Elli

Old Norse Elli (f.)

Elli is a mythological name from Old Norse elli ‘old age’. In Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, Thor battles with Elli who here is a personification of old age in the guise of an old woman. Even the mighty Thor cannot defeat her!

The name Elli may be found as an element in some West Yorkshire place-names, but it cannot actually be distinguished from the Old English male personal name Ælla or Ælli.

Old Norse Name

Elli

Anglicised Name

Elli

Gender

Female

Features in Saga

Snorri Sturluson, Edda. trans. and ed. Anthony Faulkes. London: Everyman (1995), pp. 44-45.

Ascribed Culture

Collection

Viking Names

Keywords

female_name, male_name, mythology, personal-name, West_Yorkshire

Further information

References

Gillian Fellows Jensen, Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag (1968), pp. 77.

E.H. Lind, Norsk-isländska dopnamn ock fingerade namn från medeltiden. Uppsala: A.B. Lundequistska Bokhandel (1915), col. 232.