Auðhumbla

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• Auðhumla, Auðumbla, Auðumla

Etymology

Generally accepted to derive from auðr (“riches”) + *humala (“hornless”).

The compound presents some level of semantic ambiguity. A parallel occurs in Scottish English humble-cow (“hornless cow”), and Northern Europeans have bred hornless cows since prehistoric times. As highlighted above, auð- may mean "rich"; and in turn, "rich hornless cow" remains generally accepted among scholars as a gloss of the Old Icelandic animal name. However, auðr can also mean "fate" and "desolate; desert", and so Auðhum(b)la may also have been understood as the "destroyer of the desert". This semantic ambiguity may have been intentional.

Proper noun

Auðhumbla f

1. (Norse mythology) the primeval cow

References

• Liberman, Anatoly (2016). In Prayer and Laughter. Essays on Medieval Scandinavian and Germanic Mythology, Literature, and Culture. Paleograph Press. →ISBN