
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