An Overview of Viking Mythology

Here is some of my research into Norse mythology, with special emphasis on the Viking gods and a few major myths.

Random Notes:

• Norse Mythology is a strange world. It’s different from other mythology in that their characters and world, even in Asgard, are grave and solemn. This may all be due to the fact that even thought the gods are immortal, they will be destroyed in the final battle between good and evil.
• The norse people considered 2 major classes of Gods: the Æsir and the Vanir, as well as several other mythical beings, including giants.
• Norse mythology centers largely around the approaching catastrophicdoom of the gods, Ragnarok.
• All the gods know that Ragnarok is coming. They know what will happen, that they (and their enemies) will die. Norse mythology is somewhat unique in this respect – the gods’ ultimate destiny on the battlefield is a tribute to the warrior’s pride of the Vikings.
• Icelandic writer Snorri Sturluson made an interesting comparison with the Æsir gods to the people in Asia, particular to the Trojan royal family. Snorri wrote that the Æsir came from Asia and compared ragnarok with the Fall of Troy

(Grendel)

Æsir

• The Æsir are one of the two groups of deities in norse mythology. They are associated with war, power and death.
• Reside in Asgard.
• When they made peace with the Vanir, a few Vanir deities such as Njörd, Frey and Freyr became Æsir.
• Include Gods such as Odin, Frigg, Thor, Tyr, Loki, Heimdall etc
• Include goddesses such as Frigg, Freyja, Sif, Idun, Jörd, Fulla Thrud etc

Vanir

• The Vanir is the other of the two groups of deities. They are associated with growth and fertility. They were defeated by the younger group, the Æsir not long after the creation.
• The gods of light compared to the Æsir, who were more somber and gloomy.
• Practiced incestuous marriages.
• Include gods such as Njörd, Freyr, Freyja, Sif, Idun, Gullveig, Heid and Kvasir
• The vanirwanted the same status and privilege as the Æsir. The Æsir refused ad war broke out between the two races of gods. The war lasted for 10 years before the Æsir agreed to the Vanir’s terms.

The Giants

• Ymir was the first creature created in the universe and the father of the race of frost-giants. He was killed by Odin and his brothers who used his body to create the world, his skull to create heaven and his eyebrows to create Midgard (home of mankind)
• main kinds – frost, fire, mountain giants
• Buri was the ancestor of the gods, created from a stone or ice that the giant primeval cow, Audumla licked into shape.
• Surt – at Rangarök, he set the 9 worlds on fire, destroying almost all creatures
• Thrym, the ruler of the giants. Stole Mjollnir, wanted to marry Freyja – Thor dressed up as Freya to retrieve his hammer, accompanied by Loki who kept making excuses for the fire in his eyes and his appetite. When Thor received the hammer, he took off his disguise and killed Thrym and all the other giants in the hall

The Midgard Serpent

• The world serpent, the offspring of Loki and the giantess Angerboda.
• Symbolises evil
• To confine the ever-growing serpent, Odin had Jörmungand thrown into the sea, but his body grew so large that he encircled the world.
• Thor tried to kill it when they first met, when it was hooked like a fish. The thunder god tried to smash its head with his hammer, but the frightened frost giant Hymir cut the line, allowing the serpent to escape.
• At Rangarök, Jörmungand escaped his underwater confinement. Thor managed to kill the serpent with the mjollnir, but succumbed to the deadly venom of the serpent and died himself.

Jormungand

• The son of the fire god Loki ad the frost giant Angrboda, Jormungand is a large serpent.
• Odin threw Jormungand into the ocean and it grew so long it encircled the earth, becoming known as the Midgard Serpent.
• At Ragnarok, Jormungand was slain by Thor, but forst bit the god. His venom eventually killed Thor.

Fenrir

• Giant wolf – the offspring of Loki and the giantess Angerboda.
• Grew so rapidly and in such gigantic proportion that the gods feared it.
• The gods tied him up and when the wolf realized that he had been tricked, bit of Tyr’s hand.
• At Ragnarök, he broke free and fought against the gods with the other giants and monsters.
• Devoured Odin and was killed by Vidar (odin’s son) who ripped his jaw apart with his bare hands.

Asgard

• One of the 9 worlds created by Odin and his brothers, the home of the Aesir gods and goddesses.
• Full of great halls and palaces.
• Only one entrance known as Bifrost or “Rainbow Bridge” which was guarded by the god Heimdall.

Valhalla

• Kind of the equivalent of Christian heaven
• The great hall of the einherjar, the heroic dead. Warriors who died in glorious battle were chosen by Odin to wait in Valhalla until Ragnarok.
• The large structure, built by Odin himself in Asgard, had over 500 doors, each large enough for 800 warriors to march out of at the time of Ragnarok so that they could fight the futile battle with the gods.
• The heaven of the Vikings, a large hall where wounds healed quickly and meat was readily available.
• A constant routine of fighting and feasting ensured that the warriors were at their physical peak when Ragnarok came.
• Were carried from their place of death of Midgard to Valhalla by beautiful Valkyries.
• Had overlapping shields for a roof, held up by the spear-shafts as rafters

Midgard

• The home of the human race – also called Manheim
• After the three gods Odin, Vili and Ve created Midgard, they started to create the uman race, from three trunks/driftwood they came upon at the beach
• Was formed with the eyebrows of Ymir

Yggdrasill

• A great ash tree, the World Tree, supports the unicerse with roots that connect the 9 worlds together. One root extends to the world of fire and another to the root of cold/ice

The three wells

• The Norns guarded the 3 wells – 1.“Weird’s well” (considered very holy) which is the well of the past, the “verdandi” (present) and the “skuld” (future)
• Two swans drink from this well
• The Norns cared for the root near Weird’s well! Each day they would take water from the hly well, pouring it on the root and soil so that at least this root doesn’t rot or decay. The mud was white and caused honeydew to fall to the earth, keeping the valley around the well to be forever green
• Each day the Æsir would court there – arriving on horses from the rainbow bridge – but Thor would walk and wade through
• 2. The well of Mimir, the well of knowledge – guarded by the Æsir god Mimir.
• 3. “the roaming kettle” where a giant serpend continuously gnaws at the root of Niflheim. Eventually, Nidhogg will eat its way through the root and cause Yggdrasill to collapse. This won’t happen until Ragnarok has arrived. The serpent, Nidhogg also likes sucking on the bodies of the dead

Odin (“Frenzy”)

• The father of the Gods, king of Asgard, ruler of Aesir and the Lord of war, death and knowledge – the chief God.
• The King of Norway when considered human
• God of the sky and war.
• Not trustworthy and would often break his oaths.
• The son of giants Bor and Bestla.
• Wife was named Frigg but the mother of Thor was named Jörd, who was a giantess.
• He set up his sons all over Scandinavia and Europe to start Royal families.
• Created the universe alongside his brothers Ve and Vili. Odin gave humans the gift of breath.
• Would often wander the world with VIli and Loki (who was a blood-brother). Loki often helped Odin but sometimes his mischievous nature caused more trouble and embarrassment to him and other Gods.
• Wears a huge wide-brimmed hat
• A somber and grim bearded God who wears an eye patch
• Carries a spear Gungnir which was made by the dwarves and his ring (the ring of power) was made by dwarves too.
• He also armed himself with a golden helmet and a fine coat of mail, which he wore at Ragnarok
• Rides an 8 legged horse named Sleipnir into battle (an offspring of Loki)
• Has 2 ravens, Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory), who fly around the world every day bringing up-to-date reports
• Has only 1 eye – the other was traded for a sip from Mimir’s well of Wisdom during his visit to the great World Tree Yggdrasil. He is thus full of knowledge, while his missing eye is hidden in an unknown location care of Mimir the talking head. The eye enabled Mimir to focus on dar-distant events, allowing Odin the ability to always see far ahead.
• Odin is a shape-changer
• He loves to cause conflicts and shifts of power
• Led the mystical band of horsemen. Theyroamed at night and seeing them meant it was likely to be your doom.
• With the threat of Ragnarok, the death of all gods, Odin built the Valhalla, a great hall of the “heroic dead”. Odin would then gather heroes and warriors who were slain in battle, and bring them to Valhalla so they would fight alongside the Gods on the Vigrid plain, in an attempt to strengthen and save the gods in the final battle against the frost giants at the time of Ragnarok.
• Odin was killed by a giant wolf, Fenrir, a monstrous offspring of the fire god Loki and the frost giantess Angrboda.
• Knowledge is power, so the saying goes. Which means that secret knowledge is secret power. Odin didn’t seek knowledge for his own sake, but rather to help against the destruction of the Gods at Ragnarok
• He was obsessed with Ragnarok
• He would resort to deception, betrayal and murder to get knowledge.
• He was the breaker of oaths and vows, especially if he could gain advantages from it

Angrboda

• She was a frost giantess and a mistress of Loki who gave birth to 3 monsters – Fenrir, Jourmungand and Hel.

Balder

• The son of Odin and Frigg and dwelled in Asgard
• The god of beauty.
• The most beloved of all the gods but through the prophecy and his own dreams, the Gods found out that he would die.
• Frigg set about the world getting oaths from all things on the earth to not harm her son, but she didn’t think that mistletoe could as it seemed such a harmless plant. Loki got this information from Frigg.
• In Asgard, the gods would play a game where they would throw things at Balder, including rocks and spears etc. None of these would ever harm him. Only his blind brother Hod (god of winter and darkness) didn’t play – Loki gave him the mistletoe and told him to play with his brother. The onlookers watched in horror when Balder, pierced by the plant was killed instantly.
• Hel, goddess of the dead, agreed to release Balder if every creature would mourn and shed tears for him. Everyone did except the giantess Thokk. So Hel refused to release Balder. Loki was punished for his involvement.
• After Ragnarok, Balder was reborn, heralding the beginning of a new age.

Bestla

• She was a giantess, the wife of Bor and the mother of Odin, Vili and Vé.

Bor

• He was a giant, the son of Buri. No mother was ever mentioned, and it is not clear how he was actually conceived. He had a wife, Bestla, with whom he had 3 sons: Vili, Vé and Odn.
• The name Bor means “son”

Buri

• He was an ancestor of the gods, released from an early ice by the primeval cow, Audhumla.
• He had a son named Bor, who fathered Odin.

Einherjar

• They are the souls of the heroic dead in Valhalla.
• The Vikings believed that when warriors died honorably in battle, they would be taken up to Valhalla by Valkyries. At Valhalla, in the Æsir’s home of Asgard, they await Ragnarok were they will fight alongside Odin and the other Æsir.
• Essentially, the einherjar are a select group of brave individuals chosen by Odin to assist him in the coming battle.
• The name einherjar is Old Norse for “lone fighters”.

Valkyries

• Female warriors who wore swan feathers which allowed them to fly
• Serve Odin by going around the battlefield, choosing slain warriors who would be suited to fight in Ragnarok
• Live in Valhalla where they would be the mead-maidens, serving Odin and the Einherjar with mead.

Freyja (Lady)

• The daughter of the sea god Njord.
• Goddess of fertility, love and lust, beauty, witchcraft, war and death
• Her greatest treasure was the Bisings’ necklace which she obtained by sleeping with the 4 dwarves who made it. She had a love for gold
• She gained many admirers through her breathtaking beauty.
• Like Odin, she has an interest in the heroic dead, dividing the slain up at the end of the battle, determining who was worthy.
• Has a lost husband known as Odur or Od (some stories suggest that it was Odin)
• Described as extremely beautiful with blonde hair and blue eyes.
• Was sought after by the giants who wanted to marry her
• Enjoyed combat and battle. Would ride into the battlefield where she received half the fallen heroes in combat who would stay in her palace.
• Has a floaf of birth feathers (allowing her to transform herself into a falcon) and a chariot drawn by two cats.

Loki

• The Norse fire god.
• The son of the giant Fárbautia (cruel striker) and the giantess Laufey
• Was a mischievous god, constantly tricking and switching sides in every conflict.
• The mother (transformed self into a mare – shape shifter) of the stallion Sleipnir
• Trickster and shape-changer, cunning and resourceful, mischievous but not evil. Liked to play practical jokes on everyone
• Later his role became darker and more sinister, representing the evil god as opposed to the Aesir, gods of good.
• Killed Balder and was punished by the gods by being bound in a cavern where venom from a serpent would drip on his head, causing tremendous agony and such great spasm that the whole earth shook
• At Ragnarök, he escaped from his imprisonment and led the war against the Gods.

Hel

• Goddess of the dead. Hel was the daughter of Loki and Angerboda, the sister of Jörmungand, the evil derpent and Fenrir, the giant wold.
• Half her body was black and the other was white – so really easy to recognize her
• Demeanour was usually downcast and grim.
• Odin threw her into the netherworld
• She has absolute control over her realmand even Odin can’t command her in any way in her domain.
• The dead that were allotted to her were the people who died of sickness or old age.
• World of the dead was guarded by a hell-hound called Garm.
• Posessed a dish called Hunger and a knife called Famine.

Ragnarök

• The predestined death of the Germanic gods and men and the destruction of the 9 worlds.
• A 3 year winter led to a final battle on the Vigrid Plain, where the gods and the frost giants fought the epic final battle. The Aesir were led by Odin and the evil giants and monsters were led by Loki.
• Marks the end of the old world and the beginning of the new, current world.
• Odin, who had previously attempted to prevent Ragnarok from occurring, led the gods. They were assisted by the heroic dead.
• The frost giants were led by the fire god Loki and assisted by the unworthy dead who came from Hel, and by other monsters.
• 2 humans, Lif and Lifthrasir, hid in a sacred tree called Yggdrasil during the battle and didn’t return until after the battle. When they emerged, they repopulated the Earth. Other survivors included some of the Gods, particularly Odin’s brother Honir, Odin’s sons Vidar and Vali, Thor’s sons Modi and Magni. Another of Odin’s sons, Balder, was revived from the dead after the battle.

Thor

• Thor is the thunder and lightning god
• His symbol was the device known as the swastika.
• The son of Odin and Fjrögyn, the goddess of the earth.
• Marrid Sif, the golden haired goddess.
• Depicted as massive and strong with a beard.
• Carries a magic hammer, Mjollnir which he used to make thunderbolts. It is a powerful weapon that is kind of like a boomerang, can be thrown and would always return. Also wears magical iron gloves.
• Wears the girdle of might which adds to his already enormous strength. Has an unbreakable staff.
• Was the mightiest god and a protector against the frost giants.
• At Ragnarok, the doom of the gods, he was killed by the poisonous venom of the sea serpent Jörmungand (his greatest enemy), after he had killed it.
• Has a chariot drawn by two goats.
• He was the Æsir champion

Tyr

• The god of the formality of War, justice, an Æsir. Especially associated with fair treaties. Had a reputation of keeping his oath, guarantee of good faith
• Carried a sword or spear of justice.
• The bravest of all the gods – the god of courage and boldness.
• The son of Odin and Frigg or Fjörgyn and the younger brother of Thor.
• When the monstrous wolf Fenrir became very powerful, the gods decided to imprison the beast. No ordinary chain could restrain fenrir, so Tyr had to put his hand in the mouth of the wolf as a sign of goodwill while the other gods created a magical restraint. When Fenrir realized that he had been tricked, and that he could not free himself, he bit off Tyr’s hand.
• He fought at Ragnarok, where he was destined to battle with Garm, the watchdog of the underworld – a fight which would result in both of their deaths.

Ve

• Was the son of Bor and Bestla and the brother of Odin and Vili.
• With his brothers, helped fashion the first humans out of driftwood.
• Was responsible for giving the humans the ability to see and hear.

Vigrid Plain

• The battlefield of the final fight between the gods and the giants, Ragnarok.
• A huge area of land, stretching 100 leagues in every direction. Despite its size, the plain would be field would be filled completely with the assembled giants, gods and warriors.

Vili

• The son of Bor and Bestla and brother of Odin and Ve.
• Was responsible for giving the first humans intelligence and emotion.

With this project, I wanted to stay away from using the obvious Thor as a main character. Thor already has comics and movies made about him, so I wanted to focus on one of the less well-known gods and one of the less well known myths.

My favourite myth is the one about the god Balder and his death. He would make an awesome player character/protagonist because he is basically invincible and is beautiful and very loved. This immediately makes him a likeable character who players would have fun controlling. The fact that the only thing that could harm him was mistletoe would allow for some very fun weapon designs for the enemy. Perhaps in my game he won't be completely invincible though - considering that he was reborn after Ragnarök (a good opening concept for the game), maybe he came back to earth as a human who is just bloody super tough and maybe has super human strength and a range of awesome skills.