The Nordic Gods

[Laufa]

I was wondering wether anybody here had read Snorra-Edda, Hávamál, Völuspá and other sagas about the Nordic Gods.

These stories are very intresting and extremely funny. Havamal is Odinn's talk of how to behave in life - a bit like the ten commandments, except it is very long and he mostly talks about not eating and drinking too much, being a good friend, being honest, not be greedy, etc.
Snorra-Edda is written after Völuspá, and is about the creation of the earth (which is amazingly like the Christian creation - Noah's flood, Adam and Eve are pararlelled Askur and Embla) and then Ragnarök, which means "The end of the Gods", or Armageddon.
In Snorra-Edda there are also very amusing stories of the Gods, which all have some moral in them but are extremely funny.
Then there are Eddu-kvæðin, which each contains a story about the Gods.

Another interesting thing is that women and men are equal in these stories, and the two most powerful Gods are male and female, and actually married. (Frigg and Odinn)

If anybody has read this or heard about these, please tell me what you think.

Love,
Eyrún

[Sherlock Holmes]

Can't say I have, Laufa, although it looks like something I might want to read up on sometime. If I'm not mistaken, Nordic mythology was a prime area of research for J.R.R. Tolkien, and a lot of the elements of his Elvish languages have Anglo-Saxon and Nordic roots.

I think this thread would fit better in Knockturn Alley, so I'm going to move it. :)

[Cat]

I know I'm not a moderator, but might I suggest that the thread would be more appropriate in the History Corner?

I have never read those sagas but I'm very interested in many different areas of mythology and Norse is growing to be one of my favourite. They had the barmiest gods.

One thing... I thought it was spelled 'Odin'? Can it be spelled two ways?

[Doggy]

Odin... I've always learned that it could be spelled either "Odin" or "Oden". Depending on what you felt like. And there may be a third way.

Anyway, I haven't read those books, but I think that Nordic Mythology (in fact most mythology) is very fascinating. Almost every mythology have several very similar stories about the creation of the world, and about an Armaggedon (or in this case, Ragnarök) to come.

[Midnightsfire]

There were a few ways to spell the chief god's name: Odin Odinn Wotan Woden... (Caesar had him pegged as Mercury)

I did some research on the subject a long while back..."Odinism" may be making some sort of comeback...

I'll post what I have in a later post.

Hmm...In English. it's Snorri Sturluson who wrote the Prose Edda...The Eddas (http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~cherryne/edda.html)

And you can check this out:

The Poetic Edda (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/index.htm)

[triki1988]

I love Nordic mythology (for some reason, I think I'm saynig somthing wrong here. Bear with me anyways).

I've read some of the stories about Gods and how mountains, and waterfalls, and animals came to be.
All the stories are so complicated and twisted, but when put together, they all make sense in a bizarre sort of way.

[Laufa]

If I remember correctly, the first humans came when a giants left leg mated with it's right one, or something of that sort.

Loki, a male God, is also the mother of Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Heehee. He even carried him for 9 months.

The stories are most about moral, but the reasons of how the world came to be aren't more farfetched then the stories in the Old Testament. But they are funnier. :D

Thrymskvida is a very funny story of Thor in a drag. They had a weird sense of humour back then :p

It's also amazing how well these stories have aged, how well they have been treasured, and how accurate they are today as they were back then.

Love,
Eyrún

[Pucko]

mythology in general is awesome! but even though i am Swedish i haven't read a lot of the Nordic mythology stories...i have read a few though, and they are quite funny...nice to know i have heritage with a sense of humor ;)
i love the way they're written, they're so straight forward, and let the characters' actions speak for them

[Liselle]

If you think that the Norse crowd were strange then you should check out some of the Ancient Irish ones!

Angus Mac Og - Ireland; god of youth, love, and beauty. One of the Tuatha De Danann, name means "young son". He had a harp that made irresistible music, and his kisses turned into birds that carried messages of love. His brugh, underground fairy palace, was on the banks of the Boyne River

...vengeful witches turning step children to swans, first wives being turned into flies, songs being so beautiful that the whole of the country fell asleep for three days and three nights


....really we were so busy trying to get one over on someone else that its a wonder anything was ever done in the country at all!

[FloydTheBarber]

I love mythology, especially Norse. The tales of Loki's mischief, Thor's adventures, and Ragnarok are just too interesting to read just once.

My favorite of all these would have to be how Odin gave up his eye to Mimir for wisdom.

[Norbertha]

I've read all those books.
As you said, both the creation and the Ragnarok are very much like those found in the Bible. I can imagine two possible explanations:
1) Snorri Sturluson was a Christian, writing for a Christian audience. In order not to make it too outragous for his readers, he adapted it to suit the Christian religion
1b) Snorri wrote his works a couple of hundred years after people had stopped believeing in the stories, and converted to Christianity. Maybe they had slowly been changed as they were handed down orally.
2) The Bible stories and the Old Norse mythology are both part of a Europan/ West Asian legacy, that have developed a bit differently in different countries, but contain some common elements.
This argument also goes for the likeness between Norse mythology and Roman/Greek mythology.
For example: The Norse names for the days of the week match the Latin names if you substitute the gods for a Roman god by their function. Example: Mercury = Odin = Wednesday (Wutan's day).

By the way, Odin is spelled differently in different languages. In Icelandic it's Odinn (in the nominative), in Norwegian it's Odin. In Proto-Germanic it was Wutan.

[Lady Greyjoy]

As you said, both the creation and the Ragnarok are very much like those found in the Bible. I can imagine two possible explanations:

Except though in Ragnarok, the gods will die, and humans will inherit the earth...actually it's almost the complete oppisite of the Judeo-Christian Armaggedon. :)

[Norbertha]

Except though in Ragnarok, the gods will die, and humans will inherit the earth...actually it's almost the complete oppisite of the Judeo-Christian Armaggedon. :)

Oh yeah... :)
I think I was thinking about the flames and disaster, and the just the idea that the world will end when I said it was similar. But you're right, the result of it is quite different.

[Lord_Talon]

I have always loved Norse mythology, and have read about everything about it that I could get my hands on ( some of the stuff I read many years back, and need to re-read sometime soon).

One thing I love about the Norse Gods is the fact that they are not immortal. They die, and they know that. The idea for a Twilight of the Gods is rare in mythology, you just don't kill off your gods! There may be wars in other pantheons, but to kill most of them off is almost unheard of.

BTW, Thor was always my favorite Norse God, Odin was always a bit of a jerk!

Later!

Lord Talon

[Midnightsfire]

Ahh..

(Clickie piccie)

http://www.thetroth.org/images/newlogo.gif (http://www.thetroth.org/)

A current day religious organization that:
"practice the Germanic/Norse religion of Heathenry, commonly referred to as Asatru. We realize that there are many variations, names, and practices in Germanic Heathenry, including Theodism, Irminism, Odinism, and Anglo-Saxon Heathenry. What we all share is a defining personal loyalty to, or Troth with, the Gods and Goddesses of the Northlands. Our Gods are of two tribes: the Æsir, and the Vanir. These Gods are: Odin, Thor, Frigga, Frey, Freya,Tyr, Idunna, and many others. We are deeply proud of our Norse/Germanic religious, cultural, and historical heritage. We welcome all, whatever their religious background, who have heard the call of our Gods, and would like to know more about Germanic/Norse Heathenry. Together, we seek to practice the moral principles followed by our noble predecessors, including:
Boldness
Truth
Honor
Troth
Self-Rule
Hospitality
Industry
Self-Reliance
Steadfastness
Equality
Strength
Wisdom
Generosity
Family Responsibility"

(That's a nice pic.)