Vár

From Old Norse Vár.

Vár f

1. a female given name, of Old Norse origin

Matronymics

• son of Vár: Várarson
• daughter of Vár: Várardóttir

• Vǫ́r

Related to várar f pl (“vows, contracts”). Perhaps from the feminine form Proto-Germanic *wēraz, *wērijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁ros (“true”).

Vár f (genitive Várar)

1. A female deity of the Norse pantheon associated with the making of oaths, pledges or agreements.
   • c. 1220, Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning of the Prose Edda, trans. by Anthony Faulkes; London: Everyman 1995 (→ISBN), chapter 35.

     Níunda Vár, hon hlýðir á eiða manna ok einkamál, er veita sín á milli konur ok karlar. Því heita þau mál várar. Hon hefnir ok þeim, er brigða.

     Var: she listens to people's oaths and private agreements that women and men make between each other. Thus these contracts are called varar. She also punishes those who break them.