Talk:Meili

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Son of Odin and Jörð?[edit]

He is brother of Thor, and so it seems his mother is Jord.--Mychele (talk) 19:04, 28 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

While Jörð's mother is not attested, the following is a post made to my talk page by Varoon Arya (talk · contribs) that addresses this issue and therefore may be of interest to readers:

"Apparently, it was common in 19th century scholarship to consider Meili to be the son of Odin and Jörð. For example:

"Von Thors Bruder Meili wird nichts weiter erwähnt, als dass auch er ein Sohn Odins ist (Sn. Edd. 211. Haustl. ebd. 120); auch die gleiche Mutter, Jörd, ist zu vermuthen, da Thor allein unter den Asen als Meilis Bruder zugenannt wird."

which, translated, reads:

Of Thor's brother Meili nothing further is mentioned save that he, too, is a son of Odin; the same mother, Jörd, is to be assumed, as Thor alone among the Asir is referred to as 'Meili's brother'.

(from: Uhland, Ludwig. (1868). Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung und Sage, Vol. 6. Stuttgart: Verlag der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. pg. 18.)

This view can be found scattered throughout 19th century scholarship, as, for instance, in (a) Barth, Christian K. (1846). Teutschlands Urgeschichte, Vol. 5. Erlangen: J. J. Palm & Ernst Enke. pg. 396 and (b) Pierer, Heinrich A. (1844). Universallexikon der Gegenwart und Vergangenheit, Vol. 21. Altenburg: H. A. Pierer. pg. 204. I'm sure more citations could be found, though they hardly seem necessary: the view was a popular one, but has not - to my knowledge - seen any support for a long, long time.

Rydberg considers Meili to be a by-name of Baldr:

Meili, Asa-god, the same as Baldur. Thor commends himself on one occasion as being Odin's son and Meili's brother. In one of his epithets (Foot-meili), the gentle Hoenir is compared with Baldur. The "rain of weapons" is called both Meil-rain and Fal's rain with reference to the "rain of weapons", in which Baldur stood when the gods shot, threw, and hewed at him.

(from: Rydberg, V. (2003). Our Father's Godsaga: Retold for the Young. Lincoln: iUniverse. ISBN: 0-595-29978-4. pg. 191.)

I'm not exactly a Rydberg fan, but the view is, in itself, notable enough to warrant inclusion IMO."[1]

I have since added this material to the article. :bloodofox: (talk) 09:19, 12 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]