norse myths

Norse VS Greek-Roman


  • Greek: warm climate          Norse: cold climate, no nature, mythology filled   

                                                                  References to mist, cold, and ice

  • True of life sinks in one root of Niflheim [land of dead]

  • Transformed by christianity  

  • Zeus: Odin



Beginning

  • Empty space

  • North had a region of mist, ice, snow

  • South war warmth and sunlight

  • Between the interaction of north and south a frost giant ymir appeared

  • He was nourished by a giant cow

  • Cow licked frost as food 

  • When the cow was licking a spot the god Buri came from it

  • Buri was descended through marriage from the daughter of giant and great gods

  • Odin, Vili, Ve slew giant ymir

  • From his body formed Earth

  • The gods built a fence around earth

  • Flesh- earth, blood- seas, bones- mountains, hair trees, skull - heavens, brain - clouds, eyebrows- fences

  • God killed ymir descendents but his wife who escaped to Jotunheim; land of giants

  • New frost giants were enemies of the gods

  • Odin, Vili, ve became rulers of the heaven and earth

  • Stars: sparks of fire placed by odin

  • odin vili and ve Created two mortals Emla, Aske

  • Flesh of ymir created dwarfs, trolls, gnomes, fairies, and elves lived in Midgard

  • To support universe Odin created Yggdrasil

    • Great tree of life

    • Tree bound all parts of the universe together

  • Three worlds were Niflheim: land of dead. Midgard Asgard: land of gods

  • Made a rainbow bridge to asgard called bifrost

  • Thor was forbidden to use it because his power could potentially break the bridge

  • Heimdall kept guard

  • Norse glorified warfare

  • Those who died in battle will be born immediate to the hall of the slain

  • dying in battle was the only way to reach valhalla 

  • Norse idea of heaven was during day they fought while at night there wounds were healed (very aggressive and violent but they wanted to live) 

Great Gods

  • Odin: god of battle and victory, wisdom, culture, dead

  • Had two ravens thought and memory were like reporters

  • Weapon: shield and spear


  • Frigga: goddess of marriage special protectress of women

  • Often identified with eastre


  • Thor god of thunder and strength; son of Odin

  • Weapon Hammer

  • Wife : Sif


  • Tiu: god of courage and war

  • Weapon: sword


  • Freya goddess of beauty and love

  • Frey [brother] god of fertility of rain, sunshine, and fruits


  • Brothers of thor: Vidar, Bragi, Balder, and Hoder

  • Vidgar 2nd strongest, silent god

  • Bragi god of poetry

  • Balder god of spring, gladness,and happiness [twins with hoder] (very sigma guy so loki is jealous of him) 

  • Hoder god of winter, gloom, darkness       Gloomy, silent, blind 


  • Loki is mischief-maker

  • He is referred to norse gods but legends says he is a demon

  • 3 offsprings  Wolf: Fenris   Midgard Serpent   Hela/Death


  • Midgard Serpent

    • Gods tried to chain up but couldn’t

    • Mount of spirits made a chain that could hold him

    • Serpent cast into the ocean

    • Its tail caused great tempests and sea storms  

  • Hela

    • Given rule over Niflheim [land of death]





Odin’s search for Wisdom

  • At the foot of Yggdrasil; tree, was 3 norms; spinners of fate

  • Sprinkled the tree water of life everyday

  • Giants were older than gods had more wisdom

  • Gods went to giants for wisdom 

  • Eventually became wiser than giants


  • World was still young, gods had much to learn

  • So Odin went to a deep well connected to a root of the yggdrasil. 

  • Keeper of well was old and wise giant Mimir

  • Water continued wisdom whoever drank it will become the wisest

  • Asked for water

  • Mimir said he had to leave an eye

  • Odin did so became the wisest

  • A giant was very wise tho named Vafthrudners, and odin wanted to surpass his wisdom 

  • Odin thinking strange things decided to go to Vafghrudners and said good bye to Frigga but she tried to convince him not to

  • Asked Vafthrunders for wisdom

  • Giant said only if he answered 3 questions

    • Name river divides Asgard from Jotunheim : River Ifing

    • Name the horses that carry day and night across sky : Skinfaxe and Hrimfaxe

    • Name plain where the last battle will be fought : Plain of Vigard

      • Far off in the future only gods and greatest of giants knew where it where and when it would come

  • Vafthrudners asked Odin many questions

  • After finished came Odin’s turn

  • Last question was what did Odin whisper to Balder at his funeral pile. Vafthrunders 



Giant’s Bride 

  • Thrym stole Thor’s hammer

  • Asked Loki for help

  • Loki disguised went to Jotunheim, land of giants

  • The price of the hammer was the goddess Freya

  • Thor will go to Jotunheim dressed as a bride

  • Loki go as a handmaiden

  • Thor wore Freya’s clothes and a veil

  • Had a feast

  • Thor ate a lot

  • Loki said it was her nervousness

  • Groom tried to kiss bride but drew back to the fire in “her” eye

  • Loki said an excuse

  • When the hammer was laid in the lap of the bride Thor took the hammer and slew thrym


Visit to Giant Land

  • Thor and Loki went to Jotunheim with a chariot led by two goats

  • Spend the night in a hut

  • Host was  good man but poor

  • Didn’t have enough food

  • Thor saluted his goats and cooked them but told the family not to break any bones

  • Loki convinced young son to break a bone for bone marrow

  • Next morning Thor used his hammer to struck the goats and the goats became whole again

  • Youngest son told his crimes and he had to go with thor and loki with their journey

  • During the night went into a strange shape house

  • They were alarmed by an earthquake

  • Woke up it was a giant; they slept in his glove; earthquake was his snoring

  • The giant offered them to take them to land of giants

  • Giant went back to sleep Thor wanted to kill the giant and hit him 3 times with hammer

  • Giant woke up and asked if a twig fell on him

  • Next day he left travelers and pointed the way to Utgard-Loki [king of giants]

  • Loki said he was hungry and he would enter an eating contest with any giant

  • Loki ate and only reached the center of the trough filled with meat but his opponent eaten the meat, bone, and trough admitted defeat

  • Utgard Loki made a comment about the puny appetites of gods

  • Furious Thor said he will enter a drinking contest

  • However when Thor drank from the horn but admitted defeat

  • Servent Thialfi said he would do a racing event the youngest son was chosen

  • His opponent had run to the post and back before thialfi (boy who broke bone) ran more than a few yards

  • Thor arm wrestled an old woman but also lost

  • The next day Utgard-loki escorted them to the edge of Jotunheim when he told the truth

  • He was the giant they met the other day

  • The other challenges used magic against them

  • Giant warned them to never come back or other magic will be used

  • Thor swung his hammer but Jotunheim disappeared

  • Went back to asgard


Thor’s Fantastic Duel:

  • Thor raced the stupid giant Hrungnir to see who had the faster horse but Hrungrir made it to Asgard first and because boastful

  • Thor got angry and they physically fought

  • Hrungrir was built of and protected by stone (whetstone, knife sharpener, stone shield) so Thor attacked him from above with thunder and lightning

  • Hrungrir used his whetstone to protect him from Thor’s hammer but the hammer was too strong and shattered the whetstone and continued forward to kill the giant

  • A piece of the whetstone struck Thor in the head, so Thor’s son Magni (already showing strength) pulled the giant away from Thor and in return got the giant’s horse 

  • We don’t know if the whetstone was ever removed from Thor’s head because he boasted to the seeress attempting to heal him that he rescued the seeress’s husband and threw his frozen toe up into the sky to become a star


Architect of Asgard

  • After god completed midgard they realized they were in threat of the frost giant

  • Built a fortress that would be unassailable

  • A mysterious architect said he would do it if he had the sun,moon, and freya

  • God refused but Loki urged them and gave them the impossible task that the architect had to finish it in one winter with no assistants than his horse svadilfari

  • The job was almost finished

  • The gods threaten Loki to fix their mess

  • Loki disguised himself as a mare and led the horse away

  • The architect was furious and turns out he was a giant

  • Thor shattered the giant’s skull


Golden Apples

  • Thor and loki went down to earth 

  • Became hungry and wary

  • They killed an oxen

  • Cooked it but it was still raw

  • Saw an eagle asked for help

  • Eagle said if they gave him as much food as he want then he would help them

  • Did so 

  • Loki beat up the eagle

  • Loki was dragged by the eagle from the stick

  • Begged for mercy

  • Eagle was actually a giant named thiassi

  • Did so only if he helped him steal the golden apples

  • The day when bragi was away they did the plan

  • Convinced induna that similar apples grew close by and she left

  • She was dragged by the eagle away no one missed her until they grew old

  • They needed apples so they came to get her

  • Loki used freya falcon feathers turned induna into a sparrow and carried her back

  • A huge fire on the wall they build 

  • As soon as loki came the wall burned the eagle

  • The eagle fell downward 

  • The gods immediately slew him






Loki and Dwarfs

  • Loki stole the hold hair of Sif; thor’s wife

  • Thor was furious and chased loki down 

  • Loki begged for mercy and said he will get a new head of hair as beautiful as Sif’s old one

  • Was able to ask the dwarf Dvalin for help and he agreed so

  • Decided to get a gift for Odin and Frey

  • Had the finest golden thread spun and would come to lie as sif put it next to her head

  • A spear for Odin which will never miss

  • And a magic ship for Frey but it could be folden enough to put in a pocket

  • Another dwarf heard: Sindri and Brock

  • Said they can make better gifts

  • Loki betted on his head

  • Agreed

  • Loki planned for them to fail

  • Loki turned into a stinging fly and stung Brock but Brock focused on his work

  • 1st object he made a wild boar got stung by Loki

  • 2nd object made magic rings but brock got stung on the cheek

  • 3rd object made a hammer but got stung in the eye so blood flowed out and he raised his hand for a moment 

  • He drew the 3rd object of the fire but the handle was a little too short

  • Brought the gifts to the god

  • Brock had won and Loki ran away but Thor brought him to Brock

  • Said he can have Loki’s head but cannot touch his neck so instead Loki’s lips were sow shut but he was able to cut the string later on


Death of Balder

  • Balder was loved from all the gods however he had a dream abt his death

  • Told odin and frigga

  • Frigga went to all things on heaven and earth and made each promise to not hurt Balder

  • Odin went to the prophetess but they were dead so he went to Hela; goddess of death

  • Back in asgard they had a fav game of throwing darts at balder

  • However the since all things promised not to do him harm the darts turned aside

  • Same thing happened with swords

  • Loki discovered Frigga forgot to make one thing ; mistletoe

  • Loki went to Hoder and urged him to throw the mistletoe since he never threw a dart before

  • It killed Balder

  • Frigga was devastated and asked a volunteer to go to Hela and ask for a ransom for her son

  • Hermod, Odin’s son went

  • Asked for Hela to release Balder and she said only if all things would weep for Balder

  • Hermod went back and told everyone the news

  • Everyone did agree and wept for Balder but an old woman who was rude and mean

  • She didn’t and so balder stayed 

  • Left Balder body on a funeral pyre on his ship and his wife

  • Loki fled to the mountains and disguised himself as a salmon but the gods capture him

  • Chained him up and put a serpent on top of his head

  • The serpent slowly dripped venom but his loyal wife held a cup to capture the venom

  • However when she left to empty the cup the venom dripped onto loki


The Tale of the Hero Siegfried 

  • Every year there are 4 operas schedule called “the ring of cycle”

  • Called the ring of cycle because the tale says that it brings destruction who plays a part in the story even gods are not immune to the curse

  • Rhine-Gold

    • How the gods became involved with gold

  • Valkyrie

    • Warrior maiden Brunnhilde she tried to thwart the will of odin bt put to sleep in the shade of a huge fig tree, a ring of fire surrounding her

  • Siegfried

    • Introduces a warrior hero he passes through the ring of fire and awakens brunnhilde fall in love and brunnhilde forfeits her immortality 

  • Twilight of the gods

    • Siegfried forgets his love and is slain. Brunnhilde dies on his funeral pyre and evil tragedy spread the curse destroys the hall of valhalla itself


Death of Gods

  • After destruction of a god, a greater god, a god of love who brings eternal happiness

  • No more battles of valhalla but a period of peace forever

  • After the 3 terrible yrs of frost warmth will come 

  • However loki, hela, frost giants, wolf fenris, and serpent will come over the plain

  • Odin will die to Fenris

  • Vidar god of vengeance will slay the wolf

  • Thor will kill the serpent but die himself

  • Loki attacks heimdall but both fall dead

  • One by one the gods will die

  • Universe is destroyed 

  • Sun and moon will be devoured

  • Stars will fall into abyss

  • Gods and men alike will be destroyed

  • Legends says man and a woman will be preserved to repopulate a new earth 

  • A new era of peace will come

                                                   

Myths and Literature

  • Norse mythology is not so known

  • Norse myths are gloomy

  • Some tender and warm 

  • Legends and myths are valuable stories