NORSE MYTHOLOGY Tales of the North Men
WHO WERE THE NORSEMEN?
• “NORSE”: “North men” who were farmers & fisherman
of Scandinavia (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden)
and Iceland who were also:
• fierce warriors
• expert sailors & navigators
• pirates
• “BERSERKERS”: animal pelt-wearing warriors who
fought with a crazy fury (imagined to be the “spirit of
Odin”)
• Historians believe berserkers consumed drugged foods to inspire their frenzy
• origin of the word berserk
8TH – 11TH CENTURY NORSE RAIDS & SETTLEMENTS
• Overpopulation & frigid, cruel living
conditions prompted some
Norsemen to conduct raids of the
other European countries
• “VIKINGS”: Norse (Scandinavian)
raiders who eventually settled in the
countries of Germany, France,
England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland,
Greenland, Russia, and Canada
NORSE CULTURE
• Practiced both animal & human sacrifice on
occasion but no effort was made to understand
the meaning of such ceremonies
• “The Thing” local gatherings where laws were
passed, disputes settled, & punishments given
• Gender Roles between the sexes were very
distinct
• BUT, Norse legends were filled with stories of
shield-maidens (women who fought alongside
their men)
NORSE BELIEFS
• Wyrd: “FATE” ruled your life; The one
pure, unsullied good that men could
hope to attain was HEROISM (which
depended on lost causes)
• The power of good was shown not by
triumph but by continuing to resist evil
while facing certain defeat (i.e. a heroic
death IS a triumph)
• Wergild: “man-price” a payment of
money to the kinsmen of the man slain
RUNIC ALPHABET
• Norse History, Culture, & Myths passed orally from
one generation to the next for centuries before they
were written down
• RUNES: (magic symbols) were the earliest Norse form
of writing
• Most modern knowledge of the Norse came from
unfavorable Roman accounts of their encounters
with them
OR by the writings of
• Icelander Snorri Sturlusson in the 12th century AD,
after Iceland had become Christian (which probably
influenced how Snorri told the ancient sagas—
much like the writer of Beowulf!)
NORSE COSMOLOGY Creation, Yggdrasil, & Ragnarok
NORSE CREATION
• Pre-existing:
• Niflheim (place of ice and snow)
• Muspell (place of flames and fire)
• Ginnungagap (great emptiness that separated them)
• 11 rivers (flowed from Niflheim into Ginnungagapwhere they froze)
• Ice spread & melted as it neared Muspell
• 2 Creatures formed from melting drops: Ymir (1st
frost giant) & Audumla (huge cow)
• Audumla
• “nourisher”
• Survived by licking the salty ice
• Licked ice for 3 days & revealed BURI (man-shaped supernatural being), grandfather of the gods (Odin & his brothers Vili & Ve)
NORSE CREATION
• Ymir
• Lived by drinking Audumla’s milk
• More frost giants came from his sweat as he slept
• Brutal and evil (like all frost giants) & eventually killed by Odin & his brothers (Vili & Ve)
• His blood flowed out in torrents which swept away all the frost giant except one husband & wife pair
• Ymir’s dead body became the earth
• flesh became the earth
• bones & teeth became mountains & rocks
• blood filled the rivers & seas
• skull made the dome of the sky
• brains were tossed into the air as clouds
• Dwarves created by the gods from maggots crawling on his flesh (4 dwarves hold up sky)
YGGDRASIL• The World Tree: the axis mundi of the Norse
Cosmos
• A giant ash with three roots that connects the
Nine Worlds, which are divided onto three
levels, & holds the Nine Worlds firmly in place
• An eagle perches at its top
• Nidhogg: serpent that chews at a tree root
• Ratatosk: “Discord” squirrel that runs up and
down the trunk carrying insults between the
eagle and Nidhogg
• Four deer chew on its branches & leaves
• Leaves dripped a sweet dew that bees used to
make honey
THE NINE WORLDS OF THE NORSE COSMOS
• The Norse believed that there were nine
worlds supported by the World Tree,
Yggdrasil
• The lowest level: Niflheim (Hel or the Land
of the Dead) and Muspell (Land of Fire)
• The middle level: Midgard, Jotunheim,
Nidavellir, and Svartalfheim
• The highest level: Asgard, Vanaheim, and
Alfheim
LOWEST LEVEL OF THE NINE WORLDS
Muspell
The Land of Fire
Guarded by Surt & his flaming sword who was waiting to lead the fiery creatures of Muspellagainst the gods when the time of their Doom came
Niflheim
The Land of the Dead
Gloomy place of ice, snow, & eternal darkness and ruled by Hel (a)
Gate guarded by Garm, a ghastly dog with a bloodstained breast
Spring of Hvergelmir
Located in Niflheim
Into which one of Yggdrasil’s roots descended
Guarded by a vile dragon, Nidhogg, who tried to destroy it by gnawing at the root
MIDDLE LEVEL OF THE NINE WORLDS
•Midgard
•World of humans “Middle Earth”
• “battlefield of men”
• Surrounded by the ocean in which lurked Jormungand, the World-Serpent
• Fountain of Mimir
• Its water is source of all wisdom jealousy guarded by Mimir
• Located in Midgard
• Into which one of Yggdrasil’s roots descended
•Jotunheim
• Land of the Giants
• Barren mountain range
•Utgard: giant stronghold
•Svartalfheim
• Land of the Dark Elves (Dwarves)
•Nidavellir:
• an area of caves & holes belonging to the Dwarves
HIGHEST LEVEL OF THE NINE WORLDS
•Asgard
•Home of the Aesir (warrior gods)
•Bifrost
•Rainbow bridge connecting Asgard to Midgard
•Guarded by Heimdall, watchman of the gods
•Well of Urd
• Located in Asgard & tended by the 3 Norns(who also tended Yggdrasil)
•Vanaheim
•Home of the Vanir (fertility gods)
•Alfheim
•Home of the Light Elves
RAGNAROK
• The Day of Doom that will destroy Gods
and the entire Earth
• The Gods know this day is coming & do
everything they can to postpone it as long
as possible
• Loki, his children, & the giants will
overrun the Aesir
• Yggdrasil, the World Tree will burn
• Mani (moon) and Sol (sun) will be devoured
by the wolves of darkness that chase them
• From the ashes a new world will be born,
built by new gods
THE AESIR Warrior gods worshipped by
warriors & kings
ODIN• Chief of the Norse gods:
• known as “ALL-FATHER” & “Mankind’s Benefactor”
• God of Battle, Poetry, Wisdom, & the Dead
• Also known as “Woden” -- Wednesday is named for him
(Woden’s day)
• Valhalla: “Hall of the Slain”
• Odin’s hall in Asgard for brave warriors slain in battle
• Valkyries were his maiden attendants
• Walls made of golden spears, roof of golden shields
• 540 doors big enough to allow 800 armed men through, side-by-side
• Valaskjalf: “Shelf of the Slain”
• Odin’s other hall in Asgard where his throne Hlidskjalfstood
• Two wolves (Geri & Freki) sit at his feet & Two ravens Hugin (Thought) & Munin (Memory) perch on his shoulders & bring him news from around the world
ODIN (CONT’D.)• Married to Frigg(a), queen of Asgard
• Gave Runes (symbolic writing) to mankind which he
won by sacrificing himself to himself
• Traded an eye for wisdom when he drank from the
Mimir’s Well of Wisdom
• Took Skaldic Mead (which made anyone who tasted it
a poet) from the giants
• Wore a blue (-grey) cloak & a wide-brimmed hat &
used the name “Vegtam the Wanderer” when he
traveled Midgard and “Harbard” when disguised as
a ferryman
• Possessed:
• Sleipnir: an eight-legged horse
• Gungnir: magic, dwarf-made spear that never misses
• Draupnir: Gold arm-ring, dwarf-made
THOR• God of the Sky & Thunder: associated with weather,
crops, & warriors
• God of Law & Order & “Keeper of the Oaths” (copies
of his arm-ring were kept in temples & Norse swore
oaths on them)
• Strongest of the Aesir & “Defender of the Gods”
• Son of Odin and Jord (Jorth/Fjorgyn which means
“Earth”)
• Described as having fiery eyes, red hair, & a red beard
• Wears a magic girdle that doubled his strength
• Mjollnir: his magic hammer forged by dwarves
• Married to Sif of the Golden Hair, goddess of
fruitfulness & plenty
• Bilskirnir “Lightning” Thor & Sif’s hall in Asgard
• Rides a chariot pulled by his 2 goats, Tanngrisnir and
Tanngnjostr (Toothgnasher & Toothgrinder)
• Thursday is named for him (Thor’s day)
FRIGG(A)
• Queen of Asgard & Odin’s wife
• Goddess of Sky, Marriage, Childbirth, &
Motherhood
• Married to Odin; Mother of Balder, Hoder, Tyr,
Bragi, & Hermod
• The only diety, besides Odin himself, allowed to
sit on Odin’s throne Hlidskjalf
• Very wise and silent
• Sits at her spinning wheel, day after day,
where the thread she spins are made of gold
• Tries to save Balder from his fate of death
• Friday may be named for her (or Freya)
TYR
• God of War (Single Combat), Justice, Law & Order
• “Bravest of the gods” & “One-Handed”
• Son of Odin & Frigg(a)
• His name was used to guarantee contracts,
promises, & pledges
• Patron of “the Thing” gathering where Norsemen
passed laws & settles disputes
• Lost one of his hands to Fenrir, the giant wolf (son
of Loki & the giantess witch Angrboda)
• Tuesday was named for him (Tyr’s day)
BRAGI
• God of Poetry, Eloquence, & Music
• Son of Odin & Frigg(a)
• Married to Iduna, the Goddess of Fertility,
Spring, & Rebirth
• Greets new arrivals in Valhalla & sings
songs celebrating their deeds
BALDER
• God of light, purity, beauty, & happiness
• “Most Beloved” of the Gods
• “Holy One” & “God of Goodness” – a Christ-like figure
• Fair-haired & handsome with glowing face
• Son of Odin & Frigg(a); twin brother of Hoder; father of Forseti (god of justice)
• As the Sun God he represents the spring sun
• His death is the first disaster that befalls the gods & signals the beginning of Ragnarok
• Breidablik: Balder & Nanna’s hall in Asgard
• Married to Nanna, whose heart broke upon seeing Balder upon his pyre on a great ship & died—her body was placed beside his before the fire was kindled & ship pushed out to sea
• His resurrection will signal the new world after Ragnarok
HODER
• Blind brother of Balder
• Son of Odin & Frigg(a)
• Accidentally kills him with
mistletoe caused by the
deception of LOKI
HEIMDALL
• Had Nine mothers (possibly the nine daughters of
the sea god Aegir & his wife Ran)
• Watchman of the gods
• Supernatural senses--has such acute hearing that
he can hear a blade of grass grow
• Guardian of Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge that
connects Asgard to Midgard
• Responsible for the classes of humans: serfs, farm
owners, & nobles
• His horn Gjall will sound the beginning of
Ragnarok, the Day of Doom
• The rooster is his symbol
THE VANIR Fertility gods worshipped by
farmers
FREY(J)A
• Goddess of Love, Beauty, Fertility, War
• Also known as a battle goddess who rides a giant
boar (her symbol) Hildisvini into battle
• Half of those slain in battle were hers, which she
took to Sessrumnir, her hall in Asgard
• Twin of Freyr; daughter of Njord
• Her chariot is pulled by 2 grey or black cats
• Wears Brisingamen, the necklace made by the
Dwarves
• Possesses a falcon cloak that allows flight
• Friday was named for her, Frigga, or both as some
believe they are counterparts of each other
FREYR
• God of Fertility & Prosperity
• Symbol is the Boar
• Twin of Freyja, son of Njord
• Married to Gerd (giantess)
Possessed:
• Magic sword that moved through the air of
its own accord
• Skidbladnir (magic golden ship made by
dwarves)
• Gullinbursti (magic golden boar that
pulled his chariot into battle)
NJORD
• Sea god of wealth and fertility
• Father of twins Frey(r) & Frey(j)a
• Married to Skadi (a giantess)
OTHER SUPERNATURALS in the Norse Cosmos
VALKYRIES
• Odin’s battle maidens who determine
the outcome of battles
• “Chooser’s of the Slain”
• Their chief duty was to go to the
battlefield & carry the chosen brave
dead to Valhalla
• In Valhalla, they wait upon Odin, the
gods, and the warrior dead
NORNS
• Three female creatures who control the fate of
all races
• Urda sees the past, Verdandi sees the present,
& Skuld sees the future
• Sit at the Well of Urd (well of white water) at
the base of Yggdrasil
GIANTS
• Enormous brutes who are the enemies
of the Aesir
• Continually plotting to destroy the gods
through tricks & traps
• Not all Giants are evil, but majority are
• Thor is the god whom they hate the
most
DWARVES
• Short, hairy creatures that live in
Svartalfheim
• Created by gods from maggots crawling in
the flesh of Ymir
• Greedy, cunning, sometimes downright evil
• Master craftsmen who work underground
forging the treasures of the world
• They are the makers of:
• Mjolnir & Gungnir
• Brisingamen & Draupnir
• Skidbladnir & Gullinbursti
• Sif’s golden hair
LOKI
• Trickster god & shapeshifter
• God of Fire; Known as the “Doer of Good & the
Doer of Evil”
• Part Aesir and part giant
• Birthed Sleipnir (Odin’s 8-legged horse) when he
changed himself into a pink mare to save
Asgard & the Aesir
• Married to Siguna (goddess of the Aesir)
• Fathered children Hel(a), Jormungand, & Fenrir
with his mistress Angrboda (giantess witch of
the Iron Wood of Jotenheim)
ANGRBODA
• “Distress-Bringer”
• Giantess-witch who lived in the Iron
Wood of Jotunheim
• Loki’s mistress and mother of his 3
children:
• Hel(a)
• Jormungand
• Fenrir
SLEIPNIR
• Odin’s 8-legged horse
• Son of Loki (in pink mare
form) & Svadilfari,
a giant horse
HEL(A)
• Daughter of Loki & the evil witch-giantess,
Angrboda
• Banished by Odin to Niflheim -- becomes Ruler of
the Dead (who did NOT die in battle)
• Horrifically deformed -- one half of her was living
flesh, the other half of her was a rotting corpse
• Represents death and decay
JORMUNGAND(R)
• Eldest son of Loki & the evil witch-
giantess, Angrboda
• Also called the “World Serpent” & the
“Midgard Serpent” for he grows to
encircle the world, even taking his own
tail into his mouth (Ouroboros)
• Represents Evil –evil that will consume
the world
• Thor’s mortal enemy; Thor will
eventually kill & be killed by him
FENRIR
• Youngest son of Loki & the evil
witch-giantess, Angrboda
• Represents ravenous greed
• bit off Tyr’s arm
• will eventually kill Odin in
Ragnarok