Winifred Hodge Rose
Anglo-Saxon sefa, seofa; Old Saxon sebo; Old Norse sefi; all of them with the meaning of “mind, spirit, understanding, heart.” The Old Norse word sefi also has the meaning of ‘a relative’.
Shaping our Understanding of Sefa
Related words:
Gothic sifan = to rejoice, be glad.
Anglo-Saxon sifian, seofian = to sigh or lament (also modern German seufzen = to sigh or groan).
Old Saxon aseffan, Old High German intseffan, Anglo-Saxon anseffian = to grasp, to understand, to be aware of. Eggers considers that the original meaning of sebo was: using one’s senses to establish what is real (p. 10).
Old Saxon af-sebbian and Middle High German beseben = to notice, perceive, observe.
Old Norse sefa = to quieten, to calm down, soothe, reassure, set one’s mind at rest, also to bring into awareness.
Old Norse Goddess name Sjofn.
Possible Roots
I haven’t found a definite root for sefa, but I believe that the etymology of ‘sib’ gives us some clues. In particular, the Proto-Indo-European root *s(w)e-bho as an “enlargement of the word ‘self’” (Online Etymology Dictionary for ‘sibling’) brings us very close to Old Saxon sebo (the ‘b’ is crossed and indicates a ‘bh’ sound). DeVries suggests a possible linkage between Sjofn, the Goddess-name Sif, and the word sefi (p. 479, 467), while at the same time, the Goddess-name Sif / Sippe / Sibbe is known to stem from the same root as ‘sib’ or relative. Simek says that Snorri in his Gylfaginning derives the name and meaning of the Goddess Sjofn from sefi = which means both ‘sense’ and ‘relation’ (p. 286).
In Old English, sibb meant ‘kinship, relationship, love, friendship, peace, happiness’. (Basically, the same meanings as the rune Wunjo, which we’ll return to later.) Proto-Germanic *sibja meant literally ‘one’s own’, a blood relation. Sib-related words indicating ‘relationship’ occur in all the old and modern Germanic languages (though interestingly, our modern word and meaning of ‘sibling’ was coined less than 100 years ago, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. That makes me feel more secure with the word my family has coined: ‘niblings’ to refer to ‘nieces and nephews’ collectively! Thus, we get together with siblings and niblings.)
Considering the soul-like nature of Sefa: ‘mind, spirit, understanding, heart’, it seems very logical to me to trace the roots of this word back to PIE *s(w)e-bho, a word extended from the personal pronoun *s(w)e, the root of ‘self’ as well as ‘that which belongs to oneself’, namely one’s relatives, friends and beloved ones. The Old English and modern word ‘swain’ / Norse sveinn, comes from this root as well, meaning basically ‘the man belonging to someone’. Thus, a swain is a suitor or boyfriend, and in older meanings a page, squire, manservant. In a looser sense, ‘swains’ was a term used for young men belonging in a group or cohort of some kind. Relationships and belonging are the domains of the Goddesses Sjofn and Sif / Sippe / Sibbe.
The basic meaning I derive for Sefa is thus “our self, with its abilities to sense, notice, perceive and understand, and that which is connected to our self through relationship, love and affection.” The meanings related to awareness, noticing, paying attention to, as well as soothing and quieting, which I listed above, are all faculties of our Self that are needed to promote strong relationships between people who understand one another well, pay attention to and care for one another.
I associate the word ‘caring’ in all its meanings with Sefa, along with the perceptive insights that are gained from sincerely caring about others. A nutshell-meaning of Sefa, to me, is ‘the one who cares’ within ourselves, whether that caring is related to people or other beings or things, or to any kind of situation or idea that one may care about. This includes the meaning of ‘cares’ as ‘worries, sorrows, concerns,’ as well as the meaning of caring for someone or something, and caring about anything. Sefa is the energy and the link between our self and whatever we care about, whether concrete (like another person, or the environment) or abstract (like the ideas of justice, beauty, kindness, honor).
Some Examples of Sefa in Old Texts
Rigsthula 44: Rig knew runes that could ‘soothe and pacify Sefa, lay sorrows (to rest).’ (Sefa of svefja, sorgir laegja; Jonsson p. 163).
Gylfaginning: In the tale where Thor visits a peasant family and slaughters his goats for a meal for all of them, the son, Thjalfi, cracked one of the bones for the marrow. In the morning, Thor raised his Hammer over the goats, hallowing them and bringing them back to life, but when he saw that one of them was limping he became furious or ‘modhr’, cast into a state of raging Mod. But when he saw the terror of the family, “he left off his modhr and ‘sefadiz’”: he entered into his Sefa with its kind and soothing nature; he calmed himself and accepted compensation. (Edda pp. 37-8)
Heliand l. 582: When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she had conceived Jesus, she understood him ‘in her own Sebo,’ a heart-deep perception and profound caring. Joseph ‘afsuof’ or ‘perceived’ that Mary was pregnant (l. 93).
Havamal v. 57 (56 in translation): “Moderately wise a person should be, never too wise; he who wishes a carefree Sefi should not know his orlog (fate) beforehand.”
Verse 104 (105 in translation): Odin gave Gunnlodh ill repayment for her hale Hugr (heila hugar), for her sorrowful Sefa, when he stole the mead of poetry, after seducing her away from her guardianship of the mead.
Beowulf ll 49-50: ‘He experienced grieving Sefa, mourning Mod.’ (Him waes geomor sefa, murnende mod.)
Ll. 277-8: ‘That I may through (my) broad / spacious / abundant Sefa offer rede to Hrothgar.”
L. 473: “It is sorrow to me to say from my Sefa…”.
Other places in Beowulf describe people’s Sefa as grim or savage.
Ll. 1841-2:“The wise drighten (the Christian God, according to the poet) has sent these words into your Sefa.”
Ll. 489-90: Hrothgar says to Beowulf: “Sit now to sumble (feast), let go of constraint, you who rejoice in victory: speak as your Sefa whets / urges you.” (Site nu to symle, ond onseal meoto, sige-hredh secgum, swa thin sefa hwette.)
I like the last quotation from Beowulf. Here, hospitable King Hrothgar is telling Beowulf how welcome he is; he doesn’t need to guard himself among these strangers, but can let go of constraints and relax. He and his words and thoughts are welcome at this festive gathering. (It actually turns out that Hrothgar is wrong: during the feast Beowulf is challenged about his deeds and reputation by Unferhth (whose name means ‘not-ferhth’, not-wise). So Beowulf actually still needed to keep his guard up, but good old Hrothgar’s heart was in the right place!)
We can see from these various quotations that Sefa feels not only positive emotions, but negative ones too, including worry, sorrow, sometimes even grimness and savagery. I think that all of these emotions can be tied to ‘caring about something.’ When something you love or care greatly about is threatened or lost, you may become worried, sorrowful, grim, even savage in reaction to what happened: these emotions grow out of the fundamental emotion of caring.
Here is a picture of the purest, fullest expression of Sefa that I can think of: Sefa is what fills your heart to overflowing at the moment when you first hold your longed-for newborn child or grandchild close against your chest, where your Sefa soul resides. Relationship, kinship, tenderness, love, attentive care, whole-hearted commitment: these are the blessings of Sefa.
Sjofn, Sif and their Companions
Snorri Sturlason, in his Gylfaginning (35; p. 30) tells us that the Asynja or Aesir-goddess Sjofn “is much concerned to direct people’s minds to love, both women and men. It is from her name that affection is called siafni.” Simek suggests that “Sjofn is a goddess of marriage and love, or else one of relationships, and is one of several goddesses named by Snorri who are matron-like guardian goddesses” (p. 286). I like his last point: Sjofn not only inclines one toward love, friendship, and loving attitudes toward one’s kin, but also helps to ward the relationship and keep it strong. I see her as a ‘daughter’ or hypostasis of Frigg, whose name means ‘Beloved’ and who is focused on marriage and family ties, among many other things.
Sjofn’s sister-Goddess Lofn helps bring about marriages and relationships even when many obstacles stand in the way. (As a Heathen, I would give Lofn great credit for the progress that has been made in legalizing same-sex unions.) The Goddess Var hears the oaths and private agreements that men and women make to each other, and punishes those who break them. Vor is the Goddess of Awareness, which ties in with our Sefa’s awareness and concern for whatever it cares about.
The Goddess Sif’s name itself means ‘related, relative’, connected to the plural ON word sifjar meaning one’s relations, family, kindred. The German word Sippe is the same: kinship, consanguinity, family, relatives, kith and kin; also the word for a genus (one step higher than a species) in biological terminology. There is a lovely adjective used of Queen Wealhtheow in Beowulf: she is called frithu-sibb folca, the frith-sib of the folk (l. 2017). Heathen frith is the outgrowth of strong relationships; it is woven from the mutual trust and support that healthy interrelationships foster among us. Sif is the mother of Ullr and Thrud, the wife of Thor, the stepmother of Magni and Modi. I like to think of Sif as the frith-sib of all Heathen folk, related and relating to us all as a kinswoman and a leader in the kindly arts of weaving frith-relationships among us.
The Goddess Frigg, whose name means ‘beloved’, is a promoter of frith: the fabric of healthy relationships that support a peaceful family or community, where mutual obligations, responsibilities, commitments, and benefits are acknowledged and acted upon. Frigg’s assistant or her emanation, Hlin, is a Goddess of protection and refuge, something that Sefa is sometimes in need of during the turbulent interactions of the outside world. Sefa, in turn, longs to protect those it loves, and provide a home-like refuge for them: duties that Hlin can help with.
The whole matter of ‘relationships’ is both challenging and of utmost importance to humans, and it is no surprise that a whole team of Goddesses is needed to deal with the challenges and promote the rewards of relationship! I would say that it is our Sefa soul through which all these Goddesses work, and through which we relate to them, at least with respect to our relationships and the skills of perception that are needed for this. And I would say the same for our own Disir / Idesa / Matron-Goddesses: promoting and defending the ties, obligations and rewards of any kind of kinship or relationship is a major focus of theirs.
Vulnerability of Sefa
It becomes clear, as we learn more about Sefa, that it is naturally a tender, affectionate inner self, the one within ourselves that we would call warm-hearted and kindly, who feels that we are ‘kindred spirits’ with another person. It is from Sefa that we have our capacity for empathy, sympathy, understanding, and commitment.
I think that when the old texts talk about a warrior’s ‘grim or savage Sefa’, these warriors have had to harden and encapsulate their originally tender, childhood Sefa as a result of their brutal life experiences. Sefa is vulnerable because of its tenderness and warmth, its desire for loving and affectionate relationships. As we well know, the ‘world out there’ can be very cruel, threatening and manipulative toward this innermost, tender part of ourselves, seeking to take advantage of it.
Our vulnerable Sefa needs a warder, and in fact it has two of them: our Hugr and our Mod souls, who interact with Sefa in subtly different ways. Here are some quotations showing Hugr’s relationship with Sefa.
Havamal v. 94 (v. 95 in translation): Hugr alone knows that which lives near the heart; he alone knows sefa. (Hugr einn that veit, es byr hjarta naer, einn es han ser of sefa.)
Havamal v. 161: I know a sixteenth (rune or spell-song): if I wish of a woman to have her gedh (attention, awareness, consideration) and play, I turn (away) the hugi of the white-armed woman, and shift / turn all her sefa (toward me). (That kank sextanda, ef vilk hins svinna mans hafa gedh alt ok gaman, hugi hverfik hvitarmri konu, ok snyk hennar ollum sefa.)
(For more discussion of these verses and of Hugr’s involvement in love and relationship, see my article Who is Hugr?)
These verses tell us that Hugr is very close to, and very aware of, our Sefa. Hugr also loves, and desires friendship and trust, and I believe that it is the close connection between our Hugr soul and our Sefa that causes this desire to arise within our Hugr. Hugr, however, is not by nature tender and vulnerable, as Sefa is. Hugr is strong and wily, courageous and deep-thinking. One of its important soul-functions is that of the Warder, who can to an extent foresee or intuit what is coming toward us, and who has very good insight into the inner motives and intentions of others. Hugr can warn us, and bring to our attention that things may not be as they seem to be on the surface; Hugr guides us into deep, hidden knowledge. In the second verse I quoted above, we see that the woman, warded by her Hugr, could not be unwillingly seduced unless the seducer used a spell to turn her Hugr away from its warding function, leaving her tender Sefa vulnerable to the wiles of the seducer.
Our Sefa can become hardened and grim, no longer warm and tender, due to the cruel pressures of life. I think that when this happens, it means that the Hugr is not well-connected with Sefa, and is not doing its job of warding Sefa’s essential nature. Hugr can itself be a grim, manipulative and cynical soul, and in fact it is the Hugr within an ill-meaning person who preys on other people’s Sefas. When Hugr is like this, it likely doesn’t appreciate or care about its own Sefa, and doesn’t work to ward it. The appreciation and desire for love, friendship and kinship that should naturally flow from Sefa into Hugr is instead blocked and crushed, causing an overall hardening of the person’s character and souls.
People fall into this situation because they fear for their tender emotions; they know these emotions can be disappointed, abused, mocked, threatened, exploited. But it is a mistake to try to deaden these emotions and desires as a way to protect oneself. A Heathen conception of soul lore can teach us that it is possible to have a thriving, warm-hearted, loving Sefa within us, in spite of all the threats from the outside world, as long as our Hugr does its job of warding Sefa.
Hugr has good judgement and clear sight. It can tell us when it is safe to reveal our Sefa and pursue its desire for relationship, versus Sefa needing to stay sequestered and protected inside ourselves while strong and wily Hugr takes care of any outer defense we might need. Awareness of both these souls will help us to live a life well-balanced between open-hearted, trusting relationships on the one hand, versus a well-protected inner self, aware of the many pitfalls within human society, on the other. This is not all up to Hugr to do, however: Sefa’s ability to perceive and be aware of others should feed into Hugr’s strategic decisions.
There is another way that Hugr and Sefa are connected: through ancestral ties. In my understanding, our ancestral spirits, the Alfar and Disir, are the Hugr-souls of our departed kin. The Hugr-soul within us is also likely to be a reincarnated soul, connecting us with past lives and relationships. (See Who is Hugr? and Hunting the Wild Hugr.) Hugr and Sefa are both souls who desire and value kinship and close relationships, and their interaction and mutual support helps us pursue these desires in healthy and successful ways. (For more discussion of Hugr’s warding of Sefa, see the Study Guide: Sefa, Hugr and Mod Together.)
Modsefa / Modsebo
Modsefa in Anglo-Saxon is translated as “heart, mind, spirit, soul, thought, imagination, purpose, character.” Old Saxon modsebo is very similar. As far as I know, this word-combination was not used in Old Norse or Gothic, languages where the word ‘mod’ was not developed into such soulful meanings as it was in the Saxon-root languages and Old High German.
The words modsefa and modsebo are widely used in Old Saxon and Anglo-Saxon texts, often as an indication of ‘where’, within oneself, emotions and thoughts are occurring, the way we would say ‘in my heart, in my mind’ about some thought or feeling. The Modsefa often seems to be the ‘place’ where Mod ‘does things’ within ourselves. In the Heliand, a person speaks of holding enmity against another ‘in his Modsebo.’ Elsewhere, it says that a priest ‘in his Modsebo never forgot God.’ In Beowulf, when describing the people’s desperate prayer to the Gods to protect them from Grendel, the Christian poet mocks the Heathens’ belief in their Gods by saying “that was their custom, their heathen hope: they were mindful (gemundon) of hell in their Modsefas” (ll. 178-80).
Modsefa also seems to refer to character and reputation. Some examples from Beowulf: in speaking of a prince, ‘his Modsefa was known by many’ (l. 349). Likewise, Beowulf says that ‘as soon as Hrothgar knew his Modsefa’, Hrothgar offered him great hospitality (l. 2012).
The textual evidence we have seems to show little difference between the meanings of Mod itself (see my article Dances with Daemons for detailed discussion of Mod) and Modsefa, but I must assume that originally these words did not have identical meanings. I have an interpretation of Modsefa, however, that fits into the theme of this exploration of Sefa.
I have not come across texts in Angelseax or Old Saxon that show any great connection between Hugr and Sefa, in the way we see it in Old Norse; no special indication that Hugr is considered the warder of Sefa. In place of that understanding, I propose that in the Saxon-root languages ‘modsefa’ originally meant the Mod-soul linked with Sefa, in a relationship with Sefa, that parallels the Norse relationship between Hugr and Sefa. There are many parallels between the Norse understanding of Hugr, and the ways the rest of the Germanic folk understood Mod, a subject I will pursue in another article.
Mod and Hugr have much the same qualities of courage and strength, strategic intelligence, determination and will. Both of them can bring these qualities to bear, to protect our Sefa and give it room to grow and express itself safely. In turn, Sefa can pour out its drive toward relationships, trust, and kinship through both Hugr and Mod, so these drives can be put judiciously into action.
Hugr is well-known as a warder and advisor spirit in Scandinavian lore, so the understanding that it can ward our Sefa flows naturally from that. Mod is not known as a warder; it is more our ‘inner self’, in many ways, our persona or ego. But, as I discussed in Dances with Daemons, Mod is thought to originally have been an independent nature-spirit or power, which expressed itself in the form of overbearing strength and rage, a state-of-being also called ‘mod.’ This powerful spirit gradually became incorporated into the human soular-system (and that of other beings, too), bringing its powers with it. Those powers are primitive and amoral, originally; they are not shaped or controlled by human ethics, customs, emotions and values.
I think that as Mod became incorporated with our other souls and our Sefa, our Mod-sefa developed as a bridge between the original Mod-daemon and our human, and humanizing, Sefa-self. This bridge is the Modsefa-space referred to in the old texts, the place where the blended emotions and thoughts of both Mod and Sefa reside.
I see Modsefa as a buffer zone between Sefa’s warm-hearted caring, the world of the heart, and Mod’s powerful will and drive to achieve in the world: the world of the hand, if you will, the world of action. Thanks to Mod’s strong actions, directed by Modsefa, Sefa can express its caring into the world of actions and deeds. Thanks to Sefa’s goodness and value for healthy relationships, Mod’s actions can be shaped through Modsefa to promote, rather than damage, these goals of relatedness and caring. Without Sefa and Modsefa, Mod alone would pursue its own will and power without concern for the consequences to others.
There’s a nice instance in Beowulf that shows the power of the blended Mod and Sefa. As Beowulf was battling the dragon, facing his death, his war-band was too frightened to join him, except for young Wiglaf. Even though Wiglaf was facing his first battle, ‘his modsefa did not melt within him’ (l. 2628) as he armed himself and approached the dragon.
The word ‘melt’ is very telling, to me, because I think that ‘melting’ is something that Sefa does. Under the power of overwhelming love and tenderness, Sefa melts and flows outwards, meeting the flow of Sefa coming forth from the other one toward whom one feels love, to blend together in frith and kinship and powerful bonding. Melting is good under the right circumstances, but not when one is facing a deadly dragon!
Wiglaf loved his lord, Beowulf, and was also kin to him. He was furious that the other thanes stood back from the battle. It was Wiglaf’s Sefa and his care for his lord, along with his stalwart character, that motivated him to face the dragon by Beowulf’s side, and to deal with the consequences of Beowulf’s death from the dragon. His Mod and his Sefa blended together: love and strength, character and courage, to act as an honorable thane when everyone else was holding back. His Mod and his Sefa were engaged together, and his Modsefa did not melt.
Another instance of Sefa modifying Mod can be seen in the tale of Modthryth that I discuss in Dances with Daemons: The Mod Soul. Modthryth (“glory of Mod”) was a cruel and selfish princess who engaged in horrid deeds until she was married to the great king Offa. After that she mellowed, loved her spouse, and became a fine and generous queen. I would attribute this change to the uprising of her Sefa-soul as the result of a loving marriage. Sefa, in turn, softened her brutal Mod-soul, and her Modsefa became a true meeting-ground for Sefa and Mod together, leading to her generous activities as queen. (Beowulf ll. 1931-66).
Both Hugr and Mod serve, in their subtly different ways, to buffer and protect our tender inner self, our Sefa, the root within us of the desire for good relationships and for a world where people care deeply about good things and work to bring them about. At the same time, Sefa encourages Hugr and Mod to value and pursue good relationships. Hugr is Sefa’s warder, advising Sefa of potential dangers and standing forth to protect it when necessary. Mod is Sefa’s strength-in-action. Our Modsefa is (or should be) a seat of inner wisdom, healthy emotion, and sound character. It is backed by Mod’s strength and will, and Sefa’s gentle wisdom of the heart.
The Wunjo Rune
The Wynn / Wunjo Rune seems tailor-made to express the values of Sefa. The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem tells us: Wynn is enjoyed / possessed by those who want for little, (without) sorrows and cares, and themselves have joy and bliss, and enough of a ‘burg’ (a protected place or dwelling) (my translation). In Anglo-Saxon, the word ‘wynn’ meant: joy, rapture, pleasure, delight, gladness. It’s the root of the word ‘winsome’: pleasant, delightful, joyful, merry, that includes also a sense of innocence within the joy, a joy which is untarnished, whole and hale. Many other words in Anglo-Saxon are based on this lovely word, wynn. Diana Paxson, in her analysis of Wunjo, speaks of the happiness it brings as something that comes from relationships and community, and from our celebration of these ties (p. 90). The relationship-gifts of Sjofn and Sif, and their sister-Goddesses, bring frith and security in all their forms, and the joy and contentment that arise from these things.
The ‘protected space’, the burg, spoken of in the Wynn-rune poem points toward our Hugr as the warder of our Sefa, with Hugr as the burg, and Sefa as the joy within. It also points toward our Mod and Modsefa, who provide a safe and lovely space within which our Sefa can interact with others and pour its caring attention out into the world. When our Sefa is well warded and supported by our other powerful souls, it is enabled to share its loving care, its joy and delight, its goodwill and kinship, judiciously and to best effect.
In working with Sefa and its warders, consider making a bindrune of Wynn / Wunjo, along with Mannaz and Uruz. Mannaz can represent the Hugr, as a mind-rune, and one that tells us that ‘man is the joy of man’ (humans derive joy from other humans), which ties in well with Wunjo. And Uruz, the Aurochs, the ‘mody wight,’ can stand for Mod: the courageous aurochs fighting to defend its territory. Meditating and working with the three of them together is helpful to further understand and develop Sefa, Mod and Hugr, and their life-supporting interactions.
Summary
Sefa is essentially our inner Self, and engages closely in relationships with family and kin, spouse and other romantic relationships, with friends and community. It is aware, perceptive, understanding and caring, and uses those qualities to enhance its relationships. These qualities support relationships, but also make Sefa vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation, and vulnerable to developing hardness and cynicism if abused for too long. Sefa is, or should be, warded by our Hugr soul, who cares about many of the same things that Sefa does, but has a tougher, wilier makeup and serves as our spirit-warder and spirit-advisor, involved in protecting our tender inner Self. Our Mod-soul and our Sefa are also closely connected, creating between them our Modsefa, which combines the qualities of both souls. Meditation on the Wunjo rune can open up insights into our Sefa.
For more about Sefa, see my articles The Arising of the Self; Sefa-Soul: The Channel of Compassion; Sefa and the Mystery of Compassion, and Study Guides 11 & 12.
Bookhoard
Berr, Samuel. An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand. Herbert Lang & Co., Berne, Switzerland, 1971.
Chickering, Howell D. Jr., transl. Beowulf. Dual language edition. Doubleday, N.Y. 1977.
deVries, Jan. Altnordisches Etymologisches Worterbuch. E.J. Brill, Leiden, Holland, 1961.
Eggers, Hans. “Altgermanische Seelenvorstellungen im Lichte des Heliand.” Jahrbuch des Vereins fur Niederdeutsche Sprachforschung 1957 / 80. Karl Wacholtz Verlag, Neumunster, Germany.
Hall, J.R. Clark, with supplement by Herbert D. Merritt. A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th Edition. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada, 1960.
Kone, J.R., ed. Heliand: Das Lied vom Leben Jesu. Druck und Verlag der Theissing’schen Buchhandlung, Munster, Germany, 1855. Note: in this edition the half-lines are numbered, rather than the full-lines. Thus, if you want to match my line numbers to a different edition, you will need to divide the line numbers by two, which will give the approximate location in the text.
Jonsson, Finnur. De Gammle Eddadigte. G.E.C. Gads Forlag, Kobenhavn, Denmark, 1932.
Larrington, Carolyne, transl. The Poetic Edda, revised edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2014. (Includes Havamal and Rigsthula.)
Paxson, Diana L. Taking Up the Runes: A Complete Guide to Using Runes in Spells, Rituals, Divination, and Magic. Weiser Books, York Beach ME. 2005.
Sibling: https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=sibling
Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Transl. Angela Hall. D. S. Brewer, Cambridge. 1993.
Skeat, W.W. A Moeso-Gothic Glossary. Asher & Co., London, UK, 1868.
Sturlason, Snorri. Edda, transl. & ed. Anthony Faulkes. Everyman, Rutland, Vermont, 1987. (Includes Gylfaginning.)
Watkins, Calvert. The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 3rd edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston MA. 2011
This article was first published on this website, 10/2020. Revised May 2021.