Norse Mythology: Overview & Mythic Themes (not including deities and heroes) Mr. Upchurch’s Mythology 101 Lectures Series 4 An Overview & Background Lecture

Norse? Everything in Europe not Celtic Two Main Groups: Germanic & Slavic Germanic-Germans, Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, some English. Slavs-Russian, Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians, Romanians, Slovaks, and Poles. Most Recorded by peoples of Scandinavian & Icelandic decent

Icelandic Scandinavian

Divisions of Deities Aesir the tribe of gods living in Asgard male-Aesir (singular As) female– Asynior (singular Asynia) Vanir the tribe of gods living in Vanaheim singluarVan

Creation Account See Video hs/english/2_norse_full.htm

CREATION OVERVIEW Nothing--Ginnungagap Like Greek Chaos Bordered by Niflheim, a place of darkness and ice (north); and Muspelheim, a place of fire (south) First Being—Ymir Came from drop of water when fire melted ice He was an Original Giant—father of the frost giants

Ymir had a son with 6 heads Fed by a cosmic cow named Audumla. She licked a salty rime-stone until it took human form The stone-man was Buri The first god His son, Bor, married a frost- giantess, Bestla (some descendent of Ymir?) They parented Odin, Vili (Hoenir) and Ve. (The First Aesirs)

Ymir grew large and evil—so was killed by the Aesir Most of the frost-giants drown in his blood Survivors (Bergelmer and his wife) escaped the flood in a chest. Landing on the mountain of Jötunheim which became the home of the giants.

Odin and his brothers used Ymir’s body to create the Universe (worlds) His body is spread over the void-- Ginnungagap Flesh for creating the earth, Blood for the sea. Skull, held up by four dwarves was used to create the heaven Then, using sparks from Muspelheim (fire), the gods created the sun, moon, and stars. Ymir's eyebrows were used to create a place where the human race could live-- Midgard ( Middle Earth ).

Yggdrasill The World Tree Holds the universe together and connects the worlds with its roots

Nine Worlds Alfheim World of the elves Asgard World of the Aesir Jötunheim World of the giants/frost-giants Midgard Home of mankind Muspelheim World of fire and the fire-giants, home of the giant Surt Nidavellir Home of the dwarves Niflheim World of the ice and that of the dead, which is also known as Hel Svartalfheim World of the black elves (svartálfar) Vanaheim Home of the Vanir

Good and Evil Norse Mythology seems to deal with the topic of good and evil much like the Greeks and Romans. In general, the gods are good and whoever they oppose is evil. Like in Classical Mythology, however, these lines are often blurred. It can be argued that this is more prevalent in Norse Mythology, as their gods are even more human-like—and fairly fatalistic.

Trickster Loki See Notes on Gods and Goddesses Famous Trickster Tale: THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM. This tale is not about Loki (Utgard-Loki is the king of the giants)

Nature and Animals Norse Culture was centered around nature for survival Their deities were often directly related to the elements Handout---famous Norse Animals (possibly…?)

Fantastic Beasts Great tradition of fantastic beasts. Many of the beings popularized in "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" are taken straight from these mythic tales. Elves Dwarves Giants

Elves ( álfar ) Like Lesser Divinities Powerful, but not god-like Two Types Light (ljósálfar) Dark (dokkálfar)—sometimes associated with dwarves? Different in appearance and nature, but not much is known of them Alfheim is the world of the light elves Freyr had his palace and hall there and ruled as their god

Dwarves Lived in both Nidavellir and Midgar Created from flesh-eating maggots that ate the flesh of Ymir The Svartálfar (black elves) are sometimes considered dwarves and lived underground Known as great smiths and thieves Made magical items for heroes

First two dwarves were Modsognir ("frenzy-roarer") and Durin ("sleepy")

Giants ( Jotun or Iotun ) Chief enemies of the gods Two Major Types Frost Giants World: Jotunheim—Capital: Utgard— Leader: Utgard-Loki Fire Giants World: Muspelheim—Leader: Surt Many giants/giantesses joined the ranks of the gods, or parented gods Sometimes giants/giantesses are called trolls and trollwives

Other Beings m/norse/beings.html#Beings

Monsters m/norse/monsters.html

Valkyrie Warrior Women Name means "Chooser of the Slain“ Would select heroes (Einherjar) that would be taken to Vahalla and later fight beside the Aesir (during Ragnarök ) In Vahalla they are called Mead- Maidens because they serve Odin and the heroes

Valhalla Best known hall in Asgard One of the residing places of Odin Place for the “chosen” fallen heroes Other heroes were taken to other halls… not necessary worse halls (not to be confused with Varhalla)

Not Varhalla

Ragnarök Ultimate destruction of all things War between “goods” and “evils” Goods =Aesir led by Odin Evils = giants and monsters led by Loki Gods knew the details through prophecy and still faced fate

Works Cited Cotterell, Arthur, and Rachel Storm. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology: An A - Z Guide to the Myths and Legends of the Ancient World. London: Hermes House, Print NORSE-GIANTS rse/giants.html