Submitted Name Revision History

The name of a giantess in the poem 'Fjǫlsvinnsmál' (a very late part of the Poetic Edda) whom scholars sometimes identify with the underworld goddess HEL. The second element of this obscure character's name is often thought to be Old Norse #mara#, which refers to a type of evil spirit or incubus in Germanic folklore. An alternative proposed meaning is "she who maims the sinews", based on Old Norse #sina# "sinew" and the hypothetic #*mara# "one who maims".