vatnsauðlinda

Vatnsauðlinda is a term in Icelandic folklore and contemporary Icelandic literature that can denote a water goddess or a personified source of wealth in water resources. The compound combines vatn, water, with auðlind, a wealth source or resource, producing a concept that embodies the abundance and life-giving properties of water.

In traditional belief, water spirits were guardians of springs, rivers, and lakes; offerings or small tokens were sometimes left at sacred sites to appeal to the vatnsauðlinda for rain, safe drinking water, or bountiful fisheries. She is commonly imagined as a female spirit or nymph, though depictions vary from benevolent guardian to unpredictable shapeshifter.

In literature and modern discourse, vatnsauðlinda is used as a metaphor for freshwater abundance or as a fictional character in fantasy narratives. It is not a widely attested figure in medieval Norse sources, but the name appears in contemporary works addressing water resources, climate, and myth.

See also: water deity, river spirit, aquifer, natural resource goddess.