Abstract

In the context of Eddic mythological poetry, Rígsþula is strikingly anomalous. The poem speaks of an otherwise unknown god, Rígr, whom the prose preface identifies with the Norse god Heimdallr. He visits in sequence three households. The first is that of Ái and Edda, whose names mean “great grandfather” and “great grandmother”; the second that of Afi and Amma, “grandfather” and “grandmother”; the third that of Faðir and Móðir, “father” and “mother.” Rígr spends three nights in bed with each couple, and from these unions spring þræll, Karl, and Jarl, forebears of the races of slaves, freemen, and nobles. The poem concludes with an account of Konr, youngest son of Jarl, who is apparently about to establish himself as a king when the poem breaks off