"Thrainn's thought is an oppressive dream..."

(This post is related to the concept of the industrialized saga-inspired fantasy world).

The title of this post is a line from Stanza 3 of an English translation of a Norse poem. It's called Hrafnagaldur Odins and is basically a complete mess that no-one can make sense of except that some people think it might be an introduction to the story of Baldur's death. In this poem a pair of dwarves named Thrainn and Dainn have horrific dreams (or are attempting to interpret Baldur's nightmares) and even they can't really say what the dreams mean. They are apparently associated with sleep and dreams.

In that fantasy novel I'm writing (you know, the Dickensian saga one about Bjarki), I plan to imply that Throinn, the dwarven fence who fostered Bjarki and taught him to cut purses might be the same dwarf as the Norse Thrainn. He has the same association with dreams and gift for dream interpretation as well as the ability to cast spells in order to control people's dreams (and use them to cause disease and injury) and brew powerful sleep-draughts. I made those abilities up.

What I'm wondering is which version of the Icelandic name to use. Thrainn is becoming more familiar as a dwarf name from The Hobbit - book and movies but was also a human name long before JRRT was born (and is a very rare name outside of Iceland and the Faroes now) Is it better to use the variant "Throinn" (an Old Norse form) or "Thrainn"? ^note  The name is spelled with an extra n and a thorn and an acute accent over the a in Old Norse and Icelandic.

edited 14th Feb '14 12:08:00 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

bump. what are some additional powers and abilities a Dwarf could have?

edited 14th Feb '14 7:35:10 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

Hello. Note that Hrafnagaldr Odins is a late poem, possibly from the 1300s or something. It is interesting, but confusing and not considered canon at all. That is why it is placed in the appendix of the Poetic Edda, and not among the regular poems (alongside Sólarljod, which is considered a late, christian poem). The poem is also called Grogaldr. When it comes to the dwarf names (both here and in the Dvergatal), note the double n, like Thràinn. The last of the n`s is actually an assimilated nominative r, a phenomenon you also will find in the norse word Steinn (stone). The genitive tense would then be Thràins, as the root keeps one N and ditches the other. Elder norse would have the name written Thráinr, but it evidently changed because it was easier that way. Got it?

exactly, that's how it would be spelled in Old Norse, through "Throinn" is also a variant.