Are Vár and Vör distinct goddesses or different names for the same goddess?
My current understanding is that the characteristics Snorri attributes to Vör are actually further attributes of Vár. It seems I have some scholarly support for my experientially-based belief that Vör is not a separate goddess. Simek’s Dictionary of Northern Mythology states that: “Vör occurs only twice otherwise [apart from the mention in Snorri’s Edda] in kennings for ‘woman’ and it is not certain whether she really was a goddess and if Snorri’s etymological explanation (from vorr ‘careful’) is correct.” Cassel’s Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend notes of Vör: “Snorri’s etymologizing interpretation is scarcely profound, and may imply that he had no access to further material; certainly references to Vör in the written records are extremely scarce.
