In Germanic mythology, Myrkviðr (Old Norse "dark wood"Simek (2007:224) or "black forest"Gentry (2002:101–102)) is the name of several European forests.
The direct derivatives of the name occur as a place name both in Sweden and Norway. Related forms of the name occur elsewhere in Europe, such as in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), and may thus be a general term for dark and dense forests of ancient Europe.Bugge (1896:65).Chadwick (1922:201)
The name was anglicised by Sir Walter Scott (in Waverley) and William Morris (in The House of the Wolfings) and later popularized by J. R. R. Tolkien as "Mirkwood".
Etymology The word myrkviðr is a compound of two words. The first element is myrkr "dark", which is cognate to, among others, the English adjectives mirky and murky.Bjorvand and Lindeman (2007:770) The second element is viðr "wood, forest".Cleasby and Vigfusson (1874:703)
Attestations The name is attested as a mythical local name of a forest in the Poetic Edda poem Lokasenna, and the heroic poems Atlakviða, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Hlöðskviða, and in prose in Fornmanna sögur, Flateyjarbók, Hervarar Saga, Ála flekks saga.Cleasby and Vigfusson (1874:549)
The localization of Myrkviðr varies by source: The Ore Mountains in the writings of Thietmar of Merseburg. The forests north of the Ukrainian steppe during the time of the Goths and the Huns in the Norse Hervarar saga The forest that separates the Huns from the Burgundians Kolmården ("the dark forest"), in Sweden, in Sögubrot and in legends such as that of Helge Hundingsbane The forest south of Uppsala in Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa (the present remnant of this forest is called Lunsen) Uncertain locations, such as in the Völundarkviða, where it is probably located elsewhere in Scandinavia (Weyland is here described as a Finnish prince, which would make him a Saami prince). Stanza 1 (on the swan maidens):
Mythological. In other sources, such as the Poetic Edda, e.g. Lokasenna, the location seems to be between Asgard and Muspelheim, as Muspell's sons ride through it at Ragnarök. Stanza 42:
Theories
J. R. R. Tolkien comments on Myrkviðr in a letter to his eldest grandson:
Regarding the forests, Francis Gentry comments that "in the Norse tradition 'crossing the Black Forest' came to signify penetrating the barriers between one world and another, especially the world of the gods and the world of fire, where Surt lives [...]."
Modern influence
Myrkviðr was first anglicized as Mirkwood by Sir Walter Scott in Waverley, followed by William Morris in A Tale of the House of the Wolfings from 1888, and later by J. R. R. Tolkien in his fiction.
See also Járnviðr Hercynian Forest, an ancient forest of southern Germany Miriquidi
Notes
References
Bugge, Sophus (1896). Helge-digtene i den Ældre Edda. G. E. C. Gad Bjordvand, Harald; Lindeman, Fredrik Otto (2007). Våre arveord. Novus.
Carpenter, Humphrey (1981). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. London: Allen & Unwin Chadwick, Nora K. (1922). Anglo-Saxon and Norse poems. Cambridge: The University press Cleasby, Richard; Vigfusson, Gudbrand (1874). Icelandic–English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer.