IV. The Norse
Viking Invasions –
Beginning @783 A.D.
10th Century defeated English in
the Battle of Maldon
Wanted British technology,
raw goods
From The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
—Attack on Lindesfarne Monastary

“A.D. 793 This year came dreadful forewarnings
over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the
people most woefully; these were immense sheets
of light rushing through the air. . . and fiery dragons
flying across the firmament. These tremendous
tokens were soon followed by a great famine, and .
. . in the same year, the harrowing inroads of
heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church
of God in Holy-island, by rapine and slaughter…”
Lindesfarne
Lindesfarne
Castle

The Castle, on the
seashore, would have
been hard to conquer,
but Vikings attacked
the coast almost
annually.
Lindesfarne Monastery

The monastery lies in
ruins as a result of
Henry VIII’s
dissolution of the
monasteries
And now for something
completely different. . .
They were ruthless—imagine attacking
monks and nuns!—but they gave us the wild
and wacky world of Norse Mythology—which
will help us understand the events in Beowulf.
Norse Mythology—The Creation
Adumla (cow)
|
Buri
|
Bor—Bestla
(frost giant’s daughter)
|
(w)odin—----Vili—----Ve

(spirit of life)
(wits & heart) (hearing & sight)
The Norse Flood Story


Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve killed all
the frost giants but one—and all the blood
flooded the world
When the floodwaters receded, they took
two branches and made them into the first
people, Ask (ash) and Embla (elm or vine)
Norse Cosmology

Midgard
Middle earth, enclosure away from stone
giants

Asgard (Settled by Odin, Vili, Ve – the
Aesir, guardians of men)
linked to midgard by the flaming rainbow
bridge, Bifrost
Cultural Connection:

Dwarves held up the corners of Middle Earth:

Translated, their names mean North, South,
East, and West
Cultural Connection:
The Days of the Week



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

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday (Tiu—warrior god, symbol=boar)
Wednesday (Wodin)
Thursday (Thor—thunder god, very
popular)
Friday (Freya—fertility god)
Connecting the worlds-
Yggdrasil –The
living tree, the
suffering tree, the
life-giver

Regenerates itself,
eternal (was, and is,
and will be)
Ratatosk


Nibbles roots of
Yggdrasil
Carries insults and
gossip between the
dragon Nidhogg and
an eagle in the top
branches
Original Runes- “FUTHORK”
I. Asgard




Well of Urd. Three Norns have a hall
beside the well (Wyrd/Urd), Verdandi,
Skuld) (equivalent of the fates)
Alfheim – home of the elves, or bright
elves.
Valhalla – hall of the slain warriors
(Einheriar), half chosen by Odin, others to
Freja
Vigrid – a vast plain, stretching 120
leagues in every direction, site of
Ragnarok.
Odin—The All Father with his
ravens Thought & Memory
Odin with his 8 legged horse
Slepnir—remind you of anyone?
An older image in stone
Significance of trees

Odin hung on a tree for nine days to gain
two boons for mankind –
Runes (magical alphabet) and
Skaldic Mead (poetic inspiration)
II. Midgard




Midgard is the home of men (literally middleearth)
Bifrost – the rainbow bridge (flaming bridge)
connects Midgard to Asgard
Spring of Mimir – Odin sacrificed an eye to
have a single draught from it, wisdom.
Nidavellir – land of the dwarves, underground,
from maggots to magical goldsmiths
The Population of Midgard



Heimdall
was the
guard at the
gate of
Midgard
Fathered
3generation
s for the
3classes of
people
;



Jarl (fair, sharp, skilled, strong)
Heimdall teaches him the runes of
Odin
Class of kings (koniger) and
warriors
Karl (ruddy, bright-eyed, well
formed)
farmers, skilled laborers, peasants
Thrall (ugly, twisted, dull)
race of unskilled laborers
i.e. to “hold in thrall”
III. Niflheim




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Niflheim is the realm of the dead (literally home of
fog) “9 days ride north and down”
Hel – goddess of the underworld; the offspring of
Loki, half dead and half living, also her tower/realm
Nidhogg – giant dragon gnawing on the roots of
Yggdrasil, with many snakes as well
Muspell – land of fire, located to the south
ship Naglfari, largest ever built (of dead men’s
nails), is in Muspell, will appear at Ragnarok
Gotterdammerung & Ragnarok


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Unlike Greek gods, gods were not
invincible
Living in the Gotterdamerung, or “Twilight
of the gods”
Would eventually be defeated at
Ragnarok, the “day of doom”
The Wild Hunt

Souls of dead warriors who joined Odin in
Valhalla waiting to join against the forces
of destruction at Ragnarok

Brought to Valhalla by the Valkyrie
The Wild Hunt, 1892, Peter Nicolai Arbo
Flight of the Valkyrie, 1909, John Charles
Dollman
How do I know if it’s time for
Ragnarok?


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Winter will reign for three years with no summer.
All the earth will be at war, father against son,
brother against brother.
Wolves Skoll and Hati Hrodvitnisson will swallow
the sun & moon, plunging the earth into
darkness.
Monsters will break free, and the WILD HUNT
will begin for real!
Then. . .
The horns of Heimdall will ring to
warn other gods of the danger.
Gotterdammerung & Ragnarok

Fenrir/ The Fenris wolf—
will run loose, consuming
the earth and heavens.

He will swallow Odin.

Eventually, he will be
slain by Odin’s son,
Thor, who will tear off his
jaw.

Odin and the Fenris Wolf, 1909, Dorothy Hardy
Fenrir is
killed by Thor
Thor fights the Midgard Serpent
The Midgard Serpent—Floods
Middle Earth with poison
Gotterdammerung & Ragnarok

By the end, Yggdrasill and all the worlds will
become a blazing inferno.

The gods of the Aesir & Vanir will die as well as
all the inhabitants of Middle Earth.

The sky will fall into a pit of flame and the earth
will sink into the sea.
(Cheerful, no?)
This world view colors the
literature of the time, such as
BEOWULF!
It’s also really easy to see
where a certain author got
inspiration for his material. . .
J.R.R. Tolkien, who was a
professor of Anglo-Saxon and
Norse language and culture .