Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri
Nordri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri are the four dwarves in Norse mythology, which support the sky.
They are called in the Völuspá in Dvergatal as Erdzwerge. Their names come from the Old Norse and are derived from the names of the cardinal directions: Nordri of norðr 'North', Suðri of Sudr, South ', Austri from austr ' East ' and Vestri of vestr ' West '. The dwarves are evidently personifications of the four directions dar.
Each of them supports the sky, which consists of Ymir's skull, in the direction that corresponds to its name, so Nordri the north, and so on. The one Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning excludes:
" Toku Their house hans ok ok gerðu Thar af himin ok settu hann upp yfir jörðina með fjórum skautum, ok undir hvert horn settu Their dverg. Their heita SVA: Austri, Vestri, Nordri, Suðri ".
"They [the gods ] also took his [ Ymir ] skull, turned it into heaven and sat down at him four corners on the ground. And presented in each of these corners she a dwarf; they are called so. Austri, Westri, Nordri and Sudri "
Although these descriptive names act designed in view of the cosmic task: the idea of four dwarfs support the sky, is not a literary invention of Snorri Sturluson. It is mentioned in the 10th century in a song of Hallfreðr Óttarsson vandræðaskáld.
The dwarf names were accordingly used for descriptions of heaven. So Snorri Sturluson writes in Skáldskaparmál:
" Hvernig skal kenna himin? SVA, at kalla hann [ ... ] erfiði EDA byrði dverganna EDA Hjalm Vestra ok Austra, Sudra, Norðra, [ ... ] SVA KVAD Arnórr jarlaskáld: [ ... ] Björt displ sól at svartri, sökkr fold í mar dökkvan, brestr erfiði Austra allr glymr sjár á Fjöllum. "
"How to describe the sky? - By him [ ... ] trouble or burden of the Dwarves and roof Westris, Austris, Sudris or Nordris [ calls ]. [ ... ] So wrote Arnor, the skald of Jarle: [ ... ] The shining sun is black, the earth sinks into the dark sea, Austris load bursts, the whole sea roars over the mountains. "
Their names are also mentioned in the Þulur as a dwarf name.