5 POPULAR MYTHS ABOUT SCANDINAVIAN GODS
Trying to space out the proper timings of each myth in its order, is a Herculean task, since there is boundless information, and intertwining web-like stories, however, let me summarize a few of the most interesting ones.
Norse myths are extracted from Scandinavian mythology, mainly during the Viking era. It contains a colorful mixture of fascinating Gods and Goddesses and equally colorful stories. Mainly taking place during the time span of c. 790 - c. 1100 CE. Trying to space out the proper timings of each myth in its order, is a Herculean task, since there is boundless information, and intertwining web-like stories, however, let me summarize a few of the most interesting ones.
Some stories would be familiar to us, especially the ones that have become famous through movies, such as Thor, Loki and Odin, and the land they live in, Asgard. However, here are a few stories that you may not have been privy to.
Ask and Embla
The two first humans to be created as per Norse mythology were Ask and Embla. A classics twist to the Christian Adam and Eve. Odin, who was the God of Gods, was taking a walk along the coast, along with two other Gods, Vili and Ve, when they saw two pieces of driftwood shaped in the form of a man and woman. Odin blew life into them while Vili and Ve gave them inspired mental activity, and that is how the two first humans came into being.
The First War
The wars have usually been between the two tribes, Aesir and Vanir. The very first war took place when The Vanir Goddess Freya, who also had powerful magical powers, came to Asgard to showcase her powers, and the Aesir fell for her charm and powers and fervently looked for her services, however, soon they realized that their values were being compromised, and so they tried to kill her. Three times they burnt her at the stake but all three times she was reborn from the ashes. And so started the war between Aesir and Vanir.
Why Odin has only one eye
Odin, God of all Gods, was always in search of more knowledge and wisdom, and in this retrospect, he was willing to do anything, including hurt himself to get it. With a history of such incidents, in his search to gain what he was looking for, he arrived at one point at the Well of Urd, which provided unparalleled wisdom to those who drank of it. However, he was stopped by the guardian of the well who asked him to pay the price of giving an eye in exchange for a drink. Never one to miss a chance to be enlightened, he gouged out his eye and gave it up for a drink. That is why Odin is one-eyed.
How Thor got his hammer
Loki, Thor’s brother and all-around mischievous trickster, went a tad bit too far, and in a joke gone wrong, cut off the beautiful golden hair of Thor’s wife Sif. When Thor found out, he was enraged beyond control and seized Loki and threatened to break every bone in his body. In order to compensate for his actions, he promised Thor that he would go down to the cave of dwarfs and come back with a golden head of hair to replace the lost hair. Thor agreed, and Loki proceeded to get not only the hair but also the famous hammer once again by tricking the dwarfs and handed it over to Thor.
Thor’s escapade disguised as a woman
One morning Thor woke up to find his hammer missing, which left Asgard vulnerable to attacks from giants, so Loki offered to go look for it, and found out that it was stolen by the giants, who promised to give it back only on the condition that the Goddess Freya would marry the ugliest the burliest giant. Concocting up a plan, Loki agreed to bring her, and went back home and told Thor that he had to disguise himself as Freya. At first, he was appalled and embarrassed, but since there was no alternative he agreed and managed to successfully fool the giants that he is Freya. Once the hammer was returned to his hands, he came out of his disguise and slew all the giants.
Most of the tales have never been penned down and a written archival kept. All the myths have been orally passed on from generation to generation, so if the stories tally with its inception of creation is debatable. However, they still tend to be a very interesting conversation piece or reading material on a rainy day.
https://historylists.org/other/list-of-norse-gods-and-goddesses.html
https://www.ancient.eu/Norse_Mythology/
https://www.realmofhistory.com/2018/01/29/12-norse-gods-goddesses-facts/
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