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...

, Lævateinn is a weapon mentioned in the Poetic Edda

Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...

poem Fjölsvinnsmál

Fjölsvinnsmál

Fjölsvinnsmál or The Sayings of Fjölsvinnr is the second of two Old Norse poems commonly published under the title Svipdagsmál "The Lay of Svipdagr". These poems are found together in several 17th century paper manuscripts with Fjölsvinnsmál...

. The name Lævateinn does not appear in the original manuscript reading, but is an emendation from Hævateinn made by Sophus Bugge

Sophus Bugge

Sophus Bugge was a noted Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scientific work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic alphabet and the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. -Background:Elseus Sophus Bugge was...

 and others. The amended name Lævateinn is etymologically considered to be a kenning

Kenning

A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse and later Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poetry...

 for a sword (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....

 "damage twig").

Fjölsvinnsmál

The weapon is mentioned briefly in the poem Fjölsvinnsmál:

Benjamin Thorpe's translation: 26. Tell me, Fiölsvith! etc. whether there be any weapon, before which Vidofnir Vidofnir According to Fjölsvinnsmál, Víðópnir or Víðófnir is a rooster that sits at the top of Mímameiðr, a tree often taken to be identical with the World Tree Yggdrasil. They appear in Norse Mythology, although the name does not otherwise occur in medieval sources.The tale is a part of Fjölswidlied...  may fall to Hel Hel (being) In Norse mythology, Hel is a being who presides over a realm of the same name, where she receives a portion of the dead. Hel is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson... ´s abode? 27. Hævatein the twig is named, and Lopt plucked it, down by the gate of Death. In an iron chest it lies with Sinmoera, and is with nine strong locks secured.

Henry Adams Bellows translation: 41. Svipdag spake: "Now answer me, Fjolsvith, the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What weapon can send Vithofnir to seek The house of Hel below?" 42. Fjolsvith spake: "Lævatein is there, that Lopt Loki In Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi...  with runes Runic alphabet The runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter... Once made by the doors of death; In Lægjarn's chest by Sinmora lies it, And nine locks fasten it firm."

Bellows comments that Lægjarn means "Lover of Ill" and, like the name Lopt, refers to Loki.

Theories

Viktor Rydberg

Viktor Rydberg

Abraham Viktor Rydberg was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877-1895...

 theorized that the weapon referred to was the sword forged by Völundr, and is the same one as 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"...

 gave away to gain Gerðr. Henry Adams Bellows

Henry Adams Bellows

Henry Adams Bellows was a lawyer, state legislator, and jurist born in Rockingham, Vermont. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Littleton, New Hampshire in 1839. He was subsequently elected again to the House from Concord, New Hampshire in 1856–1857, and served as...

comments that, regarding Lævateinn, "the suggestion the reference is to the mistletoe which Baldr was killed seems hardly reasonable."