Eorðe
is the Old English cognate of Jörð, and both words mean
"earth." According to Norse lore, Eorðe was the mother of
Þunor (Thor) and daughter of goddess Niht (Nott) and her
husband Annarr. Throughout the Eddas and even in the Anglo-Saxon corpus
she is seen under many different names, in Old Norse she is called
Fjörgyn, Hlóðynn, Fold "earth," and Grund "ground." In
Old English she is called Folde, Fira Modor "mother of Mankind," and
possibly Hrúsan. There is little evidence of active worship of
her as with some of the other Gods and Goddesses, however, there is
much evidence of passive worship. Galdres in both Old Norse and Old
English say to call on her for might and main. This connection with
sheer strength is seen in her son Þunor as well. Two Old English
works mention her with some detail, in the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem
the verse for Géar may be referring to her in some form of
divine marriage:
Géar biþ gumena hiht, · þonne god læteþ,
hálig heofones cyning, · hrúsan sellan
beorhte bléda · beornum and þearfum.
Géar (Year) is man's hope · if
God lets, Holy heaven's king, · the Earth sell (i.e. "give")
Bright fruits, · to nobles and needy.
Despite
the obvious Christian reinterpretation, the fact that Hrúsan
"earth" is mentioned at all is significant. Another Anglo-Saxon work
the Æcerbot also called For Unfruitful Land contains what may be
a prayer to her (and evidence of active worship), and contains lines
that can only be interpreted as divine marriage.
Hal wes þu, folde, fira modor!
Beo þu growende on godes fæþme,
fodre gefylled firum to nytte.
Wassail Earth Mankind's mother;
Be growing in
God’s embrace,
Filled with food man to joyously help..
Old
English nytte is cognate to Old Norse nýta. Kveldulf
Gundarsson notes in Our Troth that nýta appears in
Sigrdrífumál in the compound fjölnýta. Thorpe
translates this in a prayer that Sigrdrífa says on awaking
as "bounteous earth." Kveldulfr notes however nýta is hard to
translate and can mean "helpful, good-bringing, enjoyable."
Unfortunately, Eorðe never appears in the Norse lore in person, but
his only referenced to by the other Gods or mortals. Therefore it
is difficult to get a real image of her. That she is no Kubaba type
Earth Mother is clear. Any Goddess the ancient Germanics would call on
for might and main would not be likely to be pictured as overweight and
out of shape even when pregnant. We can therefore assume she is a
Goddess of some strength, with strong bearing, perhaps built much like
her son Þunor. We can also see her as a mother, as she is
seen as the mother of Mankind, not to mention the thunder god.
Finally, there is the obvious connection with fertility.
Eorðe is the ultimate fertility goddess. Without her the
fields will not grow no matter how much we mortals may coax the other
Gods and Goddess. Modern Anglo-Saxon Heathens would do well to give her respecet.
William Reaves has theorized that Eorðe and Frige are one and the same. His arguement can be read at http://www.boudicca.de/wpb-004.htm.