Sinthgunt
Sinthgunt is a figure in Germanic mythology, attested solely in the Old High German 9th or 10th century "horse cure" Merseburg Incantation. In the incantation, Sinthgunt is referred to as the sister of the personified sun, Sunna. The two sisters, their names alliterative, are cited as both producing charms to heal Phol's horse, a figure also otherwise unattested. The two are then followed by two goddesses, the first which may be read as Friia and the second Uolla, also alliterative and stated as sisters.
As Sinthgunt is otherwise unattested, her significance is otherwise unknown, but an amount of scholarly theories exist about her role in Germanic mythology based on proposed etymologies, and the potential significance of her placement within the incantation.
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[edit] Etymology
The etymology of Sinthgunt is unclear. Within the original manuscript, Sinthgunt is spelled <"Sinhtgunt"> (emphasis added). Sticking directly to this reading has yielded interpretations such as "the night-walking one". As a result of the paring with Sunna, the personified sun, this etymology has been interpreted as a reference to the moon. However, this reading has yielded problems; the moon in Germanic mythology was masculine, examplified in the personification of the moon in Norse mythology, Máni, a male figure. Interpretations from the amended "Sinthgunt" have resulted in readings such as "the one moving into battle" or "heavenly body, star".[1]
[edit] Attestation
Sinthgunt is attested solely in the Old High German Second Merseburg Charm:
- Phol ende uuodan uuorun zi holza.
- du uuart demo balderes uolon sin uuoz birenkit.
- thu biguol en sinthgunt, sunna era suister;
- thu biguol en friia, uolla era suister;
- thu biguol en uuodan, so he uuola conda:
- sose benrenki, sose bluotrenki, sose lidirenki:
- ben zi bena, bluot si bluoda,
- lid zi geliden, sose gelimida sin![2]
- Phol and Woden travelled to the forest,
- Then was for Baldur's foal its foot wrenched,
- Then encharmed it Singund (and) Sunna her sister,
- then encharmed it Frija (and) Volla her sister,
- then encharmed it Woden, as he best could;
- As the bone-wrench, so for the blood-wrench, (and) so the limb-wrench,
- bone to bone, blood to blood,
- limb to limb, so be glued."[2]
[edit] Theories and interpretations
The figures Fulla (Uolla) and Frigg (Friia) are attested together in later Old Norse sources (though not as sisters), and theories have been proposed that the Fulla may at one time have been an aspect of Frigg. As a result, this notion has resulted in theory that a similar situation may have existed between the figures of Sinthgunt and Sól, in that the two may have been understood as aspects of one another rather than entirely separate figures.[3]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Bostock, John Knight. King, Charles Kenneth. McLintock, D. R. (1976). A Handbook on Old High German Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198153929
- Griffiths, Bill (2006). Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic. Anglo-Saxon Books. ISBN 1-898281-33-5
- Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0859915131
