Norse Mythology

Reporters : Jean Lord B. Umblas

Ronalyn Miranda
Richard Guillermo
Novie Jane Balbino
 Who were the Norse?

 The Norse were tribes that

inhabited Northern Europe,
specifically Norway,
Sweden, Finland, and
Denmark.
 Historically, the Norse were
know by the term “Viking”
and were famous for their
raids along the British Isles
and continental Europe.
How Do We Know What We Know?

 Norse myths existed only in oral form while they were

central to religious belief. They were written down
after Northern Europe had become Christian.
 However this presents a few problems:
 There is no coherent body of literature showing the myths
and legends
 There could possibly be alterations due to the influence of
Christianity
 The “fictionalization” of stories which originally had religious
importance
 Therewas a wide time span, wide geographical range, and
many different sub-cultures.
 Recorded Sources
 There are some sources that were recorded and we are
pretty sure have not been altered.
 Prose Edda and Poetic Edda are where most of our
ideas about the Norse religion come from.
 However, unlike most myths, we know exactly who
wrote these Eddas…Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.
Norse Creation Myth
 Ginnungagap was the
great emptiness before
there was a world, or
any living things in it.
 Far to the South of the
Ginnungagap was the
fiery realm of Muspell.
 With its long, hot rivers
full of poison and vast
lakes of fire, nothing
could grow in Muspell.
Norse Creation Myth
 To the North was the dark
and cold realm of Niflheim,
where icy fountains spewed
forth freezing rivers.
 Nothing could grow here
either, for the sky was
always dark and the
mountains were blocks of
solid ice.
Norse Creation Myth
 Slowly, over years and
years and years, the
fiery blasts from
Muspell began to melt
the icy mountains of
Niflheim.
 Out of the melting ice,
the giant Ymir
emerged, the first
being of the vast
Ginnungagap.
Norse Creation Myth
 Next to him there emerged a
cow from the ice.
 The cow licked the salt from
the ice mountains and Ymir
drank the cow’s milk.
 The cow licked away entire
mountains of ice. Slowly she
licked the ice from two more
beings, this time the god Buri
and his goddess wife.
 They had a son named Bor,
and his son was named Odin,
who became the king of all
 Norse Creation Myth
 Ymir was cruel and brutal.
 Odin and the other gods
could no longer abide by his
evil acts and together the
gods slew him.
 Ymir’s huge body formed the
earth. His blood became the
sea, his flesh became the
land, his bones the mountains
and his hair the trees.
 Odin and the other gods
formed the sky with his skull,
held up by four towering
Norse Creation Myth
 Odin gathered sparks from the fiery depths of
Muspell and created the sun and moon and
set them in the sky.
 As the sun and moon shone over the new
world in the Ginnungagap, the ice began to
melt and plants and trees began to grow.
Norse Creation Myth
 The greatest tree of all
was the Yggdrasil, which
grew in the very center of
the earth.
 Its roots penetrated into
the bottom of creation
and its leaves reached the
very top of the sky.
 Odin was satisfied with
the new world, and named
it Midgard, ‘The Middle
Land’.
 Norse Creation Myth
 On one of his walks, Odin found
two fallen trees, an ash and an
elm.
 He lifted them from the mud and
formed the first man and woman
from them.
 Odin breathed life into the beings,
gave them reason and feelings,
hearing and sight.
 He named the man Ask and the
woman Embla. From these two
sprang the entire human race.
 The humans had the task of
looking after Midgard, while the
gods ascended to Asgard (their
Norse Creation Myth
 Ymir’s giant sisters were still mourning his death and were
looking for a way to take their revenge on the gods who killed
him.
 They gathered at the foot of Yggdrasil and began carving lines
into it.
 Each line was a human life, filled with twists and turns,
beginning with a man’s birth, and ending with his death.
 At the end of each line they made a deep cut to ensure that
humans would never be as powerful as the gods.
 These spells were so powerful that not even Odin could do
anything to change them.
 Thus Yggdrasil became known as ‘The Tree of Life’ and
humans knew death and suffering in their world.
Different Deities

 There were actually two distinct division

among the gods of Norse mythology.
 The Aesir make up the principle gods of the
pantheon and were connected to power and
war.
 The Vanir appear to mainly be connected to
cultivation and fertility.
 Over time both groups would merge with the
Aesir gods being the dominate.
Nine Worlds

 There were nine separate worlds to the Norse

that made up the cosmos.
 Midgard (where the humans dwelt)
 Asgard (this is the capitol of the Norse Gods
and where most of the myths take place).
 Hel (the underworld)
 The other six worlds are referred to, but play
no big part in the major myths.
 Valhalla
 Odin’s Hall
 The home of those slain
gloriously in battle.
 There idea of heaven
where you prepared to
fight at the end of the
world.
Gods and Goddess
 Odin
 Chief God
 God of wisdom, war,
battle and death (among
other things)
 Had one eye. Gave an eye
for wisdom
 Odin’s weapon of choice
was a spear (Gungnir) and
he rode Sleipnir (an eight-
legged horse).
 Frigg
 Wife of Odin
 Patron of marriage,
motherhood and fertility.
 Plays little part in the
myths.
Thor
 Son of Odin
 Red Haired and Bearded
 God of thunder (as well as
lightening, wind and rain)
and war.
 Weapon of choice was a
special crafted war hammer,
Mjolnir.
 Hammer was crafted by the
dwarfs of Asgard.
Sif
 Golden haired wife of
Thor.
 Fertility goddess
 Plays little part in the
myths.
 Tyr
 God of single combat and
heroic glory.
 Bound the great wolf
Fenrir.
 One hand (lost the other
to the wolf Fenrir)
 Bravest of the Gods.
Heimdall
 Guardian of the Gods
 Watches over the Bifrost
Bridge (connects the
worlds together).
 Could see perfectly for
hundreds of miles in the
day or night.
 Needed no sleep.
 Blows his warning horn if
trouble approaches
 Will only blow his horn
once in all the myths.
Freyr
 One of the most
important Norse Gods
 God of Fertility
 Carried a magic sword
 Freya
 Goddess of love and
fertility.
 The most beautiful of
the goddesses
 Patron of crops and
childbirth.
 Baldr
 God of innocence, joy,
beauty and peace.
 Odin’s second son.
 Invulnerable to
everything, except
mistletoe
 Killed by his blind brother
Hoor, who was tricked by
Loki
 Death begins the
prophecy for the end of
the world
Hoor/Hod
 God of winter and
darkness
 Blind
 Tricked by Loki into
killing Balder
Vidar
 God of Silence
 God of Revenge
Uller
 God of the Winter.
 Always dressed in
animal furs.
 Patron of the western
mountains.
Valkyrie
 Goddess of combat
 Rode over the
battlefields to choose
those slain gloriously in
battle.
 They choose who got to
go to Valhalla.
Forces of Chaos

 There are several forces that are constantly

fighting the gods but among them only six
are prominent.
 Frost Giants
 Fire Giants
 Loki
 Loki’s three children
Loki
 God of Mischief
 Odin’s brother
 Prankster
 Has three child who
are the greatest
monsters in the known
world.
Loki’s Brood
Fenrir
 A massive wolf
 Capable of breaking
any bonds
 Special bond was made
by the gods and Tyr
bound the monster.
Jörmungandr (World Serpent)
 A massive snake with
venomous breath.
 Cast down into the
oceans of Midgard
where he became so
large his body circled
the world
 The arch-enemy of
Thor
Hel
 A female with half a
face like a beautiful
woman and the other
half of her face like a
corpse.
 Ruler of Hel (the
place), the Viking
underworld.
 Companion her
hellhound Garm.
Ragnarok

 The Viking Armageddon

 Introduced by the birth of Loki’s three
children.
 Triggered by the death of Baldr.
 Fought during three consecutive winters.
Loki’s Punishment
 Punished for the death
of Baldr, Loki is tied to
a rock where a snake
spits its venom onto his
face everyday.
 However a great
earthquake will break
all the bonds in the
universe and the battle
of Ragnorak will begin.
Final Battle

 At Ragnarok, the sons of Muspell (fire giants)

shatter the Bifrost Bridge.
 Loki leads the rest of the giants toward
Valhalla for the final battle of the world.
Final Battle
 Odin will fight Fenrir,
but after a long battle
will be eaten by the
great wolf.
 To avenge his fallen
father, Tyr kills the
beast by ripping its
jaws apart.
Final Battle

 Thor will fight the

world serpent and
kill it, but will only
be able to take 9
steps back before
dying from the
creature’s venom.
Final Battle

 Tyr will fight the

hellhound Garm,
and the two will slay
each other
 With Garm dead,
there is no guardian
of Hel so the dead
warriors not in
Valhalla rise to fight.
Final Battle

 Heimdall and Loki

with fight and kill
each other.
Final Battle
 Brandishing the Sword
of Vengeance, Surtr
(the great fire giant)
will burn all 9 worlds of
the Norse universe.
 The fire will destroy
everything, including
himself
 Thus ends the world
The End?

 Although Surtr destroys the world, this is not

the end.
 The earth reemerges and the sons of the
gods as well as two humans (a male and
female) emerge from Yggdrasil and begin to
repopulate the world.
 A newer and a fairer sun will arise
symbolizing the completion of a perfect
world.
Heroes
Sigurd/Seigfried the Dragon Slayer

 Sigurd the Dragon

Slayer is the hero of the
anonymous 13th century
Icelandic prose epic,
Völsunga saga, based on
legends of Old
Scandinavian folk
culture.
 Slays the dragon Fafnir
to claim a dragon’s
hoard.
Beowulf
 An Anglo-Saxon hero
chronicled in the epic poem
Beowulf from the 8th
centaury.
 Kills three monstrous
beings: Grendel, Grendel’s
Mother, and a Dragon.
 Embodies the ideals of the
Norse culture.
 Considered the first piece of
written literature of what
would become English.