Atter

For other uses, see Atter (disambiguation).

Atter dripping from a Komodo dragon.

Atter is an older Germanic term for "poisonous bodily fluid", especially venom of a venomous animal, such as a snake, dragon or other reptile, but also other vile corrupt or morbid substance from the body, such as pus from a sore or wound, as well as bitter substance, such as bile. Figuratively, it can also mean moral corruption or corruptness; noxious or corrupt influence, poison to the soul, evil, anger, envy, hatred; as well as destruction and death.

Today, atter is commonly associated with the Norse mythology, where it plays an important role in various contexts – see subsequent section: § In Norse mythology.

Etymology

Atter is derived from Old English: ātor and ăttor, which in turn derives from Old Saxon: ĕttar, which stems from a Proto-Germanic: *aitrą (“poison, pus”), which stems from a Proto-Indo-European: *h₂eyd-ro-m, from a *h₂eyd- (“to swell; swelling, tumour, abscess”), related to Ancient Greek: οἶδος (“swelling, tumour, abscess, produced by internal action”). It is directly cognate with Old Norse: eitr and its derivatives Icelandic: eitur, Norwegian: eiter, Swedish: etter, Danish: edder, as well as German: Eiter and Dutch: etter, all with similar meaning. In Scots, the cognate terms are atter and etter, variously meaning "poison", "purulent matter from a sore” and "quarrelsomeness".

While mostly archaic or archaized in English, the word lives on with some strength in other languages. The Icelandic form eitur is the common word for “poison”, while the Swedish form etter is a word for “venom”, as well as the full poetic meaning in dialectal and archaized language. The German form Eiter and the Dutch form etter are the common word for “pus”.

Its derivative, attery means "venomous", "poisonous" or "bitter". It is also found in compound nouns such as the now dialectal term for a spider attercop (literally "atter-top" or "atter-cup"), cognate with Norwegian: edderkop and Danish: edderkop, and atterlothe, meaning "an antidote to poison".

In Norse mythology

"Eitr" redirects here. For for the similarly named Norse dwarf, see Eitri.

Jörmungandr blowing atter on Thor during Ragnarök, fatally poisoning him. Painting by Emil Doepler, 1905.

In Norse mythology, atter (Old Norse: eitr) plays an important role in various contexts. In one instance in Gylfaginning, atter is dripped on Loki by a snake placed above him by Skaði. In another, it is blown by the worm Jörmungandr during Ragnarök, leading to the death of Thor. Also in Gylfaginning, atter is described as forming in Ginnungagap, which gave rise to the primordial being Ymir, as described by the jötunn Vafþrúðnir in Vafþrúðnismál:

Old Norse text	Bellows translation
Ór Élivágum stukku eitrdropar, svá óx, unz varð jötunn; þar eru órar ættir komnar allar saman; því er þat æ allt til atalt.	Down from Elivagar did atter drop, And waxed till a giant it was; And thence arose our giants' race, And thus so fierce are we found.

Bibliography

Primary

• Bellows, Henry Adam (2004). The poetic Edda: the mythological poems. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486437101.
• Sturluson, Snorri (2018). The Prose Edda. Translated by Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist. Franklin Classics Trade Press. ISBN 9780344335013.
• "Gylfaginning (Old Norse)". heimskringla.no. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
• "Vafþrúðnismál (Old Norse)". heimskringla.com. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
• "attery". OED. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
• "atterlothe". OED. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
• "atter/etter". Dictionary of the Scots language. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
• "attercop". OED. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
• "edderkopp". ordbøkene. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
• "edderkop". Den Danske Ordbog. Retrieved 21 December 2024.

Secondary

• Simek, Rudolf (2008). A Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Hall, Angela. BOYE6. ISBN 9780859915137.

External links

• Snorra-Edda: Gylfaginning