Máni

For the trans-Neptunian object, see 307261 Máni. For the lunar orbiter, see Máni (spacecraft). For other uses, see Mani.

Máni means "Moon" in Old Norse and is the Moon personified in Germanic mythology. He is described in old books called the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. Both books say that Máni is the brother of Sól, who is the personified sun, and the son of a man named Mundilfari. The Prose Edda also says that Máni is followed by two children named Hjúki and Bil as he moves across the sky. Scholars think Máni might be linked to the idea of the Man in the Moon that people in Northern Europe have. They also wonder if there might be an old story about Máni that we don't fully understand yet.

Attestations

Poetic Edda

In the poem Völuspá, the god Odin tells the story of the universe and what will happen in the future. He talks about the early days of the world.

In stanza 23 of the poem Vafþrúðnismál, Odin (disguised as "Gagnráðr") asks the jötunn Vafþrúðnir about how the Sun and Moon began. Vafþrúðnir answers that a man named Mundilfari is the father of both the Sun, called Sól, and the Moon, called Máni. They travel across the sky each day to help people count the years.

In stanza 39 of the poem Grímnismál, Odin (disguised as Grímnir) says that both the Sun and the Moon are followed through the sky by wolves. The Sun is followed by Sköll, and the Moon is followed by Hati Hróðvitnisson. In stanza 13 of the poem Alvíssmál, the god Thor asks the dwarf Alvíss about what the Moon is called in different places. Alvíss says it is called many names, like "moon" by people, "fiery one" by the gods, and "the counter of years" by the elves.

Prose Edda

In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, Máni is mentioned in several chapters. In chapter 8, a character named High quotes part of Völuspá, and another character named Third adds that this happened before the Earth was made. In chapter 11, High says that Máni and his sister Sól are the children of a man named Mundilfari. Because they were very beautiful, Mundilfari called them "moon" and "sun". The gods thought this was arrogant, so they placed the brother and sister in the sky. There, Máni "guides the path of the moon and controls its waxing and waning."

Máni is also followed through the sky by two children, Hjúki and Bil, who are seen from Earth. They were taken from Earth while they were getting water from a well. In chapter 51, High talks about what will happen during Ragnarök, saying that Máni will be caught by one of two wolves chasing the stars and planets.

In the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Sól is called the "sister of Máni" in chapter 26. In chapter 55, many names for the Moon are listed: "lune", "waxer", "waner", "year-counter", "clipped", "shiner", "gloam", "hastener", "squinter" and "gleamer".

Theories

Some old poems called skaldic poems use special names for women linked to Máni, which might hint at a story where Máni had a special relationship with a powerful woman from another world. However, no clear stories about this exist in our myths today.

A scholar named John Lindow thinks that Máni might be destroyed during Ragnarök, a big event in mythology, but this is not clearly told in the stories we have.

Another scholar, Rudolf Simek, connects the stories about Máni and two children, Hjúki and Bil, to modern tales about the Man in the Moon found in places like Scandinavia, England, and North Germany. He also notes that an old poem says the gods put the Moon in the sky to help track the years, showing that early people used the Moon to measure time.