Norse Mythology: A Guide to Norse History, Gods, and Goddesses
By Jordan Parr
()
About this ebook
NORSE MYTHOLOGY
In the age of Vikings, many citizens of what is now known as Norway, Denmark, and Sweden left their native soil to journey the world in search of riches. Riding the tumultuous waves of the sea, the adventurers would come to be known as raiders, p
Read more from Jordan Parr
Roman Mythology: A Guide to Roman History, Gods, and Goddesses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEgyptian Mythology: A Guide to Egyptian History, Gods, and Goddesses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreek Mythology: A Guide to Greek History, Gods, and Goddesses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Norse Mythology
Related ebooks
Norse Mythology: A Guide to Norse History, Gods and Mythology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorse Mythology: A Complete Guide to Norse Mythology, Norse Gods, and Nordic Folklore Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorse Mythology: A Guide to Norse Gods, Mythology, and Folklore Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Spirit of the Vikings: Collection of Norse Eddas, Sagas, Mythology & Ballads Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorse Mythology its Gods and History: Discover Norse Paganism and its Gods Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Mythology of the Norsemen (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Memory of Odin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Spirit of the Vikings: Norse Eddas, Sagas, Mythology & Ballads Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tales of Norse Mythology (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Edda (Norse Mythology): The Source and the Study of the Mythology of the North Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRunes: A Beginner's Guide to Divination and Reading Runes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Younger Edda: Also called Snorre's Edda, or The Prose Edda (With Introduction, Notes and Vocabulary) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorse Myths: Viking Legends of Heroes and Gods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Norse Mythology: Tales of the Gods, Sagas and Heroes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prose Edda: Norse Mythology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMyths and Legends of Northern Europe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorse Myths Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThor: Viking God of Thunder Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5ASGARD STORIES - 14 Tales from Norse Mythology Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson - Translated from the Original Old Norse Text into English Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales of Valhalla Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Norse Myths & Tales: Epic Tales Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Teutonic Mythology, Vol. 2 (of 3) / Gods and Goddesses of the Northland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorse Mythology: Tales of the Gods, Sagas and Heroes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOdin: The Viking Allfather Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Asgard Stories Tales from Norse Mythology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gods of Greece and Rome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Edda Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
European History For You
Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf: English Translation of Mein Kamphf - Mein Kampt - Mein Kamphf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jane Austen: The Complete Novels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Neither here nor there: Travels in Europe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of English Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Six Wives of Henry VIII Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notes from a Small Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swingtime for Hitler: Goebbels’s Jazzmen, Tokyo Rose, and Propaganda That Carries a Tune Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History that Inspired Game of Thrones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Norse Mythology
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Norse Mythology - Jordan Parr
Introduction
––––––––
In the age of Vikings, many citizens of what is now known as Norway, Denmark, and Sweden left their native soil to journey the world in search of riches. Riding the tumultuous waves of the sea, the adventurers would come to be known as raiders, pirates, traders, and settlers across the European nations and islands. This is around the time it was discovered that, to the surprise of those the Vikings bombarded, they did not belong to a Christian faith. It was not one God they swore fealty to, but instead an entire pantheon.
Between 793–1066 AD, Scandinavians continued their plunder. It is important to understand their actions through their beliefs, in which a possible sense of reason could be found. Their use of myth and storytelling to showcase their divine pantheon stems not from a place of holy magic, but instead is found in the practical world. Their numerous gods and goddesses reflect the natural world rather than a single, omnipotent presence depicted in texts. Such ideologies at the time were largely reserved for European nations, whereas the Vikings asserted and conveyed stories by word of mouth alone. Spinning the tales of those who rule the cosmos—but were still subject to the whims of fate—gave comfort in times of hardship. They found honor in the stars and legendary stories that inspired people when humanity thought they had failed. Some aspects of these stories had been lost or changed over the years, shown in the nature of preserving myths by only speaking them.
At last, inscribed in runestones came written acknowledgment of the pantheon to set the legends, quite literally, in stone. In the nineteenth century, discovered in a church in the countryside of Sweden, the Rök Rune Stone contains tales of heroes and secret pieces of Norse mythology that were forgotten over time because the denizens of Sweden had forgotten their own old language. A piece of history left behind, detailing stories of loss, great kings, and so much more that historians struggle to transcribe even today. After being moved around over many centuries, it finally found it’s home in 1862 as an open display in a churchyard of Ödeshög, Sweden.
Another vital piece of these myths came in written form, a tome known only as the Poetic Edda. A collection of tales depicting myths and heroes alike, the manuscript was written in the time of the Vikings by numerous, unknown authors. This is perhaps one of the most integral pieces we have today to understand the old Norse mythology—and the most accurate befitting the times. It has since been translated into many different languages by several authors.
Passed through word of mouth, written in stone, and taken to page before being translated into hundreds of different languages, these mythical tales are truly held in the utmost respect to be preserved so thoroughly. They solidify the nature, the culture, and the faith of lives in centuries past. The lessons taught among the stories and the respect given to the cycle of life should be revered and cherished forever.
Chapter One: The World of the Norse Gods
––––––––
The world of Germanic myth is enormous, containing not one but nine realms in which the tales take place; the first two were known as Muspelheim and Niflheim. Muspelheim is a land of only fire, a place that has little record even among historic texts aside from one mention of it being the home of Fire Giants. However, it is known to play an integral part in both the creation and demise of the world. The second realm, Niflheim, is the world of ice and cold. The complete opposite and complement to Muspelheim, it is shrouded in mist with its name literally translating to World of Fog.
(
In the Poetic Edda Völuspá, stanza 3 Ginnungagap is described as a great, dark void. The translation, as seen above, has been provided by Daniel McCoy alongside the original Old Norse text.
Between Niflheim and Muspelheim rested a great abyss, a chasm known