A 6TH GRADER ASKS ABOUT NORSE MYTHOLOGY AND NORSE RELIGION, Part One

To a Viking, San Ramon sure would seem like a different world.

Back in 2011, I answered a series of questions about Norse mythology and religion from a very intelligent high school student. In 2012, I answered another set of interesting questions from a middle school student. Now, I've been contacted by another very curious middle school student who is researching Norse myth.

Lori Luo is a sixth grader in Ms. Jennifer Keenan’s class at Windemere Ranch Middle School in San Ramon, California. She is working on an “I-Search” project on Norse mythology and contacted me to help her with her research. I’m glad to help! Her questions and my answers are below.

LL – Which god seemed to be the most favored by the ancient Vikings?

KS – There are several different answers to this question. If you had a ship that could travel through both time and space and you visited different lands at different points before and during the Viking Age, you would find that different gods were favored in different places at different times. Okay, I’ve used the word different six times (now seven times!) in this paragraph, which is a bit confusing. Let me explain.

The three figures in this 12th-century Swedish tapestry are usually
interpreted by scholars to be the Norse gods Odin, Thor & Frey.

If you visited Sweden in the 11th century and went to the city of Uppsala, you would find a large temple with a statue of Thor in the center spot. Off to the side, you would see statues of Odin and Frey. For this particular population in this particular area at this particular time, Thor was considered the mightiest of the gods. The people would tell you that Thor “presides over the air, which governs the thunder and lightning, the winds and rains, fair weather and crops.” You can see how this would be important for a community based on farming.

If you went back a little farther and visited a wealthy warrior in Iceland in the 10th century and he invited you to stay for dinner, you might hear a poet sing songs about Odin. Because Odin inspired both the fighting spirit of the warrior and the creative spirit of the poet, he was considered the most important god in halls of this time and place. Since the Icelandic courtly poems have survived (because they were later written down), we have a lot of information about Odin.

There were many gods and goddesses, and they were worshiped by many different groups of people over a very large area and a very long period of time. Your social status, your geographical area, your family history, and your time period were all factors in which particular god or goddess you might have thought was most important.

LL – How did the gods treat each other, humans and other beings?

KS – The Norse gods are a lot like you and me. Sometimes they are happy and kind. Sometimes they are angry and selfish. We’re not perfect, and neither are they.

I think this is one of the reasons why the Norse gods are so interesting. They are not all-powerful, all-knowing spirits that exist outside of time and space. On the contrary, they are fallible physical characters that sometimes make mistakes. They walk through the world and interact with all the groups that live in various areas: giants, dwarves, trolls, elves and people.

At least in the version of Norse mythology that was written down in Iceland, the gods are a big family. They live together in Asgard, which is like the city of the gods with many homes and estates. Like any family, they argue with each other and get into disagreements. Also, like any family, they pull together and support each other when someone is hurting or needs help.

Thor on the cover of a Danish comic book:
Þjálfi is on the left, Röskva is on the right
(and Loki is hiding behind Thor, of course)

Thor is probably the god you would be most likely to meet. In one famous story, he basically adopts a young boy and girl named Þjálfi and Röskva.

By the way – if you don’t recognize the letter Þ, it’s called a thorn and is pronounced “th.” It’s really an ancient rune that survived into modern Icelandic. Runes were letters used by the ancient people of Northern Europe before they learned our modern Latin alphabet, which arrived in the North with the conversion to Christianity. In the myths, runes sometimes have magical properties. Odin had to go through a scary ritual in order to bring them back from the Other World so they could be used by gods and humans.

These two young kids then join Thor on his adventures. They travel with him to far-off Giantland and take part in some of the most famous myths. Thor is like your favorite uncle. He loves kids, he has great stories to tell and he might even sneak you some tasty snacks when your mother isn’t looking. He has a bit of a temper, but he is quick to forgive and always tries to do the right thing.

LL – What are all the major gods in the pantheon’s names and doings?

KS – All the major gods? All their doings? That’s a pretty big question, Lori! I’ll introduce you to three of my favorites. You’ll have to read some books on Norse mythology to learn about the rest! If you don’t already have it, I suggest you pick up Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths, which has kid-friendly versions of all the main stories and is a really good introduction to all the gods and goddesses.

Thor raises his hammer to summon the storm
in a classic illustration by Arthur Rackham

Each of the Norse gods is a complicated and interesting character. You’ll often see Thor referred to as “the god of thunder,” but that doesn’t really make sense. Why would you need a god of thunder? Thunder is just a loud noise. A god of storms, on the other hand, totally makes sense. Storms bring rain for the farmer and bring wind for the sailor. They cool down the summer heat and blow away the winter snow. Remember what I quoted earlier about Thor being in charge of “thunder and lightning, the winds and rains, fair weather and crops”? From this perspective, you can see why Thor was an important god for both farmers and sailors. The thunder is just his way of announcing himself.

Thor’s hammer was a mythic way to understand lightning in a time long before we had a scientific understanding of electricity. People saw a flash of light and saw trees burst apart and houses catch fire. In ancient times, it was completely logical to conclude that Thor had thrown his burning hammer down from the clouds, and what we call lightning was really the path his weapon burned as it flew through the sky. Ancient people believed that Thor used his mystic hammer to protect us from the terrifying giants who wanted to freeze us and wipe us off the planet. Thor is the guardian of both humans and gods, and he is the great enemy of dangerous giants and trolls.

This is my favorite picture of Odin.

Odin is also a very complicated guy. On one hand, he can be seen as the god of language, poetry and runes. On the other hand, he is also the god of magic, war and death. Unlike your big, bearded Uncle Thor, Odin isn’t quite so friendly and trustworthy. He can be downright devious when he sets his mind on something, and he will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals.

One side of Odin is really deep and beautiful. He is determined to learn all that he can about the world, even if what he learns doesn’t make him any happier. He is willing to sacrifice one of his eyes for just one sip from the Well of Wisdom. He is willing to hang himself from the World Tree for nine days and nights without any food or drink in order to gain knowledge of the runes. He travels all over the world (actually, the Nine Worlds) to ask questions about the origin of the universe, about the way things are now, and about the way the world will end. He risks his life by questioning powerful giants, and he even raises prophetesses from the dead to ask what the future will bring.

I think that this determination to learn everything he can – and to make personal sacrifices to gain wisdom – is very inspiring. We should all work hard to learn everything we can about the world. If you want to be a scientist, learn as much as you can about the parts of science that most interest you. If you want to be a musician, dive deep into music and learn all you can about the subject. In this regard, Odin is a great role model.

However, the other side of Odin can be pretty frightening. On his travels, he learns all about Ragnarök, which means “doom of the powers.” The powers are the gods, so Ragnarök is a term for the end of the world, when the giants and the evil dead rise up and destroy gods, humans, elves, dwarves and the world itself. Before you get too worried, you should know that the giants themselves are destroyed, and that a new world of peace and light will rise up from the ruins of the old world. The knowledge of this great calamity in the future drives Odin to do some dark things.

The Ride of the Valkyries

Odin stirs up war and fighting all over the world. Why would he do such a horrible thing? Because he knows that this great battle with the giants is coming, and he wants to build an army to fight on the side of the gods. By causing war throughout the world, he can discover who the greatest warriors are. He sends out his army of mystic warrior women, the Valkyries, who ride flying horses over the battlefields of humans and pick out the greatest heroes. Their name explains what they do: Valkyrie means “chooser of the slain.” They decide who will die in battle, then they scoop up the dead heroes and take them to Valhalla, Odin’s hall in Asgard. Valhalla means “hall of the slain.” Are you sensing a theme here?

In Valhalla, the dead warriors spend all day fighting and killing each other. At dinner time, they all come back to life, hug each other and go into the hall to eat. They feast on a pig who – like them – comes back to life every day. Yes, it’s true. The warriors of Odin have a literally endless supply of bacon. Since they’re already dead, they don’t have to worry about the fat causing heart disease! Why do they keep on fighting and killing each other? Because they’re in training for the final battle. Odin wants them to be ready to fight the giants when Ragnarök finally arrives.

Wait! Didn’t I just say that all the gods and humans and everybody else will die at Ragnarök? Yes. Yes, I did. This is one of the interesting things about Norse mythology that really reflects the values of the culture that created it. Even though Odin knows that he will lose the final battle, he does everything he can to work for victory. He doesn’t get depressed, give up and go cry in the corner. He works to do all the good he can and to keep hope alive. So even the dark, warlike side of Odin’s character has a powerful message behind it: no matter what happens in your life, no matter what obstacles are in your way, always have hope. Always fight to be the best you can possibly be. Never give up, but fight to make your dreams become reality – no matter what stands in your way.

Freya drives her cats while her brother Frey rides his boar.
If I had a choice, my chariot would be pulled by magic dachshunds.

Freya is my other favorite. If Odin is the Allfather of the gods (and that’s what he is often called in the myths), you can think of Freya as the Allmother. She’s just as powerful and just as complicated as Odin. Like him, she also has a light side and a dark side.

Freya is considered “the most glorious” of the goddesses. She represents all that is bright and beautiful. You can recognize her by the shining necklace she wears and by her chariot that is drawn by cats. She has a pretty awesome cloak of falcon feathers that gives her the power to fly through the skies like a bird. She enjoys songs about love and she is always ready to help people with love problems. Hopefully, you don’t have any love problems yet, but Freya will be there to help you out when you’re older!

Just as the gods reflect human imperfection, so do the goddesses. Maybe the reason Freya cares so much about love is because she herself has a broken heart. Her husband is missing, wandering somewhere out in the world. Freya cries in loneliness, but she is so magical and beautiful that her tears fall to earth as drops of gold.

Like Odin, Freya also has a frightening side. She is the one who teaches a mysterious magic known as seiðr to the gods. A 13th-century Icelandic author named Snorri Sturluson wrote that the seiðr Freya taught Odin gave him some not-so-nice powers:

By means of [seiðr] he could know beforehand the predestined fate of men, or their not yet completed lot; and also bring on the death, ill-luck, or bad health of people, and take the strength or wit from one person and give it to another.

So, the flipside of Freya’s golden beauty is a little bit witchy. One ancient poem says that she Made magic wherever she could, with magic she played with minds, She was always the favorite of wicked women.

Like Odin, Freya collects dead warriors who fall in battle. Another very old poem describing the halls of the various gods and goddesses tells us that

Fólkvang is the ninth, and there Freya arranges
The choice of seats in the hall;
Half the slain she chooses every day,
And half Odin owns.

Fólkvang means “field of the people.” What does that mean? Think of it is a riddle. What is the field where you bury people? The answer is a graveyard. That’s a pretty grim name for a hall owned by such a beautiful goddess! It definitely shows that there is more to Freya than a pretty face. To make this all even more mysterious, we never find out in the Norse myths what Freya does with all her warriors. Is she preparing for Ragnarök? Does she just need help babysitting her kittens?

To be continued in Part Two.

NOTES FOR "THE VIKING GODS," Part Two

This is the second part of the personal notes I prepared for my appearance on the Ancient Aliens episode about “The Viking Gods” on H2, the second History Channel station. Click here for Part One.

THOR

Thor as ruler with Frigg (left) & Odin (right) in an illustration from
History of the Nordic Peoples by Olaus Magnus (1555)

Thor is a complicated character who can be seen as both a war god and a fertility god, as both subject to and superior to Odin – depending where and when your source comes from. Despite what modern artistic interpretations show us, he’s never physically described in any detail in the ancient poems, and it’s not even clear if he’s human-sized or giant-sized. All of this underscores that he is a spiritual and symbolic figure. The idea of Thor as a blustery, red-bearded, human-sized character really comes from the Icelandic sagas in the 1200s and 1300s, long after the conversion of Iceland to Christianity in the year 1000. In these late sources, he seems to be shrunken down to underscore the victory of the new Christian faith.

In the mythological sources, he’s often in conflict with Odin – a conflict that is sometimes interpreted as reflecting a rivalry between the followers of each god. Odin is characterized as wise and wily, often using deceit and magic to get what he wants. Thor is blunt and honest, facing foes head-on and distrusting magic as dishonorable.

THOR'S IMPORTANCE

In Iceland, the courtly poets make Odin the superior god – understandable, given that he’s the god of both nobles and poets. Thor, the god of the free farmers and peasants, seems to have had a superior role in pre-conversion Sweden. In some regions in the North, Frey was more important. Thor was particularly associated with farmers and peasants, which shows that a conception of him as only a battling war-god is missing out on his fertility aspects as the god who brings rain to the fields. According to the Icelandic version, his mother is the Earth itself, and the variations on his wife in different sources also seem related to earthly fertility.

Thor’s popularity is connected to his characterization as an idealized self-image of the independent farmer – he’s rough, hard-working, honest and takes children on adventures. He fights off giants (symbols of terrifying natural forces) as farmers would struggle against rough conditions to protect their farms and families. In the conversion era, Thor (with his bluntness and love of common folk) was seen as the direct opposition to Christ as missionaries sought to convert the northern peoples.

THOR'S HAMMER

Thor's hammer pendant from Sweden c1000 CE

Thor’s hammer is usually interpreted as a symbolic representation of lightning. It’s connected to conceptions of the mystic thunderweapon that show up in cultures around the world as early peoples sought to understand how something from the sky could smash trees and destroy homes. Like so many of these poetic images of a physical object that falls from the sky, Thor’s hammer is literally a “thunder-bolt,” a physical object that crashes to Earth with the flash of lightning.

Although we’re most familiar with the Icelandic image of Thor’s weapon as a metal hammer, other sources describe it as a rock or wooden club. The image of the thunderweapon evolved as human technology evolved, eventually giving us something described very much like the hammer of a smith, but one given the very convenient properties of always returning to the thrower’s hand and being able to shrink down small enough to fit inside Thor’s shirt. This last quality may be connected to the small hammer pendants worn by heathens during conversion times, in opposition to the crucifixes worn by Christian converts.

In the Icelandic myths, Thor’s hammer is the primary weapon of the gods against the enemy giants. Thor is constantly smashing giants at home and abroad with his hammer, and is very upset when it gets misplaced. Unfortunately for those of us who grew up with Marvel Comics, it’s never given a physical description other than mentions that it’s a bit short in the handle.

THE GIANTS

In Norse mythology, the giants are natural forces that are given a poetic or metaphorical form. The popular image of giants as huge, humanlike creatures really comes from later folklore. In Norse myths, they’re not necessarily big – and Thor himself sometimes swells up to gigantic size. Male giants are sometimes wise old rulers, sometimes frightening trolls. Female giants are sometimes beautiful maidens that mate with the gods, sometimes hideous troll-women.

Some conflicts between giants and gods seem like disagreements between rival families, and the two sides are actually closely related through marriage and parentage. In other cases, the conflict seems to be a symbolic one, between the gods representing order and creation and the giants representing chaos and destruction.

FREY

Frey (Froh) as depicted in a costume design
by Carl Emil Döpler for the premiere of
Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen

Frey is the main fertility god of Norse mythology. He seems to have been represented artistically as having an immense phallus, a clear symbol of his fertility role. He’s referred to as “the friend of the folk,” the god who is close to humanity and brings them aid – again, a fairly straightforward reflection of his role as fertility god. What records we do have of his worship tend to focus on his gifts of peace and plenty.

FREY'S SHIP

Frey had a ship called Skíðblaðnir, which means “assembled from pieces of thin wood.” Icelandic sources tell us that it was so cleverly constructed that it could be folded up like a cloth and put in your pocket, which connects it to model boats that were used for fertility rituals and then folded up and put away when not needed. Like so much of the mythological material, it seems that Christian writers in the 13th century and popular writers in the 20th century have misunderstood poetic imagery – which is sometimes based on forgotten religious ritual – and taken it as literal description of mystic objects.

LOKI

Loki is not a god, but merely counted among the gods. He’s a giant who – for reasons never explained – becomes the sworn blood-brother of Odin. He’s the one character in Norse myth who seems to evolve over the course of mythic time, which is part of the evidence that he was a late literary creation and not part of actual pre-Christian religion.

He starts out as a mischievous character who gets the gods into trouble and then gets them out of it, usually through clever trickery and deceit. Early in the mythic timeline, he’s the travelling-companion of both Odin and Thor, but he goes on to kill the god Balder and will personally lead the army of giants and non-heroic dead against the gods in the final battle at the end of time. He has been interpreted as a sort of shadow-Odin, because many of his characteristics seem like parodies of those of Odin himself – more evidence that he’s really just a literary creation.

THE SONS OF IVALDI

Loki, the golden hair & the dwarf
in an illustration from Maria Klugh's
Tales from the Far North (1909)

The sons of Ivaldi are dwarves who, along with another pair of rival dwarves, are tricked by Loki into making a set of treasures for the Norse gods. They appear briefly in the mythology in the role of smiths, a role taken by dwarves throughout Germanic mythology, legend and folktale.

TREASURES OF THE GODS

The dwarves were tricked into making a set of treasures for the gods, all of which are symbols for values held by the noble classes of ancient Germanic culture. Among other objects, they fashion Odin’s spear, which represents religion throughout Norse myth and saga. They create Thor’s hammer, which represents the power to protect one’s family and followers. They make Frey’s boar, which is a Nordic symbol of fertility. They forge Odin’s ring that itself creates other rings, a clear symbol of wealth. They also make golden hair that attaches itself to the head of Thor’s wife and grows; her name basically means “wife,” which underscores that this golden, ever-growing hair is a poetic symbol of the bounty of fertility.

TRAVELS OF THE NORSE

Norsemen traveled west to Canada, east as Iran, north to Greenland, and south to Africa. Despite the popular image of the Norse as violent Vikings, they were also great traders and adventurers.

THE NORSE IN AMERICA

Stone altar to the goddess Nehalennia
from Domburg in the Netherlands

The Icelandic sagas of the 1200s describe Norse voyages to North America in great detail. Archeological proof of their visits to this continent was finally discovered in Newfoundland in the 1960s. Research teams found clear physical evidence, including ship’s nails and remnants of buildings that matched structures in Iceland and Greenland.

GODS AND SEA VOYAGES

Thor, in his role as thunder god, seems to have been invoked for protection against stormy seas, as was a goddess named Nehalennia – there’s some evidence that she was a deadly sea-goddess who was asked by merchants to be merciful, but she may also be have been a benign goddess of fertility and plenty. There was also another sea-goddess named Rán, whose name is related to “robbery,” and who symbolizes the dark and terrifying ocean that drags down men and ships.

NOTES FOR "THE VIKING GODS," Part One

Crop circle in shape of bass clef – proof of ancient alien bassists?

I recently appeared on episode of the Ancient Aliens television show about “The Viking Gods” on H2, the second History Channel station. As they do for all episodes of this popular series, the producers interviewed scholars of a particular historical period and asked them to explain the culture, mythology and technology of the time. I was asked about Norse mythology, as were Scott A. Mellor (UW-Madison Department of Scandinavian Studies), Timothy R. Tangherlini (UCLA Scandinavian Section), Kirsten Wolf (also UW-Madison) and Jonathan Young (Joseph Campbell Archives).

Personally, I agreed to participate because I wanted to make sure that basic information about Norse mythology and religion was presented in a fair and accurate manner. I told the producers up-front that I have absolutely no interest in “ancient astronaut theory.” My answers were edited down to a few very brief soundbites, which is totally fair and understandable. However, many people have asked me what my full answers were to the producers' questions. I can’t provide transcripts of what I actually said, since I haven’t seen the full footage myself. Instead, I am posting the personal notes I typed up while preparing for the interview. Enjoy.

WORSHIP OF THE NORSE GODS

Rock carving from Bohuslän, Sweden
c1800 BCE

The Norse gods were worshiped over a very wide range of space and time. Rock carvings and artifacts in Scandinavia dating back to over 1,000 years BCE show what we could call “reverse echoes” of the Norse gods. The conception of the gods hadn’t yet evolved into the characters we’re familiar with as Thor and Odin and the rest, but you can see common symbolic elements such as the sacred chariot, sun wheel and axe or hammer.

Conversion to Christianity began in England around 600. Sweden, the last heathen holdout, converted around 1150. As the various Germanic tribes migrated over time, the gods moved with them. We have evidence from literature, archeology and place-name analysis that shows local variants of Norse religion throughout the continental German lands, Scandinavia, the northern islands and the British Isles.

THE WORLD TREE

The World Tree is a poetic concept in Norse mythology that serves as a symbol to connect the Nine Worlds of gods, men, elves, dwarves, giants and the dead. It’s related to the Germanic concept of the Warden Tree, a tree that guards your homestead. A farm would have a Warden Tree to protect the household, a temple would have a tree that protects the community. By extension, Odin’s hall (Valhalla) has its own Warden tree, and the world itself has a tree – this symbolic World Tree that connects the different realms of the various inhabitants of the world.

SOURCES OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY

A manuscript of Snorri Sturluson's Edda
Iceland, 18th century

There’s a wide range of sources for what we now call Norse mythology. There are Latin writings by Julius Caesar and Tacitus that describe the religion of the Germanic tribes that came into contact with the Roman Empire. There are texts by Christian writers during the Conversion Era that discuss heathen beliefs. There are sagas and histories written by Icelanders and Danes that record tales of the gods.

Next to these sources, the two books that provide the most coherent version of Norse myth are what we now call the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. They were written down by Christian writers in Iceland in the mid-1200s – over two centuries after Iceland’s conversion. Both texts contain a lot of Christian elements mixed in. Snorri Sturluson, the compiler of the Prose Edda, is particularly keen to let readers know that he thought the pre-Christian religion was nonsense. These books are accessible to modern readers because, in typical medieval fashion, they seek to impose a clear structure on what was really a variable and contradictory set of religious beliefs over a wide range in space and time

SNORRI STURLUSON

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic author who compiled a book called the Edda, which is sometimes translated to mean “Poetics.” This book was not written to record religious belief or describe religious ritual. It’s really a poetry manual.

With the coming of Latin learning and continental-style prose writing after Iceland’s conversion to Christianity, the older art of traditional poetry was dying out. Icelandic poetry was largely based on metaphorical allusions called kennings, which referred to characters and events of Norse myth. In order to understand the poetry, the audience had to know the mythology very well. Two centuries after conversion, this knowledge was fading – and so traditional poetry was becoming difficult to understand. Snorri wanted to record the myths in a systematic, orderly way so that his contemporaries could read and write in the older poetic style.

THE NINE WORLDS

A map of Asgard & the Nine Worlds
as conceived by Marvel Comics

The concept of the Nine Worlds is a poetic way of imagining the different realms of gods, men, elves, dwarves, giants and the dead. These realms are thought of as discrete areas, mythical versions of the discrete homesteads and communities of the northern world. Gods, giants, dwarves and men in the myths and sagas travel on foot and by horse between these areas, which are clearly not distant planets in outer space – that’s an idea we get from the Marvel Comics version (which appeared nearly a decade before Erich von Däniken published his “ancient alien theory” and seems, along with other 1960s pop culture, to have greatly influenced it).

ASGARD

Asgard means “enclosure of the Æsir” and is named for one of the two tribes of Norse gods. It’s the home of the major Norse gods and goddesses, including Thor, Odin and Freya. Each of the characters has their own hall within the wall of Asgard, and there are poetic ideas connecting Asgard to the afterlife.

Odin’s Valhalla (“Hall of the Slain”) is where he collects dead human heroes to fight the final battle with the giants at the end of time. The goddess Freya takes half the dead who die in battle into her hall, but we don’t know why. Thor gathers the dead from the peasant or farming class, the part of society he is especially connected to as the god who brings rain for crops and defends the common person from the giants, symbols of the terrifying forces of nature.

MIDGARD

Midgard means “middle enclosure.” This is where humans live, and the term is the root source for Tolkien’s “Middle-earth.” Midgard is surrounded by frightening places such as the home of the giants and the home of the dead. This is understandable, given the structures of communities in the ancient North, where life was often hard and vicious. Thor was thought of as the protector of humanity, defending his followers from the overwhelming forces of nature, which are given metaphorical form as terrifying giants.

THE NORSE GODS

When we think of Norse mythology as a coherent system, we’re really accepting a very late version of the myths that was systematized and written down in Iceland, centuries after the conversion to Christianity. In the Christian era, Snorri Sturluson tried to organize a complicated heritage of poetry and oral tradition into a clear storyline. He clearly misinterprets some of his material and seems to freely invent some passages.

According to this post-conversion synthesis, there are two main tribes of gods. The Æsir include gods more associated with war like Odin and Thor; the Vanir are gods tied more to fertility, like the twins Frey and Freya. These two groups mix freely together, and evidence of actual religious belief tends to blend and blur their supposed roles as gods of war and gods of fertility.

ODIN

A bronze figure thought to represent Odin
Sweden, 7th century
The missing arm appears to be later damage

The consistent characteristic of Odin in Germanic myth is his power to inspire. His name is connected to a root meaning both “fury” and “poetry.” This really sums up his role – he inspires the warrior to a battle-frenzy and he inspires the poet to a creative-frenzy. This idea is reflected in his power to metaphorically bind and unbind men’s minds. He could bind the minds of his enemies, which is a poetic way of saying that he could paralyze them with fear – like Mike Tyson did with his boxing opponents. He could also unbind men’s minds, which is poetic way of saying he could inspire creativity by freeing poets from what we now call “writer’s block,” for example.

ODIN'S HIGH SEAT

Odin’s high seat, which is named with a term that roughly means “watchtower,” is a place where he could sit and look out over the world. On one hand, it’s related to the high seat of the Germanic hall, where the leader of the family would sit during gatherings; Odin is (at least in the late Icelandic version) the leader of the main family of gods. On the other hand, it’s related to the high seat of the prophetess; she would be physically raised up so that, symbolically, she was raised above the world and could see farther ahead in space and time.

ODIN'S RAVENS

Odin has two ravens named Hugin and Munin who fly through the world each day and report back to him what they see. Their names mean “thought” and “memory,” showing them to be symbolic representations of Odin sending out his thoughts in animal form while in a shaman-like trance.

VALHALLA

Odin’s hall is called Valhalla, which means “hall of the slain” and may be connected to ancient religious beliefs that the dead lived on inside of burial mounds. This is reflected in poetic descriptions of a host of human warriors that have been killed in battle and selected by Odin and his Valkyries to live on in Valhalla, fighting and dying and being constantly reborn – feasting on an endless supply of mead and pork until the final battle with the giants at Ragnarök. We know about the hall from Icelandic poetry that describes it as full of weapons and shields, populated with fierce warriors who joyfully fight each other and are served endless food and drink by Valkyrie waitresses – clearly an image of paradise for young warriors.

ODIN AND GODS OF OTHER CULTURES

Mercury as god of commerce & industry
French coin, 1924

Odin is really a unique character, but the Romans connected Odin to their own Mercury, most likely because of the Roman god’s connection to trade, wisdom and traveling far and wide. Odin was seen by his followers as a god of cargoes, as a seeker after and sharer of wisdom, and as a lone wanderer who traveled the world in a quest for knowledge.

THE VALKYRIES

The term Valkyrie means “chooser of the slain.” They are mythologized versions of female ritual leaders in the Germanic world mentioned by Roman, Arab and Anglo-Saxon writers. These original women led ritual human sacrifice, literally “choosing the slain” – selecting who would be sacrificed and then carrying out the killing themselves. They would, of course, have been imposing and terrifying figures, and over time they evolved into this conception of mystical warrior-women who decide who is to die on the battlefield – taking the greatest heroes to Odin in Valhalla, where they are gathered to fight in the final battle with the enemies of the gods at the end of time.

To be continued in Part Two.

VALLEY OF THE GODS IN ICELAND

Original article by Kári Pálsson appeared in Vor Siður 22, no. 1 (2013)
Translated by Kári Pálsson & Dr. Karl E. H. Seigfried for The Norse Mythology Blog
Read the original article (in Icelandic) here
Original text © Ásatrúarfélagið

Vor Siður – newsletter of the Ásatrúarfélagið (“Æsir Faith Fellowship”)

As a young boy, I visited Goðdalur (“dale of the gods”) in Bjarnarfjörður in northwest Iceland several times. The valley is extremely remote and not known to many people, since the one road leading to the dale is fairly poor and usually impassible in the winter except with large vehicles. There are two cottages in the valley owned by friends of my family.

When I was teenager, I started wondering about the history of this place and was particularly interested in its name. The valley is not mentioned in any sagas or historical records, but it was said by people through the centuries that this place had a hof (heathen temple) and many kinds of vættir (wights) and other spirits or gods. Legends say that Bishop Guðmundur tried to exorcise the spirits of the dale in the 13th century, but he failed.

In the foreground are the ruins of the old farm in Goðdalur
Photograph by Kári Pálsson

The valley was inhabited until December 1948, when a 130-meter wide avalanche destroyed the town and killed six people. A farmer named Jóhann Kristmundsson and his young daughter survived. The girl died soon after; Jóhann lived couple of years longer, but never recovered. Today, the dale still holds ruins of the old farm.

Ingibjörg Sigvaldadóttir, a housewife born in 1912 in Svanshóll, remembered that her father Sigvaldi Guðmundsson had told the farmer then living in Goðdalur that he shouldn’t have removed the remains of the old hof that stood in the valley. The farmer later denied having done so and claimed he only covered it with soil and built over it.

In the 1952 yearbook of Ferðafélag Íslands (Icelandic Touring Association), Jón Hjaltason wrote, “Goðdalur has been a place of tragic events and accidents. It is clear that this place is filled with the wrath of the gods, and that only land-wights want to live there.”

Heiðinn Siður á Íslandi by Ólafur Briem

It is interesting how many places around Goðdalur have heathen names. In his 1945 book Heiðinn Siður á Íslandi (Heathen Practice in Iceland), Ólafur Briem names four waterfalls that have the name Goðafoss (“waterfall of the gods”). There are actually five – including two in Bjarnardalur and one in Goðdalur – but Ólafur forgets to mentions one of them. There are also several place-names in Goðdalur that relate to hörgur (heathen stone altars).

Remains from different eras have been found throughout the valley, and the dale is a popular location for archeologists. Once, when I was playing in valley’s little stream as a boy, I found a small square iron plate that looked like ashtray with a picture of bearded man done in an interesting style. I’m not sure how old this iron tray was; I gave it to an adult and learned nothing more. It was likely from before the time of the avalanche.

In 1960, as excavations were being done to build a small summer house on the spot, an ancient blót (sacrifice) stone was found. Scientists examined black marks on the inside of the stone and found that they were residue of ancient animal blood. The stone was lost, but it resurfaced in 2002 and is now stored in Galdrasafnið á Ströndum (Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft).

Blót stone found in Goðdalur, Iceland

It is clear that blóts were held in this location in ancient times. Scholars think that heathens gathered here and held blóts in secret, even two centuries after the conversion to Christianity had outlawed public sacrifices. The discovery of the stone gives clear evidence for stories that this area had a hörg or hof.

Eyrbyggja Saga tells of a hof raised by Þórólfur Mostraskegg:

There he let build a temple, and a mighty house it was. There was a door in the side-wall and nearer to one end thereof. Within the door stood the pillars of the high-seat, and nails were therein; they were called the gods’ nails. Therewithin was there a great frith-place [peace-place, sanctuary]. But off the inmost house was there another house, of that fashion whereof now is the choir of a church, and there stood a stall in the midst of the floor in the fashion of an altar, and thereon lay a ring without a join that weighed twenty ounces, and on that must men swear all oaths; and that ring must the chief have on his arm at all man-motes [moots, meetings]. 

On the stall should also stand the blood-bowl, and therein the blood-rod was, like unto a sprinkler, and therewith should be sprinkled from the bowl that blood which is called hlaut, which was that kind of blood which flowed when those beasts were smitten who were sacrificed to the gods. But round about the stall were the gods arrayed in the holy place.

The blót stone from the valley was likely used as a hlaut-bowl like the one described in the saga.

Photograph of Goðdalur by Kári Pálsson

It is said that an ancient goði (heathen priest) was buried near the site of the hof in Goðdalur and that around him was a some sort of hex place on which animals were never allowed and which was never mowed. It is also said that the hofgoði (temple priest) threw his gods’ statues in Goðafoss after the conversion to Christianity, although this tale has been probably confused with that of Þorgeir Ljósvetningargoði. Of course, people suspect that this story is pretty one-sided.

Thanks to Kári & the Ásatrúarfélagið for sharing this piece. Þakka þér kærlega fyrir!

TOLKIEN'S HEATHEN FEMINIST, Part Two

Click here for Part One

Brunnhild / Brünhilde / Brynhild
on an 1897 postcard by Gaston Bussière

Although telling the same basic story as the Icelandic Saga of the Volsungs, the German Nibelungenlied portrays Brynhild (as Brünhilde) in a very different light. The German version presents the tale in an overtly Christian setting; pivotal scenes occur at church, and Odin is notably absent. As part of the downgrading and removal of heathen religious elements, the Valkyrie is recast as a purely human warrior-woman:

There was a queen throned across the sea, that had not her like, beyond fair and of mickle strength, and her love was for that knight only that could pass her at the spear. She hurled the stone and leapt after it to the mark. Any that desired the noble damsel’s love must first win boldly in these three games. If he failed in but one, he lost his head.

There is no sense in this version that she is supernatural. Instead, like Éowyn, she is a noble woman who has chosen to live the warrior’s life as a shieldmaiden – a choice that is seen, in this Christian worldview, as wholly negative. Both Brynhild and Brünhilde are tricked into marrying unworthy men by the deceit of the hero (Sigurd in Iceland, Siegfried in Germany). However, the Christianized German version adds a disturbing extra scene in which Siegfried violently rapes the shieldmaiden in her own bedroom to teach her the virtue of wifely obedience (on behalf of her new husband, who secretly watches).

Brünhilde the Shieldmaiden

The strife endured long atwixt them. Then Siegfried got hold of Brünhilde. Albeit she fought valiantly, her defence was grown weak. It seemed long to the king, that stood there, till Siegfried had won. She squeezed his hands till, by her strength, the blood spurted out from his nails. Then he brake the strong will that she had shown at the first. The king heard it all, but he spake no word. Siegfried pressed her down till she cried aloud, for his might hurt her greatly. She clutched at her side, where she found her girdle, and sought to tie his hands. But he gripped her till the joints of her body cracked. So the strife was ended.

You may choose to read this as a wrestling match rather than a rape, but the sexual element really is clear in the text. The “strife” occurs in bed, with the husband hiding behind the bed curtains, and begins with Siegfried tearing Brünhilde’s nightgown. Where the heathen version of the tale presents us with a hero who begs a wise Valkyrie to share her knowledge, the Christian version gives us a rapist who violently puts a headstrong shieldmaiden in her (domestic) place.

The Awesomest Painting in the History of the World
or, Éowyn versus the Witch-King of Angmar 

The dispute between Aragorn and Éowyn, of course, pales next to the horror of the Nibelungenlied scene. However, the underlying theme is the same, even if Tolkien makes it implicit rather than explicit; the mighty hero wants the shieldmaiden to give up her willful heathenish ways and become a subservient Christian woman. In Tolkien’s version, however, the shieldmaiden not only has the better lines, but she goes on to [SPOILER ALERT!] vanquish the greatest warrior of the Dark Lord on the battlefield when she fearlessly faces and defeats the Lord of the Nazgûl – a figure so terrifying that the novel’s male characters literally fall to the ground in terror when he appears.

SCORE: Heathen Feminist 1, Christian Patriarch 0

Éowyn in the 1980 Return of the King cartoon

A possible objection to this reading of Éowyn as heroic heathen shieldmaiden may be made by pointing to the negative attributes of Valkyries in Germanic literature. These mystical figures can be bloody and terrifying, violent and untrustworthy. Leslie A. Donovan addresses this issue in her excellent essay, “The valkyrie reflex in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings”:

By eliminating from his primary women figures the concept common in valkyrie typology of the female inciter and her accompanying vengeance for kin or personal insult, Tolkien constructs them as reflective of moral good, heroic ideals, noble behavior, and responsible leadership by means of a female identity concordant with contemporary perceptions of women as significant forces within society and the world.

She goes on to say that “Tolkien’s modern benevolent valkyries… are preservers of tradition, defenders of their culture, bearers of the future, and forces for moral good.” In Éowyn, Tolkien has created a model version of heathen womanly power that embodies the highest ideals of the Old Way. Every ancient religion has positive and negative characterizations of women in its received texts. Surprisingly for a Catholic author, Tolkien chooses to gather together the positive aspects of heathen womanhood into a powerful and sympathetic character.

Éowyn stands alone - art by Michael Kaluta

Éowyn also expresses a pre-Christian worldview when she asks, “may I not now spend my life as I will?” At least in terms of marriage, the Icelandic sagas show that women had a surprising independence before the conversion to the new religion. Perhaps most interesting is the fact that a woman could declare herself divorced and immediately force her husband to leave while taking possession of her own property. Laws covered division of common possessions, child custody and child support. In the sagas, physical abuse is the most common reason given by women who declare themselves divorced; these women would not be pushed around by anyone.

Compare this strikingly modern arrangement with, for instance, the Catholic Church’s continuing and complicated policy on divorce and annulment. In post-conversion Iceland, Catholic bishops held the power to decide whether a divorce would be granted; patriarchal authority pushed aside female self-determination. Éowyn’s indignant desire to determine the course of her own life aligns her against the new patriarchy and with the powerful and independent women of Tolkien’s beloved Icelandic sagas.

As the conversation continues, Aragorn again insists that Éowyn remain with the non-combatants.

‘A time may come soon,’ said he, ‘when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.’

"She is fearless and high-hearted. All love her."

This again denies Éowyn the right to pursue one of the fundamental tenets of the heathen religion: the pursuit of glory on earth and reputation among men (and women). Her response is fierce.

‘All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.’

What disqualifies Éowyn from making her mark on her era and being immortalized in song? Only her gender. This ties in with the post-conversion change in women’s rights within marriage. Éowyn wants to be an equal partner, like the heathen women who could divorce abusive husbands with a word. Instead, she is being forced into a traditional Christian position of subservience. Paul the Apostle makes a clear link between wifely submission and Christian theology, underscoring the patriarchal nature of the new religion’s mythology and religious practice:

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing.

Aragorn preaches to the congregation

If The Lord of the Rings is “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work,” is Aragorn – the king of The Return of the King – a fundamentally religious and Catholic hero? It does seem that he is arguing a Christian position for the role of women in society, and Éowyn is presenting a dissenting view that is based in heathen thought.

As the conversation draws to a close, Aragorn – perhaps taken aback that this young woman has no fear of battle and death – asks her what she does fear. Her answer is the great feminist line of the Tolkien mythos.

‘A cage,’ she said. ‘To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.’

For all the (mostly fair) criticism of Tolkien’s weak writing of female characters, this is a line worthy of Charlotte Perkins Gilman or Virginia Woolf. It powerfully expresses the soul-crushing frustration of being denied the right to live a full and independent life because of one’s gender. This is a shockingly modern sentiment in a work by a male Catholic medievalist in his sixties, published only two years after the English translation of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex.

Tolkien having a pipe and a laugh

Éowyn’s words also encapsulate the wanderlust and restlessness of the pre-Christian North, from the Indo-Europeans arrival through the migrations of the Germanic tribes to the world-spanning travels of the Vikings – a raw energy that Tolkien loved and admired, even though he lived in a Christian era and took the New Way’s teachings to heart. Éowyn likewise speaks with the fierce and determined voice of “that noble northern spirit” when she later tells Merry, “Where will wants not, a way opens.”

Although Tolkien’s work focuses on Great Men doing Great Deeds and on patriarchy and kingship, in this short scene he presents us with a young woman giving voice to the energy at the heart of the heathen era. It says something about Tolkien as a human being that he was able to write so eloquently from the perspective of a woman espousing heathen ideals, if only for this one moment. He really was a man of (lower-case) catholic interests.