Ægir is a Norse God of the Sea and a Jötunn.
Norse Mythology[]
Ægir (anglicised as Aegir; Old Norse 'sea'), Hlér (Old Norse 'sea'), or Gymir (Old Norse less clearly 'sea, engulfer'), is a jötunn and a personification of the sea in Norse mythology. In the Old Norse record, Ægir hosts the gods in his halls and is associated with brewing ale. Ægir is attested as married to a goddess, Rán, who also personifies the sea, and together the two produced daughters who personify waves, the Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán, and Ægir's son is Snær, personified snow. Ægir may also be the father of the beautiful jötunn Gerðr, wife of the god Freyr, or these may be two separate figures who share the same name (see below and Gymir (father of Gerðr)).
One of Ægir's names, Hlér, is the namesake of the island Læsø (Old Norse Hléysey 'Hlér's island') and perhaps also Lejre in Denmark. Scholars have long analyzed Ægir's role in the Old Norse corpus, and the concept of the figure has had some influence in modern popular culture.
The Old Norse name Ægir ('sea') may stem from Proto-Germanic *āgwi-jaz ('that of the river/water'), itself a derivative of the root *ahwō- ('river'; cf. Gothic alva 'body of water, river', Old English ēa 'stream', Old High German aha 'river'). Richard Cleasby and Guðbrandur Vigfússon saw his name as deriving from an ancient Indo-European root. Guus Kroonen argues that the Germanic root *ahwō- is probably of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) origin, as it may be cognate with Latin aqua (via the common form *h₂ekʷ-eh₂-), and ultimately descend from the PIE root *h₂ep- ('water'; cf. Sanskrit áp- 'water' or Tocharian āp- 'water, river').
The name Ægir is identical to a noun for 'sea' in skaldic poetry, itself a base word in many kennings. For instance, a ship is described as "Ægir's horse" and the waves as the "daughters of Ægir".
Poetic kennings in both Hversu Noregr byggðist ('How Norway Was Settled') and Skáldskaparmál (The Language of Poetry) treat Ægir and the sea-jötunn Hlér, who lives on the Hlésey ('Hlér island', modern Læsø), as the same figure.
The meaning of the Old Norse name Gymir is unclear. Proposed translations include 'the earthly' (from Old Norse gumi), 'the wintry one' (from gemla), or 'the protector', the 'engulfer' (from geyma).
In Hymiskviða, Ægir plays a major role. In the poem, the gods have become thirsty after a successful hunt, and are keen to celebrate with drink. They "shook the twigs and looked at the augury" and "found that at Ægir's was an ample choice of cauldrons". Odin goes to Ægir, who he finds sitting in good cheer, and tells him he shall "often prepare a feast for the Æsir". Referring to Ægir as a jötunn, the poem describes how, now annoyed, Ægir hatches a plan: He asks Thor to fetch a particular cauldron, and that with it he could brew ale for them all. The gods are unable to find a cauldron of a size big enough to meet Ægir's request until the god Týr recommends one he knows of far away, setting the stage for the events of the rest of the poem.
According to the prose introduction to Lokasenna, "Ægir, who is also called Gymir", was hosting a feast "with the great cauldron which has just been told about", which many of the gods and elves attended. The prose introduction describes the feast as featuring gold that shimmers like fire light and ale that serves itself, and that "it was a great place of peace". In attendance also were Ægir's servers, Fimafeng and Eldir. The gods praise the excellence of their service and, hearing this, Loki murders Fimafeng, enraging the gods, who chase them out to the woods before returning to drink.
In the God of War Series []
God of War (2018)[]
Though Ægir does not appear but he is mentioned on the coins found in the Lake of Nine. Atreus can find coins in the lake of nine with his name written on it called Ægir's coins. He is a Norse God of the Sea, and a Jötunn. The Lake of Nine is a reference to his nine daughters.
God of War Ragnarök[]
Ægir was mentioned again when Mimir tells Kratos that Odin and his crew had sailed across Ægir's burning sea to find a piece of the Mask of Creation, which Mimir noted was the greatest passion in Odin's life.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Immortality: as a Norse God, Ægir is immortal. Only a sufficiently powerful weapon or an extremely powerful being can kill him.
- Hydrokinesis: Being the Norse God of the sea and the first of it, Ægir could have great control over the sea and water.
Trivia[]
- According to some Sources, poems and myths that Ægir was half Jötunn and half God
- The series God of War confirms this.
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