Summary

Introduction.................................................................................................................4

Norse mythology........................................................................................................5

The creation of the world..........................................................................................5

The first gods and giants...........................................................................................5

The worlds.................................................................................................................6

The Gods and Goddesses........................................................................................7

Other creatures.........................................................................................................18

Elves..17
Dwarves18
Giants and Giantesses18
Valkyries .......................................................................................................................... 19

Conclusion20

References21
 Introduction

In this assignment, will be shown what the Norse mythology is.

The Norse mythology is the legends and myths from the Scandinavian people.
This assignment will show how the world was created according to it and the
main gods, goddesses and creatures.
More information can be found during the reading of this assignment.

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 Norse Mythology

The Norse Mythology developed from the northern people, originated from
Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. The myths
and legends share many features with the mythology of pre-Christian Germanic
groups. They consist in a universe where the gods and giants fight among
themselves in a battle that ends in the end of the world.

Almost all the sources of the Norse Mythology are from Iceland. These
materials include the Edda and Skaldic poems. The Edda contains two collections,
the oldest is from 1506, the newest is from 1640, and both speak about religious
myths, heroes and others. The Skaldic poems tell about the daily life, kings and
battles.

The creation of the world

The First Giants and Gods

At the beginning, there was only a big abysm called Ginnungagap and
Yggdrasil, a cosmic tree that sustains the worlds. In the roots of Yggdrasil, there were
two worlds: Niflheim, a very dark and cold place, and it consists only of ice, frost and
fog, and Muspell, made of fire. Between Niflheim and Muspell, was Hvergelmir the
origin of all existence and the place where every living being will go back. It is a big
cauldron of bubbling water that feeds the water of the twelve big rivers. The rivers are
Elivagar ice waves, which existed in Niflheim at the beginning of the world. The
water from Elivagar was flowing down the mountains to the plains of Ginnungagap,
where it solidified to frost and ice. That is the reason why the northern plains are cold.

In the middle of Ginnungagap the air from Niflheim and Muspelheim met; the
fire melted the ice and it began to drip, forming clouds of steam, forming the
elements, the space, a big ocean and the Earth. Two creatures were created too, a
cow called Audhumla and a humanoid creature, a giant called Ymir.

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 To feed itself, Audhumla starts to lick and to melt a block of ice. When it started
to melt, a human hair appeared then, all the body appeared. This human was Buri,
the first God. Later, Buri had a son, called Borr. Borr and his wife, Bestla, had three
sons, Odin, Vili and Ve. From here, there are two versions: The first tells that when
Ymir sleeps, from the sweat drops under his left arm, the first couple of humans are
born (Ask and Embla). However, Ymir carries himself the evil seeds (Ego) and his
descendants will be the ice giants, the evil incarnation. So, from there, is established
a battle between the Gods and the Ice Giants until the end in the Ragnarok. The
second version tells that the three sons killed Ymir, to contain the number of ice
giants.
The battle was bloody, Ymirs wounds gushed so much blood that almost all ice
giants died drowned. Only a couple of giants survived, Belgemir and his wife. They
went to Jotunheim, where they continued to have more ice giants.

The worlds

Following the second version, Odin, Vili and Ve used the remains of Ymirs
body to create the world:

The blood became the oceans, rivers and lakes; the flesh became the land;
the bones became the mountains; the teeth was made into rocks; the hair became
the grass and trees; the eyelashes became Midgard, where the men live.

The brothers threw the brain up in the air and it became the clouds, and the
skull became the sky. On the plains of Idavoll, they built Asgard, which would be the
home of the Gods and where the Vikings go when they die in battles.

While Odin and his brothers were in the progress of creating a new world from
the body parts of the giant Ymir, worms kept crawling out of the rotting remains, these
worms become the dwarves. Odin, Vili and Ve told four of the dwarves to hold up the
sky, because they did not want to risk the sky falling down on them. The names of
these four dwarves are Nordi, Vestri, Sundri and Austri, they were sent out in
each direction of the world.

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 The other dwarves made their homes in rocks, which is called Svartalheim.
The dwarves became experts in crafts and they have created some of the most
powerful and weapons, like Mjolnir, Thors hammer.

Odin created the day and the night, putting the Sun and the Moon in the sky.
After the creation of the world, the Gods were walking on the beach, and they found
two logs. Odin gave to the logs, life and spirit, Vili gave feelings, thoughts and the
senses and Ve gave to the logs, movement, mind and intelligence, and the first two
humans had been created. The man was called Ask, and the woman was called
Embla and Midgard was given to they live.

Besides Midgard, Jotunheim and Asgard, there are more seven worlds
connected by Yggdrasil: Niflheim, Muspelheim, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, and
Helheim. To walk through them, it is necessary to cross a bridge called Bifrost. It
consists in a rainbow protected by a guardian, Heimdall.

The Gods and Goddesses

The gods and goddess are divided into two tribes: the Aesir and the Vanir. The
home of the Aesir is Asgard and the home of the Vanir is Vanaheim. When the battle
between the two worlds ended, three of the Vanir gods went to the Aesir as a truce
sign.

According to the Iceland Edda poems, there are twelve main Gods. They are
Odin, Thor, Tr, Heimdall, Freyr, Baldr, Njord, Bragi, Vidar, Vli, Ullr and Forseti. The
main goddesses, the wives of the gods, called Asynjur, are Frigg, Frejya, Gefion,
Idun, Sif, Sigyn and Nanna.

Odin

Odin is the father of all Gods and men. He is the most powerful god in Asgard
and lives in a hall called Valaskialf. On the top of the hall, there is a throne where
Odin can see everything that happens in the nine worlds. He is the son of Borr and
Bestla, brother of Vili e Ve. He is considered the god of healing, death, royalty,
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 wisdom, battle, sorcery, poetry, and the runic
alphabet.

Odin has many skills and attributes. He is

able change his shape to any animal shape. He
also
has a spear (Gungnir) that never misses the target
and a ring, Draupnir and a horse called Sleipnir.
He also has two wolves, Freki and Geri. Odin gives
all the food to them because he never needs to
feed himself; he only needs wine to keep alive.

He doesnt have one eye. He lost it in sacrifice to know all the things. He made
a deal with Mimir, a source of wisdoms guardian. In this deal, he had to give his eye
to Mimir in exchange for drinking a sip from source of wisdom.

He also stabbed himself with a spear and hung himself on Yggdrasil. He

stayed there for nine days, feeling pain and agony, rocking through to wind and, with
this, he learned the secret meaning of the runes and fell screaming to Yggdrasil.

All of his actions are related to knowledge, wisdom and the dissemination of
ideas to help the humanity.

His wife is Frigg and he has many sons.

The day Wednesday is named for him.

Thor

Thor is the son of Odin and Jord, Sifs husband and he is consider the thunder,
lightning and storms God. Below Odin, Thor is the strongest god, and is consider the
protector of Midgard. However, he is too short-tempered, what makes him one of the
less intelligent gods; it is easy to tease or fool him.

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 Thors weapon consists in a magical hammer,
called Mjolnir, it can send out lightning bolts and is
capable of tearing down mountains and it can hit
any target. After the target is hit, Thors
hammer will return to Thors right hand by itself.
The hammer can be used to kill and destroy, but
also revive people or animals.

Thor also has two goats, which rides his

chariot. They are Tanngniost Teeth barer and
Tanngrisnir Teeth grinder.

The day Thursday is named to him.

Tr

Tr is considered the bravest god of all and he

is the master in all manners of justice and right
action.

Once he proved his brave putting his arm into

the jaws of Fenrir, Lokis terrible creature. Fenrir was
growing too much, so the gods decided to chain it.
They made a chain called Laeding, but, to be
chained on it, he asked to a god to put his arm into
his mouth.

Tr will die in Ragnarok, while he fights

against the dog Garm.

He is considered the god of War and is associated with the day Tuesday.

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 Heimdall

Heimdall is the guardian of

Bifrost, the bridge that connects
Midgard and Asgard. He is a
handsome and tall man, with gold
teeth.

Heimdall has superhuman

hearing and seeing abilities: he can
listen wool grow on the back of a
sheep or see hundreds of kilometers
in the day or night.

He has a horn and it will be used at Ragnarok, when he sees the enemies of
Asgard arriving at the plains of Vigrid. The sound of the horn is so loud that it can be
heard throughout the nine worlds.

He is Lokis biggest enemy. They will fight against each other in the Ragnarok
and both will die.

Freyr

Freyr is the god of fertility. Frey is associated

with virility and prosperity, with sunshine and fair
weather, and is often depicted with a large phallus.
He is also the ruler of Alfheim, and lord of the elves.

He is the son of Njord and has a twin sister

named Freya. He is married to Gerr, a giantess
from Jotunheim.

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 Baldr

Balder is the god of light, beauty, love and happiness. He

is so bright that light shines from him.

Balder is the second son of Odin with Frigg. His

wife the goddess Nanna and he has a child with her,
called Forseti.

Baldr has the most amazing, called Hringhorn and

it is described as the greatest of all ships.

Njord

Njord is the god of the seafarers,

coasts, inland waters and wealth and the
wind. He is the father of Freya and Freyr
and he is married with the giantess Skadi.

Actually, Njord is from the Vanir.

However, when the battle between Vanir
and Aesir ended, he were sent as a truce
sign.

Bragi

Bragi is the god of music and poetry and prose. He is very wise and eloquent,
known for his wisdom. He has a long beard and he is married with the goddess Idun.

He is the son of Odin with the giantess Gunnlod.

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10
 Vidar

Vidar is the god of the forest, of revenge and of

silence. He is the son of Odin with the giantess Grid. He
is the second strongest god of the Aesir, only beaten by
Thor.

Vidar is very silent and he loves being at peace

with nature. He also likes to work in a special shoe. He
will use this shoe to revenge Odins death, in the
Ragnarok. He will fight against the wolf Fenrir, and he
will pull Fenrirs mouth apart.

Vli

Vali is the god of vengeance and rebirth. He is the youngest son of Odin, and
his mother was Rind. Vali is incarnation of the light of days that grows longer as
spring draws near. He was bred as an avenger of Baldr, his brother, he took avenge
on Honir and killed him with an arrow because Honir killed Baldr.

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Ullr

Ullr is the son of Sif and Thors stepson. He is described as a handsome and
warlike god.

He was the best of all archers and skiers.

Forseti

Forseti is the son of Baldr and Nanna. He is the god of justice, he often acts as
a judge in the disputes in Asgard, always trying to do the fairest judgements. He is
also good in meditation and he likes to do that to keep a peaceful mind.

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 Frigg

Frigg is the daughter of Fjorgyn, the goddess

of Earth. She is goddess of love, fate, marriage and
fertility. She is Odins wife and the queen of Asgard.
She has two sons with Odin, Baldr and Hod, and
she is the stepmom of many gods, such as Thor and
Heimdall.
Frigg has the power of prophecy, but she
never reveals her knowledge of the future.
The women prayed to her for children and
safe labor.
She is associated with the day Friday.

Freya

Freya is the goddess of love, fertility, sex and battle.

She is described as the most beautiful goddess. She is
from the Vanir, sent to the Aesir as a truce sign. She is the
daughter of the god Njord with his sister, Nerthus. She has
a twin brother, the god Freyr.
She is married to the god Odr, which might be Odin.
With Odr, she has two sons, Hnoss and Gersimi.
She loves music, spring and flowers.
The day Friday is named to her, as well as Frigg.

Gefion

In Norse Mythology, Gefion is the goddess of fertility, agriculture, plow and

virgins. All women who die virgin are sent to her hall to become her servants.

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Once, Gefion disguised herself as a beggar woman. She asked to the king of
Sweden, Gylfi, some land. He said that she could have as much land as she could
plow in one day in one night. She transformed her four sons into oxen and took
enough land to create the Danish island of Zealand.

Idunn

Idunn is the goddess of poetry, spring and eternal youth. She is the guardian
of the orchard of apples of youth. She supplies the other gods with these apples to
keep them young and beautiful forever.
She is described as a beautiful goddess with a golden long hair.

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 Sif

Sif is the goddess of fertility and grain. She is described as a beautiful goddess
with golden long hair, as well as Idunn.
She is Thors wife and Ullrs stepmom.
There is not much things about her, the main myth about her is when Loki cut
her hair off while she sleeps. Loki was forced to replace it with strands of gold
created by the dwarfs.

Sigyn

Sigyn is the goddess of fidelity and constancy. She is Lokis wife, and she is
very loyal to him. She stays with Loki until the Ragnarok.

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Nanna

Nanna is Baldrs wife and Forsetis mother.

When Baldr was killed, she fell down on grief and died. The gods placed her
on the boat with Baldr and set it on fire.

Other creatures

The Elves
The elves are the most beautiful creatures, even more beautiful than the Sun.
The elves are minor gods of nature and fertility. The god Freyr rules them. They live
in Alfheim, in forests and underground places.

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 Dwarves

The dwarves are described as short and ugly creatures. They are associated
with wisdom, mining and crafting.
They live inside the mountains deep down in the dark underground.
They are known for being the best blacksmiths, being able to create the best
weapons and jewelries.

Giants and Giantesses

The giants and giantesses, also called Jotuns, are the first living creatures.
They were originated from Ymirs body. They live in Jotunheim, a world mostly made
of rocks and mountains.
The most known giant is Loki. He is one of the most complex and
unpredictable gods. Sometimes he is good, helping the others and being peaceful,
sometimes he is evil, making pranks and provocations with the gods, and spawning
the most terrible creatures, such as the wolf Fenrir. Loki is the father of Fenrir, the
Midgard Serpent and Hel (the death).

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 Valkyries

The Valkyries are female warlike virgins, who mounts horses and arms
themselves with helmets and spears. They decides who will die in a battle.
They select who dies in battle and then bring them to Valhalla and who will
become Freyas servants afterlife.

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 Conclusion

According to the Norse Mythology, the worlds were created after the meeting
of the first two worlds: Ginnungagap and Niflheim. Beyond the worlds, a cow and a
giant were created too. From them, the first god appeared, called Buri. The sons of
Buri killed the giant, Ymir, and with his body, they created the world.
The myths are contained in the Edda and Skaldic poems, both from Iceland.
According to these materials, there are twelve main gods and they live in
Asgard.

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 References

http://norse-mythology.org/ Accessed
in 10/01/2016 19:26-19:35
http://norse-mythology.net/creation-of-the-world-in-norse-mythology/ Accessed
in 10/03/2016 19:12-19:29
http://www.vopus.org/pt/gnose/antropologia-gnostica/a-mitologia-nordica.html
Accessed in 10/03/2016 19:30-19:43
http://norse-mythology.net/gods-in-norse-mythology/ Accessed
in 10/15/2016 20:43-21:03
http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/norse-mythology.php Accessed
in 10/26/2016 19:18-19:48
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/norsegodspictures/tp/NorseGods.htm
Accessed in 11/02/2016 19:29-19:47 http://norse-mythology.net/valkyries-
chooses-who-goes-to-valhalla-in-norse-
mythology/
Accessed in 11/02/2016 21:19-21:32

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