Viking Mythology

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Viking Mythology
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Outline

• Introduction
• Part I. The Vikings
• Part II. Norse mythology
• Part III. Viking gods
• Part IV. Influence of Viking mythology
• Conclusion
• References

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The Vikings began to raid their southern
neighbors seriously and systematically around 800
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Introduction

• The Vikings were one of several waves of
  attackers to fall on Europe during the Middle
  Ages
• The Vikings are Nordic peoplesDanes, Swedes, and
  Norwegianswho raided and settled in Europe
  between 800 and 1100
• They attacked Russia, the British Isles, the
  Atlantic and North Sea shoreline of the
  Carolingian Empire (France, Germany, and the Low
  Countries)
• They eventually converted to Christianity and
  settled in the lands they had raided

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Part I. The Vikings

• Scandinavia, name applied collectively to three
  countries of northern EuropeNorway and Sweden
  (which together form the Scandinavian Peninsula),
  and Denmark. The three countries grouped because
  of their historical, cultural, and linguistic
  affinities
• The Scandinavian world never came under Roman or
  Christian influence before the raids, and its
  population was small and dispersed
• Because the people of this world mostly lived
  along the coasts, fishing played a significant
  part in their lives, as did sea trade

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Part I. The Vikings

• The basic social structure was that of small,
  free farmers who owed loyalty (along with taxes)
  to the headman or patriarch of the family
• Men being away from home often, free women
  enjoyed a power unique in Europe
• They traveled as far as North America in the West
  and Russia and Constantinople in the East
• Christian Europes ability to resist their
  attacks grew the Vikings settled and converted
  to Christianity
• They were great sailors and ferocious enemies,
  but also great storytellers and hard workers

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Part II. Viking mythology

• Pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of
  the Scandinavian people, including those who
  settled on Iceland
• The pre-Christian religion of the Vikings was
  similar to that of other Germanic tribes
• They worshiped a number of gods, including Odin,
  the god of war and leader of the Norse gods
  Thor, the god of thunder and Balder, the god of
  light
• Viking warriors believed that if they died
  heroically they would be called to dwell with
  Odin in Valhalla
• Opposing the Norse gods were a host of evil
  giants, led by Loki

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Part II. Viking mythology

• Norse mythology had no scripture. The mythology
  was orally transmitted in the form of long,
  regular poetry
• Oral transmission continued through the Viking
  Age (793-1066 AD in Scandinavia and Britain), and
  our knowledge about it is mainly based on the
  Eddas (collection of Old Norse poems from the
  Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius
  written around 1270) and other medieval texts
  written down during and after Christianisation
• The origin and eventual fate of the world are
  described in Völuspá ("The völva's prophecy" or
  "The sybil's prophecy"), one of the most striking
  poems in the Poetic Edda

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Odin, the Norse god of war and death, was
accompanied by two wolves, Freki (translated as
fierce) and Geri (translated as greedy).
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Part II. Viking mythology

• In Norse mythology, the earth is represented as a
  flat disc. This disk is situated in the branches
  of the world tree, or Yggdrasil
• In ancient Germanic and Old Norse mythology, the
  universe was believed to consist of nine physical
  worlds joined together
• The world of Men, the Middle-earth (or Midgard),
  lay in the centre of this universe. The lands of
  Elves, Gods, and Giants lay across an encircling
  sea
• The land of the Dead called Niflheim lay beneath
  the Middle-earth and was ruled by Hel, daughter
  of Loki
• A rainbow bridge, Bifrost Bridge, extended from
  Middle-earth to Asgard across the sea. An outer
  sea encircled the seven other worlds

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Asgard

• After Odin created Middle Earth, he built Asgard,
  the home of the gods
• There were many halls in Asgard for all the gods.
  Odin's hall had a roof of silver, and from it he
  could see all the worlds
• A bridge stretched from Asgard to Yggdrasill, the
  World Tree, and this bridge was called Bifrost,
  the rainbow
• One hall in Asgard was called Valhalla, for the
  warriors who died in battle
• They were chosen by the Valkyries, women who wore
  armour, and rode swiftly over land and sea on
  horseback. The Valkyries also decided who would
  win a battle

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Ragnarok

• At the end of time, the frost and fire giants
  will meet together to fight the gods and destroy
  the worlds. This time will be called Ragnarok
• The wolves chasing the Sun and Moon will catch
  and eat them, and there will be bitter cold. The
  earth will shake and mountains will fall, and
  even Yggrasill, the World Tree will tremble
• The wolf Fenrir will swallow Odin, but will be
  killed by Odin's son, Vadir. Thor attacks the
  World Serpent and kills it, but is poisoned by
  its venom. Loki will break free and attack
  Heimdall, the keeper of the rainbow bridge, which
  will get shattered
• All the gods, monsters and giants will die, and
  the world will be burned, and then swallowed by
  the ocean. However, a new, better world will
  arise from the waves, lit by a new sun.

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Part III. Viking gods

• The dualism that exists is not evil vs. good, but
  order vs. chaos. The gods represent order and
  structure whereas the giants and the monsters
  represent chaos and disorder
• Stories of the gods can be found in the Prose
  Edda (written by the Icelandic scholar and
  historian Snorri Sturluson around 1220) and in
  the Poetic Edda (collection of Old Norse poems
  from the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex
  Regius)
• The Eddas are the most important sources we have
  on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends

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Odin

• Father of Thor, Tyr and Balder Title The
  Cunning God Saxon name Woden
• Odin is a god of war and death, but also the god
  of poetry and wisdom
• Odin was the chief and father of the gods. He had
  drunk from the spring of Mimir which had made him
  very wise
• He invented Runes, the secret writing of the
  Saxons and Vikings, which not only stored
  knowledge, but could be used for magic
• He was born from Ymir, the creation giant, and
  made Middle Earth from his body. He also built
  Asgard

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Brynhild begs OdinAn illustration from F. L.
Spence Rhine Legends (1915)
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Thor

• Title Thunder God Son of Odin he holds
  Mjolnir, one of the mightiest weapons of both man
  and god
• Married to Sif, a fertility goddess. His mistress
  is the giantess Jarnsaxa ("iron cutlass"), and
  their sons are Magni and Modi and his daughter is
  Thrud
• He was very popular as the protector of both gods
  and humans against the forces of evil
• Donar is his Teutonic equivalent, while the
  Romans see in him their god Jupiter. Thursday is
  named after him
• At the day of Ragnarok, Thor will kill this
  serpent but will die from its poison. His sons
  will inherit his hammer after his death

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Thor, god of thunder, son of Odin. "Thor's Day"
is Thursday in English. He is the homologue of
Zeus. Here picture of the Marvel Comics Hero.
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Loki

• Loki is not a member of the Asgardians, but the
  son of Laufey, the deceased monarch of the Frost
  Giants, the ancient enemies of the Asgardians
• Odin led the Asgardians into battle against the
  Frost Giants and killed Laufey in personal combat
• After slaying Laufey, Odin found a small
  Asgardian-sized child hidden, Loki. Laufey kept
  him hidden from his people due to his shame over
  his son's small size
• Odin took the boy, out of pity and because he was
  the son of a worthy adversary slain in honorable
  combat, and raised him as his son alongside his
  biological son Thor
• Loki was not always evil he helped Thor on many
  adventures he had monstrous children, Fenrir the
  wolf, the World Serpent and Hel, queen of the
  dead

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Loki is connected with fire and magic, and can
assume many different shapes (horse, falcon,
fly). He is directly responsible for the death of
Balder, the god of light. Here fighting with Thor

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Part IV. Influence of Viking mythology

• Many writers borrowed extensively from Norse
  mythology, such as Robert E. Howard (Conan the
  Barbarian, a fictional Cimmerian mercenary) and
  Tolkien (Lord of the Rings)
• This helped fantasy fiction to develop as an
  unique genre. Fantasy fiction in turn provided a
  foundation for many role playing and computer
  games
• Dungeons and Dragons are based on the work of
  various fantasy authors (including Howard and
  Tolkien) and many mythologies, including Norse
  mythology
• In the Marvel Universe, the Norse Pantheon and
  related elements play a prominent part,
  especially Thor who has been one of the longest
  running superheroes for the company

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a. Days of the week

• The Germanic gods have left traces in modern
  English vocabulary
• An example of this is some of the names of the
  days of the week
• Modeled after the names of the days of the week
  in Latin (named after Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury,
  Jupiter, Venus, Saturn), the names for Tuesday
  through to Friday were replaced with Germanic
  equivalents of the Roman gods
• In English, Saturn (Saturday) was not replaced

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English originated from the Old Saxon language
and related dialects brought to Britain by
Germanic settlers from various parts of northwest
Germany. The original Old English language was
influenced by speakers of languages in the
Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who
colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th
centuries. Then by the Normans in the 11th
century, who spoke a variety of French
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Days of the week
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b. Lord of the Rings

• Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy saga by
  the British author J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973)
• Tolkien, Oxford philologist well acquainted with
  Northern European Medieval Literature including
  Old Norse, Old and Middle English Texts
• The Lord of the Rings began as a personal
  exploration by Tolkien of his interests in
  philology, religion, fairy tales, and Norse and
  Celtic mythology
• The concept of a "ring of power", which granted
  the wearer invisibility, is present in the Norse
  tale of Sigurd the Volsung
• Non-Christian religious motifs were strong
  influences in Tolkien's Middle-Earth

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Conclusion

• Many people are familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's
  Lord of the Rings or Wagner's The Ring of the
  Nibelung, but they are not familiar with Norse
  mythology to which both of these works are
  heavily indebted
• The Ring of the Nibelung is a series of four epic
  operas. Both the libretto and the music were
  written by Richard Wagner over the course of
  twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874
• The four operas in the Ring cycle are The
  Rhinegold The Valkyrie Siegfried Twilight of
  the Gods

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References

• http//encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561500/Viki
  ngs.html
• http//www.pantheon.org/articles/b/brunhilde.html
• http//odin.dep.no/odin/engelsk/norway/history/032
  005-990460/index-dok000-b-n-a.html
• http//www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
• http//www1.pu.edu.tw/bmon/Fairy.htminternet
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_(Marvel_Comics)
• http//www.bartleby.com/61/23/O0032300.html
• http//www.sacred-texts.com/neu/tml/index.htm
• http//www.mainlesson.com/display.php?authorkeary
  bookasgardstory_contents

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