The Norse • The Norsemen were not one homogenous

group - they were a spectrum of various tribes, speaking different languages coming from the North of Europe.

• They were seen as a 'Germanic People' and considered as savages and vandals with great knowledge in sailing and shipbuilding.

• The Vikings, a tribe of Norsemen were masters of ships and raiding coastal towns and cities with brutal wildness. They were feared and hated all over the European coast from Ireland to Britain to Gaul.

• Norsemen were able to come together via trade and treaties. Most of the Norse-Vikings were Norwegian and Danish and they lined up together against their enemies.

• As the Norse Pantheon was established the names of their gods and deities became accepted truth all over Norse territories .

• The belief in Odin and the Ragnarok is shared throughout all the Norse tribes.

• The Norse always saw themselves as a people apart and kept to the more important aspects of their culture linguistically and theologically.

• Those who migrated to Brittan and Gaul despite

their adaption of Christianity still practiced certain Nordic traditions as elements of their theology .

• Those who migrated to Iceland however

managed to keep all the old traditions intact and preserved from language to social organization.

The Creation Myth of the Norse

• Myths are stories passed down through oral and written history that answer questions that society has about a particular phenomenon that they cannot explain

• Norse myths are told in Edda as narratives of heroic poetry that tell stories about various Norse deities in their Pantheon.

In the Snorra Edda from the 12th century, complete' appearances of Nordic Mythological figures, hierarchy of the deities, their natures, and the ultimate events that are to unfold in the world are told.

• The Muspell, is the first world to ever exist is a place of extreme fire and ice that no one can endure it.

• Surt an ancient God that guards the doors of Muspell with a Sword and will vanquish all the gods and burn the world in the end.

• Niflheim, a realm of Ice, frost, wind, rain and heavy cold  

• Ginnungagap is a great void between fire and ice

• Jötunn, a race of supernatural giants of

great strength. • Ymir :giant frost monster. • Audhumla :The ice cow

Ginnungagap collides with the soft air, heat, light, and

soft air from Muspell and where condensation happened

it created the giant frost monster Ymir and the ice cow

Audhumla. From Ymir's foot emerged Jötunn, a race of

supernatural giants of great strength. From his sweat

came Surt, then Ymir nourished himself with the milk of

the ice cow who then proceeded to lick a salt stone.

From this stone arose the male Jötunn Buri who

fathered Bör who fathered the gods Odin, Vili and Ve.

When the gods had strength enough, they killed Ymir.

Ymir's blood flooded the world and killed all but two of

the Jötunn. Over time the Jötunn increased in numbers

and the gods created worlds 7 of them using Ymir's flesh

for earth, his blood for the waters, his bones for stones,

his brain for the clouds and his skull for the skies. The

sparks from Muspelheim strayed into the skies to

become the stars.

• The gods transformed two tree trunks into humans - a man, Ask and a woman, Embla.

• Odin gave life to them, Vili gave them consciousness and Ve gave them the ability to see, hear, and speak.

• They then created a world, Middle-Earth for them, fencing it with the lashes of Ymir to keep the Jötunn away.

• Ask and Embla became the fore parents of humanity under the protection of the gods.

• Good and evil are according to the views and will of the gods whom are to protect and guide humanity until the day of the Ragnarok, the reckoning of all creation where great battles and natural disasters will take the lives of major gods and Jötunns and almost wipe out humanity, ending all in a massive blaze.

• after Ragnarok, the surviving gods and the remaining man and woman repopulate an emerging new world, fertile and full of promise.

Good & Evil, Societal Values • In Iceland, the most remarkable of Norse values have

been practiced and preserved despite the enforcement of Christianity in 1000 AD by the Norwegian king, Olafr Tryggvason.

• Law, social organization and protection was based on clan protection and blood-dispute. Also, they have built a 'central government' called Assembly. Annually, clan chiefs would meet to resolve conflict, form treaties and agreements to prevent blood-dispute.

• They were experienced in maritime explorations and depended on agreements with one another to strengthen their expeditions. The Norse were great storytellers and love traveling and adventures.

• They excelled in the writing of sagas and recited by

their Skalds as a form of oral history, tradition, worship and entertainment; their values - courage, loyalty, strength over difficulty and honor.

• In the sagas, gods and humans interacted and women were cunning just as they were sweet and capable of great deceit just as villain humans.

• Valkyries, beautiful women spirits take the spirit of the slain from the battle field to Valhalla, the halls of Odin to feast on divine mead in preparation for the ultimate battles of Ragnarok.

• Good and evil is believed according to the values of honor, loyalty, love and courage and is represented most in the actions of the Jötunn Loki whose treason knew no bounds.

The Norse Pantheon of Gods & Cosmology • In the Norse Cosmology, the gods and supernatural beings are constantly at

war. Human beings fall under the protection of the clan of gods headed by Odin as they created and protect Middle-Earth, the world of the human beings. But beyond this world, several others exist populated by spirits and beings keen to extend their power towards Middle-Earth and humanity.

The Worlds

• Asgard is the world of the Aesir, a particular race of spirits. • Vanaheimr is the world of the Vanir, another spirit race.

• Midgard or Middle-earth is our world, protected and created by the gods Odin, Vili and Ve.

• Muspellheim is the world of the primordial fire and extreme heat. • Niflheim is the world of the primordial ice and extreme cold. • Svartálfaheim is the world of the Svartálfar or black elves. • Álfheimr is the world of the Álfar or elves. • Hel or the underworld is the underground world the dead. • Jötunheimr, world of the jötnar, singular jötunn, a race of powerful spirits/giants.

• Odin's Valhalla is located in Asgard.

• In Valhalla, the hall of Einherjar is home to the spirits of the greatest Midgard warriors selected by the Valkyries they will assist the gods in Ragnarok.

• In Nifhel, a place in Hel, the most destructive of criminals and oathbreakers are taken to suffer pain.

• All worlds are connected by the tree Yggdrasil and at the top of it lays Asgard.

• It is guarded by the farsighted god Heimdall. The roots of the tree are chewed by the dragon Nidhogg who will consume Yggdrasil at the appointed time.

The Races of Spirits and Gods• Aesir - The primary Norse gods who resides in Asgard.• Asynjur - Norse goddesses of the Aesir.• Svartalfar - Black elves of Jötunn origins.• Valkyries - beautiful female warrior spirits.• Vanir - another race of gods and goddesses that are

often in conflict or in treaty with the Aesir.• The Norns - the 3 Norse fates - they serve the Yggdrasil

and keep it from withering.• The Elves - there were good and bad elves and they

took pleasure in the service of humanity for their amusement.

• Dwarves - sturdy and dwelt in the earth to delve for metals.

• Giants - a race of jötnarr with the ability to create catastrophe in worlds.

 

Midgard Pantheon• Odin - The Chief god whose realm is wisdom, war, poetry, wind, prophecy and

magic. He is also a chief god of creation. Wednesday is named after him.

• Frigga - Odin's wife, the queen of all Nordic Deities. Her realm is marriage and the home.

• Thör - the god of thunder, son of Odin and Jörd. He is also known as the god of fire as his hammer is the great defence of gods against the giants of frost. Thursday was named after him.

• Loki - a Jötunn, he is the son of giants Farbauti and Laufey. He is destructive and harmful, finding joy in the misery of others. Known as the great trickster, he is mean and hateful of others wishing to overthrow the gods and throw the worlds to ruin.

• Balder - god of the Sun, he is the son of Odin and Frigga. He was gentle and beautiful and beloved by all. His wife is Nann, the goddess if the moon. He is also the god of foretelling.

• Frey - he is the god of fruitfulness, harvest, sunshine and rain. A brother to Freya, he is also a sponsor of fishermen and seafarers. He lived with Elfheim.

• Freya - the goddess of love and the art of healing, she received half of the heroes who fell in battle with the other half going to Odin. She is also the goddess of harvest, fruitfulness and fertility. Friday was named after her.

• Hel - the goddess of the underworld, she is the daughter of Loki. Pure evil, her realm is about suffering and horror; her dish was Hunger, her knife was Starvation, and her attendants were Delay and Slowness. In Niflheim she fed on the brains and marrow of men.

• Bragi - son of Odin and Frigga, he was the god of wisdom and poetry as well as eloquence. His wife is Idun, the goddess of spring and renewal.

• Heimdall - he guards Bifrost. He is the god of sight and hearing and can hear and see through incredible distances, day or night over cold or heat. Hi greatest enemy is Loki whom he will kill..

• Tyr - he is the god of athleticism, strength and all such activities. Warriors look up to Tyr for strength and courage. His most bitter enemy is Fenrir, an offspring of Loki who bit his right hand off and Garm, the hell-hound. Tuesday was named after him.

• Jörd - she is the goddess of the earth, imbued with wisdom of the primitive earth from whom all life hails. She is the mother of Odin.

• Ulle - the god of the chase and the hunt, his realm is archery, speed. He is also a warrior god who delights in hand to hand combat.

• Mimir - the custodian of the fountain of wisdom whose knowledge is of great importance to Odin he gave one of his eyes in exchange for a drink from the fountain.

• Vithar - a god of great strength and of will at battles, he is seen as silent and reserved. Yet it is he Mimir foretells who will kill Fenrir and avenge the death of Odin. He will survive Ragnarok to renew the world.

Symbolic Figures & Holy/Unholy Items• In the Norse Mythology spirits and gods take the form of

animals, trees and even objects as their elemental representation or change shape for a purpose (i.e. Loki). There are also great items of importance like weapons and objects important to gods.

• Yggdrasil - it is the tree in the form of an Ash that worlds exist in.

• Nidhogg - the serpent/dragon son of Loki who is consuming the Yggdrasil from its roots.

• Garm - a hell-hound, he guards the Gnipa cave.

• The Mistletoe - it is the only plant that wasn't hallowed by Frigga to protect Balder from. It killed him.

• Fenrir - another offspring of Loki, he is an evil monster-wolf.

• Balmung & Gungnir - Odin's sword and spear, respectively.

• Mjollnir - Thor's hammer and the great fear of the frost giants.

• Gjallar - Heimdall's horn which will signify the start of Ragnarok.

• Grendel - the monster that Beuwolf killed in the Nordic Saga, Beuwolf.

•  

Rewards of Life and Destination after Death

• In Norse Mythology, it is clear to see that courage and honour

• are rewarded with honoured places in the halls of Valhalla,

• which is analogous to the Greek Elysium, where the greatest of

• warriors are chosen by the 13 Valkyries to reside in Einherjar,

• the hall of the greatest Midgard warrior souls. Drinking divine

• mead and eating without restrained, fighting over and again the

• battles that gave them glory and immortal fame. As half of the

• fallen warriors only go to Odin, the other half are taken to be

• nourished in the care of Freya, the goddess of love in whom

• the warriors find rest.

 

• Even as the gods die, their spirits are sent to realms where the spirits of the gods can reside either in the clutches of the evil underworld goddess Hel or in one of the worlds that had primordial content as gods in their elements never truly die even as Odin himself have the power to restore or give life. Because of Valhalla, a lot of women also chose the path of the warrior and they are known as shield maidens as they also seek to find a place in Valhalla. Most women and children who lived life well ended up in Freya's gardens in their death. And, as explained above, the most evil of men end up in the tortures of Nifhelheim in Hel's abode to suffer under the worlds are turned asunder.

Bibliography

• Web -

• http://www.wsu.edu:8001/~dee/MA/NORSE.HTM

• http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/norse.html

• http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/creation.html

• http://www.wizardrealm.com/norse/gods.html

• http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mythology/norse_culture.html

• http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/mythology/14284

• http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ar-Be/Beowulf.html

• Print -

• Lindow, John (2002), Norse mythology: a guide to the Gods, heroes, rituals, and beliefs, Oxford University Press US.

• Robinson, H.S. & Wilson K. (1962), The Encyclopaedia of Myths & Legends, Key & Ward, London.