2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 centaury.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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
the gods.
9. 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
pillars.
10. 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.
11. 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’.
12. 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
realm in heaven).
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
18. 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).
19. Frigg
• Wife of Odin
• Patron of marriage,
motherhood and
fertility.
• Plays little part in the
myths.
20. 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.
21. Sif
• Golden haired wife of
Thor.
• Fertility goddess
• Plays little part in the
myths.
22. 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.
23.
24. 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.
25. Freyr
• One of the most
important Norse Gods
• God of Fertility
• Carried a magic sword
26. Freya
• Goddess of love and
fertility.
• The most beautiful of
the goddesses
• Patron of crops and
childbirth.
27. 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
28. Hoor/Hod
• God of winter and
darkness
• Blind
• Tricked by Loki into
killing Balder
30. Uller
• God of the Winter.
• Always dressed in
animal furs.
• Patron of the western
mountains.
31. Valkyrie
• Goddess of combat
• Rode over the
battlefields to choose
those slain gloriously in
battle.
• They choose who got to
go to Valhalla.
32. 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
33. Loki
• God of Mischief
• Odin’s brother
• Prankster
• Has three child who are
the greatest monsters
in the known world.
35. Fenrir
• A massive wolf
• Capable of breaking any
bonds
• Special bond was made
by the gods and Tyr
bound the monster.
36. 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
37. 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.
38. Ragnarok
• The Viking Armageddon
• Introduced by the birth of Loki’s three
children.
• Triggered by the death of Baldr.
• Fought during three consecutive winters.
39. 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.
40.
41. 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.
42. 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.
43. 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.
44. 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.
46. 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
47. 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.
49. 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.
50. 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.
