bil and hjuki 11
manuscript of the Poetic Edda. Snorri Sturluson
retells the story of Balder’s Dreams with varying
detail in G ylfaginning .
B aleyg and B ileyg Names used by Odin
to refer to himself as he recounts his travels and the
many names he has used during them in the poem
G rimnismal . These two names in particular are
special, according to mythologists, as they refer to
Odin’s single eye and to his ability to see into the
future. Baleyg means “flaming eye” and Bileyg means
“shifty-eyed.” Both are also used in skaldic poetry in
a variety of kennings.
barley One of the oldest cultivated cereal grasses,
barley is widely distributed throughout the world. In
northern lands it was used to make a beer and was a
symbol of spring growth. Frey and Gerda are mar-
ried in the barley patch named Barri.
B arri (B arrey ; The Leafy)
The name of a for-
est, or a grove within a forest, in which the giantess
Gerda finally chose to meet the Vanir god Frey.
Frey’s servant, Skirnir, had been attempting to
persuade Gerda to meet with the lovesick god for
quite some time. At last she consented and chose
Barri for the rendezvous. The story of Gerda and
Frey is told in full in the poem S kirnismal and in
an abbreviated version by Snorri Sturluson in
G ylfaginning .
B augi (Ring-Shaped)
A giant, the brother of
Suttung. Baugi employed Odin, who was disguised
as a worker, Bolverk. Bolverk worked so well that
Baugi agreed to lead him to the mountain, named
Hnitbjorg, where the mead of poetry was hidden,
guarded by Gunlod, Suttung’s daughter. Baugi drilled
a hole in the mountain with his augur, rati, and Odin
changed into a serpent and slithered through the hole
to find Gunlod and the mead. The story is in Snorri
Sturluson’s S kaldskaparma .
B eli
A member of the Jotun killed by the Vanir
god Frey. Beli was a son of the giant Gymir (1) and
the brother of the giantess Gerda, whom Frey loved.
After winning Gerda as his wife, Frey killed Beli with
a deer horn in a fight. Frey did not use his magical
sword in the struggle for he had given it to Gymir as
a bride price for Gerda.
Much of the story of Beli has been lost. What
remains is hinted at in the surviving poetry and briefly
sketched by Snorri Sturluson in G ylfaginning .
B ergelmir
Son of the Hrimthurssar (frost
giant) Thrudgelmir and grandson of Aurgelmir,
who was also Ymir, the primeval giant who appeared
at the creation. Bergelmir and his wife were the
only giants to survive Ymir’s death and the flood
that followed. They rode the flood on a hollowed-
out tree trunk, the first boat. Because of them, the
races of frost giants and ogres were able to survive
in Jotunheim.
B erling One of the four dwarfs who made the
golden necklace or collar known as the Brisinga
men. The goddess Freya found the dwarfs making
the piece of jewelry and bargained with them for
it. Berling’s brothers were Alfrigg, Dvalin (1), and
Grerr. They are named only in the S orla T hattr ,
which is found in the manuscript F lateyjarbok .
B erserkers Savage, reckless, furious warriors
of an elite corps who fought for Odin wearing only
bear or wolf skins and no armor. In the sagas, they
were named after Berserk, a Norse hero of the eighth
century who went into battle with his 12 sons.
In modern English, to go berserk means to “go into
a frenzy.”
B estla
A rime-giant, or proto-giant, one of the
first creatures to exist, according to Norse mythol-
ogy. According to Snorri Sturluson in G ylfagin -
ning , Bestla was the daughter of the giant Bolthur.
She was also the mother of three gods by Bor: Odin,
Villi, and Ve. Bestla is named in the P oetic E dda , but
little is known of her other than this relationship to
Odin. Scholars find it significant that the greatest of
the Norse gods, Odin, was the son of giants, whose
Jotun offspring were the greatest enemies of the
Aesir gods.
B eyla
A servant to the Vanir god Frey and the
wife of Byggvir, also a servant to Frey. With their
master they attended the feast given for the gods by
the sea god Aegir. This story is told in L okasenna ,
part of the P oetic E dda . In the poem, Loki, who
continually insults the gods during the dinner, yells
at Beyla, telling her to be silent and accusing her
of being full of sin and filth. (See “Loki’s Mocking”
under Loki.)
B il and H juki (B ill and Y uki ) The two
human children stolen by Mani, the man of the
Moon, to help him drive his chariot across the skies.
They were the children of Vidfinn, who had sent