Norse Mythology

## **Summary**

This mythology stems from Norse paganism and continued after the Christianization of Scandinavia and became the Scandinavian folklore of the modern period. It consists of tales of various gods and goddesses, beings and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition.

Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century, when key texts were brought to the attention of the intellectual circles of Europe. By way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching back as far as Proto-Indo-European mythology.

The primary sources for Norse mythology are the: Prose Edda, composed in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and the Poetic Edda, a collection of poems from earlier traditional material anonymously compiled in the 13th century. Further texts such as the Sagas provide more information. The Sagas are recorded in Old Norse and range from Icelandic family histories to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila the Hun. Artifacts such as the Rok Runestone and the Kvinneby amulet feature runic inscriptions that mention figures and events from Norse mythology.

Objects from the archaeological record may also be interpreted as depictions of subjects of Norse mythology, such as amulets of the god Thor's hammer Mjolnir that have been found among pagan burials. Small silver female figures interpreted as Valkyries or disir, being associated with war, fate, and/or ancestor cults.

## **The Nine Worlds**

Yggdrasil is a tree at the center of the universe. The tree itself has three major roots. At the base of one root lives a trio of Norns, who care for the tree. There are nine worlds inhabited by gods, humans, the jotun (giants), elves, dwarves, Valkyries, and others. These nine worlds are grouped into three levels: Asgard, Midgard and Niflheim.

In the first level known as Asgard, there are three realms:

1. Asgard: Home of the Aesir. This is the home of gods and goddesses. It is ruled by Odin, chief of the Aesir (gods) and Asynjur (goddesses). This is also the location of Valhalla, where fallen warriors go in the afterlife.
2. Vanaheim: Home of the Vanir, an old branch of gods. They are masters of sorcery and magic. They are also widely acknowledged for their talent to predict the future. After the war between the Aesir and the Vanir, only three survived and were brought to Asgard. These were Njord, and his children Freya and Freyr.
3. Alfheim: Home of the Light Elves. These are beautiful creatures and are considered the guardian angels. Freyr is the ruler of Alfheim. The Light Elves are minor gods of nature and fertility; and can help or hinder humans with their knowledge of magical powers.

In the second level known as Midgard, there are three realms:

1. Jotunheim: Home of the Giants, who are sworn enemies of the Aesir. It is a land of rock, wilderness and dense forests. The Jotuns and the Aesir are constantly fighting, but there are times when the two races intermarry or have love affairs. Odin, Thor and others took Jotuns as lovers. Loki was from Jotunheim, yet was accepted by the Aesir and lived in Asgard. This is also the location of Mimir's well of wisdom.
2. Svartalfheim: Home of the Dark Elves. They do not like the sun and so live underground. They are not pleasant to look at and can be a great annoyance to humans. They resemble gargoyles, since they instantly turn to stone when they are exposed to the sun.
3. Nidavellir: Home of the Dwarves. They live under rocks, in caves and underground. Hreidmar was the king of Nidavellir. They are masters of craftsmanship and have created many powerful items such as Thor's hammer, the magical ring Draupnir, and Odin's spear.

\*It is important to note that humans inhabit Midgard as well

In the third level known as Niflheim, there are three realms:

1. Niflheim: The world of fog and Mist, it is the darkest and coldest region in Yggdrasil. It was the first of the Nine Worlds. Here is located the oldest of three wells, known as Hvergelmir, protected by the huge dragon called Niohoggr. This land is said to be the source of the eleven rivers in Yggdrasil.
2. Helheim: Home of the dead
3. Muspelheim: Home of the Fire Giants and Demons. It is a burning hot place, filled with lava, flames and soot. This land is ruled by the Fire Giant known as Surt, who is the sworn enemy of the Aesir.

## **The Norse Creation Story**

Before there was soil, or sky, or any green thing, there was only the gaping abyss of Ginnungagap. This chaos of perfect silence and darkness lay between the homeland of elemental fire, Muspelheim, and the homeland of elemental ice, Niflheim.

Frost from Niflheim and billowing flames from Muspelheim crept toward each other until they met in Ginnungagap. Amid the hissing and sputtering, the fire melted the ice, and the drops formed themselves into Ymir, the first of the godlike giants. Ymir was a hermaphrodite and could reproduce asexually. When he sweated, more giants were born.

A cow, called Audhumbla, emerged from the melting frost. She nourished Ymir with her milk, and she, in turn, was nourished by salt-licks in the ice. Her licks eventually uncovered Buri, the first of the Aesir tribe of gods. From Buri, came Bor, who married Bestla, daughter of the giant Bolthorn. The half-god, half-giant children of Bor and Bestla were Odin, and his brothers Vili and Ve.

Odin and his two brothers killed Ymir and from his corpse, created the Earth. They fashioned the oceans from his blood, the soil from his skin and muscles, vegetation from his hair, clouds from his brains, and the sky from his skull. Four dwarves, named for the four cardinal directions, held Ymir's skull above the earth.

Eventually the three gods created the first man and woman, Ask and Embla, from two tree trunks, and placed them in Midgard, to protect them from the giants.

## **The Aesir-Vanir War**

The Vanir goddess Freya was always the foremost practitioner of the art of seidr, a form of magic concerned with determining destiny. She wandered from town to town practicing her craft until she reached Asgard, the home of the Aesir. The Aesir were quite taken with her powers and zealously sought her services. They soon realized that their traditional ways were being pushed aside by their desires to fulfill the witch's magic. Blaming Freya for their own shortcomings, the Aesir called her Gullveig (Gold-greed) and attempted to murder her. They tried three times to burn her, and three times she was reborn from the ashes.

Because of this, the Aesir and Vanir came to hate each other, and these hostilities erupted into war. The Aesir fought by the rules of plain combat, with weapons and brute force, while the Vanir used magic. The war went on for some time, with both sides gaining the upper hand at times. Eventually the two tribes became weary of fighting and decided to call a truce.

As was customary among the ancient Norse and other Germanic peoples, the two sides agreed to pay tribute to each other by sending hostages to live among the other tribe. Freya, Freyr, and Njord of the Vanir went to live among the Aesir. Hoenir (pronounced HIGH-neer) and Mimir went to live among the Vanir.

Njord and his two children lived in peace in Asgard. The same cannot be said for Hoenir and Mimir in Vanaheim. The Vanir immediately saw that Hoenir was seemingly able to deliver incomparably wise advice on any problem, but they failed to notice that this was only when they had Mimir in his company. Hoenir was actually a simpleton who was at a loss for words when Mimir wasn't available to counsel him. The Vanir had Mimir beheaded after Hoenir responded to the Vanir's pleas for guidance with 'Let others decide' once too often. The severed head was sent back to Asgard, where the distraught Odin chanted magic poems over the head and embalmed it in herbs. Thus preserved, Mimir's head continued to give indispensable advice to Odin in times of need.

Rather than renew their fighting over this tragic misunderstanding, each member of the Aesir and Vanir came together and spit into a cauldron. From their saliva they created Kvasir, the wisest of all beings, as a way of pledging sustained harmony between the tribes.

## **Gods and Men**

A great many hundred of years after the creation of the world, there ruled a wise king in Sweden, whose name was Gylfe. He was both good and wise. He knew how to give as well as receive. One day a woman sought shelter with the king and in return told him many wonderful stories. This pleased the king so much that he gave her, as a reward, as much land as four oxen could plow in a day and a night.

The woman's name was Gefjun, and she was no ordinary woman. She was in fact a goddess. She took four great oxen from Jotunheim, who were the offspring of a giant, and set them before the plough and drove them into the land which the king had set apart for her. The plough, being drawn by giants, cut so deep into the soil, that it tore away a great piece of land, and carried it out into the sea to the west and left it there. Gefjun called this new country which she had taken from the mainland, Seeland. The place from which the land was taken came to be a lake and is now called Logrinn.

## **Ragnarok**

Ominous prophecies and dreams had long foretold the downfall of the cosmos and of its gods and goddesses with it. The first event that came to pass was when Baldur was killed by Loki and consigned to the underworld.

In Midgard, the realm of human civilization, people abandoned their traditional ways, disregarding the bonds of kinship, and sank into wayward, listless behaviours. The gods weren't exactly innocent of these same behaviours, however. They had broken oaths and fallen short of their expectations of one another on many occasions. As prophecized, they experienced Fimbulwinter (The Great Winter), where three winters passed in a row with no summer in between.

At last, Loki and his son, the Fenrir, who had both been chained up to prevent them from wreaking further havoc in the Nine Worlds, broke free of their chains and set about doing precisely what the gods had feared. Yggdrasil, the great ash tree that holds the Nine Worlds began to tremble.

Heimdall, the watchman of Asgard, was the first to spy a vast army of giants marching on the celestial stronghold. Loki was among the army, at the helm of the ship Naglfar (Ship of the Dead). Heimdall sounded his horn Gjallarhorn to alert the gods.

The giants set about destroying the home of the gods and the entire cosmos along with it. Fenrir, the great wolf, ran across the land with his lower jaw on the ground and his upper jaw in the sky, consuming everthing in his path. Even the sun itself was dragged from its heights and into the beast's stomach. Surt, a giant with a flaming sword, swept across the earth and left nothing but an inferno in his wake.

But the gods fought valiantly to the end. Thor and the sea serpent Jormungand slew each other, as did Surt and the god Freyr. Likewise, Heimdall and Loki slew each other. Odin and Tyr both fell to Fenrir, who was then killed by Vidar, Odin's son and avenger. At last, the ravaged land sank back into the sea and vanished below the waves. The perfect darkness and silence of the anti-cosmic void, Ginnungagap, reigned once more.

Eventually the earth was once again raised from the ocean. Baldur returned from the underworld, and the gladdened land became more luch and fruitful than it had been since it was first created. A new pair of humans were created and awakened in the new green world. The gods also returned to resume their merrymaking.