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Viking Mythology

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Outline

IntroductionPart I. The VikingsPart II. Norse mythologyPart III. Viking gods Part IV. Influence of Viking mythologyConclusionReferences

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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 peoples—Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians—who 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 Europe—Norway 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 Europe’s 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 Odin

An 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

English Saxon Title of God Roman French

Monday Mona The Moon Moon Lundi

Tuesday Tiu God of War Mars Mardi

Wednesday Woden The Cunning God Mercury Mercredi

Thursday Thor Thunder God Jove Jeudi

Friday Freyja Goddess of Love Venus Vendredi

Saturday --- God of Time Saturn Samedi

Sunday Sunne The Sun Sun Dimanche

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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/Vikings.html

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/b/brunhilde.html http://odin.dep.no/odin/engelsk/norway/history/032005-

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.htm#internet 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?

author=keary&book=asgard&story=_contents

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