The Norse/the Vikings are a topic that I really don't know anything about.
But I have a deep interest in the Mongolians and the ancient Persians so conquering peoples attempting to expand their empire really interest me.
For my birthday I bought myself this book:
Which has illustrations and easy to understand translations of common Norse myths.
To accompany my studies I also checked this book out of the library:
Which is more on the history of the Norse people, from their beginning to their end.
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So enough chit-chat, let's get started!
Because this got a bit long-winded I've put the rest of this blog under the cut~
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The supposed 'Viking realms' are what is modern-day Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
Vikings traveled North (Greenland, Iceland), South (the Mediterranean and Middle East), East (Russia and Asia), and West (the UK/Ireland and even the US), leaving behind a trail of biased written histories on their 'barbaric' actions, without a Viking written history to explain themselves.
Just like the Romans, the Mongols, the Persians, and Alexander the Great, the Vikings were trying to expand their empire and find new trade routes while establishing trading posts.
Historians consider the 'Viking Age' to be from c.e. 780-1070 but the Viking people began over 12,000 years ago in Scandinavia as Hunter Gatherers.
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The Beginning
Myths of Creation
Early Icelandic people observing the world around them, filled with crashing oceans and the 'Midnight Sun', believed the earth to be created from a mixture of fire and ice.
Northern mythology is grand while also tragic and typically has the theme of the perpetual struggle of the forces of Nature against the forces of Evil.
Because of the suffering that comes with the long, cold, and dark winters, people associated the cold and ice with 'bad' spirits and the heat and light with 'good' spirits.
The Northern scalds, or poets, wrote
Eddas and sagas about the beginning, when there was nothing on the earth, and of the being called Allfather whom created all and decides fates (Jones 3).
In what they called "the morning of time" there are several realms where the different elements come from, like mist and darkness, the great streams of the land, thunder, fire, and more.
Above is Surtr, the flame giant. He brandishes his flaming sword showering sparks over the ice below, which melts into life.
Great Surtur, with his burning sword,
Southward at Muspel's gate kept ward,
And flashes of celestial flame,
Life-giving, from the fire-world came.
---Valhalla, J.C. Jones (Jones 3)
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Ymir and Audhumla
Ymir or Orgelmir, which means 'seething clay', is the result of steam rising into the clouds and freezing, over and over again, until the ice blocks become a Hrim-thurs, or ice-giant.
In early times,
When Ymir lived,
Was sand, nor sea,
Nor cooling wave;
No earth was found,
Nor heaven above;
One chaos all,
And nowhere grass.
---Sæmund's Edda, Henderson's translation (4)
Ymir, feeling hungry, looks about and discovers the cow Audhumla the nourisher.
Ymir takes his fill of cow milk and then the cow is hungry.
The cow begins to lick a nearby glacier until Buri the producer emerged from the ice block.
Because Ymir was so full from the milk he decides to take a nap, and while doing so, he births a son and a daughter from his armpit sweat.
While his feet created the six-headed giant Thrudgelmir, who shortly later gave birth to the giant Bergelmir, the forefather of all evil frost giants (omg Loki!!!).
Under the armpit grew,
'Tis said of Hrim-thurs,
A girl and boy together;
Foot with foot begat,
Of that wise Jötun,
A six-headed son.
---Sæmund's Edda, Thorpe's translation (Jones 5)
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Odin, Vili, and Ve
When the giants realize that they are you know, like alive and stuff, they realize that Buri the producer now has a son named Börr and because they are good and the giants are bad, they all must fight each other because that's just how good and evil work in the universe.
This continued on for ages, until Börr marries giantess Bestla, the daughter of Bolthorn, the thorn of evil.
Together Börr and Bestla give birth to three sons: Odin (spirit), Vili (will), and Ve (holy).
The sons immediately join their father Börr in the perpetual battle against the frost-giants and help finally slaying the powerful Ymir.
When Ymir died, blood poured from him, killing all the frost-giants except for Bergelmir and his wife.
And all the race of Ymir thou didst drown,
Save one, Bergelmer: he on shipboard fled
Thy deluge, and from him the giants sprang.
---Balder Dead, Matthew Arnold (5)
Bergelmir and his wife create Jötun-heim (home of the giants) where they repopulate the frost-giant race.
Even with their new frost-giant race, Bergelmir and his family stand no chance against the gods, or Æsir (pillars of the world), and are quickly defeated by Börr's sons, who then push Ymir's body into an abyss and began to use his parts to create the world.
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The Creation of the Earth
Using Ymir's flesh, Börr's sons create Midgard, or middle garden.
His eyebrows ramparts, his blood and sweat the ocean, bones are hills, teeth are cliffs, and his curly hair the trees and vegetation.
The three brothers are thoroughly pleased with their work and finish by using Ymir's skull as the heavens and his brains as the clouds.
Of Ymir's flesh
Was earth created,
Of his blood the sea,
Of his bones the hills,
Of his hair trees and plants,
Of his skull the heavens,
And of his brows
The gentle powers
Formed Midgard for the sons of men;
But of his brain
The heavy clouds are
All created.
---Norse Mythology, R.B. Anderson (6)
Next they created the cardinal directions by placing four strong dwarfs at the corners of the heavens to hold it up.
They then created the stars from Muspells-heim to shine light on the earth at night.
They also used the sparks from Muspells-heim as the sun and moon.
And from the flaming world, where Muspel reigns,
Thou sent'st and fetched'st fire, and madest lights:
Sun, moon, and stars, which thou hast hung in heaven,
Dividing clear the paths of night and day.
---Balder Dead, Matthew Arnold
When all was ready to go and the steeds Arvakr the early waker and Alsvin the rapid goer were attached to the sun-chariot the gods began to worry about the well-being of the horses so they gave them protection from the sun via a shield.
The night-chariot was led by Alsvider the all-swift, and did not require protection from the rays of the moon.
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Mani and Sol
Now that the steeds and chariots are ready, someone needs to lead them.
The gods were drawn to the two beautiful offspring of the giant Mundilfari, named Mani (moon) and Sol (sun).
The gods chose the daughter Sol to rule the Sun-chariot and the son Mani to rule the Moon-chariot.
Know that Mundilfaer is hight
Father to the moon and sun;
Age on age shall roll away,
While they mark the months and days.
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Hávamál, W. Taylor's translation (8)
The gods then summoned Nott (night), a daughter of Norvi, a giant, and entrusted her with the dark chariot drawn by Hrim-faxi or frost mane, and together they dropped the dew and frost on to the earth.
Hrim-faxi is the sable steed,
From the east who brings the night,
Fraught with the showering joys of love:
As he champs the foamy bit,
Drops of dew are scattered round
To adorn the vales of the earth.
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Vafthrudni's-mal, W. Taylor's translation (8)
Nott, the goddess of night, was married three different times.
Her first husband was Naglfari, together they had a son named Aud.
Her second husband was Annar and together they had a daughter named Jörd (earth).
Her third husband was the god Dellinger (dawn) and together they had a radiant son they named Dag (day).
As soon as the gods became aware of Dag and his beauty, they gave him a chariot drawn by the white steed Skin-faxi (shining mane), and together they spread light and gladness through the world.
Forth from the east, up the ascent of heaven,
Day drove his courser with the shining mane.
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Balder Dead, Matthew Arnold (9)
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The Wolves Sköll And Hati
Because you cannot have good without evil, the people of the North believed the Sun and Moon were incessantly chased by the fierce wolves Sköll (repulsion) and Hati (hatred) whose main goal was to destroy the light and envelop the earth in darkness.
Sköll the wolf is named
That the fair-faced goddess
To the ocean chases;
Another Hati hight
He is Hrodvitnir's son;
He is the bright maid of heaven shall precede.
---Sæmund's Edda, Thorpe's translation (9)
When the wolves managed to overtake the lightness, they would cause eclipses.
The people who rise up in alarm and their noise would cause the wolves to drop the chariots and the chase would begin again.
But even in this early morn
Faintly foreshadowed was the dawn
Of that fierce struggle, deadly shock,
Which would end in Ragnarok;
When Good and Evil, Death and Life,
Beginning now, end then their strife.
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Valhalla, J.C. Jones (11)
Mani was accompanied by Hiuki, the waxing, and Bil, the waning, the Norse version of "Jack and Jill", who were outlined on the moon.
The gods not only created Sun, Moon, Day, and Night but also Evening, Midnight, Morning, Forenoon, Noon, and Afternoon.
Together they shared the duties of passing time while the seasons were left to Summer and Winter.
Summer was a descendant of Svasud the mild and lovely and was loved by all, except for Winter.
Winter was the son of Vindsual, son of god Vasud, the personification of icy wind.
Vindsual is the name of him
Who begat the winter's god;
Summer from Suasuthur sprang;
Both shall walk the way of years,
Till the twilight of the gods.
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Vafthrudni's-mal, W. Taylor's translation (11)
The cold winds in the North were from the great giant Hræ-svelgr, the corpse-swallower, who wore wings like an eagle and used them to thrust gusts across the land.
Hræ-svelger is the name of him
Who sits beyond the end of heaven,
And winnows wide his eagle-wings,
Whence the sweeping blasts have birth.
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Vafthrudni's-mal, W. Taylor's translation (12)
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Dwarfs and Elves
While the gods were working on all of the above, maggots began to form in Yrim's flesh.
The gods gave the beings intelligence and then separated the beings into two basic groups: dark and light.
The dark group was sent to live in Svart-alfa-heim, which is underground, and consisted of Dwarfs, Trolls, Gnomes, and Kobolds. If they came above ground they would turn into stone so they spent most of their time exploring the earth for precious gems and metals.
The light group was made up of Elves and Fairies and they lived in Alf-heim (home of the light-elves), which is situated between the earth and the heavens, so that they could visit earth and tend to plants or other things whenever they felt like it.
Next Odin decides to lead his descendants and followers to the broad plain called Idaworld, which is far above the earth on the other side of the great stream Ilfing.
Ifing's deep and murky wave
Parts the ancient sons of earth
From the dwelling of the Goths:
Open flows the might flood,
Nor shall ice arrest its course
While the wheel of Ages rolls.
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Vafthrudni's-mal, W. Taylor's translation (12)
The twelve Æsir (gods) and twenty-four Asynjur (goddesses) assembled in Asgard (home of the gods) to hear Odin's bidding.
They all decide that Asgard is a place of peace and no blood shall every be shed there.
Because of that, they decide to put all of their weapons into a forge and use the precious metals to create a magnificent palace.
They lived in happiness for a long period that is now called the Golden Age.
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The Creation of Man
The gods had created Midgard for humans but it took awhile for there to be any human inhabitants.
One day Odin, Vili, and Ve are walking along the shore when they discover and Ash and Elm tree.
The three decide it's pretty human-like so Odin gives it a soul, Vili gives it motion and senses, and Ve gives it blood and blooming complexions.
Now endowed with the power of speech, thought, love, hope, and a desire to work, the gods left the newly created man and woman to rule and repopulate the earth.
Because the gods created the humans they had empathy for them and thus watched over and protected them.
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The Tree Yggdrasil
Allfather created a huge ash tree that he called Yggdrasil or the tree of the universe, which filled the world all the way from the remotest depths of Nifl-heim, to Midgard, all the way to Asgard.
The tree had huge branches with leaves that were always green and overshadowed Odin's hall and other worlds.
The green leaves acted as a feeding ground for Odin's goat Heidrun, which produced mead for the gods, and for the stags Dain, Dvalin, Duneyr, and Durathor, from whose horns honeydew dropped down onto the earth and supplied all the water in all the rivers.
Also living in the tree above Odin's hall was an eagle, and between his eyes sat the falcon Vedfolnir, who reported everything he saw from the heavens down to Nifl-heim.
A dragon named Nidhug and countless worms were continually gnawing the trees roots in an attempt to kill the tree to then lead to the downfall of the gods.
Through all our life a tempter prowls malignant,
The cruel Nidhug from the world below.
He hates that asa-light whose rays benignant
On th' hero's brow and glitt'ring sword bright glow.
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Viking Tales of the North, R.B. Anderson (14)
A squirrel named Ratatosk would run between the falcon and the dragon repeating remarks in hopes of causing a quarrel between them.
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The Bridge Bifröst
The huge tree was maintained by the Fates, or Norns, who would sprinkle it with holy water from the Urdar fountain in Asgard.
The water would trickle down to the earth and supply bees with honey.
Bifröst or Asabru is the rainbow bridge that begins in Nifl-heim and ends in Asgard.
The gods arose
And took their horses and set forth to ride
O'er the bridge Bifröst, where is Heimdalls' watch,
To the ash Igdrasil, and Ida's plain.
Thor came on foot, the rest on horseback rode.
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Balder Dead, Matthew Arnold (15)
Thor, the god of thunder, was the only god to never pass over the bridge for fear of breaking it.
The god Heimdall kept constant vigilance at the bridge in case of attack from Ragnarok, frost-gaints and Surtr.
Surt from the south comes
With flickering flame;
Shines from his sword
The Val-god's sun.
The stony hills are dashed together,
The giantesses totter;
Men tread the path of Hel,
And heaven is cloven.
---Sæmund's Edda, Thorpe's translation (15)
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The Vanas
The original inhabitants of the heavens was, of course, the Æsir, but they were not the only divinities of the Northern Races, there were also sea- and wind-gods, called the Vanas, who lived in Vana-heim.
In earlier times, before the palaces of Asgard were constructed there was a dispute between the Æsir and Vanas which consisted of throwing mountains and icebergs at each other.
Over time they realized that there is strength in unity and gave up their differences and made peace.
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Whew! That was a lot more information then I originally thought it was going to be!
But you gotta cover the basics before you can move onto the more detailed and complicated things~
So I hope you'll come back next week (and I didn't scare you with the information overload) for more Viking Mythology~*
And if you have any questions whatsoever, leave a comment and I'll respond asap! (:
"Quiet Mornings"
"Up Close"
