NORSE MYTHOLOGY, pre-Christian religious beliefs of the Norse
people. The Norse legends and myths about ancient heroes, gods, and the creation
and destruction of the universe developed out of the original common mythology
of the Germanic peoples and constitute the primary source of knowledge about
ancient German mythology. Because Norse mythology was transmitted and altered by
medieval Christian historians, the original pagan religious beliefs, attitudes,
and practices cannot be determined with certainty. Clearly, however, Norse
mythology developed slowly, and the relative importance of different gods and
heroes varied at different times and places. Thus, the cult of Odin, chief of
the gods, may have spread from western Germany to Scandinavia not long before
the myths were recorded; minor gods including Ull, the fertility god Njord, and
Heimdallmay represent older deities who lost strength and popularity as Odin
became more important. Odin, a god of war, was also associated with learning,
wisdom, poetry, and magic.
Most information about Norse mythology is preserved in the Old Norse literature,
in the Eddas and later sagas; other material appears in commentaries by the
Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus and the German writer Adam of Bremen (fl.
about 1075). Fragments of legends are sometimes preserved in old inscriptions
and in later folklore.Gods and Heroes. Besides Odin, the major deities of Norse
mythology were his wife, Frigg, goddess of the home; Thor, god of thunder, who
protected humans and the other gods from the giants and who was especially
popular among the Norse peasantry; Frey, a god of prosperity; and Freya, sister
of Frey, a fertility goddess. Other, lesser gods were Balder, Hermod, Tyr, Bragi,
and Forseti; Idun, Nanna, and Sif were among the goddesses. The principle of
evil among the gods was represented by the trickster Loki. Many of these deities
do not seem to have had special functions; they merely appear as characters in
legendary tales.
Many ancient mythological heroes, some of whom may have been derived from real
persons, were believed to be descendants of the gods; among them were Sigurd the
Dragon-slayer; Helgi Thrice-Born, Harald Wartooth, Hadding, Starkad, and the
Valkyries. The Valkyries, a band of warrior-maidens that included Svava and
Brunhild, served Odin as choosers of slain warriors, who were taken to reside in
Valhalla. There the warriors would spend their days fighting and nights feasting
until Ragnarok, the day of the final world battle, in which the old gods would
perish and a new reign of peace and love would be instituted. Ordinary
individuals were received after death by the goddess Hel in a cheerless
underground world...
The Valkyries had often inspired poets
as women-warriors. Their name means, "Chooser of the Slain", and were often
called battle-maidens, shield-maidens, swan-maidens, wish-maidens and
mead-maidens. As these names suggest, they had various functions. Their main
duty was to select the slain warriors, who had fallen in battle or other combat,
such as quest or killing dragon, etc.
These slain warriors were known as the Einherjar (Einheriar), and were chosen to fight alongside with the Aesir gods at
Ragnarok. The Einherjar waited for Ragnarok, in Odin's hall, called Valhalla.
They were sometimes called "Swan-maiden", because they wore garments made of
swan feathers that allowed them to fly, carrying off the slain warriors to the
hall called Valhalla. Their other duties included serving mead or ales in
drinking-horns or mugs to the Einherjar in Valhalla. Three Valkyries appeared in the Volsunga
Saga. Sigrun ("victory-rune") married the hero Helgi, the son of Sigmund. The
other two Valkyries were Brynhild ("bright battle") and Gudrun ("battle-rune"),
and these two were associated with the hero Sigurd, another son of Sigmund.
Gudrun had also been associated with Helgi in other sources, as the hero's first
wife.Brynhild was the most famous of all the Valkyries. In the Volsunga Saga,
Odin punished Brynhild, for assigning the wrong king to die in battle. Odin
condemned her to marry a mortal. Brynhild vowed that she would only marry the
bravest of warriors, so she slept in the Ring of Fire, until the bravest hero
could ride through the flame. Sigurd had rode through the flame, twice. The
second time, she was duped into marrying Gunnar, the brother of Gudrun, while
her hero married Gudrun. In the end she caused Sigurd's death. Brynhild overcome
with grief, died in Sigurd's funeral pyre. See Volsunga Saga for the whole tale
about Brynhild. Brynhild goes by a different name in the one of the poems of
Poetic Edda. In Sigrdrifumal ("Lay of Sigrdrifa"), Brynhild was known as
Sigrdrifa ("victory-urger"), where she taught the hero runic magic...
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(Read the FULL Article here... | 33367 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0 ) Posted by nuke on Tuesday, August 01 @ 04:59:20 CDT (238 reads)
NORSE MYTHOLOGY, pre-Christian religious beliefs of the Norse
people. The Norse legends and myths about ancient heroes, gods, and the creation
and destruction of the universe developed out of the original common mythology
of the Germanic peoples and constitute the primary source of knowledge about
ancient German mythology. Because Norse mythology was transmitted and altered by
medieval Christian historians, the original pagan religious beliefs, attitudes,
and practices cannot be determined with certainty. Clearly, however, Norse
mythology developed slowly, and the relative importance of different gods and
heroes varied at different times and places. Thus, the cult of Odin, chief of
the gods, may have spread from western Germany to Scandinavia not long before
the myths were recorded; minor gods including Ull, the fertility god Njord, and
Heimdallmay represent older deities who lost strength and popularity as Odin
became more important. Odin, a god of war, was also associated with learning,
wisdom, poetry, and magic.
Most information about Norse mythology is preserved in the Old Norse literature,
in the Eddas and later sagas; other material appears in commentaries by the
Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus and the German writer Adam of Bremen (fl.
about 1075). Fragments of legends are sometimes preserved in old inscriptions
and in later folklore.Gods and Heroes. Besides Odin, the major deities of Norse
mythology were his wife, Frigg, goddess of the home; Thor, god of thunder, who
protected humans and the other gods from the giants and who was especially
popular among the Norse peasantry; Frey, a god of prosperity; and Freya, sister
of Frey, a fertility goddess. Other, lesser gods were Balder, Hermod, Tyr, Bragi,
and Forseti; Idun, Nanna, and Sif were among the goddesses. The principle of
evil among the gods was represented by the trickster Loki. Many of these deities
do not seem to have had special functions; they merely appear as characters in
legendary tales.
Many ancient mythological heroes, some of whom may have been derived from real
persons, were believed to be descendants of the gods; among them were Sigurd the
Dragon-slayer; Helgi Thrice-Born, Harald Wartooth, Hadding, Starkad, and the
Valkyries. The Valkyries, a band of warrior-maidens that included Svava and
Brunhild, served Odin as choosers of slain warriors, who were taken to reside in
Valhalla. There the warriors would spend their days fighting and nights feasting
until Ragnarok, the day of the final world battle, in which the old gods would
perish and a new reign of peace and love would be instituted. Ordinary
individuals were received after death by the goddess Hel in a cheerless
underground world...
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(Read the FULL Article here... | 19598 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0 ) Posted by nuke on Friday, May 26 @ 12:27:43 CDT (276 reads)
ALTHOUGH WE KNOW a little from observations
made by Tacitus and Caesar, most of what we know of Norse mythology comes from
Christian times, beginning with the Prose
Edda of Snorri Sturluson (c.1179-1241). Not only does this mean the myths
and legends were written after the period when they were believed, but Snorri,
as is to be expected, occasionally intrudes his non-pagan, Christian worldview.
TYPES OF GODS
The Norse gods are divided into two major
groups, the Aesir and Vanir, in addition to the giants who came first. Some
believe the Vanir gods represent an older pantheon of the indigenous people whom
the invading Indo-Europeans encountered. In the end, the Aesir, the newcomers,
overcame and assimilated the Vanir. Georges Dumezil (1898-1986) thought the
pantheon reflected the typical pattern of Indo-European gods where different
divine factions hold different societal functions: military, religious, and
economic. Odin and Thor divide the functions of the religious and secular
leaders; Tyr is the warrior god, and the Vanir, the producers.
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(Read the FULL Article here... | 8393 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0 ) Posted by nuke on Saturday, June 04 @ 05:27:31 CDT (166 reads)
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NORSE MYTHOLOGY, pre-Christian religious beliefs of the Norse
people. The Norse legends and myths about ancient heroes, gods, and the creation
and destruction of the universe developed out of the original common mythology
of the Germanic peoples and constitute the primary source of knowledge about
ancient German mythology. Because Norse mythology was transmitted and altered by
medieval Christian historians, the original pagan religious beliefs, attitudes,
and practices cannot be determined with certainty. Clearly, however, Norse
mythology developed slowly, and the relative importance of different gods and
heroes varied at different times and places. Thus, the cult of Odin, chief of
the gods, may have spread from western Germany to Scandinavia not long before
the myths were recorded; minor gods including Ull, the fertility god Njord, and
Heimdallmay represent older deities who lost strength and popularity as Odin
became more important. Odin, a god of war, was also associated with learning,
wisdom, poetry, and magic.
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1999, Jimmy Joe. All Rights
