Odin is the principal god in the Norse pantheon. Called the All-father, it was Odin who created Midgard with the help of his brothers Vili and Ve, and created mankind to inhabit the realm. He then went on to be the ruler of all the Aesir gods and the most important deity worshipped by the…
The Viking runes are a fascinating topic for historians and mystics alike. As well as being a system of writing that reveals fascinating snippets about the lives of the Vikings, the Vikings believed that the Norse runes also had magical properties, exploited by Viking runemasters, and also used by modern diviners. Let’s take a look…
Of the many gods and goddesses in the Norse pantheon that receive little popular attention, Idun is among the most fascinating. She is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, her role and purpose suggest that the Vikings did not believe their gods to be immortal in an absolute sense. Secondly, she clearly demonstrates that Norse beliefs…
There are many more gods in the Norse pantheon than just the ones that most people know from the Marvel cinematic universe. Unfortunately, our knowledge of many of them is quite limited because we have to piece it together from fragments of surviving information. Bragi, the Bard of Asgard, is one of those gods about…
Norse mythology describes the universe as a fascinating cosmos with many intriguing worlds. But one of the most interesting elements of the Norse cosmos is not a world at all, but the Rainbow Bifrost Bridge. An enchanted bridge created by the gods, it connects the worlds of the Aesir gods and men, allowing the gods…
In the Marvel movies, it is an important piece of law that not just anyone can wield Thor’s hammer, and that only the worthy have the strength to pick it up. But in the original mythology, while Thor’s superior strength makes him one of the few people who can wield the hammer, Mjolnir does not…
In Norse mythology, the dragon Nidhogg is one of the many creatures that dwell within Yggdrasil, the World Tree, that holds together the Norse cosmos. But considering that dragons are always creatures of fear and menace in Viking stories, what does Nidhogg represent in Norse cosmology? The Norse Cosmos The Norse cosmos centers on the…
The mighty god Tyr is among the most important of the Viking deities ( see our full post), listed among the 12 Aesir that were the most powerful and important. But we actually know very little about the god, and what we do know is pieced together from fragmentary sources. It seems that Tyr was…
According to the Poetic Edda, Vanaheim is one of the nine realms within the Norse cosmos tucked into the branches of Yggdrasil and is the world of the Vanir gods. The Vanir are a second tribe of gods within Norse mythology that exist alongside the Aesir of Asgard. But how exactly do these “other” deities…
Vidar is one of the many Aesir gods venerated by the Vikings, but little knowledge has come down to us about him. However, although he is obscure today, he seems to have been an important deity in the Norse pantheon. One of the many sons of Odin the Allfather, Vidar was known by several kennings.…