And Finally, Norse Mythology, My Favorite

Norse mythology was made by the Vikings, Nordic sailors who conquered, traded, and lived in Scandinavia which consists of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. They called their gods Æsir Gods. The King of the Æsir Gods was Odin. He was the God of War, Wisdom, Death, and the Sky. It was rumored that Odin could start a war just by throwing his magic spear.

Odin’s son was Thor. He was the God of Thunder. With his mighty hammer Mjölnir, he fought giants and monsters. His step-brother, Loki, was the God of Trickery and Shapeshifting.

There were nine worlds in Norse mythology. They were all connected  by the Tree of Life named Yggdrasil.

There were:

Asgard, the land where the Æsir Gods lived.

Midgard, where all humans lived.

Nidavellir, the home of the dwarves.

Muspelheim, the realm of fire and demons.

Alfheim, the world of the light elves.

Vanaheim, the home of the Vanir.

Helheim, the home of Hel and the dishonorable dead.

Niflheim, the world of ice.

Jotunheim, the home of all giants.

Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life

Loki was very mischievous, in fact,  Loki once placed a bet with a dwarf named Brokk, that none of the royal weapons could be bettered. Loki said if the dwarves won, they could claim his head. Brokk took the challenge and while the dwarves were working, Loki turned into a fly to distract them. The dwarves won the bet, but, when they came to claim Loki’s head, Loki said that they could take his head, but they had no right to any part of his neck. Since none of the dwarves knew where the head ended and the neck began, they punished Loki by sewing his mouth shut.

Odin once had a dream of how to get more knowledge and see the future. To get this information, he had to hang himself from a tree for nine days, pierced by his own spear.

Loki and Angrboda the giant had three monstrous children, Jörmungandr, Fenrir, and Hel. Jörmungandr was sent to surround Midgard to protect all the humans. Fenrir stayed in Asgard, and Hel was half-alive, half-dead and was sent to Helheim as the Goddess of the Dead.

Fenrir was put in chains in the palace in Asgard to protect the gods. The gods challenged Fenrir of his strength and said that he couldn’t break his chains. Fenrir easily bit his chain and released himself. The gods then went to the dwarves and asked them to make a chain that would withstand Fenrir’s strength.

After the chain was made the chained Fenrir and asked him to break the chain. Fenrir could not and stayed chained forever.

The gods, other than Odin, Thor, and Loki, Balder is the God of Light, Joy, Purity, Beauty, Innocence, and Reconciliation. Frigg is the Queen of the Æsir Gods. She is also the Goddess of Love and Fertility. Tyr is the God of War, Patron, and Justice. Freya is the Goddess of Love. Those are all of the gods you need to know. The others have pretty much the same powers as the other gods but different names. All the Æsir gods lived in Asgard.

Asgard, the Land of the Æsir gods

Norse mythology is a very interesting mythology because of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life. It holds nine very interesting worlds, but my favorite is Nidavellir, the home of the dwarves. The dwarves are such interesting beings. They always stay inside creating weapons and jewelry from metals because if sunlight touches their skin, they turn to stone!

Dwarves

The second most interesting things in my opinion, are the light elves. These creatures have pointed ears and can do magic. The exact opposite of light elves, are dark elves, which do everything light elves do, but are obviously dark and evil.

Most people think that Vikings wore horns on their battle helmets. That is not true. Hollywood movie makers put horns on the helmets depicting Vikings to make them look more intimidating.

Authentic Viking Helmet

Personally, Norse mythology is my favorite. Please comment on what your favorite myth is. Thank you for reading this three part blog.