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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The Viking Age was a period of considerable religious change in Scandinavia. Part of the popular image of the Vikings is that they were all pagans, with a hatred of the Christian Church, but this view is very misleading.It is true that almost the entire population of Scandinavia was pagan at the beginning of the Viking Age, but the Vikings had many gods, and it was no problem for them to accept the Christian god alongside their own. Most scholars today believe that Viking attacks on Christian ch...Yggrasil: The world tree
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 de...The Valkyries
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,...Iceland: The land of elves
In the United States, we think of elves as Santa’s little helpers. In Iceland, elves are a bigger deal.Icelandic elves don’t work in Santa’s workshop. They are an independent lot, with magical powers. They aren’t even associated with Iceland’s Santas, which number 13. That’s right: Iceland has 13 Santas, brothers each with a weird name and bad habits. They’re like a crude version of Snow White’s footmen, the Seven Dwarfs.Every culture h...Ragnarok: The Fate of the Gods
Do elves exist? Like many Icelanders, Hildur Hakonardottir considers the question to be more complicated than it appears."This is a very, very, very delicate question," Ms. Hakonardottir, a retired museum director, said. "If you ask people if they believe in elves, they will say yes and no. If they say yes, maybe they don't, and if they say no, maybe they do."Hypothetically speaking, what does she think elves look like?
"Well, my next-door neighbor is an...Ragnarok
By
Shane Dayton
Virtually every western religion or mythos has an
end of the world story, an episode in which all the evil of the world comes
against all the good, and man and god alike often suffer and even die.
Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all have an end of the world story, and a
story of restoration afterwards. Greek mythology and Roman mythology both
also contained end of the world stories. The world's end does not set Ragnarok,...Loki: Evil or just Misunderstood
A casual reading of the surviving sources paints a rather unflattering picture of Loki. He is presented as a thief, a liar, a father to monsters and murderer of the Sun god Balder. But he's also the source of many of the items most treasured by the Norse gods: Thor's hammer, Odin's horse, Sif's golden hair.All of these things were brought to Asgard through Loki's efforts. Upon closer consideration, a more nuanced picture of Loki emerges. By exploring Loki's role among the gods and am...
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1999, Jimmy Joe. All Rights
Viking religion
Yggrasil: The world tree
Norse Mythology
Iceland: The land of elves
Ragnarok: The Fate of the Gods
Ragnarok
Loki: Evil or just Misunderstood
