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Concept
Bragi
Summary
Bragi (ˈbrɑːgi; Old Norse: ˈbrɑɣe) is the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology.
The theonym Bragi probably stems from the masculine noun bragr, which can be translated in Old Norse as 'poetry' (cf. Icelandic bragur 'poem, melody, wise') or as 'the first, noblest' (cf. poetic Old Norse bragnar 'chiefs, men', bragningr 'king'). It is unclear whether the theonym semantically derives from the first meaning or the second.
A connection has been also suggested with the Old Norse bragarfull, the cup drunk in solemn occasions with the taking of vows. The word is usually taken to semantically derive from the second meaning of bragr ('first one, noblest'). A relation with the Old English term brego ('lord, prince') remains uncertain.
Bragi regularly appears as a personal name in Old Norse and Old Swedish sources, which according to linguist Jan de Vries might indicate the secondary character of the god's name.
Snorri Sturluson writes in the Gylfaginning after describing Odin, Thor, and Baldr:
One is called Bragi: he is renowned for wisdom, and most of all for fluency of speech and skill with words. He knows most of skaldship, and after him skaldship is called bragr, and from his name that one is called bragr-man or -woman, who possesses eloquence surpassing others, of women or of men. His wife is Iðunn.
In Skáldskaparmál Snorri writes:
How should one periphrase Bragi? By calling him husband of Iðunn, first maker of poetry, and the long-bearded god (after his name, a man who has a great beard is called Beard-Bragi), and son of Odin.
That Bragi is Odin's son is clearly mentioned only here and in some versions of a list of the sons of Odin (see Sons of Odin). But "wish-son" in stanza 16 of the Lokasenna could mean "Odin's son" and is translated by Hollander as Odin's kin. Bragi's mother is possibly the giantess Gunnlod. If Bragi's mother is Frigg, then Frigg is somewhat dismissive of Bragi in the Lokasenna in stanza 27 when Frigg complains that if she had a son in Ægir's hall as brave as Baldr then Loki would have to fight for his life.
Official source
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