The modern Icelandic occult symbol that shares the name of the object in Norse mythology

The Helm of Awe or Helm of Terror (Icelandic: Ægishjálmur, Old Norse Œgishjalmr) is an object in Norse mythology relating to the hoard protected by the worm Fáfnir and subsequently the name of a modern Icelandic magical stave.

Medieval attestations of the object

Völsunga saga

A physical object called the "Helm of Terror" is referenced as one item Sigurð takes from Fafnir's hoard after he slays him in Völsunga saga.[1]

Reginsmál

In the prose of Reginsmál, Fáfnir is described as owning the helm and that all living creatures feared it.[2]

Fáfnismál

The object is also discussed in Fáfnismál in the Poetic Edda, here translated as "Fear-helm":

Old Norse text[3] Bellows translation[4]

Fáfnir kvað:

"Ægishjalm bar ek of alda sonum,
meðan ek of menjum lák;
einn rammari hugðumk öllum vera,
fannk-a ek svá marga mögu."

Sigurðr kvað:

"Ægishjalmr bergr einungi,
hvar skulu vreiðir vega;
þá þat finnr, er með fleirum kemr,
at engi er einna hvatastr."

Fafnir spake:

The fear-helm I wore to afright mankind,
While guarding my gold I lay;
Mightier seemed I than any man,
For a fiercer never I found.

Sigurth spake:

"The fear-helm surely no man shields
When he faces a valiant foe;
Oft one finds, when the foe he meets,
That he is not the bravest of all."

In the next stanzas of the poem, Sigurð refers to the helm again:

Old Norse text[5] Bellows translation[6]
"Inn fráni ormr, þú gerðir fræs mikla
ok galzt harðan hug;
heift at meiri verðr hölða sonum,
at þann hjalm hafi."
"Glittering worm, thy hissing was great,
And hard didst show thy heart;
But hatred more | have the sons of men
For him who owns the helm."

The modern stave

The symbol of the same name as the object in the medieval material came from the Huld manuscript written and collected in 1847, and has no previous attestations. The symbol was used as a part of a magic ritual that may have had some movements rooted in Icelandic culture, but was very common ritualistic practice across Christendom.

While it is debated whether the Helm of Awe may have been an actual helm, in Medieval sources, it never references a symbol such as that recorded in the modern period. The meaning of the word used to define the helm seemed to change as years went on, going from a physical object to a voracious trait of striking fear into one with a glance.[7]

See also

  • Sigil - a type of magical symbol
  • Vegvísir - another Icelandic magical stave first recorded in the modern period

References

  1. ↑ Byock, Jesse. The Saga of the Volsungs. London: Penguin, 1999, pp. 66.
  2. ↑ Bellows 2004, Reginsmol: prose prelude to stanza 15.
  3. ↑ Fáfnismál (ON), Stanza 16 & 17.
  4. ↑ Bellows 2004, Fafnismol: stanzas 16 & 17.
  5. ↑ Fáfnismál (ON), Stanza 19.
  6. ↑ Bellows 2004, Fafnismol: stanzas 19.
  7. ↑ Storesund.

Bibliography

Primary

  • Bellows, Henry Adam (2004). The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486437101.
  • "Fáfnismál". heimskringla.no. Retrieved 26 May 2023.

Secondary

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