Norse Religion The Norse religion is the religion of the Norse people prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia. It may seem as though the religion’s influence has died out, but it still affects our culture today. The general mythology is well known, but the details, such as how the lore was passed down from generation to generation, is obscure. The gods worshipped by the Norse people can be separated into two groups; the Aesir and the Vanir. The Aesir are the gods that hold the cosmos together and were the most commonly worshipped. The leader of these gods is Odin. (Infoplease.) He is the Allfather; the father of all gods, and the ancestor of many families in Northern Europe. He is also a war god. Although in our culture today he is portrayed as an honorable leader and battlefield commander, the Norse …show more content…
saw him as no such thing. Unlike the noble war gods, such as Thor or Tyr, Odin Hunt 2 would have a normally peaceful people engage in war for sport. He was not only a war god, but also a poetry god; he would give the gift of poetry to beings he found worthy. Another notable god, arguably the most well known, is Thor.
Thor is a war god that was widely worshipped throughout Scandinavia. He is the protector of the the realm of the gods, riding through the heavens on a chariot harnessed to two he-goats, bringing thunder and lighting with him. His strength is unmatched; he even has a belt that doubles his power. His actions in the gods’ realm was similar to that of the ones he carried out on the mortal plane; he would often be called upon by those in need of protection. (Norse Mythology for Smart People.) There are nine worlds in Norse Mythology; they are separated into three levels. The first level holds Asgard, the world of the Aesir, Vanaheim, the world of the Venir, and Alfheim, the world of the Elves. The second level holds Midgard, the world of the humans, Nidavellir, the world of the dwarves, Jotunheim, the world of giants, and Svartalfheim, the world of the dark elves. The third level holds Hel, the realm of the dead, and Niflheim, the land of the dead. The Norse believed that after dying, half of the soldiers that died in combat would be taken to Valhalla, and prepared to fight in Ragnarok with Odin.
Another Hunt 3 plane of the afterlife was Niflheim. In Niflheim, after Ragnarok, there would be a hall for the punishment of murderers, oath breakers, and philanderers. (Encyclopedia Mythica.) Ragnarok was a tale that told the end of the Norse’s mythical cycle; after a long battle between the gods and their enemies, the gods would fall, and the cosmos would be reborn. Before its rebirth, though, mankind would fall into an era of chaos, with people losing morals and ethics, and abandoning kinships. (Norse Mythology for Smart People.) Many of the Norse people believed in these tales, and made sure that they were passed down through written poetry so that they could be recited often. People had to have altars of worship in their home so that they could communicate with the gods whenever they needed to. (Norse Mythology.) The Norse religion has inspired a lot of modern and media, the most famous being Marvel’s character Thor. Although on the surface, Marvel’s take on Thor and the surrounding mythology may seem to be the same, with some basic research, one could see the difference. For instance, in the movie Thor, Loki is the adopted son of Odin, whereas in the real mythology he is the god of tricks. On another note, in the movie, Odin considered Thor and Loki his successors, while in the Hunt 4 mythology, he didn’t have any successors, and would continue to reign over Asgard. Although it may contain differences, Marvel’s Thor did bring Norse mythology into our mainstream culture, and caused many people to be further interested in the mythology. In conclusion, Norse Religion is a complex, diverse religion, with many tales of gods and men. It continues to influence our world today, although differently.
The representations of Thor has definitely changed over the past years because of the way people have thought and imagined about the “Thor scenes” in the Greek mythology to create a movie or cartoon for readers. Some representations have been kept and some have been varied, such as the outfit, powers and friends. During the years of people have created multiple movies of the same concept and have added more characters or changed some bits. In the extract of Snorra Edda it reveals that Thor wants to prove that he is powerful and worthy, he comes with the giant Hymer to find his own bait but ends up being arrogant and aggressive because the Midgard Serpant had made him angry. He cannot control his anger and slashes out. Meanwhile as, in the film
Lindow, John. "Loki (Norse mythology).” World Mythology: Handbook of Norse Mythology. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2001. Credo Reference. Web. 26 November 2013.
The Vikings conversion to Christianity, was a pivotal factor for being key to the decline of the Viking’s influential reign over Europe in the mid 11th Century, owning to the fact that the introduction of Christianity, led to major cultural, political and socioeconomic changes among the Vikings. Consequently, the momentum of the Viking Age came to a gradual decline, because of the spread of Christianity across the Scandinavian region. Anders Winroth argues that because the Europeanization and Christianization of Scandinavia was not through conquest and colonization, rather, remarkably, Vikings were not necessarily forced to convert to Christianity, but had willingly done so due to the apparent, unprecedented advantages of the religion. Suggesting, that due to the Vikings freely accepting Christianity and the European culture, the Viking Age declined with less resistances, as there was mutuality between the
Fierce warriors that pillaged and destroyed hundreds and thousands of villages. Brave men and women that crossed seas into the unknown. These superhero-like beings were Vikings. Many people thought of the Vikings to be savages that destroyed anything they touched, had no care for anything, and were beasts of humans. However, the Vikings had goals. They wanted prosperous farmland, a successful life, travel the world, and to know that someone of a higher power was looking out for them. Vikings believed in a polytheism or the worship of more than one god. These gods and goddesses were all “in charge” of a certain job that varies like knowledge, war, or fertility. The stories the Vikings told spoke from how the world was created to the many different gods and goddesses and how they worship them, so that they can be protected or saved.
The Vikings have garnered attention over the years not only for their raiding and trading, but also for the Paganist gods and religion. Similar to many other ancient civilizations, the Vikings leave behind many myths containing tales of their gods and their beliefs. Marvel’s 2011 film Thor serves as an introduction to Norse gods and mythology, but it does fall flat in term of accuracy and detail in certain areas. Despite various large and small-scale changes to its overall plot and characters, Thor has been well-adapted to portray Norse myths as best as possible within an existing Marvel franchise.
Other than Thor being a powerful and respected god, he lived in Asgard, where the other Norse gods lived. The duty of his in Asgard
Most Icelanders are descended from Vikings or are somehow genetically linked to them through marriage. The Vikings used to belong to the Norse Paganism religion which consisted of the gods Thor, Odin, and Loki. Most of Marvel’s movies about Thor were actually based on this very real religion that existed at the time of the Vikings. In modern times, the religion most common in Iceland is the Church of Iceland which is a Christian religion. About 73.8% of Iceland’s population belongs to the Church of Iceland.
In Norse Mythology humans were created from a living and organic matter, not deadearth. The soul is made up of many parts, some that are passed down through the generations, all of which come together in a certain place and time to form a unique person. Some parts of the soul pre-exist this life, some parts continue to live on, and some perish upon death. There are nine worlds in Norse Mythology, Midgard which is Earth,"Middle Earth", the home of the Humans. Midgard is connected to Asgard by Bifrost "The Rainbow Bridge". Asgard which is where the Aesir dwell is the first level, Hel which is the realm of the dead , Ālfheimr also known as Ljosalfheim (Ljósálfheimr, "light-elf home"), is one of the Nine Worlds and home of the Light Elves in Norse, which is where the demigods and divinized ancestral spirits dwell, Svartalfheim (meaning Dark Elf Home), similar in that ancestral spirits and demigods dwell here as well but has to do more with emotional than intellectual spirits (this would be the home of dwarves), Vanaheim which is where the Vanir dwell, Jotunheim this is where the giants live, and Muspellsheim is to the south, it is the home of the fire Giants and Demons and Nifelheim is to the north, somewhere in Niflheim under the ground is Helheim home of the dead. the worlds of fire and ice
Odin and Frigg. He was loved by both gods and man and was considered to be the
The purpose of this myth for society is to exemplify viking virtues, belief of Ragnarok and archetypes to teach the society of the time and the modern audience. According to the nine noble virtues viking’s values were; courage, truth, honor, fidelity, discipline, hospitality, self reliance, industriousness and perseverance. The myth embodied this, especially courage, when Tyr sacrificed his hand to Fenrir’s jaw to prevent Ragnarok. Also, Tyr’s archetype of the god of honor, courage and justice is shown throughout the myth. Furthermore, this shows the belief of Ragnarok in Norse society, which historians can determine the family trees of gods that connects to other myths. Ultimately, the myth taught the society of the time and the modern audience
I will talk to you about norse mythology. Norse mythology is about cheaters and the brack age where bistuction was literally everywhere. Norse mythology starts with a tree the middle of the universe. On the top of the tree are the gods and where they live , the model of the tree is mide gard ( earth would be the right name) on the bottom of the tree is hell or the after life and with that there are 2 uber worlds one for the brave and one for the weak how accomplished nothing in their lives where you went for internal torment. Norse mythology is kind of unic by the unique part about it is that is turns the universe into three simple levels. Norse also has a garden for the immortals/humans. The most important thing about norse mythology is that you have so little of stuff that you can be
Each religion held a large gathering in which they would conduct sacrifices to the gods and celebrate their prospective god’s. The Celtic version of this is great gathering of Druids in the territory of the Carnutes in the central Gaul. This gathering would be held every year. While the Nordic people would hold a more common gathering known as a blot where they would sacrifice either food livestock or
Norse mythology was believed by Scandinavians from approximately 793-1000 CE (Valkomin). Odin was believed to be their chief god. He craved wisdom and always tried to share the wisdom he had acquired through experiences in his own life and other gods’ lives with others. However, justice, fairness, and respect for laws were disregarded by Odin. He was worshipped
Thor is the Norse God of Thunder. He is also a Deity of lightning, storms, Oak trees, farmers, fertility, strength, destruction, healing and death. Thor is also a protector of mankind and is very loyal to his father Odin and the Aesir Gods. In the past, he came to their defence any time it was needed, no matter how far away he was or what else he was doing. His family always comes first.
http://www.pentheon.com/articles/o/odin.html 1 page, accessed April 7, 2004. Created on March 3 1997, Modified Feb. 12, 2004. Encyclopedia Mythica 1995-2004