Norse Religion and Mythology - Research Paper Example

The Norse Religion and Mythology The Norse mythology is part of the wider Germanic Mythology and it flourished before the Scandinavian countries were Christianized. This mythology refers to the legends, beliefs and myths of the Norse Pagans’ supernatural beings. Norse paganism refers to the religious beliefs of the Norsemen and it was practiced in northern and central Europe. This mythology is the study of the Germanic myths (Iceland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands and Denmark). The Norse societies later adopted Christianity because the Norse religion was not as strong as other religions. Lindow says that this mythology developed slowly over the years and the importance of different heroes and gods kept varying with time and place (45). They worshipped different gods and did not have any proper organization, as religion was not institutionalized. The absence of priests and temples meant that religion was part of their ordinary lives as they could worship from anywhere they wanted. The Gods and Goddesses of the Norse Religion The Gods and Goddesses of the Norse religion were divided into two major categories: the Vanir and Aesir. The former were referred to as the Earth Gods and symbolized fecundity, riches and fertility. They controlled the earth and the sea and had to be consulted on everything that falls in this category. The most important gods in this category are Freyr, Freya, Njord and Aegir. The Aesir on the other hand were the gods of the sky and they symbolized wisdom, power and war. They lived for relatively long periods and were very powerful but mortal. People could therefore pray to different gods when faced with different situations and their prayers were answered and their wishes granted. Odin Odin is the son of Bor and Bestla; he is the father and leader of all the other gods and men. He is the king of Asgard (the great citadel of the gods) and the ruler of Aersir. He had magical skills and could travel to all the nine Nordic worlds to exert his powers. He had two ravens, Huginn and Munin that could traverse the world on daily basis and inform him on everything that is happening in Midgard. He has magic, wit and wisdom that help him in making key decisions. He is also the lord of knowledge, war & death and could travel the world without being noticed. He rides on an eight legged horse during battles and has unrivalled military intelligence (O’Donoghue 24). He only has one eye because he traded the other one for wisdom. He is married to Frigg but occasionally flirts with Rind and was the god of poetic inspiration. Together they have three children namely, Thor, Baldur and Vali. He interfered a lot in the affairs of men and was believed to be the cause of the occurrence of many misunderstandings between people. These misunderstandings often led to war as men differed on different issues that were of strategic importance to all parties. Therefore, they turned to him for prayers during wars so he could help them win and humiliate their enemies (Lindow 78). He won his wars mostly through his cunning ways and not force because his wits, guile and stratagem were unequalled on earth. This made him to be a very important member of the god family and could be consulted by kings and other leaders for help before they could venture into any war. His willingness to accept both pain and loss made him gain advantage over men and other gods as he could venture into anything he was interested in. For example, he had to part with one of his eyes in order to be allowed to drink from the Urd. This shows that he could offer to do anything in order to get what he wanted in order to gain advantage over all the others. Through this, he was able to gain wisdom, and became a lot wiser than the others, making him to outwit them with ease (Skye 14). Everything he did was therefore for a purpose and with specific objectives that were of strategic importance to him as a god. He gained knowledge through pain as he was forced to hung and be bayoneted by a spear for nine days. It is through such sufferings that he was able to become who he is and used everything at his disposal to become even better. He was often served by Valkyries, who collected fallen heroes from the battlefields and brought them before him. He was among the most worshipped gods and received many forms of sacrifice from men who wanted different favors from him. Freyr Freyr was the son of god Njord and giantess Skadi. He was one of the leaders in the Vanir family of gods and was also worshipped regularly. He was the god of fertility and controlled the sun, rain and the fruitfulness of the earth. People prayed to him whenever they wanted good harvest and peace. He ruled over Alfheim and was a twin brother to godess Fryja. He was also known as the king of Alfs (elves) and the god of success. He had a magic ship built by the dwarves that was large enough to hold all the gods and could not sink but could shrink. He was married to Gerda, the Jotun who he had to give his mighty sword in order to win her over. They had a child named Fjonir. He found it hard to win Gerds hand in marriage and had a fight with Beli and Surtr. He never gave up and fought all the way, until he achieved what he wanted although life was not as rough for him as it was for Odin. Thor He was the son of Fjorgyn and Odin and was the god of law, sky, war, raid, thunder and fertility. Thor was married to two wives Sif and Jarnsaxa and had four children and one stepson. He supplemented his father as the favorite god. Thor and his father refused to recognize the full status of Vanir’s godhood. There was a conflict between these two sides but a truce was reached and the two sides reconciled (Parkes 36). He wielded the divine hammer racing his chariot across the sky generating thunder. This is why he is also known as the thunderer. Thor was the mightiest god with the ability to slay giants in order to protect the other gods. He was known as a drunkard and brawl instigator among the gods and was respected more than his father was. He loved human beings but was very bad when annoyed by them so people had to be very careful when relating to him so as not to make any offences. He is very brave because he led his dad into the final battle during the Ragnarok. He was the most popular among the mortals because of his love for them but was killed by the Midgard serpent. He was the most barbaric god and lived by his own rules because he was very powerful. Thursday was a sacred day for him and he was very faithful to the rest of the Aesir. Loki He is a giant and a god but not a true one as Odin adopted him into his family. His biological parents are Farbauti and Laufey; he used his trickery to challenge the structure and order of the gods in order to bring out the desired change. Palomino asserts that he managed to become a god using his mischievous ways because he was just a son of two giants and did not have biological relations to the gods (89). He was married to Angrbooa, Sigyn and Svaoilfari and had six children namely: Hel, Fenrir, Jormungandr, Narfi, Sleipnir and Vali. He is the god of trickery, lies, fire, flood and cunning. He is the father of goddess Hel, Fenris the wolf and Midgard the serpent. He was neither part of the Vanir or Aesir because he was of the Ettins race. This is why he had some demonic qualities and acted as both helper and enemy of Aesir (Dubois 21). He always fought hard to get them out of trouble but spawn the worst type of monsters at times. He had many run ins with the dwarfs and cheated them a lot until they were forced to stitch his mouth shut in order to silence him for a while. He was the most scandalous god as he never let the opportunity of dating a goddess pass him even though he was married to three of them. His tricks made him survive many ordeals but the death of Baldur changed all these as he was trapped in eternal punishment in order to pay for his wrong deeds. Ragnarok This refers to the end of the world as was prophesied. Odin’s sacrificed eye is in Mirmirs well and is seeing everything that is yet to come. This is why Odin knows well that nothing is able to stop the Fibulwinter that was to be followed by Ragnarok. He already knows well everything that will happen during the last days and is very helpless because everything is beyond his control. Loki on the other hand will lead the monsters and the giants in attacking the gods and Freyr will be attacked by the fire giants. He will stick with his deer horn but will still be killed by Surt using his flaming sword. Thor and Odin will fight Jormungand and Fenrir but odin will be crushed to the ground by the wolf. Works cited Dubois Thomas. Nordic Religions in the Viking Age: The Middle Ages Series. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.Print. Lindow John. Handbook of Norse Mythology: World Mythology. California: ABC-CLIO , 2001. Print. Lindow John. Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press, USA , 2002.Print. O’Donoghue Heather. From Asgard to Valhalla: The Remarkable History of the Norse Myths. London: I. B. Tauris, 2009. Print. Palomino, Rafael. "Religion and Neutrality: Myth, Principle, and Meaning." Brigham Young University Law Review 2011.3 (2011): 657-89. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2011 Parkes, Peter. "Celtic Fosterage: Adoptive Kinship and Clientage in Northwest Europe." Comparative Studies in Society and History 48.2 (2006): 359-95. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. Skye Michelle. Goddess Alive: Inviting Celtic & Norse Goddesses into your life. Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 2007. Print. Read More