Norse Mythology

by Oliver Laine

  Various Norse Rituals

  The Norse conduct rituals on days that are special to the gods they revere. Seasons likewise dictate what kind of ritual is to be done. In late October, for instance, the Norse honor their ancestors and dead relatives in the Dieses or Winter Nights. Dieses is related to the Disir, spirits that guide the living while they are still on earth (Midgard). The Norse also had their celebration of Yuletide, which they celebrate in December. The Norse exchanged gifts and hanged wreaths and evergreens, and participated in symbels to make their vows. Symbels are the so-called drinking rites of the Norse.

  In February, however, the Norse have their Disting rituals. They have their tools and objects blessed as well as thank the gods in preparation for their new projects (a symbolic take on new beginnings). This ritual is apparently done to honor and give thanks for the milk produced by ewes. The Norse also had their version of May Day – Walburgis – wherein the Norse erected a Maypole in a grove. They hung ribbons on the pole and danced around it. This ritual is often done to ask for fertility, whether for plants, animals, or humans. In contrast, Gleichennacht is a ritual celebrated during Spring Equinox. The Norse honored Nerthus, the earth goddess, in the rite.

  If there is a ritual for the Spring Equinox, there is also a Norse ritual for the Summer Solstice. Like the Maitag, this ritual centers on love and fertility, only this time the people danced around a bonfire. The Norse also believed it was just right to be thankful for a year of harvest. They baked bread and offered it during Thingstide. Aside from this offering, the people competed and participated in games.

  Lastly, the Norse celebrated Gleichentag, which falls during Fall Equinox. People shared food and drink with one another and boasted, in a good way, their achievements. Note that it was customary for Northern Europeans like the Norse to talk of their accomplishments with their fellowmen.

  Seidh

  The Norse practiced various kinds of practice, especially those that are magical in nature. The term seidh originated from the ritual of the Norse to boil salt, which also happens to be a purification rite. Though women practice prophecy, men are equally capable. The Norse male practitioner is called the vitki. Being skilled in seidh is considered important in the Norse community, as seidh is Odin’s specialty as well. With seidh, Norse sorcerers could shapeshift (or so they claim), send nightmares to people, conjure love spells and make women fertile, and raise storms.

  Rewards and Punishment

  A lot has to be said about rewards and punishment in traditional Norse Culture. If you lived in Asgard or even in Midgard, you can never be sure of what you did wrong. Gods are complicated – hard to please and trust. They may be wise, strong, and forgiving, but they can also hold grudges.

  In this context, Loki the god of mischief, becomes the best example. Apparently, the origin of unlucky number 13 started in this mythology. When Loki was not invited to a feast, he appeared still in the feast and killed all the 12 gods. It turned out that Loki was the 13th god. Since then, the number 13 has been associated with misfortune. That said, it made the Norse wary of Loki’s number, as well as insulting the god.

  Another complex concept in Norse religion is the fact that one had to kill to create something else. Long ago, Odin and his brothers murdered Ymir, a being, so they could create the universe and the earth. This story also signifies what you should do to be favored: sacrifice either yourself or someone dear to you (see Offerings).

  This idea of sacrifice is rewarded by something great, however, such as when Odin gave up his eye so he could gain knowledge. He became obsessed with hoarding knowledge that he had chosen to be blind. Another episode narrates how Odin had to stab himself with a spear just so he could learn how to read and write runes. Truly, there is a price for everything.

  Angry deities also collectively mete out justice, as what happened to Loki when he was bound using his own son’s intestines. Loki became bound and was told to wait until the end of the world.

  The gods aren’t always fighting and punishing mortals and other gods. Sometimes they appear to men to help them. Hadding was a king of Denmark, albeit fictional, and was guided by Odin during his quest to regain his father’s kingdom. Although Hadding was able to regain the kingdom (his reward for being loyal to Odin), he also sacrificed himself in the end.

  This is not to say that Odin does not reward the good or those faithful to him. The Norse myths say that Odin will welcome those valiant Norsemen to Valhalla, or the Hall of the Fallen. Apparently, this is a place for the dead, but more specifically to dead but brave warriors. Odin welcomes these souls and keeps them in Valhalla until doomsday (Ragnarok). In Valhalla the souls of the warriors sit together and drink mead with Odin. The image of Valhalla is explored in Snorri.

  The Norse believed in the concept of meting out punishments and rewards. In this system, good deeds are rewarded with a special seat with the gods, whereas evildoings are punished in equal measure as well. There may be instances in which gods don’t play well, especially if Loki is involved, and that gods demand greater sacrifices from their followers.

  Chapter 9

  Norse Mythology in Popular Culture

  And why do we still remember the tales of the Aesir today? Why do we still know what the word Ragnarök means? Why do we continue to study the sagas and the Prose and Poetic Eddas?

  As familiar as Thor and Odin and Loki and all the others – like dwarves and elves – are to us today, their stories and the greater mythology that formed the backdrop and bedrock of their adventures lay unknown to the world at large until the 19th century. Norse mythology was “confined” to Scandinavian culture for all those years, and part of the reason for that is the coming of Christianity to those northern countries and cultures. The various religious orders searched for converts, and at the same time, sought to impose their ideas of monotheism on those same converts. As a consequence, the skalds resorted to rewriting the myths, trying to find tenuous connections between Norse heroes and the familiar names out of Greek and Roman mythology – linking the ancestors of the Vikings to the Trojans, for example.

  For a while, the skalds disappeared into the ranks of the religious orders, and the stories that they told languished in obscurity – but by the 19th century, enough scholars had stoked interest in those verses. Indeed, modern popular culture owes much of its familiarity with the characters of Norse mythology to the translations of the sagas that began to arise at that time, as well as to the great cycle of operas written by Richard Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen. From these spectacles, we became familiar with idioms such as “It ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings”: a direct reference to the final aria of the final opera in the cycle, which is sung by the Valkyrie Brynhild. In this case, the Valkyrie is referred to as the fat lady because the great sopranos of the time were almost all of the same body type: top-heavy and overweight.

  From Wagner, we learned to refer to Odin as Wotan, to Thor as Donner, and to Loki as Loge – and the immense popularity of those operas, which in fact are still being performed in the present day, spurred public interest in those gods’ exploits. Initially presented as examples of Germanic paganism, people were soon able to realize that these stories were Norse in nature.

  The Norse myths and legends continued to be an important influence on various artists. Authors such as H. Rider Haggard tried to write epic adventures styled on the Völsunga saga, for example, while others such as G. K. Chesterton emphasized the pagan – and therefore “evil” -- aspects of the myths as a foil to Christian stories and adventures.

  But it’s perhaps in the related areas of fantasy and science fiction that the stories of Norse mythology have had the greatest influence, especially when we think of a story of a golden ring with some kind of magical property. This ring is sought after by various factions, who have all been tricked into believing that possessing this trinket will help them save their people or their kingdoms – but unknown to all of them, the ring is cursed and is trying to get back to the being who craft
ed it.

  While the previous paragraph does describe the basic plot of J. R. R. Tolkien’s masterpiece The Lord of the Rings, it was heavily based on, and influenced by, Norse mythology by way of Der Ring des Nibelungen. The cursed ring is a major plot item in the Völsunga saga – which also mentions a sword that was broken and reforged. In Norse mythology, these items are Andvaranaut (the ring) and Gram (the sword); in The Lord of the Rings, they are recast as the One Ring and Narsil / Andúril.

  Tolkien’s story has left its mark on literature and on popular culture, and through the lens of those three books, we now have our own ideas of dwarves who create great objects with metal and stone, elves who possess supernatural beauty and peerless martial prowess, and trolls that turn into stone when exposed to sunlight. We also owe many depictions of warrior women to the Valkyries, and to the Norse concept of the shieldmaiden, whom Tolkien showcased in his book through the character of Éowyn.

  From fantasy and science fiction to superheroes is only a quick step sideways, and the popular images of dark-haired Loki, blond and beardless Thor, and all of the other members of the Aesir come to us from the fertile mind of Stan Lee – who brought these gods and monsters to the “funny pages”. We then saw those characters on the big screen as important parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Those images became so influential that it was a surprise to see red-haired and bearded Thor in a storyline from the Vertigo Comics, entitled, The Sandman written by Neil Gaiman.

  Speaking of Gaiman, various versions of the Aesir make important appearances across his corpus of work: Odin and Loki are primary characters in the novel American Gods – whose television adaptation will be airing in 2017. In addition, the author has penned his own book of retellings of the Norse myths.

  Fans of “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R. R. Martin and its live-action adaptation Game of Thrones will find it easy to understand the Norse influence on the Ironborn faction of reavers and raiders, and in particular on the excellent seamanship of the members of the House Greyjoy.

  The stories of the Aesir and the Vanir and of so many other strange beings and creatures were once confined to Scandinavia – but now they have even made their way across the globe to become the basis of a Korean Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (known as Ragnarok Online). Influences from Norse mythology can be seen in the series of Final Fantasy video games from Japan, as well as in various animated stories and comics.

  Speaking of Norse mythology on television, there is, of course, the historical drama simply known as Vikings, which airs on the History Channel. The stories are based on the exploits of Ragnar Lodbrok, as told in Ragnars saga Loðbrókar and in other poems and songs. Four seasons have been produced, and it has been announced that there will be a fifth.

  The legends of Norse mythology had a musical component right at the beginning with many tales being sung or performed with instrumental accompaniment – and then they were revived on the grand scale in opera form. So, it’s no surprise that those same stories have become a primary influence on several genres of music, especially on heavy metal and its related genres – including Viking metal. Bands such as Manowar have turned to the sagas for source material for their albums, and use Viking imagery in their logos and stage design.

  The Norse myths and legends have become firmly entrenched in popular culture and continue to be depicted through many forms of artistic expression.

  Conclusion

  Thank you again for taking the time to read this book!

  Now that you know about the most prominent stories and legends that are part of Norse mythology, perhaps it will be easier for you to understand the various modern interpretations of these stories. I also hope that you’ll be able to better enjoy the various pop-culture versions of the gods, monsters, heroes, and heroines that you’ve met in the pages of this book.

  If you want to learn more about Norse mythology, several in-depth texts can easily be found on the Internet. You can also check out the resources in your local library. Also, if you have any questions or comments for me regarding this book please feel free to contact me at helpfulbookideas@gmail.com.

  Finally, if you enjoyed this book, then I’d like to ask you for a favor. Would you be kind enough to leave a review for this book on Amazon? It’d be greatly appreciated!

  Click here to leave a review for this book on Amazon!

  Thank you very much for your support and please stay tuned for more books on mythology from other various cultures!