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.…
Indisputably one of the most popular characters in the Vikings TV Series is Lagertha, the legendary Danish shield maiden warrior who was the first wife of Ragnar Lothbrok, mother of Bjorn Ironside, and, at one point, queen in her own right. But how much of this character is based on historical facts and how much…
When the first Marvel Thor movie came out in 2011, there was some talk of team Jane Foster and Team Lady Sif, because many people knew that in Norse mythology, Thor is married to Sif (not that it stops him from having flings with lots of other women). But this is not the only thing…
Ullr is one of the Viking gods that didn’t make it into the Marvel cinematic universe. But, while he is among the lesser-known gods, he seems to have been a very important Norse god, in both pre-Viking and Viking times. The son of Sif and stepson of Thor, he was a god of winter, skis,…
Most cultures have an “in the beginning” story that describes how the world came into being. The Vikings are no different. At the center of the Norse creation story is Ymir, also known as Aurgelmir, the first of all beings. A primordial giant that was the hermaphroditic ancestor of all giants, the Vikings also believed…
One of the most popular Norse gods thanks to his excellent portrayal by Idris Elba in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Heimdall was the watchman of the gods, and it was his job to sound the alarm on his horn if the enemies of the gods tried to gain entry to Asgard over the rainbow bridge.…