K
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K arl (Freeman)
time, according to G rimnismal , a section of the P oetic
E dda . The other two rivers are the Kerlaugs. Snorri
Sturluson quotes this poem in the P rose E dda .
The location of these rivers is unclear, though
scholars suggest they, like the river Ifing, separate the
land of the Jotun from the lands of the Aesir, since
Thor spends much of his time fighting the giants,
the enemies of the gods.
The second son conceived by
the god Heimdall as he journeyed through Mid-
gard, the land of humans, according to the poem
R igsthula . In his second stop, Heimdall, using the
name Rig, slept between Afi and Amma (grandfather
and grandmother) and nine months later Amma bore
a son, Karl. He was red of face with flashing eyes.
He raised oxen and built houses and barns. He mar-
ried Snot, and they gave birth to the human race of
working-class people. (See also Thrall and Jarl.)
K vasir (1) (Spittle) A wise man who was
created from the spit of the Aesir and the Vanir
gods after their battle (see Aesir/Vanir war). Kvasir
walked the world spreading his great wisdom to any
who asked for it. He was slain by two dwarfs, Fjalar
(2) and Galar, who mixed his blood with honey to
make a powerful mead that inspired any who drank
it to talk with wisdom and poetry (see “The Mead of
Poetry,” under Odin).
kenning A poetic technique used most frequently
by the Norse writers of skaldic poetry, who created
their art from about a.d. 700 to 1100. Essentially a
kenning is a type of metaphor, using a set of words to
represent a common noun. For example, for sword,
the poet might use the name of a famous sword such
as Dainsleif, which means “Dain’s heirloom.” Or a
poet might refer to gold as “Sif’s hair,” which would
remind the audience of the myth of the golden hair
the god Loki had the dwarfs make after he cut off
the locks of the goddess Sif, wife of Thor.
Many kennings contain names and objects impor-
tant to Norse mythology and provide scholars with
hints and clues of stories that have been lost over
time. At the same time, however, kennings are often
the only mention of a name, and modern scholars and
students have no other information to understand the
meaning of that kenning. Kennings at the very least
provide experts with the understanding that much
about Norse mythology is lost to modern audiences.
K vasir (2) A Vanir god known for his great wis-
dom. With the gods Njord, Frey, and Freya, Kvasir
went to live in Asgard as part of the peace settlement
after the Aesir/Vanir war. He was a symbol of
the pledge for peace and of the end of the fighting
between the two great races of gods. (Mimir (2) and
Hoenir were the Aesir gods sent to the Vanir.)
Kvasir went with Odin and a party of gods to cap-
ture Loki, who was hiding as a salmon after mocking
the gods at the feast in Aegir’s hall. Kvasir deduced
from the ashes in the fire of the hut where Loki had
been hiding that the trickster god had been making
a fishing net. The gods immediately knew that they
had to make a similar device to catch Loki.
Snorri Sturluson includes this story of Kvasir in
his P rose E dda .
K ormt
and O rmt Two of the four rivers that
Thor must wade through each day as he travels to
Asgard to sit in judgment and at Ragnarok, the end
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