Who is Máni in Germanic mythology?
Máni is the Moon personified, described in the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda as the brother of the sun goddess Sól. Both texts say he and Sól are the children of a man named Mundilfari.
Questions about Máni
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the connection between Máni and Sól?
Máni and Sól are siblings; the Prose Edda's Skáldskaparmál calls Sól "sister of Máni," and the Vafþrúðnismál names Mundilfari as the father of them both.
Who are Hjúki and Bil in the story of Máni?
Hjúki and Bil are two children who follow Máni across the sky. According to the Prose Edda's Gylfaginning, Máni took them from the earth while they were fetching water from a well.
What happens to Máni at Ragnarök?
According to chapter 51 of Gylfaginning, Máni will be swallowed by one of two wolves chasing the heavenly bodies at Ragnarök.
What are the other names for the Moon linked to Máni?
Skáldskaparmál chapter 55 lists the names lune, waxer, waner, year-counter, clipped, shiner, gloam, hastener, squinter, and gleamer. Alvíssmál separately lists six names used by different beings, including "fiery one" among the gods and "the whirling wheel" in Hel.
Is Máni connected to the Man in the Moon legend?
Rudolf Simek connects Gylfaginning's account of Hjúki and Bil, described as "a man with a pole and a woman with a bushel," to modern Man in the Moon folklore in Scandinavia, England, and North Germany.