Viking religion

Yggrasil: The world tree

Copyright © About.comEven if you can't pronounce it, you have likely heard of the great World Tree called Yggdrasil. It's part of Norse mythology, and is literally the central part as this ash tree is believed to grow up through of all the various worlds, connecting them.I've always envisioned this tree with its roots in the underworld (Niflheim) and its highest branches in the realm of the Gods (Asgard). Well, that's not really how it's laid out after all. There are 3 roots to Yggd...

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Norse Mythology

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...

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The Valkyries

© 1999, Jimmy Joe. All Rights 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...

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Norse Gods

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,...

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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...

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Ragnarok: The Fate of the Gods

Copyright © ragnarok.kccricket.netIn Norse mythology, Ragnarok ( "fate of the gods") is the battle at the end of the world. It will be waged between the gods (the Aesir, led by Odin) and the evils (the fire giants, the Jotuns and various monsters, led by Loki). Not only will the gods, giants, and monsters perish in this apocalyptic conflagration, but almost everything in the universe will be torn asunder.In the Viking warrior societies, dying in battles was a fate to admir...

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Building in Iceland? Better Clear It With the Elves First

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...

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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,...

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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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Discovering the Land of Trolls

People come to Northern Norway not only for the auroras and to see its Arctic landscape, but also to hunt for trolls, the mythical creatures rumored to hide in the forests and mountainsides.These "nordmenn" (men of the north) are generally believed to have supernatural powers and offer good luck. Supposedly, trolls are as blind as a bat and can't see their own hand in front of them. Legend says the worst thing you could do near a troll is to be happy; they hate happiness an...

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