Norsery Rhymes from A to Z Dumbr, The Stupid One
Well here we are on another ThorsDay with another 20 min sketch of a Norse (and Germanic, sometimes Celtic) mythological characters. This week it’s Dumbr (Dumbur / Dumbir) of the Jotnar (Jotun / Jotunn / Jetten / Eoten / Giant) again. A half Risi Giant, and half Troll mentioned in the Nafnaþulur of the Prose Edda
His name means in Old Norse, ‘dumb’, or ‘stupid’. And to ‘stupefy’, ‘obscure’ in the Proto Gemanic source word “Dumbaz” ,
He is married to Giant King Snear’s Daughter Mjol / Mjoll who though human seeming was part also a personification of snow (Fresh Powdery Snow) like her father and siblings. Making Dumbr the brother in law to Mjol’s sister Drifa who I covered earlier this month here. Dumbr and Mjoll have a son together named Bárðr / Bardr who is raised by the fosterer of heroes Dofri the Mountain Dweller, after he is kicked out of his village on finding out his father was Giant and Troll. He would go on to live a wandering Odin existence.
To read more about Dofri and Bardr you can read it here, and if you’d like to see more versions of Dofri you can see version 2 here, and version 3 here.
Not a lot else is known about Dumbr.
