NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE GODS, Part Three

Njarðargata (Njörð's Street)

Njarðargata (Njörð's Street) was named in 1919 for the father of Frey and Freya. Njörð is one of the Vanir, the tribe of Norse gods who are associated with fertility - as opposed to the more warlike Æsir. Njörð's home is Nóatún ("ship-enclosure"), but his street doesn't quite go down to Reykjavík's docks. It does, however, run by the airport, which is where Iceland's modern Vikings depart from.

Mímisvegur (Mimir's Way)

In 1924, Mímisvegur (Mimir's Way) was named for the god etymologically linked to "memory." He is associated with the Well of Wisdom and advises Odin, even after being beheaded (thanks to magic herbs and incantations). Mímisvegur was meant to be a path for medical professors to travel between the hospital and the proposed site of the University of Iceland, but the school was built at a different location.

Hnitbjörg - Einar Jónsson Museum

Hnitbjörg, the Einar Jónsson Museum, lies at the corner of Freya's Street and Njörð's Street. Built between 1916 and 1923, it is named for the mountain where the giant Suttung hides the Mead of Poetry until Odin seduces his daughter and steals the intoxicating and inspirational drink. The museum's garden features the sculpture of Jónsson (1874-1954), much of which is based on Norse myth.

Egilsgata (Egill's Street)

Icelandic saga is closely tied to Norse myth, and streets named for its figures lie near the Neighborhood of the Gods. Egilsgata (Egill's Street) honors the protagonist of Egil's Saga, Egill Skallagrímsson. A brilliant warrior-poet and master of runes, he had a conflicted relationship with Odin, who inspired his poetry. Since 1913, the Egill Skallagrímsson Brewery has provided a different kind of inspiration.

Njálsgata (Njál's Street)

Njálsgata (Njál's Street) is named for the hero of The Saga of Burnt Njál, the longest of the Icelandic sagas. The tale features prophetic dreams, the appearance of fylgjur (protective spirits), dead heroes singing in burial mounds and visions of Valkyries choosing the slain as they weave "the web of the spear" on a loom strung with men's entrails weighted with severed heads.

Eiríksgata (Erik's Street)

Eiríksgata (Erik's Street) is two streets over from Egill's Street. Erik the Red has his own saga; it tells of the Norse settlement of Greenland and exploration of Vínland in North America. It also features a detailed account of a ritual in which Þorbjörg Lítilvölva ("little seeress") predicts the future while sitting on a high-seat and wearing a blue cloak, a black lamb-skin hood and white cat-skin gloves.

Leifsgata (Leif's Street)

Between Erik's Street and Egill's Street is Leifsgata (Leif's Street), named for Leif Erikson (son of Erik the Red). Both The Saga of Erik the Red and The Saga of the Greenlanders tell of his journey to North America. Although he is Christian, his expedition includes a follower of the Old Way named Thorhall, who crows at one point that "Redbeard [Thor] has got the better of your Christ! I have done this by my poetry which I made about Thor, in whom men trust."

Intersection of Karl's Street and Snorri's Course

I'll conclude our walking tour of the Neighborhood of the Gods (and the Streets of the Sagas) at my favorite intersection - Karlagata (Karl's Street) and Snorrabraut (Snorri's Course). I was pleasantly surprised to find that a street with my name on it (spelled with a k, naturally) intersects one named for Snorri Sturluson, the author of the Edda. As a Norse mythologist, I'm definitely following Snorri's Course!

NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE GODS, Part Two

Þórsgata (Thor's Street)

In 1920, Þórsgata (Thor's Street) was named for the Norse god of thunder. Thor appears in several versions in the poems, myths, sagas and folklore of Denmark, Germany, Iceland and other northern lands. In some ways, he can be seen as the idealized self-image of the rugged, honest and hardworking common man of ancient times, always ready to stand against evil and tyranny.

Mjölnisholt (Mjölnir's Hill)

A little over a kilometer from the Neighborhood of the Gods, you can find the street called Mjölnisholt (Mjölnir's Hill), named for the dwarf-forged mystic hammer of Thor. According to Snorri, the hammer would never fail, however hard Thor hit; it would never miss its target; it would return to Thor's hand after being thrown; and it could be shrunk down and carried in the thunder god's shirt. Very handy!

Týsgata (Týr's Street)

The northernmost street in the Neighborhood of the Gods is Týsgata (Týr's Street), named for the one-handed Norse god in 1919. The name Týr literally means "god," and has cognates in several other languages (Deus, Deva, Zeus, etc.). Týr may once have been a major Germanic god, but his role had been greatly reduced by the time that the myths were codified at the end of the Viking Age.

Freyjugata (Freya's Street)

Freyjugata (Freya's Street) was named in 1920 for the most complex and fascinating goddess of the Norse pantheon. Freya is associated with death, fertility, gold, love, magic and much more. Of all the goddesses, she plays the most active role in the surviving poetry and prose that documents Norse mythology and religion. Her character is arguably as complex as that of Odin, patriarch of the Norse gods.

Urðarstígur (Urð's Lane)

Dedicated in 1919, Urðarstígur (Urð's Lane) is another street named for a powerful female figure from Norse myth. Urð is one of the three norns who determine the fate of both human beings and gods. Along with Verðandi and Skuld, she sits at Urðarbrunn ("Well of Urð") beneath the roots of Yggdrasil (the World Tree of Norse cosmology), weaving the web of each individual's doom.

Sjafnargata (Sjöfn's Street)

Ten years after Urð was given her street, Sjafnargata (Sjöfn's Street) was named for a minor goddess from Norse mythology. According to Snorri Sturluson, Sjöfn "endeavors to turn the minds of people to love, both those of women and men, and from her name a lover is called sjafni." That's really all we know of her; she is simply one of several sketchily-characterized ásynjur (Norse goddesses).

Bragagata (Bragi's Street)

Bragagata (Bragi's Street) was named in 1919. Snorri writes that the god Bragi "is renowned for wisdom, and most of all for fluency of speech and skill with words. He knows most of skaldship [the art of poetry], and after him skaldship is called bragr, and from his name that one is called bragr-man or -woman, who possesses eloquence surpassing others." While Bragi is the poet of the gods, Odin is the god who brings inspiration to human poets.

NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE GODS, Part One

Reykjavík's Neighborhood of the Gods is an area in Iceland's capital city featuring streets named after figures from Norse mythology. In 1906, Óðinsgata (Odin's Street) was the first street in this part of the city to be named for one of the Norse gods. Many others followed, creating what became known as the Heathen Neighborhood; Sjafnargata (Sjöfn's Street) completed the set in 1929. In the mid-1920s, the district was known for poorly-built houses and the poverty of its inhabitants, leading some to refer to it as the Blasphemy – meaning that the deteriorated condition of the neighborhood was an affront to the gods whose names it bore. With the usual tides of population change that sweep through urban areas, the neighborhood is now considered a fashionable place to live.

This map shows the Neighborhood of the Gods, from Týsgata (Týr's Street) at the top to Mímisvegur (Mimir's Way) at the bottom.

Óðinsgata (Odin's Street)

The first street in the Neighborhood of the Gods is named for Odin, the Allfather of the Norse pantheon. Like so many figures in Norse mythology, Odin is a complex and enigmatic figure. He is the god who stirs anger in human hearts and delights in war, but he is also the god who inspires creativity in men's minds and (according to Ynglinga Saga) speaks everything in rhyme.

Baldursgata (Balder's Street)

In 1912, six years after Óðinsgata was dedicated, Baldursgata (Balder's Street) became the second street in the district named for one of the Norse gods. Balder, the bright and beautiful, is better known for his death and afterlife than for any actions he accomplished while alive. Troubled by dreams, magically protected, killed by mistletoe and trapped in Hel's domain, Balder will return after Ragnarök.

Nönnugata (Nanna's Street)

According to Snorri Sturluson, Nanna was the wife of Balder. She died of a broken heart at his funeral and was placed on the burning pyre alongside her husband. Nönnugata (Nanna's Street) was named for her in 1919. Does the graffiti on the street sign simply show teenage nonsense, or does it seek to portray Nanna lamenting the death of her beloved Balder?

Intersection of Balder's Street and Nanna's Street

Fittingly enough, the streets named for Balder and Nanna intersect one another. The love shared between the god and goddess was stronger than death, and the two of them journeyed together to the dark realms of Hel, the sinister ruler of the afterlife. Today, Balder and Nanna remain connected in the streets of Reykjavík's Neighborhood of the Gods. Who says Norse mythology isn't romantic?

Haðarstígur (Höðr's Lane)

Haðarstígur (Höðr's Lane) was named in 1925 for the blind god who, according to Snorri, killed Balder by shooting him with a mistletoe missile. Höðr's hand was guided by the scheming Loki, who was jealous of the attention the gods were paying to the seemingly invulnerable Balder. The street was likely designed for garbage pickup, sadly underscoring Höðr's status as an outsider, left out of the god's joyous games.

Válastígur (Váli's Lane)

Válastígur (Váli's Lane) is named for the young god sired by Odin specifically to avenge the death of Balder, his beloved son. According to the Poetic Edda, Váli kills Höðr "when one night old." Válastígur lies directly behind Baldursgata, suggesting Váli's role as Balder's avenger - or perhaps referring to the Eddic assertion that Váli and Balder will both survive Ragnarök to rule over a new era of peace.

Lokastígur (Loki's Lane)

Completing the cast of Balder's drama is Loki, "originator of deceits and the disgrace of all gods and men." In 1920, Reykjavík's mayor supposedly named Lokastígur (Loki's Lane) to get even with a greedy landowner who sought to increase profits by dividing his property. The lane hides behind Þórsgata (Thor's Street), as Loki hides behind (or from) the god of thunder in the myths. Note the graffiti monster lurking around the corner as shadows descend on Loki's Lane.

A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT ASKS ABOUT NORSE MYTHOLOGY AND NORSE RELIGION

Belleville West High School

Woodrow Gardiner is a student in Mr. John Lodle's Advanced Placement English Composition class at Belleville West High School in Illinois. Mr. Lodle has asked his students "to think beyond the traditional research sources" and include an interview as part of a research assignment.

Woodrow asked me to be his interview subject and sent me a list of wonderfully insightful questions about Norse mythology and Norse religion. He asked about religious history, the meanings of the myths and the role that the mythology plays in today's world. Since he posed such interesting questions, I felt a responsibility to put some time into writing serious answers.

There must be other young people who are thinking about these same issues, so I'm posting the interview here for their benefit.

WG – How would you describe the characteristics of Norse gods as a whole? Are they generally reliant on brute strength or cunning?

Thor, his daughter & the dwarf he outwitted, now turned to stone
(1908 illustration by W. G. Collingwood)

KS – One of the things that makes Norse myth so fascinating is that the gods are as diverse and individual as the people you meet in your own life. Odin is wise, Loki is tricky, Thor is macho, Frigg is loving, Balder is kind, Frey is peaceful, Skadi is tough, and so on. What makes the gods even more interestingly human-like is that each one has a complex character that really can’t be summed up in a single phrase. Odin may have vast amounts of knowledge, but he can’t figure out a way for the world to survive the final battle at the end of time. Thor may be a simple tough guy, but he also manages to outwit a clever dwarf whose name is literally “All-Wise.”

The more you read Norse myth, the more you will find that the gods reflect people you know. Maybe you have a friend who – although you’re buddies and have fun together – sometimes drags you into trouble, even if it you had nothing to do with it. That’s Loki. Maybe you have a teacher who has dedicated himself to learning everything he can and sharing it with you. That’s Odin. It’s amazing to realize that people over a thousand years ago were thinking about the same issues we think about today.

WG – Why did the Norsemen have mortal gods? They were able to be killed (like Balder), and most of them die at the final battle of Ragnarök (“Doom of the Powers”).

KS – This is a very difficult question. Why do Christians have a god who is all-powerful and all-knowing? Why do Hindus have a complicated pantheon of gods? We can’t know for certain why the religions of the world developed in the ways that they did. We can only look at what records we have and theorize about the evolution of religious ideas in different cultures. Over many centuries of religious scholarship, learned people have come up with a variety of explanations. Maybe the gods were human leaders who were elevated to godhood after their deaths. Maybe the gods are natural forces that evolved into characters (Thor = thunder and so on). Maybe the religion of a people is a reflection of their psychology or so-called “collective unconscious.”

If you decide to really get into the study of religious history, you will find that the past can be just as magical and mysterious as the future. In the grand scheme of human existence, a thousand years is no time at all, but there's no way you and I will live that long. Since we won't experience it, the far future is merely science fiction to us. The distant past can be like that, too. When you begin to study history in a serious way, you realize how little we actually know about life a thousand years ago. The farther back you go, the more fragmentary the records are, and the more guesswork we have to do to fill in the gaps.

The German flag flying over the parliament building in Berlin

You could say that the Norse outlook is a little gloomy – everything dies, even the gods. However, that isn’t quite true, is it? Balder, the god of light and peace, comes back to life after the final battle and rules over a new world of joy and happiness. Maybe this is actually a hopeful idea that the “undiscovered country” of the future holds better things. The three-colored flag of Germany reflects this concept: black stands for the dark past, red for the bloody present, and yellow for the golden future.

You can read the myths as life-affirming, as well. In one of the poems, Odin says:

Merry and mirthful each man should be,
until the time of his death.

He also says:

Better blind than to be burnt:
no one has use for a corpse.

I would interpret both of these to mean, basically, carpe diem. Seize the day, live life to the fullest. This life is all that we have, but it is beautiful. Enjoy it.

WG – In what form has the mythology survived to today? Are the stories still told in Scandinavia?

KS – The stories are still told around the world. We’ll talk in a minute about how the myths have survived as living religion, but the stories themselves are continually told and re-told. Walk into any comic book store and you’ll see Thor on the shelf. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, two Jewish-American artists, created the Marvel Comics character based on the Norse god way back in 1963, and he’s been a fixture in popular culture ever since – including in the recent blockbuster Thor movie.

Frontispiece to The Children of Odin by Padraic Colum

Every few years, someone publishes a new re-telling of the myths, turning the complicated collection of prose and poetry into a coherent storyline that a modern reader can understand and enjoy. The first book on Norse myth that I read was The Children of Odin, a wonderful version of the myths written in 1920 by the Irish poet Padraic Colum, with beautiful illustrations by the Hungarian artist Willy Pogany. There’s also a recent graphic novel by the American artist Erik Evensen called Gods of Asgard that brings all the myths together into a coherent storyline.

Novelists continue to use Norse mythology as a source of material for original works. J. R. R. Tolkien based much of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings on Norse myth, of course. My favorite recent releases are by the English author Joanne Harris. She has two brilliant books out called Runemarks and Runelight. They tell the story of a young girl named Maddy who lives after Ragnarök and gets mixed up with all the Norse gods who have somehow survived (it’s complicated). The books are in the same Young Adult genre as the Harry Potter novels, but are full of Ms. Harris’s original take on the Norse myths.

You can see that the myths speak to people all over the world. There is something in them that appeals to writers in Britain, artists in Hungary, and high school students in Illinois. It’s up to you to meditate on what makes them so endlessly fascinating.

WG – Does Norse mythology have any influence on today’s society, like Greek mythology apparently does (i.e., Nike shoes, Midas Touch car shop, etc.)?

KS – Just look at your cell phone. The Bluetooth symbol is a bind-rune, which means that it is formed from two runes that are merged together. Runes are the ancient Norse letters that, according to mythology, Odin discovered and gave to gods and humans. Runes actually exist and were used for over a thousand years. They were letters (used to spell things) and symbols (each symbol stood for a specific word or concept). Harald Bluetooth (circa 935-985) united Denmark under his rule; the Bluetooth technology unites different devices under its “rule.”

If you take the rune for “H” –

and combine it with the rune for “B” –

you get the Bluetooth logo –

Also, next time you use the restroom in a public place, look at the paper towel dispenser. Chances are, it will have this symbol on it –

which is the logo of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, a Swedish paper-goods company. It’s based on a symbol that is associated with Odin in ancient carvings like this one –

Detail of the Hammars Stone in Sweden (8th century)

So, think of Odin the next time you make a phone call or dry your hands!

WG – What are some underlying themes throughout Norse mythology? Maybe humanity being flawed, or that we are insignificant compared to the workings of gods and giants, or that maybe we are the next big thing?

KS – You can find all the themes you suggest in the Norse myths – and many others. Myths and poetry are open to interpretation. This is, in large part, why they do continue to appeal to people around the world, after all these years. You may find one message in a particular story, and I may find the complete opposite. The Norse myths do not give commandments or moral instructions; it is up to you to decide what they mean. In one poem, Odin says of the runes –

Do you know how to cut? Do you know how to read?
Do you know how to stain? Do you know how to test?
Do you know how to invoke? Do you know how to sacrifice?
Do you know how to dispatch? Do you know how to slaughter?

Runic inscription on Kylver Stone in Gotland, Sweden (c400 CE)

To understand this, you should know that runes were cut into wood or stone, and that they were stained with some sort of material (paint or blood, most likely) so that they were easier to read (or to magically “activate” them). That being said, I would interpret this verse as Odin inviting you to make your own reading of the stories and poems. He doesn’t tell you an interpretation; he asks to you to learn how to interpret. This is much less comfortable than having a god who instructs you very clearly on what is right and wrong, how you should behave, and what life really means. It is more difficult to struggle with these complicated ideas and make your own decisions, but it can lead to deeper understanding and be more meaningful for your own experience of life.

WG – Where and for how long was Norse mythology held as a main religion?

KS – I would make a distinction between mythology and religion. Mythology is a set of stories and poems that is connected to a religion; religion is a set of spiritual beliefs and practices in real life. That being said, you can argue that some form of Norse religion has existed for approximately 4,000 years. This is definitely open to debate, so let me explain what I mean.

I would define “Norse religion” as a set of beliefs that was common to the ancient northern world – what is now Germany, Scandinavia and Britain. These beliefs were greatly varied, complicated and contradictory over a very large geographic and temporal space. What we call “Norse mythology” comes mostly from two books that were written down in Iceland in the 13^th century. This is where we get the stories and poems from – the tales of Thor, Odin, giants, dwarves, etc. I would argue that this is a very late form of the religion, as it was actually written down two hundred years after Iceland’s official national conversion to Christianity.

There are rock carvings in Sweden from around 1800 BCE that show “reverse echoes” of Norse myth. We can’t say that they portray Thor or Odin, but we can argue that they show an early form of a religion that eventually evolved into the one that we’re familiar with. For instance, does this carving show an early version of Thor in his goat-drawn chariot?

Bohuslän rock carving (c1800 BCE)

This Swedish carving from around 1300 BCE shows axe heads and wheels. Are the axes “thunder-weapons,” and therefore prototypes of Thor’s mystic hammer? Are the wheels the same “sun-wheels” that continually reappear century after century in Scandinavian religious art?

Scania rock carving (c1300 BCE)

This small Danish chariot from around 500 BCE seems to portray the horse-drawn chariot of the sun that is described in 13^th-century mythology, and its wheels look just like those in the Swedish carving above –

This poor fellow was stabbed and hung, then thrown into a Danish bog around 300 BCE. Later mythology describes that those sacrificed to Odin were, strangely enough, both stabbed and hung. Was this man sacrificed to the leader of the Norse gods?

Tollund Man (c300 BCE)

In 58 CE, Julius Caesar described the religion of the Germans. In 98, the Roman writer Tacitus described it in much greater detail, portraying gods whom we understand as Odin, Thor and Tyr. So you can see that recognizable forms of the Norse gods had already developed by the Roman Age, centuries before the Viking versions that we are most familiar with today.

The brown areas of this map give you an idea of where
the Germanic languages are spoken in northern Europe

The story of the conversion of northern Europe to Christianity is long and complicated. Conversion occurred at different times in different European cultures; in Iceland, for instance, we date the conversion to the year 1000. Some Scandinavians argue that the Norse religion continued in secret after the conversion.

What is clear is that the stories of gods and heroes never completely disappeared, but were preserved in literature, oral tradition, folk tales, popular song, art and superstition. They pop up in England, Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia and Germany – any place that was part of what we can call pan-Germanic culture. This doesn’t mean “German” (as in “from Germany”), but refers to the family of Germanic languages, of which English is a part.

Yes, the old faith is a living religion in Iceland!

In 1972, a group of poets and intellectuals formed a church in Iceland called the Ásatrúarfélagið (“Æsir Faith Fellowship” – the Æsir are the Norse gods) that brought the old faith into modern life. In 1973, it was officially recognized by the Icelandic government. Today, the members of the church form 0.6% of the Icelandic population. This might not seem like much, but it’s exactly the same percentage of Americans that are Muslims – so you are just as likely to meet a follower of Thor in Iceland as you are to meet a follower of Allah in the United States. Probably even more likely, because Iceland is so small! The members of the Icelandic group have been very involved in their country’s spiritual, social, cultural, ecological and political life – just like any other active church.

Given all of this, you can argue that the Norse religion has had a (very complicated) existence of over 4,000 years. Interestingly, Judaism is usually dated to the traditional birth of Abraham in circa 1800 BCE. This is also the approximate date of the Swedish carvings I discussed earlier, so these faiths are just about the same age.

WG – Who exactly followed Norse religion?

KS – It was followed, in one form or another, by people all over the northern world. We can find echoes of the old belief in place names from Britain, Scandinavia and Germany. There are historical and archaeological records from various locations over this vast area that show the geographical scope of the beliefs.

I want to emphasize that this wasn’t a continuous, coherent and clear religion. There were great variations over time, and each cultural group had their own particular version. However, we can see common elements that appear again and again in different times and places. Part of the fun of studying this subject is trying to make sense of such a large and complicated body of literary, historical and archaeological evidence.

WG – What is, in your opinion, the most interesting aspect of Norse mythology?

KS – There are so many! It’s both terrifying and hilarious. It’s both spiritual and vulgar. It has all of life in it, really. I find it somehow comforting to know that my ancestors (I’m German, English and Scottish) were struggling with the same questions that I am – about relationships, life, death, learning, finding your place in the world and so on. I love that there is always something more to learn about and that there are always surprises.

You could spend your whole life studying just the BCE period, the Roman Age, the Viking Age or the Middle Ages. Some scholars only study the runes, and they have plenty to keep them busy. Some professors work with only the literary records from Iceland; others work solely with archaeological artifacts. You can focus on oral tradition, you can focus on artistic interpretations or you can focus on the written poetry.

From the English hoard (c675) - were these objects "sacrificed" to the gods?

There are always new discoveries to keep things exciting. In the last few weeks alone, there were news items about a Viking burial in Scotland and an ancient Anglo-Saxon “weapon sacrifice” in England. Every new thing that we learn sheds more light on the great mysteries of the past.

WG – Why do you think it is that Norse mythology is so unknown? Some kids in my class don't know that it exists.

Recreation of Norse settlement (c1000) at L'Anse aux Meadows

KS – This is another complex question. It has to do with the educational system in America, with individual religious upbringing and with intellectual curiosity.

For example, we have ancient literary records that the Norse landed in North America nearly five hundred years before Columbus (who never actually set foot on North America itself). In the 1960s, physical proof of ancient Norse presence was unearthed in Canada. Do you study this in your American history class? If not, maybe you should ask your teacher why the decision was made to ignore these historical facts. I’d be very interested in the answer, myself!

It’s possible that some Americans with Norse heritage are embarrassed about this aspect of their own family history. If you are a devout Christian, do you want to admit that your ancestors were still making human sacrifices to the old gods 1,000 years after the birth of Christ? That’s a hard thing to deal with, both psychologically and spiritually.

If you’re not an intellectually curious person, it’s very easy to live a modern life – full of Facebooking, Twittering and YouTubing – and never come across this subject. Actually, it’s very easy not to come across a lot of subjects! I would guess that the average student in your class also doesn’t know that William S. Burroughs, Charles Mingus or Caspar David Friedrich existed, either. These are the times we live in.

WG – What does Norse mythology encompass? Obviously the gods, but does it also include stories like Beowulf?

An 18th-century manuscript of The Prose Edda,
with pictures of the gods Odin & Heimdall
and places, objects & animals from Norse myth

KS – What we know of Norse mythology comes mainly from the two Icelandic books I mentioned earlier (The Prose Edda and The Poetic Edda), plus another Icelandic book (The Heimskringla), plus a Danish book (The History of the Danes), plus a limited number of other poems and stories. These are, basically, the main primary sources on the subject. However, you’re completely right to ask about Beowulf, which was written in a Christian era but contains many references to the older beliefs.

As I mentioned earlier, there are records about the religion going back many centuries. However, I did make a distinction between mythology and religion, so you have to decide for yourself where to take your own research. Do you stick to reading the main stories? Do you start reading about the history of the various periods? Do you compare the German Nibelungenlied (about Siegfried the Dragon Slayer) to the Icelandic Saga of the Volsungs (about Sigurd the Dragon Slayer)? Do you search the Icelandic sagas for more information about myth and ritual? Do you check out books about the runes? It’s all related, which makes it a lot of fun.

WG – Is there anything else you would like to add, that you think everybody should know about Norse mythology but doesn't?

Odin the Wanderer by Georg von Rosen (1886)

KS – I think that everybody should know about everything! I mean, the main reason that I like Odin is his endless quest for knowledge. He’s always disguising himself as an old wanderer and travelling through the world, trying to find out more about life and death. I’m an endlessly curious person, and I’m always hunting for new information. Each question I answer leads to more questions.

Maybe the Norse myths speak to you. If so, you should learn everything you can about them. Maybe you think they’re just a bunch of nonsense. That’s fine, too. I would encourage you to find something that does speak to you on a fundamental level. Maybe it's mathematics, maybe it's music, maybe it's mixed martial arts. Whatever it is, make it a part of your life and learn as much as you can about it. The quest for knowledge will make you a deeper person and a valuable contributor to the intellectual and cultural life of our society.

Thank you for inviting me to participate in this interview. I hope that my answers help you a little bit on your own quest!

BLOND THOR: STAN LEE WASN'T WRONG

The first appearance of Lee and Kirby's Thor
Journey into Mystery #83 (1962)

Students and scholars of Norse mythology often roll their eyes at the Marvel Comics version of Thor, with his clean-shaven chin, blond hair, winged helmet and self-questioning insecurity. The burly and macho thunder god of myth, they insist, had a large red beard and was a fully-formed adult god, not a childish figure who defers to a Yahweh-like Odin (cf. Anthony Hopkins’ patriarchal performance as the Allfather in Kenneth Branagh's recent Thor movie). According to this position, the comics character created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby is simply too pretty, too blond, too young.

A 2005 issue of The Jack Kirby Collector quotes Lee on the origins of the Marvel superhero: “Before starting the series, we stuffed ourselves to the gills with Norse mythology, as well as almost every other type of mythology – we love it all! But you’ve got to remember that these are legendary tales – myths – and no two versions are ever exactly the same. We changed a lot of things – for example, in most of the myths Thor has red hair, Odin has one eye, etc. But we preferred doing our own version.”

“In most of the myths”? Isn’t Thor always a bearded redhead in the source mythology?

In his Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend (1997), Andy Orchard writes, “Physical descriptions of [Thor] are few . . . According to the eddic poem Þrymskviða (“Thrym's Poem”), however, he has a bristling red beard, piercingly frightening eyes when roused and a frightening appetite.” A simple check of the poem’s text shows that it actually does not mention the color of Thor’s beard. The verse in question reads:

Thor was angry when he awoke
and missed his hammer;
his beard bristled, his hair stood on end,
the son of Earth began to grope about.

Maybe the comic book writer read the poems more carefully than the scholar of Old Norse!

Thor, pictured in an Icelandic manuscript (1760)
His beard looks blond to me!

Snorri Sturluson’s Edda makes no mention of Thor’s beard at all, and the Prologue simply states, “Hár hans er fegra en gull” (“His hair is fairer than gold”). This would seem to be a clear case of Thor being described as blond, but it’s not quite that simple.

The Old Norse fegra usually means “fair” in the sense of beautiful – not necessarily “light in color” – yet it is also used in the compound hárfagra (“light-haired”). Conversely, the Edda elsewhere cites poetic verses calling gold “red wealth,” which would imply that Thor is a redhead. However, other poetic quotations in the work compare gold to both yellow amber and red fire. So, evidence from Snorri doesn’t give a definitive answer on the color issue. In an email exchange, Helga Hlaðgerður Lúthersdóttir (University College London) underscored this ambivalence: “the issue is also complicated further by the fact that most blond Nordic men have red beards.”

Rudolf Meissner’s Die Kenningar der Skalden (1921) provides an exhaustive list of kennings (poetic phrases that replace specific nouns) in Scandinavian poetry dating back to approximately 850 CE. In the section of the book dealing with references to Thor, there is no mention of beards – blond or red. Over the last hundred years, scholarly dating of Þrymskviða (with Thor’s bristling beard) has ranged from the late 900s to the early 1200s. Snorri’s Edda was written or compiled around 1220. In these early mythic sources, there is no clear answer. 

The first references to a red-bearded Thor appear in the sagas, written after the Eddas (either slightly after or much later – see below). These few mentions of Thor’s red beard appear in strikingly Christian contexts, not pagan ones. They portray Thor a god whose time has passed – a relic of a bygone era. 

In Eirik the Red’s Saga, Thorhall remains loyal to Thor during the Viking exploration of Vínland (North America) despite the Christians around him. In one well-known passage, he brags that Thor is more powerful than Jesus: “Didn’t Old Redbeard prove to be more help than your Christ? This was my payment for the poem I composed about Thor, my guardian, who’s seldom disappointed me.” Gísli Sigurðsson (Árni Magnússon Institute) has dated the writing of the saga to between 1220 and 1280. When Kendra Wilson (UCLA) was kind enough to check attestations of rauðskeggr (“red-bearded”) in the Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, this speech of Thorhall’s was the only result she found.

In "Out-Thoring Thor in Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta" (2006), Merrill Kaplan (Ohio State University) describes how Thor appears in the saga as a “demonic entity” who is “young-seeming, powerfully built, and red-bearded” and is referred to only as rauða skegg (“red beard”). The saga itself was likely compiled between 1225 and 1250.

Thorgils isn't the only one who dreams of Thor!

In Flóamanna Saga, Thor appears several times in the dreams of Thorgils, a man who “was among the first to be converted” to Christianity in Iceland. Thor repeatedly threatens the hero in an attempt to turn him back to the old religion, but he is unsuccessful. When he visits Thorgils in his dream-visions, the god materializes as a “large and red-bearded man.” According to Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia (edited by Kirsten Wolf, Paul Acker and Donald K. Fry, published 1993), this saga is dated between 1290 and 1350 and was most likely written by a Christian clergyman in southern Iceland.

So the first traceable appearances of Thor's red beard appear in sagas dated c1220-c1350, not in the earlier mythological sources from c850-c1220. The chronology can be argued, but it is clear that the saga version of Thor's appearance is the one that has stuck with us. Long after the age of saga-writing, the red-bearded Thor remained as the popular image of the god in folklore of various lands. The French scholar Georges Dumézil writes, "Whereas the Edda presents [Thor] as a man in the prime of life, the Lapp tradition, in accord with several popular Norwegian expressions, makes him an old man with a red beard.” Jacob Grimm wrote in 1835 that “this red beard of the thunderer is still remembered in curses, and that among the Frisian folk, without any visible connexion [sic] with Norse ideas: ‘diis ruadhiiret donner regiir!’ (let red-haired thunder see to that) is to this day an exclamation of the North Frisians.”

Marvel’s youthful, inexperienced Thor – especially as portrayed in the early Lee/Kirby stories – also has roots in the Eddas. Both Hárbarðsljóð (“Harbard’s Song”) and Hymiskviða (“Hymir’s Poem”) refer to Thor as sveinn (“boy” or “lad”). Snorri glosses the second poem by writing that Thor “went out across Midgard, having assumed the appearance of a young boy,” but the original text makes no such claim that Thor's youth is put on as a disguise.

Snorri’s description of Thor’s fight with the giant Hrungnir also posits a younger, less-experienced god of thunder: “Thor was eager not to let anything stop him from going to single combat when he had been challenged to a duel, for no one had ever done that to him before.” Dumézil discusses this passage in connection with initiation rites for young warriors, which underscores the idea that Lee and Kirby’s immature Thor is not necessarily out-of-step with mythological sources.

The son of Thor kicks butt!
Art by Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby’s classic Thor design incorporates earlier elements of his work that stretch back over twenty years before the character’s first appearance in 1962. In 1941, the superhero known as Mercury – a Kirby character for Timely Comics (which eventually evolved into Marvel Comics) – moved from Red Raven Comics to Captain America and underwent a name-change to Hurricane, “son of Thor, god of Thunder, and the last descendant of the ancient Greek immortals.”

Despite this strange confusion of mythologies, the character is noteworthy in that he is blond and wears winged headgear – two attributes of the later Marvel superhero version of Thor. Of course, the wings relate to clasic portrayals of the Roman Mercury, not the Norse god of thunder. Similar character design of another character named Mercury appears in the December, 1948 issue of Venus – edited by, of all people, Stan Lee.

Mercury appears in Venus #3 (1948)

In 1942, Kirby (with Captain America co-creator Joe Simon) published a story called “The Villain from Valhalla” in issue #75 of DC’s Adventure Comics. It features the first Kirby-designed version of the Norse god thunder god, portrayed as a villain with a red beard and horned helmet who fights the heroic Sandman. Although this “Thor” is really just a mobster using futuristic technology to imitate the god, Kirby's first vision of the character is much closer in appearance to the bearded Thor of the sagas than it is to the later Marvel character.

Jack Kirby's first version of Thor
Adventure Comics #75 (1942)

In 1957, Kirby drew a story called “The Magic Hammer” in DC Comics’ Tales of the Unexpected #16. This bearded Thor is almost identical to Kirby’s 1942 version, but his hammer now has the same design that Kirby would use five years later for the Marvel superhero. Also notable is the design of Thor's tunic, which features the same stylized circular bosses that are prominent on the costume of the subsequent Marvel character. Unlike the 1942 story, this tale portrays Thor as an actual Norse god, complete with a foil in the villainous Loki – who would, of course, become the main villain in the Marvel series.

Kirby's second Thor, same as the first
Tales of the Unexpected #16 (1957)

How did Kirby’s later conception (beardless, blond) change so radically from these two similar designs, separated from each other by fifteen years? A possible “missing link” can be found in a 1959 story illustrated by Steve Ditko, who was known to Stan Lee since the early 1950s and who began working in 1955 for Atlas Comics, another Marvel precursor that featured writing by Lee. Ditko drew “The Hammer of Thor” in issue #11 of Charlton Comics’ Out of This World. It features a young Viking – initially blond and beardless – who discovers Thor’s mystic hammer in a cave and uses its magic power to drive invading Huns out of Scandinavia. In a strange echo of Snorri’s euhemerism, the final panel implies that this human hero was remembered as a god by later generations.

Steve Ditko's Thor finds the magic hammer
Out of This World #11 (1959)

Finally, in 1962, issue #83 of Marvel’s Journey into Mystery featured the first appearance of Lee and Kirby’s thunder god in “Thor the Mighty and the Stone Men from Saturn.” The influence of Ditko’s version is clear. Dr. Don Blake finds a wooden cane in a Scandinavian cave; when he strikes it against a boulder, it becomes the Thor’s magic hammer. Kirby’s visual storytelling of a human character's discovery of Thor's hammer in a cave is quite similar to Ditko’s:

Kirby's version of the hammer-finding scene,
suspiciously similar to Ditko's

As in the Ditko tale, the hero uses the newly-found weapon to repel an invasion of Scandinavia. In this case, which takes place in contemporary times, the invaders are space aliens rather than Huns. Did Lee know Ditko’s tale and instruct Kirby to replicate its plot and imagery? The murky nature of Lee and Kirby’s collaboration – and who created what elements – has led to recent court battles, so there is no clear answer to be found. However, we do know that Lee insisted later Marvel artists study and imitate Kirby's work, so it's not outside the realm of possibility that, in this instance, he asked Kirby to emulate the earlier Ditko story.

Kirby’s final version of Thor is blond, clean-shaven and wears a winged helmet, combining elements from both his earlier Mercury/Hurricane character (the headgear and blond hair) and his second Thor (the hammer design).

Kirby's classic Thor, with clean-shaven chin, blond hair & winged helmet

The wings are also clearly related to the imaginary Viking helmets popularized in the Romantic Era through productions of Richard Wagner’s Edda-derived operas.

Fritz Feinhals as Wotan (Odin) in a
1903 production of Wagner's Ring

As for the youthfulness of Lee and Kirby’s Thor, it may – like the plot of the origin story – come from Ditko’s version, but is more likely part of Lee’s idea of featuring young and inexperienced characters such as Spider-Man, the X-Men and even Millie the Model in the new “Marvel Age of Comics.”

As Lee said of the myths, “no two versions are ever exactly the same.” The complicated back-history of Kirby’s design reflects, in a way, the complex and contradictory nature of the ancient myths and sagas. What is clear, however, is that we can’t simply dismiss the 1960s Marvel Thor as having no connection to the source material. Writers and artists pick and choose what elements of myth they will use in their interpretations, and academics do the same as they polish their scholarly interpretations.