Nordic mythology quiz

Viking age

793-1066

Scandinavia

• Denmark unified nation by 793, Norway and Sweden had not yet

• Similar language and culture, but no real loyalty between each other

• Could loot each other, but no real need to, went their own separate ways for foreign goods

Danish exploration

England to loot churches and monasteries

France, raids after charlemagne’s death

Charlemagne

Died 814
911 hired vikings to protect France
Rollo, Viking chieftain, becomes Duke of Normandy
Assimilates and becomes Christian

Norwegian exploration

• Completely settled Ireland and settled on Iceland

• Discovered North America: Greenland/Newfounland

• Intended to settle on North America; kicked out by natives

• Lasted on Greenland for 500 years, probably kicked out by the Inuit when they arrived 

Swedish exploration

• Mostly went to the Baltics 

• Rus States, large viking kingdom centerd around Kiev

  • Sweedes originally expelled, Slavic infighting led to them being invited back to create peace

Christianization of Scandinavia

• Denmark: 965 - by royal decree of Harold Bluetooth

• Iceland: 1000 - By royal decree

• Norway: 1000-1046 - Gradually forced by kings, didn’t have as much power

• Sweden: 1000-1100 - Gradually, don’t know much

Runes

• Native Scandinavian-Germanic alphabet

• Great religious significance

• Mostly found in stones as it is preserved better, but made for carving in wood (no horizontal lines)

• Not very informative as most stones found are just grave markers

Prose Edda

• Unique and valuable as it was written in Old Icelandic 

• Written by Snorri Storluson in 1220

• Written post-Cristianization of Iceland, possible influences

• Poetic Edda used as source, parts could be before Christinization 

Gylfi

Tricking of Gylfi
- King of Sweden tricked by Goddess into giving her a large piece of land from Sweden, becoming the Danish island of Zealand

• In the quest to figure out the magic, he travels to Asgard and introduces himself to High, Just-as-high, and Third as Gangleri

• Prose Edda set up as Gangeri asking High (Odin) questions

Valhal

• Warriors' paradise 

• Must die in battle

• Spend all day fighting each other, then the wounds heal and they feast

Hel

• For everyone else, those who die a “straw” death

• Cold, damp, vaugly unpleasent, but not a punishment

Ginnungagad

Beginning empty void

Niflheim

Cold frozen north

Muspell

Hot bright south

First poem

Seeress prophecy, beginning of the world
Starts in Ginnungagad, a great empty void

• Niflheim: cold frozen north

• Muspell: bright hot south 

• First life is the giant Ymir, who feasts on giant cow’s milk (Audhumbla) 

• Other creatures and giants emerge from Ymir’s body

• Audhumbla licks a man out of stone

  • Marries a giantess, whos child marries a giantess and has three children, one of whom is Odin (second time Odin is presented in a group of 3) 

• Odin and brothers kill Ymir and make the earth from his body 

Ymir

First life

Audhumbla

Cow Ymir drinks from

Odin

• God of wisdom, magic, war and death, king of gods and god of kings, lord of Valhal

• Missing one eye,

• Constantly searching for wisdom, wandering around the world searching for wisdom and talking/forcing wise creatures to give information

• Not all-knowing by default, has to work for it

• Worshiped by kings (common folk worshiped Thor)

• Gathers army of the dead to fight on the side of the gods at the end in Ragnarok

  • Treacherous god who lies, cheats, betrays his followers

Odin&Magic

• Odin sacrifices himself with a double death of hanging and stabbing, starved for 9 nights

• In such physical pain he has visions of runes

• Learned runic magic/Seidr magic

Seidr

• Divination, foretelling the future

• Practiced by Völva

• Unacceptble for men - Ergi

  • Ergi: penetrated man, greatest insult that can only be washed off in blood, greater offence than killing ones parents, must move far away and even then the insult will follow you

  • Nordic culture sees masculinity as facing problems head on with a fight, magic seen as a sneaky and sly workaround

Völva

• Carried a staff, similar to distaff used to spin wool threads

  • Like Norns used to spin thread for each person’s destiny, cut at death

• Interesting that nordic mythonolgy had a place for powerful women 

  • Catholic church would never, evil witches are demonized Völva