Búri
Encyclopedia
Búri was the first god in Norse mythology
. He is the father of Borr
and grandfather of Odin
, Vili and Ve
. He was formed by the cow Auðumbla
licking the salty ice of Ginnungagap
. The only extant source of this myth is Snorri Sturluson
's Prose Edda
.
Búri is mentioned nowhere in the Poetic Edda
and only once in the skaldic corpus. In Skáldskaparmál
Snorri Sturluson quotes the following verse by the 12th century skald
Þórvaldr blönduskáld.
The length of the u
in the name is not explicitly marked in the manuscripts but it is traditionally assumed to be long because of its metrical
position in Þórvaldr's stanza. However, the metrical structure of fornyrðislag is hardly strict enough for definite conclusions to be reached from a single occurrence - especially when the imperfect oral and manuscript traditions are taken into account. It is thus entirely possible that the original form was Buri.
The meaning of either Búri or Buri is not known. The first could be related to búr meaning "storage room" and the second could be related to burr meaning "son". "Buri" may mean "producer".
In any case the form Buri is often used in an ASCII
context or as an anglicization
of Búri. In the mainland Scandinavian languages Bure is used as a familiar form.
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
. He is the father of Borr
Borr
Borr or Burr was the son of Búri and the father of Odin in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in the Gylfaginning, part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda....
and grandfather of Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
, Vili and Ve
Vili and Vé
In Norse mythology, Vili and Vé are the brothers of Óðinn , sons of Bestla daughter of Bölþorn and Borr son of Búri:Old Norse Vili means "will"...
. He was formed by the cow Auðumbla
Auðumbla
Auðumbla is the primeval cow of Norse mythology. She is attested in Gylfaginning, a part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, in association with Ginnungagap and Ymir....
licking the salty ice of Ginnungagap
Ginnungagap
In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap was the vast, primordial void that existed prior to the creation of the manifest universe, corresponding to the Greek notion of Chaos...
. The only extant source of this myth is Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
's Prose Edda
Prose Edda
The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...
.
Hon sleikti hrímsteinana er saltir váru. Ok hinn fyrsta Man (word) The term man and words derived from it can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their sex or age... . Sá er nefndr Búri. Hann var fagr álitum, mikill ok máttugr. Hann gat son þann er Borr hét. |
She licked the ice-blocks, which were salty; and the first day that she licked the blocks, there came forth from the blocks in the evening a man's hair; the second day, a man's head; the third day the whole man was there. He is named Búri: he was fair of feature, great and mighty. He begat a son called Borr[.] Brodeur's translation |
Búri is mentioned nowhere in the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
and only once in the skaldic corpus. In Skáldskaparmál
Skáldskaparmál
The second part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda the Skáldskaparmál or "language of poetry" is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined...
Snorri Sturluson quotes the following verse by the 12th century skald
Skald
The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
Þórvaldr blönduskáld.
Nú hefk mart í miði greipat burar Bors, Búra arfa. |
|
Búri's name
Vowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...
in the name is not explicitly marked in the manuscripts but it is traditionally assumed to be long because of its metrical
Meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...
position in Þórvaldr's stanza. However, the metrical structure of fornyrðislag is hardly strict enough for definite conclusions to be reached from a single occurrence - especially when the imperfect oral and manuscript traditions are taken into account. It is thus entirely possible that the original form was Buri.
The meaning of either Búri or Buri is not known. The first could be related to búr meaning "storage room" and the second could be related to burr meaning "son". "Buri" may mean "producer".
In any case the form Buri is often used in an ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
context or as an anglicization
Old Norse orthography
The orthography of the Old Norse language was diverse, being written in both Runic and Latin alphabets, with many spelling conventions, variant letterforms, and unique letters and signs. In modern times, scholars established a standardized spelling for the language. When Old Norse names are used in...
of Búri. In the mainland Scandinavian languages Bure is used as a familiar form.