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Religion
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Scandinavian
Mythology - Pre-Christian Beliefs
- The Scandinavian legends
and myths about ancient heroes, gods, and the creation and
destruction of the universe developed out of the original
common mythology of the Germanic peoples and constitute the primary source of
knowledge about ancient German mythology. Because
Scandinavian mythology was transmitted and altered by
medieval Christian historians, the original pagan
religious beliefs, attitudes, and practices cannot be
determined with certainty. Clearly, however, Scandinavian
mythology developed slowly, and the relative importance of
different gods and heroes varied at different times and
places. Thus, the cult of Odin, chief of the gods, may
have spread from western Germany to Scandinavia not long
before the myths were recorded; minor gods including Ull,
the fertility god Njord1,
and Heimdall may represent older deities2 who lost strength and
popularity as Odin became more important. Odin, a god of
war, was also associated with learning, wisdom, poetry,
and magic.
- Most information about
Scandinavian mythology is preserved in the Old Norse
literature (Icelandic, Swedish, and Norwegian
Literature), in the Eddas and later sagas; other
material appears in commentaries by the Danish historian
Saxo Grammaticus and the German writer Adam of Bremen
(flourished about 1075). Fragments of legends are
sometimes preserved in old inscriptions and in later
folklore.
-
As in many other primitive cultures the
religion of the Vikings was also developed by the people
to explain the world around them. Because of their myths
the Vikings were able to understand life now and in the
past, all that had happened to their forefathers and all
that happened to them. The gods ruled the lives of the
humans, and whatever their will was, it had to be
obeyed. Religion was an important part of every day life
since the gods had the control over all sides of a human
life.
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- The most important of all the supernatural beings were
the gods. Each and every one of the gods had his or her
exact role according to which they were responsible for
some important part of a human life. The gods were
described as humans and they behaved mostly like humans
do. The human characteristics of the gods brought them
closer to the mortals. The gods lived in strictly organized
communities - in many ways like the owners of a large
house at Viking Age - and were divided in two families:
Aesirs and Vanirs.
- A Partial Aesir Pantheon:
- Odin, king of the gods. His two black
ravens, Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory), flew
forth daily to gather tidings of events all over the
world. As god of war, Odin held court in Valhalla, where all brave
warriors went after death in battle. His greatest
treasures were his eight-footed steed, Sleipner, his
spear, Gungnir, and his ring, Draupner. Odin was also
the god of wisdom, poetry, and magic, and he
sacrificed an eye for the privilege of drinking from
Mimir, the fountain of wisdom. Odin's three wives were
earth goddesses, and his eldest son was Thor, the god
of Thunder. Odin was worshipped under different names,
throughout northern Europe. The Germans called him
Wotan, and the English Woden.
Thor,
the god of thunder, eldest son of Odin and Jord, the
earth goddess. Thor was the strongest of the Aesir,
whom he helped protect from their enemies, the giants.
Thunder was believed to be the sound of his rolling
chariot. Also, Thursday is named for Thor (Thor's
day). Named after the Germanic word for thunder, Thor
wielded a hammer, called Mjollnir, which represented a
powerful thunderbolt. If thrown, the hammer would
return to him like a boomerang.
- Loki, the handsome giant who represented
evil and was possessed of great knowledge and cunning.
He was indirectly responsible for the death of Balder,
god of light and joy. According to the Poetic Edda, a
collection of Scandinavian myths, Loki and Hel,
goddess of the underworld, will lead the forces of
evil against the Aesir, or gods, in the titanic
struggle of Ragnarok, the end of the world.
- Hel, the goddess of the dead. She dwelt
beneath one of the three roots of the sacred ash tree
Yggdrasil and was the daughter of Loki, the spirit of
mischief or evil, and the giantess Angerbotha
(Angerboda). Odin, the All-Father, hurled Hel into
Niflheim, the realm of cold and darkness, itself also
known as Hel, over which he gave her sovereign
authority.
- The Valkyries, were warrior maidens who attended
Odin, ruler of the gods. The Valkyries rode through
the air in brilliant armor, directed battles,
distributed death lots among the warriors, and
conducted the souls of slain heroes to Valhalla, the
great hall of Odin. Their leader was Brunhild.
- Abodes of the Aesir Gods:
Asgard, the abode of
the gods. Access to Asgard was possible only by
crossing the bridge Bifrost (the rainbow). Asgard was
divided into 12 or more realms in which each principal
god had his own luxurious mansion of gold or silver.
The most important palace was Valhalla, the home of
Odin, the chief of the gods.
- Valhalla, the hall of slain heroes, ruled by the
king of the gods, Odin, in the realm of the gods, Asgard.
The hall had 540 doors, through each of which 800 heroes
could walk abreast, and the roof was made of shields. The
souls of heroic soldiers killed in battle were brought to
Valhalla by warrior maidens called Valkyries. The heroes
fought during the day, but their wounds healed before
night, when they banqueted with Odin.
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