Fjölnirs

Fjölnirs refers to a proper name used in medieval Norse literature, most often encountered in the singular as Fjǫlnir. In surviving sources such as the Ynglinga saga and related Prose Edda material, Fjölnir is presented as a king within the legendary lineage of early Scandinavian rulers. The accounts place Fjölnir among the dynastic genealogies that connect Swedish or Scandinavian kings to the god Odin, though the exact details vary between texts. Because these narratives blend myth, legend, and early historical memory, the historicity of Fjölnir is uncertain and widely debated among scholars.

Etymology and meaning attributed to the name Fjǫlnir are not uniform across sources. The form is generally treated as an epithet or royal name rather than a descriptive title, with translations often rendered as “glorious,” “noble,” or similar laudatory senses. However, precise semantic interpretation is uncertain due to the antiquity of the language and the layers of later glosses and manuscript transmissions.

The plural form Fjölnirs would logically refer to multiple figures bearing the name Fjölnir across different sources or traditions. In scholarly discussions, the name serves as an example of how Norse royal genealogies were constructed to link rulers to divine ancestry and to legitimize rulership within a legendary past.

In contemporary usage, Fjölnir appears occasionally in Nordic literature or as a name for fictional or ceremonial purposes, but it remains primarily of interest to researchers of Norse legend and philology.