While we might think of Loki as the major villain of Norse mythology, it is actually Loki’s children that are some of the most terrifying and interesting creatures in the Viking stories. The children of Loki with the giantess Angrboda were Fenrir, Jormungandr and Hel. Loki’s children with the giantess were feared and persecuted by…
In most ancient cultures we encounter ideas of magic, witchcraft, and shamanism. Norse society is no different. The Viking witch was known as a Völva, and they were considered to be powerful seeresses, shamans as well as workers of Seidr magic. Read on to find out more about these Viking witches, the powers these Volva…
While the surviving Norse sources have a lot to say about the exploits for Odin, Thor and Loki, relatively little information is preserved about the majority of the other Norse deities. Instead, we are left to piece them together from the etymology of their names, passing references in the surviving prose, and surviving depictions. Sigyn…
Hel, goddess of death, could there be a more fearsome being in the world of Norse mythology? But don’t be taken-in by the portrayal of the Norse goddess of death in the Marvel universe. While the Norse goddess was the ruler of the underworld, she was never represented as pure evil. Hel was a more…
Norse mythology is full of fearsome beasts with the power to wreak havoc over the nine worlds of the Norse cosmos. One of the most important and dangerous among them is the mighty Norse wolf Fenrir. A beast of terrifying strength, he stands out among the Norse beasts as he is destined to kill Odin…
While the male gods may steal the show in most Norse myths, Asgard had its fair share of Norse goddesses. Principal among them was the Norse goddess Frigg, also sometimes called Frigga, who was the queen of Asgard, Odin’s wife and the mother of Balder, the favourite son. As this description shows, Frigg was predominantly…
Simple versions of Norse mythology describe the Asgardian gods as a force for good, and their nemeses, the giants, as a force of chaos and evil. But nothing in the world is so black and white. The giants and Asgardian gods in the original Norse myths certainly aren’t so clear cut. Just as the Asgardian…
While we are most familiar with the stories of the gods of Asgard when it comes to Norse mythology, the Vikings had many stories about other beasts and heroes that they used to understand the world and teach important lessons. One of the most interesting characters from Norse mythology, and probably the inspiration for Tolkien’s…
As a seafaring people, we would expect the Vikings to venerate gods of the sea and the wind. Indeed, Thor himself was, among other things, a god of storms and weather. But the primary god of the sea and winds in Norse mythology was the lesser known deity Njord. A complex and multifaceted god like…
Thanks to the success of the Marvel franchise [and the famous song by Kiss] most of us are now familiar with Thor, the Viking god of thunder [and rock’ n’ roll according to the Kiss song]. But how true is the modern pop culture portrayal to the Thor of Norse mythology? While Marvel certainly have…