Embla

Old Norse Dictionary - embla

Meaning of Old Norse word "embla" in English.

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

embla
(in Ub. spelt Emla), u, f. a mythol. word, which only occurs in Vsp. 17; and hence in Edda (where it is said that the gods found two lifeless trees, the askr (ash) and the embla; of the ash they made man, of the embla woman), it is a question what kind of tree the embla was; some suggest a metathesis, qs. emla from ahnr, elm, but the compound emblu-askr, in one of Egil’s poems, seems to shew that the embla was in some way related to the ash.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᛁᛘᛒᛚᛅ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements

Abbreviations used:

f.
feminine.
l.
line.
mythol.
mythology, mythologically.
qs.
quasi.

Works & Authors cited:

Edda
Edda. (C. I.)
Ub.
Uppsala-bók. (C. I.)
Vsp.
Völuspá. (A. I.)
➞ See all works cited in the dictionary

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