In Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

, Barri is the place where Freyr

Freyr

Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with farming, weather and, as a phallic fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"...

 and Gerðr are to consummate their union, as stated in the Skírnismál

Skírnismál

Skírnismál is one of the poems of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved in the 13th century manuscripts Codex Regius and AM 748 I 4to but may have been originally composed in heathen times...

:

Barri the grove is named,

which we both know,

the grove of tranquil paths.

Nine nights hence,

there to Niörd’s son

Gerd will grant delight.

—För Skirnis eðr Skirnismál (39), Thorpe's translation

In Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

's account of the myth (found in Gylfaginning, 37), the place is called Barrey or Barey:

And nine nights later she was to come to the place called Barrey, and then go to the bridal with Freyr.

—Gylfaginning (37), Brodeur's translation

The meaning of the name is uncertain. Barri is called a grove (lundr) but Bar(r)ey is probably an island (ey being the Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 for "island") and could be connected with Barra

Barra

The island of Barra is a predominantly Gaelic-speaking island, and apart from the adjacent island of Vatersay, to which it is connected by a causeway, is the southernmost inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.-Geography:The 2001 census showed that the resident population was 1,078...

, one of the Hebrides islands

Hebrides

The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...

, which was once called Barrey. The meaning of the first part of the name, barr, is not very enlightening for it has several meanings: "pine needle", "conifer", "tree" or "grain", especially "barley". Magnus Olsen

Magnus Olsen

Magnus Bernhard Olsen was a Norwegian linguist and a professor in Norse philology at the University of Oslo from 1908 to 1948...

 suggested that Barri meant "cornfield". This supports his interpretation of the union of Freyr and Gerðr as a holy wedding

Hieros gamos

Hieros gamos or Hierogamy refers to a sexual ritual that plays out a marriage between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities. It is the harmonization of opposites...

 between a fertility god and the Earth Mother. But this interpretation has been contested and Barri could be rendered into "coniferous forest" (as Rudolf Simek noticed, it would be a suitable name for a grove) and the signification of Barrey might be "barley-island" or "grain-island", which, John Lindow underlined, "makes no sense in the context of a fertility myth".