The Norse Mythology
The Norse Mythology
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The Norse Mythology is a lore that is incredibly deep and rich. It has poems, narratives Nordic culture, originating from Germanic and Scandinavia. It is not only a myth, but it was a religion during the Viking era which was practiced by the Vikings living in Scandinavian countries, and also the Germanic people. Nobody knows the name of the Vikings religion, or even if it had a name. The culture of the Vikings and the sagas from Norse mythology spread at a great rate.
Vikings originated from Norway, Denmark, and Sweden in Scandinavia. They settled all over Europe, in countries like England, Ukraine, Germany, France, and even in countries far away like Faroe Island, Iceland, and Greenland.
In the Norse mythology’s world, there are gods and goddesses, powerful and strange creatures, giants, land spirits, elves and dwarves. At the center of the cosmos of the Vikings, there is Yggdrasil (the ash tree). This tree grew out of the Urd well. It holds the 9 worlds; it is also gods’ home and home to spiritual beings and humans. Humans and Vanaheim lived in Midgard, while gods lived in Asgard. Jotunheim is the home of giants, Alfheim the home of elves, and the home of the dwarves is Svartalfheim. There was also the world of fire (Muspelheim), the world of ice (Niflheim), and lastly the land of the dead (Hel), under the goddess of Hel (History on the Net, n.d).
There were also gods and goddesses, led by Odin (allfather), Thor (god of warriors), Loki (a trickster), Baldur (son of Odin and Frigg), Frigg (Odin’s wife), Freya (goddess of love, fertility and war and death), Freyr (god of farming, fertility, agriculture and prosperity), and finally Njoror (god of the sea) (Gaiman, 2018). The giants are the spiritual beings that are always focused on destroying and devouring the world. They are the relatives of gods but also their enemies, and Thor is the one in charge of hunting them down. Dwarfs are powerful spiritual beings living in the underground, they are miners and smiths (History on the Net, n.d).
The Norse mythology has its heroes and heroines. Odin is then father of Thor and is the most powerful among the gods. The determination and perseverance of Odin was great, he can fight the most powerful Ragnarok monsters. The second hero is Thor, the god of thunder in Asgard. He protects humans and his Midgard realm.
The Norse mythology viewed the future as bleak. Their view for the end times was uniquely pessimistic and stark. This is because the gods of Norse could be defeated by Yggdrasil’s residents, and they have been destined to be defeated, and they have known this all along. The myth states that in the end times, chaos forces will defeat the human and divine guardians of order. Loki and his children will break their bonds, and the dead from Niflheim will rise against the living. The gods, understanding the futility of their plight, gather their best warriors (Einherjar) from Vanhalla, but they will be powerless in preventing the world from being destroyed. Fenrir will swallow Odin, Jormungndr will be killed by Thor, but Thor will die from its venom, Loki is the last to die with a wound from Heimdall. There will later rise another new world from the ashes and it shall be peaceful and productive (New World Encyclopedia, 2018).
References
Gaiman N. (2018) Norse Mythology. W. W. Norton & Company.
History on the Net (n.d) Vikings and Norse Mythology. History on the Net,
New World Encyclopedia (2018) Norse Mythology.
