View source for Dís

{{short description|Ghost, spirit, or deity in Norse mythology}}
{{About||Roman god of the underworld|Dīs Pater|other uses|Dis (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:The Dises by Hardy.jpg|thumb|220px|"The Dises" (1909) by Dorothy Hardy]]
[[Image:Valkyrie03.png|thumb|220px|The dying Viking hero [[Ragnar Lodbrok]] exclaimed in ''[[Krákumál]]'': "the dísir invite me home (to [[Valhalla]])". This is an illustration of a woman welcoming [[Odin]] back to [[Valhalla]] on the [[Tjängvide image stone]], [[Gotland]].]]
[[Image:Idise by Emil Doepler.jpg|thumb|220px|"Idise" (1905) by [[Emil Doepler]]]]
[[Image:Disarblot by Malmström.jpg|right|220px|thumb|The dísablót by [[August Malmström]]]]
[[Image:Disting 2008.jpg|220px|right|thumb|The annual [[Disting]] Fair still carries the name of the dísir. A scene from the Disting of 2008.]]

In [[Norse mythology]], a '''dís''' ([[Old Norse]]: {{IPA|non|ˈdiːs|}}, "lady", [[Old Norse morphology#Strong nouns|plural '''dísir''']] {{IPA|non|ˈdiːsez̠|}}) is a female deity, ghost, or spirit associated with [[wyrd|Fate]] who can be either benevolent or antagonistic toward mortals. Dísir may act as protective spirits of [[Norse clans]]. It is possible that their original function was that of [[fertility goddess]]es who were the object of both private and official worship called [[dísablót]],<ref name="nationalenc">The article ''Diser'' in ''[[Nationalencyklopedin]]'' (1991).</ref> and their veneration may derive from the worship of the spirits of the dead.<ref name="nordisk"/> The dísir, like the [[valkyrie]]s, [[Norns]], and [[vættir]], are always referred collectively in surviving references.<ref name="nationalenc"/><ref>Else Mundal, "The Position of the Individual Gods and Goddesses in Various Types of Sources— With Special Reference to the Female Divinities," (1990) Bergen Open Research Archive, [https://bora.uib.no/bitstream/1956/671/1/The%20Position%20of%20the%20Individual%20Gods%20and%20Goddesses%20in%20Various%20Types%20of%20Sources...pdf pp. 310–11] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220112826/https://bora.uib.no/bitstream/1956/671/1/The%20Position%20of%20the%20Individual%20Gods%20and%20Goddesses%20in%20Various%20Types%20of%20Sources...pdf |date=2012-02-20 }}; PDF).</ref> The [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] dísir and [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] [[idis (Germanic)|Idisi]] are believed by some scholars to be related due to linguistic and mythological similarities,<ref name=davidson>''Gods and Myths of Northern Europe'' by H. Davidson, Penguin Books, 1990, pp. 62-64, {{ISBN|0-14-013627-4}}</ref> but the direct evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Continental German mythology is limited. The dísir play roles in Norse texts that resemble those of [[fylgjur]], [[valkyrie]]s, and [[norns]], so that some have suggested that dísir is a broad term including the other beings.<ref name="nordisk">The article "[https://runeberg.org/nfbf/0272.html Dis]" in ''[[Nordisk familjebok]]'' (1907).</ref>

==Etymology and meaning==
Researchers suggest that the basic meaning of the word dís is "goddess".<ref>August Fick, ''Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Indogermanischen Sprachen'' Part 3 ''Wortschatz der Germanischen Spracheinheit'', 4th ed. rev. Alf Torp, Hjalmar Falk, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1909, OCLC 491891019, "dîsî, dîsi," [http://web.ff.cuni.cz/cgi-bin/uaa_slovnik/gmc_search_v3?cmd=viewthis&id=tp:b0206:7 p. 206] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718170905/http://web.ff.cuni.cz/cgi-bin/uaa_slovnik/gmc_search_v3?cmd=viewthis&id=tp:b0206:7 |date=2011-07-18 }}.</ref>

It usually is said to be derived from the Indo-European root *''dhēi-'', "to suck, suckle" and a form ''dhīśana''.<ref>[[Jan de Vries (linguist)|Jan de Vries]], ''Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte'', 2 vols., vol. 2, 2nd ed. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1957, repr. as 3rd ed. 1970, p. 299, note 2 (German); the etymology was proposed by K. F. Johansson, ''Über die Altindische Göttin Dhisana und Verwandtes: Beiträge zum Fruchtbarkeitskultus in Indien'', Skrifter utgifna af Kungl. Vet. Samf. i Uppsala 20.1 (1918).</ref>

Scholars have associated the Dísir with the West Germanic [[idis (Germanic)|Idisi]],<ref name=davidson/> seeing the initial ''i-'' as having been lost early in Old or [[Proto-Norse]]. [[Jacob Grimm]] points out that ''dís Skjöldunga'' in the [[Elder Edda|Eddic]] [[Helgakviða Hundingsbana II]] (v. 52) is exactly parallel to ''ides Scildinga'' "Scylding queen" in [[Beowulf]] (l. 1168).<ref>[[Jacob Grimm]], ''Teutonic Mythology'', tr. James Steven Stallybrass, 4 vols., vol. 1, London: Bell, 1882, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YxwAAAAAQAAJ&q=doubt+disappears+on+comparing&pg=PA403 p. 402].</ref> He also suggests that [[Iðunn]] may be a reflex of the original form of the word.<ref>Grimm, vol. 1, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YxwAAAAAQAAJ&dq=Grimm+Idunn&pg=PA403 pp. 402-3]; the promised treatment in the Supplement, vol. 4, does not appear to exist.</ref> However, except for the [[Merseburg Incantations|First Merseburg Charm]], in which they work battle-magic, ''idis'' only occurs with the meaning "lady", sometimes "maiden."<ref>De Vries, ''Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte'', vol. 1, 2nd ed. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1956, repr. as 3rd ed. 1970, p. 322 (German).</ref><ref>[[Gabriel Turville-Petre|E.O.G. Turville Petre]], ''Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia'', London: Weidenfeld, 1964, [https://books.google.com/books?id=44AIAQAAIAAJ&q=woman+also+virgin p. 222].</ref> The words are not presumed to be directly related by some scholars, although the resemblance evidently led to influence on Old Norse poetic use.<ref>Turville-Petre, [https://books.google.com/books?id=44AIAQAAIAAJ&q=later+scholars+have+favoured p. 222].</ref>

Other scholars group all female deities and spirits associated with battle under the class of idis, dis, valkyrie, and other names, such as [[sigewif]] (victory-women, associated by the Anglo-Saxons with a swarm of bees), and find the commonalities both linguistically and in surviving myths and magic charms sufficient cause to group together all variations on this theme from various Germanic cultures.<ref name=davidson/>

Stories from these and other cultures survive from earlier dates than the Eddas and it is difficult to conclusively construct a clear pre-Christian mythology without conjecture. However, the Germanic languages appear to have had a northward, rather than southward, progression from the initial contact with the speakers of [[Indo-European languages]] near Denmark or Jutland.<ref name=ringe>A Linguistic History of English: From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic by Donald Ringe, Oxford University Press, 2009, {{ISBN|0-19-955229-0}}</ref> H. Davidson notes a similar northward progression of mythology where elements of Proto-Germanic concepts have metamorphosed or been combined by the time of the initial recording of the Icelandic sagas.<ref name=davidson/>

According to [[Rudolf Simek]], Old Norse ''dís'' appears commonly as simply a term for 'woman', just as Old High German ''[[Idis (Germanic)|itis]]'', Old Saxon ''[[Idis (Germanic)|idis]]'', and Anglo-Saxon ''[[Idis (Germanic)|ides]]''. It also may have been used to denote a type of goddess. According to Simek, "several of the Eddic sources might lead us to conclude that the ''disir'' were valkyrie-like guardians of the dead, and, indeed, in ''[[Guðrúnarkviða]]'' I 19 the valkyries are even called ''Herjans disir'' 'Odin's disir'. The ''disir'' are explicitly called dead women in ''[[Atlamál]]'' 28. A secondary belief that the ''disir'' were the souls of dead women (see ''[[Fylgja|fylgjur]]'') also underlies the ''[[landdísir]]'' of [[Scandinavian folklore|Icelandic folklore]]."<ref name=SIMEK61-62>Simek (2007:61–62).</ref>

Simek says that "as the function of the [[Matres and Matrones|matrons]] was also extremely varied – fertility goddess, personal guardians, but also warrior-goddesses – the belief in the ''dísir'', like the belief in the valkyries, norns, and matrons, may be considered to be different manifestations of a belief in a number of female (half-?) goddesses."<ref name=SIMEK61-62/>

==Dísablót==
{{main|Dísablót}}

There is considerable evidence that the dísir were worshipped in Scandinavia in pagan times.

Firstly, a sacrificial festival ([[blót]]) honouring them, the ''dísablót'', is mentioned in one version of ''[[Hervarar saga|Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs]]'' and in ''[[Víga-Glúms saga]]'', ''[[Egils saga]]'', and the ''[[Heimskringla]]''.<ref name=nationalencyklopedindisablot>"Disablot", ''[[Nationalencyklopedin]]''.</ref> According to ''Víga-Glúms saga'' it was held at [[Winter Nights]] (at the onset of winter).<ref>Chapter 6, translated by John McKinnell, "Killer-Glum's Saga", ''The Complete Sagas of Icelanders'', ed. Viðar Hreinsson, Volume 2, Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson, 1997, {{ISBN|9979-9293-0-8}}, pp. 267-314, p. 275: "A feast was held during the Winter Nights, and sacrifice made to the dísir, and everyone had to take part in this observance".</ref>

In ''Hervarar saga'', the dísablót is also held in autumn, and is performed by a woman, the daughter of King Álfr of Álfheim, who "reddens the ''[[hörgr]]'' with sacrifices and is subsequently rescued by the god [[Thor]] after she has been abducted. [[John Lindow]] suggests that, on its face the text depicts a mythological model for human behavior.<ref>[[John Lindow]], ''Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs'', Oxford University Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-19-515382-0}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC&q=mythological+model+for+human+behavior&pg=PA97 p. 94].</ref> In western Scandinavia, dísablót appears to have been a private observance. Even the large gathering in ''Víga-Glúms saga'' was for family and friends.<ref>Turville-Petre, [https://books.google.com/books?id=44AIAQAAIAAJ&q=tutelary+goddesses p. 221].</ref>

In contrast, according to the ''Saga of [[St. Olaf]]'' in ''[[Heimskringla]]'', at [[Gamla Uppsala]] the dísablót was celebrated during the month of Gói, i.e. in late February or early March, and accompanied by a [[thing (assembly)|popular assembly]] known as the [[Thing of all Swedes]] or ''Dísaþing'' and a yearly fair. When [[Christianity]] arrived, the assembly and market were moved to a Christian feast at the beginning of February:

<blockquote>At the time when heathendom still prevailed in Sweden, it was an old custom there that the main sacrifices were held in Uppsala in the month of Gói... Sacrifices were to be made at that time for peace and victory for the king, and people from all over Sweden were to resort there. At that place and time also was to be the assembly of all Swedes, and there was also a market and a fair which lasted a week. Now when Christianity was introduced, the general assembly and the market were still held there. But at present, when Christianity is general in Sweden and the kings have ceased residing at Uppsala, the market has been shifted to meet at [[Candlemas]]... but now it lasts only three days. The general assembly of the Swedes is there.<ref>Chapter 77; Snorri Sturluson, ''Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway'', tr. [[Lee M. Hollander]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=qHpwje7-wNkC&q=main+sacrifices+were+held+at+Uppsala+in+the+month+of p. 315].</ref></blockquote>

The name Dísaþing (now ''[[Disting]]'') remained in use, however, and the Fair is still held every year in [[Uppsala]] on the first Tuesday in February. It may be one of the oldest in Sweden.<ref name=nationalencyklopedin>The article ''Distingen'', in the encyclopedia ''[[Nationalencyklopedin]]''.</ref>

The stated purpose of the dísablót at Uppsala is to sacrifice for peace and victory. Norwegian places called ''Disin'', from Old Norse ''Dísavin'', "meadow of the dísir", and the possible relationship of the word to the Indian ''dhīsanas'' have suggested to some scholars that the dísir were fertility deities.<ref>De Vries, pp. 298, 299.</ref>

There are two mentions of a hall or temple of a dís. Hollander translates ''dísarsálr'' as "the hall of the goddess". In the ''[[Ynglinga saga]]'' part of ''Heimskringla'', [[Eadgils|Aðils]], the [[king of Sweden]], dies when he rides one of his horses around the ''dísarsálr'' at the time of Dísablót and he is thrown and brains himself on a rock, perhaps suggesting a ritual killing.<ref>Chapter 29; Hollander, [https://books.google.com/books?id=qHpwje7-wNkC&q=hall+of+the+goddess p. 33] translates ''dísarsálr'' "the hall of the goddess". See also Lindow, [https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC&q=hall+of+the+d%C3%ADs&pg=PA97 p. 94], de Vries, p. 456 (German) suggests a ritual killing.</ref> It also appears in ''[[Hervarar saga]]'' where Helga becomes so infuriated over the death of her father at the hands of [[Heiðrekr]], her husband, that she hangs herself in the shrine.<ref>''The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise'', tr. Christpher Tolkien, London: Nelson, 1960, OCLC 503375723, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ouizAAAAIAAJ&q=hanged+herself+in+the+hall p. 26]: "hanged herself in the hall of the dís".</ref>

Although Snorri Sturluson does not mention the dísir in the [[Prose Edda]], he does list ''Vanadís''&mdash;'dís of the [[Vanir]]'&mdash; as a name for [[Freyja]], and ''öndurdís''&mdash;'snow-shoe dís'&mdash;as a name for [[Skaði]].<ref>''[[Gylfaginning]]'' [http://www.voluspa.org/gylfaginning31-40.htm Chapter 35], ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'' [http://www.voluspa.org/skaldskaparmal21-30.htm Chapter 28]; [http://www.voluspa.org/gylfaginning21-30.htm Chapter 23].</ref> He notes that in both cases the compound using dís immediately follows one using ''goð'', 'deity': ''Vanagoð'', ''öndurgoð''. [[Lotte Motz]] suggested that dís was the original Old Norse word for 'goddess' and that it had been replaced later by ''[[Asynjur|ásynja]]'', which is simply the feminine of [[Æsir|áss]].<ref>[[Lotte Motz]], "Sister in the Cave: The Stature and the Function of the Female Figures of the Eddas", ''Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi'' 95 (1980) 168-82.</ref>

==Relationship to other female figures==
In many texts, the dísir are equated to or seem to play the same role as other female figures.

In ''[[Þiðranda þáttr ok Þórhalls]]'', the youth Þiðrandi is killed by dísir dressed in black, riding black horses, while a troop of dísir dressed in white and riding white horses are unable to save him. The two groups represent the struggle between heathenry and Christianity. The benevolent dísir here play the role of tutelary spirits associated with a family, and Thorhall the Prophet explains them as ''[[fylgjur]]''.<ref>Turville-Petre, pp. 222-24. De Vries p. 297 also draws special attention to this story as an example of the dísir drawing close to fylgjur.</ref> The dísir are also referred to as if they are, or include, protective fylgjur in an exchange of verses in ''[[Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka]]''. Útsteinn quarrels with Úlfr at the court of King Eysteinn of Denmark, saying he believes "our dísir" have come with him, armed, to Denmark. Úlfr replies that he thinks all the dísir of Útsteinn and his men are dead and their luck run out.<ref>Hygg við hjálmum | hingat komnar | til Danmerkr | dísir várar. . . . [http://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/halfs.htm at Netútgáfan in modernised spelling], ch. 15; "Dead must be | All your ''dísir''; | Luck is gone, I say, | from Hálfr's warriors", translation in Hilda Roderick Ellis [Davidson], ''The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature'', Cambridge University Press, 1943, repr. New York: Greenwood, 1968, OCLC 442899, p. 134.</ref>

In ''[[Helgakviða Hundingsbana I]]'', when the hero [[Helgi Hundingsbane]] first meets the valkyrie [[Sigrún]], the poet calls her a "dís of the south". [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] rendered this simply "the southern maid".<ref>Verse 16, ''dísir suðrænar'', [http://www.voluspa.org/helgakvidahundingsbana116-20.htm Old Norse and translation at voluspa.org].</ref>

The dísir are also equated with or play the role of norns. They give an impression of great age, but by the time of the oldest surviving texts, their significance had become blurred and the word had lost almost all distinct meaning.<ref>De Vries, p. 298.</ref>

Accordingly, some scholars have argued that ''dísir'' may be the original term for the [[valkyrie]]s (lit. "choosers of the slain"), which in turn would be a [[kenning]] for ''dís''.<ref>Including: Ström, Folke (1954) ''Diser, nornor, valkyrjor: Fruktberhetskult och sakralt kungadöme i Norden''; Näsström, Britt-Mari (1995) ''Freyja: The Great Goddess of the North''; and Hall, Alaric (2004) ''[http://www.alarichall.org.uk/ahphdprol.pdf The Meanings of ''Elf'', and Elves, in Medieval England]''.</ref> Unlike the mentions of the ''valkyrja'' and ''norn'', the term ''dís'' never appears in the [[Prose Edda]] by [[Snorri Sturluson]].

As stated above, ''dís'' has been regarded as [[cognate]] with [[Old High German]] ''itis'', [[Old Saxon]] ''idis'' and the [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]] ''ides'', all meaning "lady",;<ref name="nordisk"/> and ''idisi'' appears as the name of the valkyries in the only surviving pagan source from Germany, the ''[[Merseburg Incantations]]'' (see below).<ref>Calvin, Thomas. 'An Anthology of German Literature', D. C. Heath & co. ASIN: B0008BTK3E, B00089RS3K.  P5.</ref> ''Dís'' also had the meaning "lady" in [[Old Norse poetry]],<ref name="nordisk"/> as in the case of [[Freyja]], whose name means "lady" (''[[frawjō]]'') and who is called ''Vanadís'' ("lady of the [[vanir]]").

Adding to the ambiguous meaning of ''dís'' is the fact that just as supernatural women were called ''dísir'' in the sense "ladies", mortal women were frequently called by names for supernatural women, as noted by [[Snorri Sturluson]] in ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'':

{{cquote|Woman is also metaphorically called by the names of the [[Asynjur|Ásynjur]] or the [[valkyrie|Valkyrs]] or [[Norns]] or women of supernatural kind.<ref name="skaldsk">[[Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur]], tr., ''[[Skáldskaparmál|The Poesy of Skalds]]'', ''[[Prose Edda|The Prose Edda]]''(1916; repr.)</ref>}}

The name ''dís'' appears in several place names in [[Norway]] and Sweden.<ref name="nationalenc"/> Moreover, it was a common element in the names of girls, as evidenced on [[runestone]]s,<ref>[[Rundata]]</ref> and it still is in [[Iceland]].

The word appears as a first element in Old High German female given names such as Itispuruc and Itislant. More frequent are Old Norse given names such as Thórdís, Hjördís, Ásdís, Vigdís, Halldís, Freydís.

==Old Norse sources==
[[Image:Nornorna spinner ödets trådar vid Yggdrasil.jpg|thumb|The [[Norns]] spin the threads of Fate at the foot of [[Yggdrasil]], the tree of the world.]]

In a couple of [[Elder Edda|Eddic]] and [[skaldic poem]]s, and in various [[kenning]]s the generic ''dísir'' appears instead of the more specific labels ''norns'', ''fylgjas'', and ''valkyries''.

The [[Poetic Edda|eddic poem]] ''[[Hamðismál]]'' deals with how [[Jonakr's sons|Hamðir and Sörli]] go to the Gothic king [[Ermanaric]] to exact vengeance for the cruel death of their half-sister [[Svanhildr|Svanhild]]. On the way, they kill their reluctant brother Erpr. Later, knowing that he is about to die at the hands of the Goths, Sörli talks of the cruelty of the dísir who incited him to kill Erpr, because he would have cut off the head of Ermanaric and made their expedition successful. In this poem, ''dísir'' appears as a synonym of [[norns]] and the translator [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] simply translates ''dísir'' as ''norns'':

{|
|
:Hamðir kvað:
:28. "Af væri nú höfuð,
:ef Erpr lifði,
:bróðir okkarr inn böðfrækni,
:er vit á braut vágum,
:verr inn vígfrækni,
:- hvöttumk at dísir, -
:gumi inn gunnhelgi,
:- gerðumk at vígi -."
:-
:Sörli kvað:
:29. "Ekki hygg ek okkr
:vera ulfa dæmi,
:at vit mynim sjalfir of sakask
:sem grey norna,
:þá er gráðug eru
:í auðn of alin.<ref>[http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20070508210400/http://www.heimskringla.no/original/edda/hamdismal.php ''Hamðismál''] Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.</ref>
|
:Hamther spake:
:28. "His head were now off
:if Erp were living,
:The brother so keen
:whom we killed on our road,
:The warrior noble,--
:'twas the Norns [dísir] that drove me
:The hero to slay
:who in fight should be holy.
:-
:-
:29. "In fashion of wolves
:it befits us not
:Amongst ourselves to strive,
:Like the hounds of the Norns,
:that nourished were
:In greed mid wastes so grim.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe37.htm ''The Ballad of Hamther''] in translation by [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] (1936), at Sacred Texts.</ref>
|
|}

In ''[[Grímnismál]]'', the wise Grímnir (Odin) predicts king Geirröðr's death, which he attributes to the wrath of the dísir. Again, ''dísir'' is used as a synonym for the norns:<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe06.htm See Bellows' commentary]</ref>

{|
|
:Eggmóðan val
:nú mun Yggr hafa,
:þitt veit ek líf of liðit;
:úfar ro dísir,
:nú knáttu Óðin sjá,
:nálgastu mik ef þú megir.<ref>''[http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poeticon/003.php Grímnismál] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060226034617/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poeticon/003.php |date=2006-02-26 }}'' at northvegr.org</ref>
|
:The fallen by the sword
:[[List of names of Odin|Ygg]] shall now have;
:thy life is now run out:
:Wroth with thee are the dísir:
:Odin thou now shalt see:
:draw near to me if thou canst.<ref>[http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/003_02.php Thorpe's translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104235652/http://northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/003_02.php |date=2005-11-04 }} at northvegr.org</ref>
|
|}

In ''[[Reginsmál]]'', the unmarried Lyngheiðr is called ''dís ulfhuguð'' (dís/lady with the soul of a wolf) as an insult. Later in the same poem, there is a stanza, where the dísir appear as female spirits accompanying a warrior in order to see him dead in battle, a role where they are synonymous with valkyries:

{|
|
:Þat er fár mikit
:ef þú fœti drepr,
:þars þú at vígi veðr,
:tálar dísir,
:standa þér á tvær hliðar
:ok vilja þik sáran sjá.<ref>''[http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poeticon/024.php Reginsmál] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060226034601/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poeticon/024.php |date=2006-02-26 }}'' at northvegr.org</ref>
|
:Foul is the sign
:if thy foot shall stumble
:As thou goest forth to fight;
:Goddesses [dísir] baneful
:at both thy sides
:Will that wounds thou shalt get.<ref>[http://northvegr.org/lore/poetic/021.php Bellows' translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218235558/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic/021.php |date=2006-02-18 }} at northvegr.org</ref>
|
|}

An additional instance where dís is synonymous with valkyrie is the skaldic poem ''[[Krákumál]]'' – composed by [[Ragnar Lodbrok|Ragnarr Loðbrók]] while awaiting his death in a snake pit. It features the line: ''Heim bjóða mér dísir'' (the dísir invite me home), as one of several poetic circumscriptions for what awaits him.

One source seems to describe the Dísir as the ghosts or spirits of dead women. In ''[[Atlamál]]'', believed to have been written in [[Greenland]] in the twelfth century, the character ''Glaumvör'' warns her husband [[Gunnar]] that she had a dream about the Dísir. Some of the surrounding text has been lost and it is not known what [[Gunnar]] may have said prior to this, and there is disagreement on which stanza number this should be given. A possible translation of the material is given as follows by John Lindow in his 2001 book ''Norse Mythology'':

{{Poem quote|"I thought dead women
came hither into the hall,
not poorly decked out.
They wished to choose you,
would've invited you quickly
to their benches;
I declare of no value
these dísir to you."}}

==See also==
* [[Disa]]
* [[Grendel's mother]]
* [[Hamingja]]
* [[Landdísir]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== General and cited references ==
*[[Rudolf Simek|Simek, Rudolf]] (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. [[Boydell & Brewer|D.S. Brewer]] {{ISBN|0-85991-513-1}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/dīsiz}}
{{Commons category|Dísir}}

{{Dísir and idisi}}
{{Death in Germanic mythology}}
{{Norse mythology}}
{{Time in religion and mythology}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dis}}
[[Category:Dísir| ]]
[[Category:Personifications in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Time and fate goddesses]]