Also called The Nine Waves, Himinglæva, Dúfa, Blóðughadda, Hefring, Uðr, Hrönn, Bylgja, Bára, Kólga.
Their story
Ægir, lord of the sea, and his wife Rán had nine daughters, each a wave. Their names describe the sea: Himinglæva "heaven-bright", Blóðughadda "bloody-hair", Hrönn, Bylgja and Bára all words for billow, Kólga "cold wave". Skalds used their names as kennings for the sea. Some scholars link them with the nine mothers of Heimdallr.
Best times to give to them
- before sailing or swimming
- at the shore
- during storms
What they like being given
- a little bread cast on the water (biodegradable only)
- a song sung at the shoreline
- a shell or stone returned to the tide
How to honour them
- Count the waves at the shore and name them as the poets did.
- Respect the sea's power: check tides and weather before going out.
How they can help you
- respect for the sea
- safe voyages
- poetry of water
Symbols
- nine waves
- foam
- blood-red hair at sunset
- the rolling swell
The lists of names vary slightly between manuscripts; the Heimdallr link is speculative.
Sources
- Prose Edda, Skáldskaparmál (names of the sea)
- Poetic Edda, Hyndluljóð 35–38
- Simek, Dictionary of Northern Mythology
More Norse spirits
- The Dísir Ancestral mothers and guardian women
- The Álfar The elves, bright and hidden folk
- The Landvættir The spirits of the land
- Jötnar The giants, elder powers of the wild
- Dvergar The master smiths under stone
- The Sons of Ivaldi The dwarf smiths of Sif's hair and Skíðblaðnir
- Einherjar The chosen dead of Valhalla
- Fylgja The follower spirit at your side