View source for Dellingr

{{short description|Norse deity}}
In [[Norse mythology]], '''Dellingr''' ([[Old Norse]] possibly "the dayspring"<ref name=BELLOWS75>Bellows (1936:75).</ref> or "shining one"<ref name=ORCHARD32>Orchard (1997:32).</ref>) is a [[Æsir|god]]. Dellingr is attested in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', written in the 13th century by [[Snorri Sturluson]]. In both sources, Dellingr is described as the father of [[Dagr]], the personified [[day]]. The ''Prose Edda'' adds that, depending on manuscript variation, he is either the third husband of [[Nótt]], the personified [[night]], or the husband of [[Jörð]], the personified earth. Dellingr is also attested in the legendary [[saga]] ''[[Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks]]''. Scholars have proposed that Dellingr is the personified [[dawn]] and his name may appear both in an English surname and place name.

==Attestations==

===''Poetic Edda''===
Dellingr is referenced in the ''Poetic Edda'' poems ''[[Vafþrúðnismál]]'' and ''[[Hávamál]]''. In stanza 24 of ''Vafþrúðnismá'', the god [[Odin]] (disguised as "[[List of names of Odin|Gagnráðr]]") asks the [[jötunn]] [[Vafþrúðnir]] from where the day comes, and the night and its tides. In stanza 25, Vafþrúðnir responds:
<blockquote>
:Delling hight he who the day's father is, but
:night was of Nörvi born; the new and waning moons the
:beneficent powers created, to count the years for men.<ref name=THORPE13>Thorpe (1907:13).</ref>
</blockquote>
In ''Hávamál'', the [[Norse dwarves|dwarf]] Þjóðrœrir is stated as having recited an unnamed spell "before Delling's doors":
<blockquote>
:For the fifteenth I know what the dwarf Thiodreyrir
:sang before Delling's doors.
:Strength he sang to the Æsir, and to the Alfar prosperity,
:wisdom to [[List of names of Odin|Hroptatyr]].<ref name=THORPE47>Thorpe (1907:47).</ref>
</blockquote>
In the poem ''[[Fjölsvinnsmál]]'', [[Svipdagr]] asks "What one of the gods has made so great the hall I behold within?" [[Fjölsviðr]] responds with a list of names, including ''Dellingr''.<ref name=THORPE100>Thorpe (1907:100).</ref> In a stanza of the poem ''[[Hrafnagaldr Óðins]]'', the appearance of Dagr, horse, and chariot are described, and Dagr himself is referred to as "the son of Delling."<ref name=THORPE31-32>Thorpe (1866:31–32).</ref>

===''Prose Edda''===
In chapter 10 of the ''Prose Edda'' book ''[[Gylfaginning]]'', the enthroned figure of High states that Dellingr is a [[Æsir|god]] and the third husband of Nótt. The couple have [[Dagr]], who carries the features of his "father's people", which are described as "bright and beautiful". Odin placed both Dellingr's son, Dagr, and Dellingr's wife, Nótt, in the sky, so that they may ride across it with their horses and chariots every 24 hours.<ref name=BYOCK19>Byock (2005:19).</ref>

However, scholar Haukur Thorgeirsson points out that the four manuscripts of ''Gylfaginning'' vary in their descriptions of the family relations between Nótt, Jörð, Dagr, and Dellingr. In other words, depending on the manuscript, either Jörð or Nótt is the mother of Dagr and partner of Dellingr. Haukur details that "the oldest manuscript, U, offers a version where Jǫrð is married to Dellingr and the mother of Dagr while the other manuscripts, R, W and T, cast Nótt in the role of Dellingr's wife and Dagr's mother", and argues that "the version in U came about accidentally when the writer of U or its antecedent shortened a text similar to that in RWT. The results of this accident made their way into the Icelandic poetic tradition".<ref name="HAUKUR-159-168">Haukur (2008:159—168).</ref>

===''Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks''===
Five riddles found in the poem ''Heiðreks gátur'' contained in the [[legendary saga]] ''[[Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks]]'' employ the phrase "Delling's doors" (Old Norse ''Dellings durum'') once each. As an example, in one stanza where the phrase is used [[Gestumblindi]] ([[Odin]] in disguise) poses the following riddle:
<blockquote>
:What strange marvel
:did I see without,
:in front of Delling's door;
:its head turning
:to [[Hel (location)|Hel]] downward,
:but its feet ever seek the sun?
:This riddle ponder,
:O prince [[Heidrek]]!
'Your riddle is good, Gestumblindi,' said the king; 'I have guessed it. It is the [[leek]]; its head is fast in the ground, but it forks as it grows up.'<ref name=TOLKIEN35>Tolkien (1960:35).</ref>
</blockquote>

==Theories==
[[Jacob Grimm]] states that Dellingr is the assimilated form of ''Deglingr'', which includes the name of Dellingr's son Dagr. Grimm adds that if the ''-ling'' likely refers to descent, and that due to this Dellingr may have been the "progenitor Dagr before him" or that the succession order has been reversed, which Grimm states often occurs in old genealogies.<ref name=STALLBYBRASS735>Stallybrass (1883:735).</ref> Benjamin Thorpe says that Dellingr may be dawn personified, similarly to his son Dagr, the personified day.<ref name=THORPE143>Thorpe (1851:143).</ref>

Regarding the references to "Delling's door" as used in ''Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks'', [[Christopher Tolkien]] says that:
<blockquote>
:What this phrase meant to the maker of these riddles is impossible to say. In ''Hávamál'' 160 it is said that the dwarf Thjódrørir sang before Delling's doors, which (as Delling is the father of Dag (Day) in ''Vafþrúðnismál'' 25) may mean that he gave warning to his people that the sun was coming up, and they must return to their dark houses; the phrase would then virtually mean 'at sunrise.' As regarding ''dǫglings'' for ''Dellings'' in ''H'', and ''Dǫglingar'' were the descendants of ''Dagr'' (according to ''[[Prose Edda|SnE]]''. 183).<ref name=TOLKIEN34>Tolkien (1960:34).</ref>
</blockquote>

[[John Lindow]] says that some confusion exists about the reference to Dellingr in ''Hávamál''. Lindow says that "Dellingr's doors" may either be a metaphor for [[sunrise]] or the reference may refer to the dwarf of the same name.<ref name=LINDOW93>Lindow (2001:93).</ref>

The English [[family name]] ''Dallinger'' has been theorized as deriving from ''Dellingr''.<ref name=BARBER126>Barber (1968:26).</ref> The English place name [[Dalbury Lees|Dalbury]] (south of [[Derbyshire]]) derives from ''Dellingeberie'', which itself derives from ''Dellingr''.<ref name=KERRY63>Kerry (1897:63).</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ēostre]], an Old English goddess possibly associated with the dawn

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* Barber, Henry (1968). ''British Family Names: Their Origin And Meaning.'' Genealogical Publishing Company. {{ISBN|978-0-8063-0021-4}}.
* Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (1936). ''The Poetic Edda''. [[Princeton University Press]].
* Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2006). ''The Prose Edda''. [[Penguin Classics]]. {{ISBN|978-0-14-044755-2}}.
* Haukur Thorgeirsson (2008). "Hinn fagri foldar son" as published in ''Gripla XIX'', pages 159–168. [[Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies]].
* Kerry, Charles (Editor) (1897). ''Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society''. Derbyshire Archaeological Society.
* [[John Lindow|Lindow, John]] (2001). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs]''. [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-19-515382-8}}.
* Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. [[Orion Publishing Group|Cassell]]. {{ISBN|978-0-304-34520-5}}.
* Stallybrass, James Steven. (1883) (Trans.) Jacob Grimm's ''[[Deutsche Mythologie|Teutonic Mythology]]'', volume II. W. Swan Sonnenschein & Allen.
* [[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe, Benjamin]] (Trans.) (1851). ''Northern Mythology: Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and the Netherlands.'' E. Lumley.
* Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1866). ''Edda Sæmundar Hinns Frôða: The Edda of Sæmund the Learned.'' Part I. London: Trübner & Co.
* Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1907). ''The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson''. [[Norrœna Society]].
* Tolkien, Christopher (Trans.) (1960). ''The Saga of King Heidrik the Wise: Translated from the Icelandic with Introduction, Notes and Appendices by Christopher Tolkien''. Thomas Nelson and Sons LTD.
{{Refend}}

{{Norse cosmology}}
{{Norse mythology}}

{{Good article}}

[[Category:Æsir]]
[[Category:Personifications in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Norse gods]]
[[Category:Dawn gods]]