Amsvartnir

In Norse mythology, Amsvartnir (Old Norse "pitch black")^[1] is a lake. Amsvartnir contains the island Lyngvi, where the gods bound the wolf Fenrir. The lake is solely attested in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In the book, the enthroned figure of High tells Gangleri (king Gylfi in disguise) that the gods and Fenrir fared across Amsvartnir to get to Lyngvi, and there bound Fenrir.^[2]

Since Amsvartnir is only mentioned in Gylfaginning, Rudolf Simek theorizes that Snorri invented the lake.^[3]

Notes

1. Orchard (1997:6).
2. Faulkes (1995:28).
3. Simek (2007:14).

References

• Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. Everyman. ISBN 0-460-87616-3
• Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2
• Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1