Naglfar

We’ve covered some Nordic folklore before, and their powerful myths on the blog before. One thing I find unique about this kind of folklore is how it relates to the human body. And, of course, ships are no exception. The Naglfar is the ship of the people of Musphelheim, and it has an interesting construction.

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The boat isn’t made of wood or other similar material. Instead, the Naglfar is wholly created from the fingernails and the toenails of the dead. Unsurprisingly, ‘Naglfar’ translates, roughly, to nail farer. Which, seems fitting.

In written folklore, the ship is described in the Voluspa as:

“The worm beats the water,

and the eagle screams:

the pale of beak tears carcases;

Naglfar is loosed.

That ship fares from the east:

come will Muspell's

people o'er the sea,

and Loki steers.”

The Naglfar was supposed to be the ship of the apocalypse. It is said that it will be under construction and expanded upon until the day of the apocalypse. So, you can imagine how truly full huge this nail ship would be. 

Perhaps this strange, terrifying legends holds a simple truth. You see, it was said that if you died with overgrown finger and toe nails those would be used in the construction. Since you never know when you’re going to die, you’d be wise to always have your fingernails and toenails shorn and tidy. In fact, it was believed human’s could slow down (or, speed up) by adding their own nails to the ship. 

Interestingly enough, toenail and fingernail folklore isn’t all that uncommon throughout the world. For example, throughout the world it is said the toenails and fingernails of a dead or dying person mixed together with wax and placed near the home of another would cause a sickness to fall upon that person’s home. In Korean culture, it is said you should not cut your toenails or fingernails at night because the rats will eat them off your floor and, because they have a piece of you, have the power to transform into you...and even take your soul.

Thank you to Ben S. for this blogstonishing suggestion!

The blog image is from flickr user Quinn Dombrowski and is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).