By: Kora

1
The Mortal Gods

• By Kora
• Ms. Nicole Bush

2
The People

• Anglo-saxons, Scandinavians, Iceland, and Denmark
• Defined by Tacitus, a Roman, by the language
  spoken
• Not Celtic-, Latin-,or Slav-based
• Each tribe had its own name, king and history.
• Considered barbarians by the Romans.

3
Migration

• Around 800 ad, different German dialects develop
  into
• Dutch
• English
• Flemish
• Danish
• Swedish
• Norwegian
• Icelandic
• as the different tribes migrate around Europe.

4
Runes Worship

• 24 letters in the original runic alphabet.
• Called futhark
• From the order of the first 6 letters
• Used for recording names on weapons
• Associated with magic

• Early Germans worshiped in natural, sacred places
• Groves
• Hilltops
• Islands

5
Literary Sources

• Heroic Poetry
• From the oral traditions
• Two types of poetry
• Poetic Edda
• A collection of lays found in 1 Icelandic
  manuscript
• Composed around 800 ad.
• Primary source for
• Thor versus Giants
• Odin as god of wisdom, poetry and magic
• The death of Balder
• The creation and destruction of the world

6
Literary Sources

• Epic
• Only 1 complete example survives.
• English Beowulf
• Germany
• A fragment of The Tale of Hildibrand and
  Hadubrand
• None from Scandinavia survive.

7
Creation

• 3 areas
• Niflheim land of ice, mist and darkness
• North
• Muspelsheim Land of fire
• South
• Abyss in between the two
• Ginnungagap
• Rivers flow from Muspelsheim
• Winds from Niflheim
• Ymir the first giant
• Father of giants, humans and gods

8
Creation

• The Cow Audhumla
• 4 rivers flow from her udders
• Buri born from the drops off her tongue
• Giant
• Buri capable of reproducing and bore a son
• Bor - Married Bestla, one of Ymirs descendants.
• 3 gods born of this marriage.
• Odin, Vili and Ve
• The race of giants created from Ymirs sweat
• Sons of Bor attacked Ymir and killed him
• Blood filled Ginnungagap

9
Creation

• One son and his wife survive.
• Gods dragged Ymirs body
• Its pieces created
• Blood oceans
• Flesh earth
• Bones mountains
• Skull vault of heaven supported by 4 dwarfs
• Later named the 4 directions
• Brain clouds
• Suns sparks got stuck in the vault of heaven
• Became stars

10
Creation

• Gods decided and began the rhythm of the seasons
• Night came first, then day
• Common in ancient cultures
• Humans
• Created after Asgard was built
• Two tree trunks molded into human shapes
• Odin souls
• Hoenir senses
• Lodur life and color

11
Lands

• 3 realms
• Asgard home of the gods
• Midgard home of human race
• Niflheim land of the dead
• Asgard
• Connected to Midgard by a bridge, The Bifrost
• Formed by rainbows
• Contains many halls
• Valhalla hall of the slain heros
• Valaskjalf houses Odins high seat Hlidskjalf
• Vanaheim home of the Vanir
• Alfheim home of the Light-Elves

12
Lands

• Midgard
• Land surrounded by an ocean
• Inhabited by a huge serpent
• Niflheim
• Only giants and dwarfs can live there
• Hels domain
• Land of ice and darkness

13
Yggdrasill Tree of Life

• An Ash tree
• Whole world is in the shadow of its branches
• Roots go deep into the earth and up into the sky
• 3 roots
• 1 in Urds well
• Fountain of youth
• 1 in Niflheim to the Hvergelmir fountain
• Gives water to all rivers in the world
• 1 to the fountain of Mimir
• Fountain of wisdom
• Will protect 2 humans during Ragnarok
• Lif and Lifthrasir

14
Gods

• 2 races of gods
• Aesir Gods of war
• Vanir Gods of fertility and earth
• War with each other
• Compromise Njord, Freyr and Freyja to Asgard

15
Odin (Wodan)

• Father and leader of all the gods
• Master of magic
• Runes
• God of war
• Patron of warriors
• Decides the fates of warriors
• Patron god of poetry
• Weapon
• Spear Gungnir
• Animal attendants
• Wolves Geri and Freki
• Ravens Huginn (mind) and Munnin (memory)
• Sleipnir 8 legged horse

16
Thor

• God of thunder
• Destroyer of giants
• Son of Odin
• Weapons
• Hammer Mjollnir
• A very short handle
• Like a boomerang
• The thunderbolt
• Magic belt
• Makes Thor twice as strong
• Iron gloves

17
Njord

• God of the sea
• Invoked for sailing or fishing
• Extremely rich
• Married to Skadi
• He lived in his hall by the sea, she in her hall
  in the mountains
• Father of Freyr and Freyja

18
Freyr

• God of human procreation and male potency
• God of horses
• During the migration period
• Many horse remains are found in Viking graves and
  at sites in Sweden.
• A horse cult
• Freyjas twin brother
• Resembles the relationship between the Greek
  Artemis and Apollo
• Not much is known about this god

19
Balder

• Son of Odin
• God of light
• Adored by all the gods
• Good natured
• Beautiful
• Peaceful
• His dreams directly precede Ragnarok
• Killed by Hod
• Guided by Loki
• Reborn after Ragnarok

20
Goddesses
21
Frigg (Frija)

• Odins wife
• Chief goddess
• Comparable to Hera in Greek mythology
• Men prayed to her to
• Protect marriages
• Bless them with children
• She knew the future
• Told no-one

22
Freyja

• Goddess of erotic and sensual love
• Mimics the Greek Aphrodite
• Can turn into a falcon or a feather
• Shamanistic powers
• seeress
• She is described as
• Desirable
• Strong willed
• Passionate

23
Loki, the Companion

• Not a god, but allowed to live in Asgard
• The trickster
• Nobody was immune from his practical jokes
• The gods used his advice to get out of sticky
  situations
• The wall of Asgard
• Becomes truly evil after a fashion of playing
  pranks
• Father of monsters
• Sleipnir
• Hel
• Fenrir

24
End of the World Ragnarok

• Nordic gods are mortal
• Everyone dies during Ragnarok some to be reborn
  in a new world
• Starts with Balders dream
• Death of Balder
• Gods vs. Giants
• Odin is the first god to die
• Eaten by Fenrir
• Avenged by his son, Vidar
• Freyr is killed by the fire giant, Surt
• Thor kills the serpent of Midgard

25
End of the World Ragnarok

• Breathes too much poison and falls
• Loki kills Heimdall, and then is slain
• Nature
• Storms and cataclysms
• Fires, earthquakes and tidal waves
• Human race dies except Lif and Lifthrasir
  sheltered in Yggdrdasill
• The ocean submerges everything
• The Ginnungagap opens again on all sides

26
End of the World Ragnarok

• at once a new world rises from the waves
• Everything is new and pure
• An Eden-like world

• Some gods are reborn
• Balder Master of this world
• Hod Balders brother
• Odins sons
• Vidar
• Vali
• Odins brothers
• Vili
• Ve
• Thors sons
• Magni and Modi
• Hoenir
• Announces the new age