Norse Mythology Research Paper

A Crash Course in Norse Mythology
Mythology was used by the ancient worlds to tell their civilizations past and explain the unexplainable. The highly known and studied mythologies include Greek, Roman and Egyptian. However, there is another mythology that is lesser known in terms of popularity, Norse mythology, it is known to date back just as far and even farther in some cases than the more popular mythologies. Even though it is not widely known about, it still contains a vast and detailed history.
The beginning of the ninth century AD to the eleventh was known as the “Viking age”; during this time Iceland was settled by Scandinavians and CeltsCeltics. Some of the settlers were Christian while most were Pagan; together they created a culture

rich with stories and tradition that we refer to as Norse. Their stories were all oral, passed down through the generations; it wasn’t until 1000 AD they began to write down these stories and myths. Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson composed what was originally called the Codex Regius in the thirteenth century AD, but is known nowadays as the Poetic Edda. The Poetic Edda is a compilation of all Norse myths and stories, most of which were written in poem form. Each of the poems are called an Eddaic verse. (O’Donoghue). These verses contain a vast and complex past of the world before ours full of gods, giants and creatures beyond our imagination.
Every culture throughout history has their own creation story, usually involving a great flood. In the Poetic Edda, the creation story is described in different ways in multiple poems, the first being “Voluspa”. In this poem, the god Odin awakens the soothslayer, or deceased witch, Volva (Crawford) and wants to know how the universe and cosmos were created. This story not only tells the immemorial past, but also what is to come in the future. Volva’s first memory is of giants; she was raised by giants and mentions 9 giantesses in the nine realms. She describes Yggdrasill the world tree, the foundation of which all 9 realms rest upon and what holds the universe together, as just a small sapling tree. (O’Donoghue). Volva then describes the pre-primeval emptiness, the only creature alive was Ymir the frost giant. He existed before the Earth, when there was only the great void, the grinning gap. The poems then jumps to the Sons of Burr, “…Odin and his brothers created Earth, it was they who made Midgard.” (Crawford). But this leaves Odin with more questions than answers, he wants to know what created Ymir and what composed Ymir’s creators. The creation myth “Vafthuthnismal”, tells the story of Odin seeking more answers of the world before his, he goes to ask the giant Vathrudnir. The giant replies to Odin, “The Earth was made from Ymir’s flesh; the rocks were made from his bones. The sky made from the skull of that ice-cold giant, the sea was made from his blood.” (Crawford). It is occurrences such as this that makes Norse mythology different from that of other cultures; the stories and myths do not coincide with each other. Odin presses for more knowledge of where Ymir came from, Vathrudnir describes Elivagar, hailstorm-waves, (Lindow) that dripped acid. This acid formed together to create Ymir the frost giant.
In “Voluspa”, Volva mentions the 9 realms; these realms are: Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Midgard, Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, Nidavellir, Nilfheim, and Muspelheim.

Asgard is home to the gods and goddess; the gods are called Aesir and the goddess, Asynjur. It is ruled by Odin and his wife Frigg. Within Asgard’s gates is the dining hall for fallen warriors, Valhalla. The realm Vanaheim is home to the Vanir gods. These gods are the older branch of gods; they are masters of magic and are seen as prophets. It is unknown where Vanaheim is located or what it looks like. Next, Alfheim lies next to Asgard in heaven. It is home to the beautiful light elves. They are seen as guardian angles to the humans of Midgard. Midgard is referred to as Earth, it is connected to Asgard by Bifrost, the rainbow bridge. Jotunheim is the home of the giants, who are the sworn enemies of the Aseir. It is separated from Asgard by the never freezing river, Iving. Svartalfheim is home to the dark elves. The dark elves hate the sun so Svartalfheim is located underground. Dark elves are believed to be the cause of nightmares in Norse mythology. Nidavellir is home to the dwarfs. They live under rocks, in caves or underground. The Dwarfs are masters of craftsmanship and have constructed great weapons such as Thor’s hammer and Odin’s spear. Nilfheim is the north of the grinning gap, it was the first of the 9 realms. It is protected by ancient dragon, Nidhug. Underneath Nilfheim is Helheim, home to the goddess Hel. Finally, Muspelheim is the land of fire to the far south, and home to the fire giants and demons. It is ruled by the giant Surt and he too is the sworn enemy of the Aesir.

(Højbjerg).
The biggest difference in Norse mythology compared to other mythologies is the separation of gods into Aesir and Vanir. As I explained earlier, the Vanir gods are the older gods, skilled in magic and able to tell the future; the Aesir are the younger gods with mindsets of war and conquering. There are numerous gods and goddess in the world of the Norse, and to name them all would be a challenge in itself. But there are a few that appear in almost every story. Odin is the god of war, poetry, wisdom, and death; he is also the chief of the Aesir god. He is married to the goddess Frigg and has many children which include Loki, Thor and Balder.(Lindow). Balder, son to Odin, is the god of light, joy, purity, beauty, innocence, and reconciliation. Many of the stories of Balder surround his death. Balder had been dreaming of his death, so the goddess Frigg asked an oath from every,” every creature, object and force in nature (snakes, metals, diseases, poisons, fire, etc.) that they would never harm Balder.” (Norse gods and Goddesses). His envious brother Loki asked Frigg if there was anything that could harm Balder, and she thought of only a small mistletoe tree that was too small to ask for an oath. Loki then tricks Balder’s blind, twin brother Hod, into throwing the mistletoe at Balder;” guided by Loki's aim [the mistletoe]. Pierced through the heart, Balder fell dead.” In the end Hod was put to death by the god Vali. and Balder and his wife Nanna, who died of a broken heart, were dressed in crimson cloth, and after ignitinglighting their pyre, were shipped out to sea. Thor is the god of thunder and son of Odin. He is a praised warrior but also sworn enemy of the giants, which includes his adopted brother, Loki the trickster. Njord is not only the god of wind and sea, but also the Chief of the Vanir gods. He is married to the goddess Skadi and has two children Frey and Freya. Frey and Freya are the god and goddess of fertility.
Afterlife in Norse mythology leads to either Valhalla or to Helheim. If you die in battle, the beautiful winged Valkyries come down and lift you off to Asgard, to join Odin and all other fallen warriors in the great dining hall, Valhalla. You will spend the rest of time enjoying the company of gods. (Boisclair). On the other hand, if you are wicked or die of old age or disease, you will spend your eternity in Helheim, in the company of the goddess Hel. (Bane).
Compared to other mythologies, the Norse have a much more intricate depth to it. But with the popularity of the Thor and The Avengers movies, which include Thor, Loki, Odin and Bifrost, there has been an arising popularity in Norse mythology and we can hope that with this popularity, Norse mythology will become a more studied and known ancient mythology.