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In Norse mythology, Lævateinn is a weapon mentioned in the Poetic Edda poem Fjölsvinnsmál. The name Lævateinn does not appear in the original manuscript reading, but is an emendation from Hævateinn made by Sophus Bugge and others. The amended name Lævateinn is etymologically considered to be a kenning for a sword (Old Norse "damage twig").
Contents
Fjölsvinnsmál
The weapon is mentioned briefly in the poem Fjölsvinnsmál:
Bellows comments that Lægjarn means "Lover of Ill" and, like the name Lopt, refers to Loki.
Theories
Late 19th and early 20th century scholar Henry Adams Bellows translates Lævateinn as 'wounding wand' and says that "the suggestion that the reference is to the mistletoe with which Baldr was killed seems hardly reasonable."
Leszek Gardeła theorized that the weapon was a magic staff, tein, meaning 'twig', being part of the general word for magic staff gambantein.