Etymology[edit]

The Old Norse compound word ragnarok has a long history of interpretation. Its first element is

clear: ragna, the genitive plural of regin (n. pl.) 'the ruling powers, gods.' The second element is
more problematic, as it occurs in two variants, -rök and -røkkr. Writing in the early 20th
century, philologist Geir Zoëga treats the two forms as two separate compounds,
glossing ragnarök as 'the doom or destruction of the gods' and ragnarøkkr as 'the twilight of the
gods.'[5] The plural noun rök has several meanings, including 'development', 'origin', 'cause', 'relation',
'fate.'[6] The word ragnarök as a whole is then usually interpreted as the 'final destiny of the gods.'[7]
The singular form ragnarøk(k)r is found in a stanza of the Poetic Edda poem Lokasenna, and in
the Prose Edda. The noun røk(k)r means 'twilight' (from the verb røkkva 'to grow dark'), suggesting a
translation 'twilight of the gods.' This reading was widely considered a result of folk etymology, or a
learned reinterpretation of the original term due to the merger of /ɔ/ (spelled ǫ) and /ø/ (spelled ø) in
Old Icelandic after c. 1200[8] (nevertheless giving rise to the calque Götterdämmerung 'Twilight of the
Gods' in the German reception of Norse mythology[9]).
Other terms used to refer to the events surrounding Ragnarök in the Poetic Edda include aldar
rök (aldar means age, 'end of an age') from a stanza of Vafþrúðnismál, tíva rök from two stanzas
of Vafþrúðnismál, þá er regin deyja ('when the gods die') from Vafþrúðnismál, unz um rjúfask
regin ('when the gods will be destroyed') from Vafþrúðnismál, Lokasenna, and Sigrdrífumál, aldar
rof ('destruction of the age') from Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, regin þrjóta ('end of the gods')
from Hyndluljóð, and, in the Prose Edda, þá er Muspellz-synir herja ('when the sons of Muspell move
into battle') can be found in chapters 18 and 36 of Gylfaginning.[7]