Dellingr (Old Norse possibly "the dayspring"^[1] or "shining one"^[2]) is a god in Norse mythology. Dellingr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and 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 he is the third husband of Nótt, the personified night. Scholarly theories have proposed that Dellingr is the personified dawn, and his name may appear in an English surname and place name.

Attestations

Poetic Edda

Dellingr is referenced in the Poetic Edda poems Vafţrúđnismál and Hávamál. In stanza 24 of Vafţrúđnismá, the god Odin (disguised as "Gagnráđr") asks the jötunn Vafţrúđnir from where the day comes, and the night and its tides. In stanza 25, Vafţrúđnir responds:

Delling hight he who the day's father is, but

night was of Nörvi born; the new and waning moons the

beneficient powers created, to count the years for men.^[3]

In stanza 160 of Hávamál, the dwarf Thjódr?rir is stated as having recited an unnamed spell "before Dellingr's doors". Some confusion exists over this reference; "Dellingr's doors" may either be a metaphor for sunrise or the reference may refer to a separate, dwarven figure by the same name.^[4]

Prose Edda

In chapter 10 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, the enthroned figure of High states that Dellingr is a 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.^[5]

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.^[6] This etymology has given rise to the theory that Dellingr may be dawn personified, similarly to his son Dagr, the personified day.^[7]

The English family name Dallinger has been theorized as deriving from Dellingr.^[8] The English place name Dalbury (south of Derbyshire) derives from Dellingeberie, which itself derives from Dellingr.^[9]

Notes

References

• Barber, Henry (1968). British Family Names: Their Origin And Meaning. Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 9780806300214.
• Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (1936). The Poetic Edda. Princeton University Press.
• Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2006). The Prose Edda. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0140447555
• Kerry, Charles (Editor) (1897). Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. Derbyshire Archaeological Society.
• Lindow, John (2001). Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515382-0
• Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0 304 34520 2
• Stallybrass, James Steven. (1883) (Trans.) Jacob Grimm?s Teutonic Mythology, volume II. W. Swan Sonnenschein & Allen.
• Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1907). The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson. Norr?na Society.
• Thorpe, Benjamin (1851). Northern Mythology: Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and the Netherlands. E. Lumley.

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