Norse Myth

Sources Norse myths existed only in oral form while they were central to religious belief. They were only written down after Northern Europe had become Christian. So we have new problems with our primary sources: no coherent body of literature showing the myths and legends possible alteration due to the influence of Christianity “fictionalization” of stories which originally had religious importance. Plus: a wide time span, wide geographical range, and many different sub-cultures in one collection of mythology.

Sources Snorri Sturlesson: The Prose Edda. A narrative of many different adventures of the Norse gods, but presented as a fictional account, sometimes almost humorous. It is the closest we have to an overview/ collection of Norse myth, but often untraditional, and has echoes of intellectual (Greek/Roman) & Christian traditions (e.g., he connects Thor with Troy).

Poetic Eddas: Traditional songs, which often refer to mythic incidents, usually just individual adventures. Skaaldic songs: poems in honor of human accomplishments, with occasional references to myth, sometimes very cryptic. Sources

Creation In the south was a land of fire; in the north was a land of ice. They met in the great emptiness of Ginnungagap, and the ice began to melt. From the melting ice came a huge giant, Ymir. The first man and woman grew from under his arms. The frost- giants grew from his feet. Ymir fed on the milk of a cow, which licked another creature, an man named Bur, from the ice.

Creation Bur’s grandsons, Odin and 2 others, killed Ymir and made the world from his parts: his skull became the sky his eyebrows formed a barrier between the world of men and the world of giants his blood became sea and lakes his bones became the mountains The world was divided into several parts: Utgard, the home of the giants Midgard, the land of humans Asgard, the home of the Aesir Hel, home of the dead The world tree or tree of life, Yggdrasill, extended between all of these lands. At its foot in Asgard was the well od Urd, where the Norns lived, three women who oversee fate.

The Gods The Norse gods are divided into two races: Aesir and Vanir. Aesir are dominant; they are the gods most associated with heroic tales, conflict with giants, warfare, and the beginning and end of the world. Vanir tend to be fertility deities; there are fewer of them. Dwell on Earth

The Vanir: or earth gods Njord: a god of the sea and seafaring Freyr: a god of crop fertility and twin brother to Freyja. Has a sword that can fight by itself Earth diety The boar is his symbol The Vanir

Freyja Goddess of love, sexuality, and crop fertility Twin sister of Frey Leader of the Valkyries She takes some of the dead warriors for herself Has a chariot drawn by cats

Odin Odin is chief of the gods a multifaceted, mysterious, often deceptive god – can change his shape. A list of some of his names hints at his complex nature: The Hooded one, the Warrior, Helmet-god, the High one, the Blind one, Capricious, Inflamer, Weak- eyes, Fiery-eyed, Evil-doer, Father of Victory, The One with the Magic Staff, the Gelding, Feeder, Destroyer, Terror, Wind, God of Men.

Odin God of Wisdom: Odin has only one eye. He gave up the other to drink from the fountain of Mimir (memory/knowledge) in Utgard. So he has one eye on this world, one eye in another realm of knowledge. Odin has two ravens, Hugin and Munin (“Thought” and “Memory”) who bring him news from all over the world. His wisdom can be trickiness or betrayal. War god: He is god of the kings in battle. He can inspire battle-terror (magical binding of the will,) as well as the battle frenzy of the berserker.

Odin As a god of death: Odin rides and 8-legged horse, Sleipnir, which represents the bier of the dead man, and the passage between worlds. He presides over the “wild ride.” He presides over Valhalla, where the heroic dead killed in battle go to spend eternity fighting and partying. The Valkyries, goddesses who come down to the battlefield to bring up the souls of the dead, are Odin’s assistants. Odin’s wandering, one-eyed “double vision,” and shamanic connections, also associate him with the permeable border between living and dead.

Frig/Frigga/Frea Mother Goddess Wife of Odin Weaves clouds She knows events in the present and future, but is powerless to change them

Thor Thor is the foremost of the gods. He is called Aesir- Thor or Charioteer-Thor. He is the strongest of all gods and men. He has three valuable properties: The first is the hammer Mjollnir, which the frost- giants recognize the moment it is raised on high! {The second is his belt of strength, the third is his iron gloves.} Sturlesson, Prose Edda Thor’s hammer was a popular good luck talisman in Northern Europe, even in Christian times.

Thor Thor is a storm god, a thunder god. Thunder was caused either by his hammer, or by the wheels of his chariot, which was pulled by goats. (The goats had a magical property: they could be roasted and eaten, and would reconstitute themselves overnight.) Images of Thor were used as “flint and steel” to kindle fires. Pillars representing Thor were flung out of sailing ships to mark the currents toward land.

Thor God of the People Thor had a lasting popularity among ordinary people. He was a straightforward savior, and his hammer was a protective talisman. His temples proliferated in pre-Christian times, and he was the most-frequently worshipped Norse god. His ring (an arm ring?) represented fidelity to oaths.

Thor Typical Thor: Delight in eating and drinking; humorous stories about these capacities Not always very bright; often tricked and finding himself in humiliating circumstances (e.g. when he visits Utgard; when he impersonates Freya to get his stolen hammer back.) Can always be counted on to exert his strength and take care of knotty, difficult problems by brute force.

Loki To a reader of Snorri, Loki is perhaps the most outstanding character among the Northern gods, the chief actor in the most amusing stories, and the motivating force in a large number of plots. (Davidson) Intelligent, astute to the highest degree, but amoral, loving to make mischief great or small, as much to amuse himself as to do harm, he represents among the Aesir a truly demonic element. Some of the assailants of the future Ragnarok, the wolf Fenrir and the great Serpent, are his sons, and his daughter is Hel. (Georges Dumezil) God of mischief and fire Loki is a classic trickster figure.

Baldur Odin’s son The favorite child There is nothing but good to be said about Baldur. He is the best of the gods and everyone sings his praises. He is so fair of face and bright that a splendor radiates from him... He is the wisest of the gods, and the sweetest-spoken, and the most merciful, but none of his judgments come true. Baldur dreamed he would be killed, so Frigg (his mother) made all living creatures swear not to harm him. The gods then enjoyed throwing things at him, since all fell away harmlessly. Frigg did not get a promise from the mistletoe…

Heimdall “World Brightener” God of the dawn Great hearing (can hear grass grow) and eyesight Is the look out on Bifrost (the rainbow bridge to Asgard)

Tyr Tyr: god of war and justice a minor god in Norse myth, featuring in few stories, but was possibly more important in earlier times. His symbol is the spear which has become a symbol of justice His Germanic predecessor, Tiwaz, was a sky-god similar to Zeus. He is the boldest of the gods. The one story in which Tyr features is the binding of the wolf Fenris. Tyr makes a great sacrifice for the greater good.

Hel Daughter of Loki Giantess Goddess of death and the underworld Half black/ half white Her face and body are human but the legs are of a corpse Has two servants: Ganglati and Ganglot Spread the plague with a rake or a broom Hel is one of three terrible children of Loki: the others are Fenris the wolf and Jormungand, the Midgard serpent.

Valkyries Valkyries are female spirit warriors that ride the battlefields and find worthy slain warriors and takes them to Valhalla where they will train until Ragnarok. The northern lights are light shining off of their shields

Lands of Death – Within Asgard Hel, the shadowy underworld overseen by Loki’s daughter of the same name. The wicked and the people who do not die a glorious death in battle go here. It is dark, gated, and much like Hades/Sheol/Kurnugi Valholl (a.k.a. Valhalla) where the souls of dead warriors are taken after death by the Valkyries. There they drink and fight until Ragnarok, when they will fight on the side of the gods. Freyja’s realm: there are references to Freyja’s taking half of the dead, while Odin takes the other half. Barrows: High-status people were sometimes buried with belongings under a mound, called a barrow; burials of an entire ship have been found in these barrows.

Ragnarok Norse myth, unlike Greek and Near Eastern, does not portray a world in which the gods have conquered discord and established order, but a world in which the gods are constantly battling their adversaries. The end of the world is preceded by an increase of wars and conflicts among men; then there is a three-year winter. This battle comes to a head at Ragnarok – the apocalypse.

Ragnarok After the great battles: A golden age arises; fields flourish without work. Two humans survived to begin the race again... The Aesir meet again and speak of the mighty Jormungand, and call to mind the mighty judgments and the ancient mysteries of the Great God himself. (Voluspa) Does this renewal of the world show influence from Christianity? Some say yes – given other Christian ideas – others say that the idea of a final conflict and new age is also present in Indo- European mythology. In any case, the brutal conclusion leads to new life.

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