--- In norse_course@..., <lazarus@...> wrote:

> 'Mard-' is a conjugated form of 'Merja' according to one of my
> Icelandic sources which means 'Squeeze'.
> '-öll' is a conjugated form of 'Allur' which means 'All'.
> This makes the possible interpretation (if not translation) of the
> word Mardöll to be 'Squeezes-All', which in relation to Freyja
> would make sense if it were a reference to her freedom with sexual
> partners - as in: 'One who embraces everyone she meets'.

Sounds like you've got something there that everybody else has
missed. However, the meaning would have to be much stronger,
because 'merja' doesn't really mean "squeeze", but rather "crush,
squash, bruise". It is derived from the noun 'mar', meaning "bruise".
The core meaning of 'merja' is actually "to crush someone so that the
flesh is bruised". The victim is then 'marinn', i.e. "bruised". So we
have 'marð-öll' = "she-who-is-black-and-blue-all-over", or perhaps
"she-who-embraces-her-lovers-so-hard-that-they-turn-black-and-blue-
all-over". Sounds as if Freyja likes a bit of rough, eh?

The mar-word is also found in 'mara' = "an incubus, a demon who
tramples crushes people in their beds at night". I believe this is
where you get your word "night-mare" (i.e. night-crusher). In Icel.
the nightmare is called 'martröð' ('mar'-treading). I seem to recall
that both incubi and succubi are creatures of highly sexual nature,
so your etymology indicates that Freyja may have a hidden side to
her nature, hitherto unsuspected by most. Well, she did get up to
some weird stuff with those midgets, but I always thought that was
just a tall tale ...

Regards
Pelle