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Dúrnir
Dúrnir (Old Norse: ) was a dwarf who appears in the three Old Norse skaldic poems which suggests that he once was a well-known dwarf in Norse mythology. The most notable poem is known as Ynglingatal: He also appears in a list of Dwarves in the anonymous Dverga heiti: :Alþjófr, austri, :aurvangr ok dúfr, :ái, andvari, :ónn ok draupnir, :dori ok dagfinnr, :dulinn ok ónarr, :alfr ok dellingr, :óinn ok durnir. The third poem is found in Laufás-Edda: :Kveða skal hróðr fyr hríðar :hræ-blakks viðum sævar, :drykkr var Durnis rekkum :døkkr, ljósara nøkkvi. Snorri also includes Dúrnir in a list of giants in the Skáldskaparmál section of his Prose Edda (Faulkes translation, p. 157). It is possible that the name Durnir is an emendation of Durinn, mentioned as the father of dwarves in Dvergatal. Both names mean door, or door-warden. The names Durinn and Durnir do not appear in the same texts. The Norwegian translation of Ynglinga Saga from 1900 uses the name of Durinn instead of Durnir.
Article summary
Dúrnir (Old Norse: ) was a dwarf who appears in the three Old Norse skaldic poems which suggests that he once was a well-known dwarf in Norse mythology. The most notable poem is known as Ynglingatal: He also appears in a list of Dwarves in the anonymous Dverga heiti: :Alþjófr, austri, :aurvangr ok dúfr, :ái, andvari, :ónn ok draupnir, :dori ok dagfinnr, :dulinn ok ónarr, :alfr ok dellingr, :óinn ok durnir. The third poem is found in Laufás-Edda: :Kveða skal hróðr fyr hríðar :hræ-blakks viðum sævar, :drykkr var Durnis rekkum :døkkr, ljósara nøkkvi. Snorri also includes Dúrnir in a list of giants in the Skáldskaparmál section of his Prose Edda (Faulkes translation, p. 157). It is possible that the name Durnir is an emendation of Durinn, mentioned as the father of dwarves in Dvergatal. Both names mean door, or door-warden. The names Durinn and Durnir do not appear in the same texts. The Norwegian translation of Ynglinga Saga from 1900 uses the name of Durinn instead of Durnir.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
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