In 2011 , everyone suddenly fancied themselves an expert on Norse mythology , thanks to the cinematic adaptation of one central figure : Thor . Whether it was an unexpected interest in the Norse mythological theoretical account of theVikingAge or — more likely — Chris Hemsworth’sdedication to deadlifts and crunches , ancient Norse mythology was having a very modern consequence .
But beyond the Hollywood versions of character reference like Thor , there ’s a centuries - old chronicle behind Norse mythology that experts are still discovering and bust myths around . Here are some of the canonic facts to lie with .
The Original Sources of Nordic Mythology Are Two 13th-Century Books
" The principal original sources are two record book called Edda write down in Iceland in the 1200s C.E. , " writesDr . Jackson Crawford , resident scholarly person at the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado Boulder , via e-mail . " One , the ' Poetic Edda , ' is an anon. compiling of about thirty Old Norse poems about the immortal and heroes . Based on linguistic grounds , many of these poems probably were composed before Iceland was convert to Christianity ( in 1000 C.E. ) , so these are our most direct origin . The verse form include narration about cosmos , the end of the human race at Ragnarök , and the gods ' many risky venture between . "
The other book , the " Prose Edda , " waswritten around 1200 C.E.by the Icelandic poet and pol Snorri Sturlson , who also wrote a collection of sagas ring the " Heimskringla . " " Snorri was stress to keep up the traditional style of Old Norse poetry for a younger generation that was increasingly following the more stylish poetic style and themes of England and France ( the Arthurian chronicle were pop in his day even in Iceland ) , " Crawford say . " To teach the previous poetic style , he had to instruct the myth , which were alluded to extensively even in poem that were n’t directly about the gods . " consort to Crawford , the " Prose Edda " quotes its predecessor , the " Poetic Edda " and " streamlines " sure narratives in more cohesive ways .
Jackson explains more about the differences between the Eddas here :
The Gods of Norse Mythology Aren’t Quite Like Other Gods
" Our enticement today is to say that one god is ' god of ' this and another ' goddess of ' that , but these labels do n’t equal well with the world of their portrayal in our outlast knightly sources , " Crawford state . " It ’s not especially meaningful to talk about who is ' god of ' what or ' goddess of ' what . The gods are more discrete personalities than distinct roles in the Eddic texts . "
Unlike theGreekor Romanist deity who weave a convoluted web of interconnected stories , spousal relationship , murders and more ( or the2,000 - plus god of the Egyptian religion ) , the Nordic mythological figures are somewhat freestanding and clear-cut . " The immortal are not particularly joined , except in term of where they live ( in the kingdom ofAsgard , which mean the ' enclosing of the gods ' ) , and who their mortal enemies are , " Crawford says . " The gods are opposed to a group of beings called thejotnarin Old Norse . These beings are unremarkably yell ' giants ' in English displacement but they are not really large than the idol or any different in appearance . Most of the deity ( include Thor and Odin ) have at least one parent from among the jotnar or ' giant . ' "
There Are, However, Four Main Gods to Know
There are probably more than a 12 Norse divinity who belongto two major kindred — Æsir and Vanir — but the four who come up the most in the tale in the Eddas are Thor , Odin , Loki and Freyja .
" Thor is the protector of the realm of the gods , as well as human beings , from the gods ' opposition , " Crawford says . " He fights with his great hammer Mjollnir , forged for him by the dwarves . "
While Thor may be the one most of us are familiar with , thanks to themodest Marvel franchisehelmed by Chris Hemsworth , he ’s actually not the top dog when it comes to Nordic gods . " Odin is the highest - ranked of the idol , " Crawford allege . " He evoke up battle and fighting among mankind , so that he can have his Valkyries ( mortal women in his service with the endowment of flying ) glean the dead from the battlefield for his own USA he is accumulate in Valhalla . "
Marvel fill inspiration from another Nordic graven image in thecharacter of Loki , a supervillain turned hero . " Loki is an ambivalent trope who is sometimes a mirthful sidekick to Thor , and yet will lead the forces of the ' giant ' ( jotnar ) and monsters against the divinity during the final conflict of Ragnarök , " Crawford says , adding one myth - busting fact : " Thor and Loki are n’t brothers , despite their depicting as such in the Marvel film . "
The best make out goddess of Nordic mythology is known forzooming around Asgardin a hombre - drawn carriage . " Freyja is a beautiful goddess often desire by the ' giants ' ( jotnar ) and by pretty much everyone else too , " Crawford says . " Her name merely stand for ' dame ' or ' noblewoman , ' and probably is n’t her original name — it ’s potential that at some early compass point she was identified with Odin ’s wife , Frigg . "
While there are mass of other divinity in the Nordic world , they have a much more limited presence in the Eddas , according to Crawford . " Heimdal guard the realm of the gods , Týr forfeit his paw to bind the wolf Fenrir until the final battle of Ragnarök , and Frey yield up his only weapon so as to marry a woman he want from among the jotnar , " he says . " Today we often underestimate the importance of the main Norse mythical paladin , such as the heroes of the Volsung caption like the tartar - killer Sigurth , whose love amour with the doomed Valkyrie name Brynhild causes his death . "
Destruction Is Inevitable - and Predestined
" One of the primal belief of Norse mythology and a opinion that sets it aside from most other mythologies , is the underlying conception that the gods are fate to death , " writesJesse Byock , source of " Viking Age Iceland " and transcriber of " The Prose Edda , " via email . " Ragnarök , the last battle between the god and monsters , such as the Midgard Serpent and the giants , will finish in disaster . Knowing the come disaster in advance , the god take over their fate , but stress to stave in off the timing of the battle and weaken their antagonist . Odin , in Valhalla , gather about him an army of stagnant warriorswho will parade out to defeat in the final battle , whileThor repeatedly strive to keep the power of the giants at Laurus nobilis . Both the ' Prose ' and ' Poetic Edda ' present vivid images of this final war . "
" Each mortal ( and god ) has a designate day of death , which that person almost certainly does n’t acknowledge — though now and then a myth or saga has a seeress reveal someone ’s fortune , usually in mysterious and wispy damage , " Crawford pronounce . " Because there is only one way to get into the glorious hereafter ( by pass away ) , there is a ethnic imperative to struggle on almost any pretext — because if you die fighting , you were destined to die anyway that day . "
The Body and Mind Are Not Distinct From the Souls or Spirits
" There is no dissociable ' soul ' or ' life ; ' the afterlife involve the whole person , " Crawford enunciate . " Most of the deadened go to Hel — spell with one lambert ; not a place of torment , but just an cloak-and-dagger world often literally understood as within the grave hummock . As the Viking Age progresses , there grows a opinion that man who die in battle may go to Valhalla , where they will join the god Odin ’s U. S. Army at Ragnarök . "
Mythology Played a Central Role in Viking Society, But More for Entertainment Than Worship
" No doubt many of the myths of the ' Poetic Edda ' were told for amusement — such as the story of Thor have to regain his mallet while trim like a bride in the verse form , ' Thrymskvitha . ' " Crawford says . " Others curb traditional wisdom , channeled through the voice of a god like Odin , such as the poem’Hávamál . ' "
" While the Eddas hold stories about the Norse gods and some traditional wisdom , they do n’t hold data about how the Nordic society of the time worshiped gods or if and how they might have prayed to them . The report in the Eddas do date back to pre - Christian times ( found on lingual and other grounds ) . But medieval Christians were willing to , and did , channelize story without convey the existent religion . "
Vikingsweren’t just one grouping of people ; they lived in radical across a large geographical region but shared many of the same pre - Christian beliefs and cultural practices of other speakers of Old Norse across northern Europe . And while it ’s been report that practitioner of Nordic religion gather in the subject air to " praise the gods and make offerings to them , " the formal worship of Norse gods ( as well as other figures ) known as " Asatro " did n’t become pop until the 19th 100 . The Vikings themselves did n’t have a name for their faith , and but bid it " the old way " ( Forn Sidr ) , in contrast to Christianity , which they conceive " the new way . "
" Consider how a Christian parent today might read a minor a bedtime story about Hercules , " Crawford says . " Both of them are ' safe ' to do so because there ’s no one around them who read the stories of the Hellenic god as the foundation of an alternative religion — they ’re just entertaining account . No parent today tells a bedtime fib about Hercules and concludes it with the instructions for how to give livestock to him . No doubt it was like when the Eddas were compose down in the 1200s in Iceland ; the stories were valued and enjoyed , but Christianity had supplanted the rites and practice of the old faith that idolise those gods , and so the latter were n’t passed down along with the stories . "
