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Midgard
*** Shopping-Tip: Midgard
:''For other things of this name, see
Midgard (disambiguation).''
'''Midgard''' (the common English transliteration of
Old Norse language Old Norse '''Miðgarðr'''), '''Midjungards''' (
Gothic language Gothic), '''Middangeard''' (
Old English language Old English), '''Middellærd''' (
Middle English), '''Midgård''' (common
Danish language Danish and
Swedish language Swedish) and '''Mittilagart''' (
Old High German), from
Proto-Germanic ''*medja-garda'' (''*meddila-'', ''*medjan-'', projected
PIE ''*medhyo-gharto''), is an old
Germanic languages Germanic name for our
world, the places inhabited by
mannaz men, with the literal meaning "middle enclosure". In Middle English, the name was transformed to '''Middellærd''', '''Middel-erde''' ("
Middle-earth").
Old Norse
Midgard is the realm of the humans in
Norse mythology. Pictured as placed somewhere in the middle of
Yggdrasil, Midgard is surrounded by a world of water or ocean, which is impassable. The ocean is inhabited by the great sea serpent
Jormungand, who is so huge that he encircles the world entirely, grasping his own tail. In Norse mythology, ''Miðgarðr'' became applied to the wall around the world that the gods constructed from the eyebrows of the giant
Ymir as a defence against the
Jotuns who lived in
Jotunheim, east of '''Mannheim''', "the home of men," a word used to refer to the entire world (there is no direct relation to the German city of
Mannheim, which is attested from the
8th century, named after an early settler called ''Manno'').
It is depicted as an intermediate world between
heaven (
Asgard) and
hell (Nifelheim or Hel). Thus it is part of a triad of upper (Heaven), middle (Earth), and lower (Underworld). It was said to have been formed from the flesh and blood of Ymir, his flesh constituting the land and his blood the oceans, and was connected to Asgard by the
Bifrost Bridge, guarded by
Heimdall.
According to legend, Midgard will be destroyed in
Ragnarok, the battle at the end of the world. Jormungand will arise from the ocean, poisoning the land and sea with his venom and causing the sea to rear up and lash against the land. The final battle will take place on the plain of
Vigrond, following which Midgard and almost all life on it will be destroyed, with the earth sinking into the sea.
Old and Middle English
The name ''middangeard'' occurs half a dozen times in the
Anglo-Saxon epic poem
Beowulf, and is the same word as Midgard in
Old Norse. The term is equivalent in meaning to the Greek term
Oikoumene, as referring to the known and inhabited world.
The concept of Midgard occurs many times in
Middle English, The association with ''earth'' (OE ''eorðe'') in Middle English ''middellærd'', ''middelerde'' is by
popular etymology; the continuation of ''geard'' "enclosure" is ''
yard''. An early example of this transformation is from the
Ormulum: ''þatt ure Drihhtin wollde / ben borenn i þiss middellærd'' "that our Lord wanted / be born in this middle-earth".
The name was popularized, in his
Lord of the Rings and other works, in the form '''
Middle-earth''' by
J. R. R. Tolkien, a noted Old English scholar, who was originally inspired by the reference to ''Middangeard'', and ''
Éarendel'', in the Old English poem ''
Crist'' (see there for details).
Old High German
''Mittilagart'' is mentioned in the
9th century Old High German ''
Muspilli'' (v. 54) meaning "the world" as opposed to the seas and the heavens:
: ''muor varsuuilhit sih, suilizot lougiu der himil,''
: ''mano uallit, prinnit mittilagart,''
: "Sea is swallowed, flaming burn the heavens,
: Moon falls, Midgard burns"
Popular culture
*In the TV series
Stargate SG-1, Midgard is how natives of the
Protected Planets Treaty (Stargate) Protected Planets refer to
Earth.
*Supposedly, the metropolis
Midgar in the video game
Final Fantasy VII was to be named "Midgard", but the final D was dropped. This is fitting, as the city is almost destroyed by
Meteor at the end of the game, just as Midgard is supposedly destroyed in
Ragnarok.
*In the campaign of the PC game
Age of Mythology, Midgard appears as a place.The heroes try to reach Midgard with the help of the dwarves.
*The
MMORPG Dark_Age_Of_Camelot has a realm called Midgard, which is loosely based on Norse legend.
*Stephen King also used a mutation of Midgard in his works, naming the parallel universe in his Dark Tower series "Mid-World", although that may be only the name of an ancient kingdom.
*There is a song entitled "Midgård" released by
Therion (band) Therion, originally on ''
Secret of the Runes (album) Secret of the Runes''. They also used this term for album title ''
Live in Midgård''.
*The Lord Of The Rings, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, takes place in Middle Earth. See
#Old and Middle English above.
''
{{NorseMythology}}
Category:Locations in Norse mythology
ca:Midgard
da:Midgård
de:Midgard
el:ΜίντγκαÏ?ντ
es:Midgard
fr:Midgard
it:Miðgarðr
lv:Midgarda
lt:Midgardas
nl:Midgaard
ja:ミズガルズ
no:Midgard
pl:Midgard
pt:Midgard
ro:Midgard
ru:Мидгард
fi:Midgård
sv:Midgård
*** Shopping-Tip: Midgard
