DúRNIR

'Dúrnir' was a dwarf who appears in three Old Norse skaldic poems, which suggests that he once was a well-known dwarf in Norse mythology.
The most notable poem is ''Ynglingatal'':

:En dagskjarr:Dúrnis niðja:salvörðuðr:Sveigði vétti,:þá er í stein:enn stórgeði:Dusla konr:ept dvergi hljóp,:ok salr bjartr:þeira Sökmímis:jötunbyggðr:við jöfri gein.[1][2]

:By Diurnir's elfin race,:Who haunt the cliffs and shun day's face,:The valiant Swegde was deceived,:The elf's false words the king believed.:The dauntless hero rushing on,:Passed through the yawning mouth of stone::It yawned -- it shut -- the hero fell,:In Saekmime's hall, where giants dwell.[3][4]

He also appears in a list of Dwarves in the anonymous ''Dverga heiti'':
:Alþjófr, austri,
:aurvangr ok dúfr,
:ái, andvari,
:ónn ok draupnir,
:dori ok dagfinnr,
:dulinn ok ónarr,
:alfr ok dellingr,
:óinn ok durnir.^[5]
The third poem is found in ''Laufás-Edda'':
:Kveða skal hróðr fyr hríðar
:hræ-blakks viðum sævar,
:drykkr var Durnis rekkum
:døkkr, ljósara nøkkvi.^[6]

Contents

Notes

Notes

1. ''Ynglinga saga'' at ''Norrøne Tekster og Kvad''
2. A second online presentation of ''Ynglingatal''
3. Laing's translation at the Internet Sacred Text Archive
4. Laing's translation at Northvegr
5. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages
6. At Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages