Gerðr of the shimmering arms.



Detail from The Goddess Gerd by UK sculptor George Blackall Simonds (1847–1929 CE).


Gerðr of The Shimmering Arms is her most-known kenning. This could be yet another attribute derived/associated with the Northern Lights as they shimmer across the sky, so the sculpture depicts the jotun maiden with her arms upraised, and a possible dawn-esque Goddess halo of radiance made of hair, so her shimmering epithet could also perhaps alternately be a Midnight Sun association, or more simply the sun's reflection dazzling one's eyes off of the ice, or all the above really given the polyvalent nature of the Norse Gods, but the beauty of the proverbial & ideal pale-limbed lovely is definitely at work.

And when Freyr beholds this attribute from his sneaking a view from Odin's throne Hlidskjalf, the D'Aulaires show the phenomena of her shimmering as the first thing of Gerðr he sees.


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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology, field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.

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