Research Process
What are the most famous stories of Norse
Mythology?
What aspects of Norse Mythology make them
similar to other cultures?
How does Norse culture influence our
language?
What does Nose Mythology say about the
afterlife?
What aspects of Norse society are depicted in
Norse Mythology?
Brianna Ryfa
Source Information: Rengel, M., & Daly, K. N.
(2004). Norse Mythology A to Z.
New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.
-the story of creation
-The death of Balder
-Ragnarok which is the end of the world
-The Norns determine the destiny of everyone
and represent the past, present and future.
Similar to the Fates in Greek mythology.
-Had Gods and Goddesses in charge of aspects
of human nature and nature such as Thor the
god of thunder, Frey the god of fertility, peace
and plenty and Odin god of wisdom, poetry,
war and death.
-Has a creation story similar to most other
religions.
-uses giants in mythology similar to the Greeks
(Titans)
-Hell is the name of the Goddesses of the
underworld, Christianity named “Hell” after
her because the Hel the Norse underworld
was such a terrifying place
-many of our words are borrowed from the
Norse such as: get, give, kick, law, sister, skirt,
take, sky, they, their, window and them
-In Norse mythology, you either went to
Valhalla or Hel
-Brave warriors went to Valhalla which is
warrior heaven their there is an eternal supply
of mead and food and warriors fight each
other but never die
-warriors of Valhalla are served by the
Valkyries
-in Hel there is only starvation, misfortune,
sickness and torture
-shows their love of war, poetry and revenge
“Like Odin [Freya] had a gift for sorcery and a
lust for battles heroes” (29) in cultures the
most loved of Gods and Goddesses tend to
personify ideals of their society
-importance of livestock Audhumla the cow
from the creation story
-Travel and bravery in battle
What were some rituals of the Norse people?
What is Viking mythology most known for?
Why was war important to Norse society?
What ideals of Norse society are similar to
today’s culture?
What did the Norsemen gain from traveling?
Source Information: Allan, T. (2002). Vikings:
The battle at the end of time.
London, England: Duncan Bard Publishers.
-An animal would be slain at the turning point
of the seasons and then the carcass would be
eaten as a sacrifice to the Gods
-Every nine years there was also a sacrifice
sometimes 9 of every male animal would be
killed including humans, at Legre 99 humans
were killed along with many animals in similar
numbers
-fearsome fighters that were known for their
swordsmanship
-also had a reputation as “hit-and-run raiders”
(116)
-surprise attacks using quick long ships and
stolen horses that allowed them to reach their
target quickly
-hand-to-hand fighting
-being taller than those of other European
descent because of their high protein diets
(meat and dairy)
-allowed them to gain riches
-conquered land for a growing population
-more land for animals would mean for food
so the population could continue to grow
-bravery and strength is still very important in
our society as well, an example would be how
we commend members of the Canadian
military
-wealth was also sought as it is today
-loyalty was a large ideal in Norse society
where they had loyalty to a Jarl, we tend to
focus on loyalty to are friends and families
rather than our government or boss
-allowed them to gain riches
-conquered land for a growing population
-more land for animals would mean for food
so the population could continue to grow
-many Vikings traveled to gain fame
-kings also supported expansion through
colonies
-developed long ships
-improved navigation techniques
Source Information: Chartrand, R., Durham, K.,
Harrison, M., Heath, I., & Magnusson, M.
(2006). The Vikings: Voyagers of Discovery and
Plunder. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing Ltd.
Who were the Norsemen?
-a people of Scandinavian origin who were known
for their savagery and plundering of coastal towns
and monasteries such as the first reported sighting
of the Vikings : Lindisfarne monastery
What kind of government did Norse society
have?
-They had a high king who ruled over all the
land and Jarls (earls) who ruled over smaller
portions of the land
-Viking society was divided into three social
classes: Jarls the noblemen of the Viking
world, Karl which is a Freeman this class
tended to be farmers and Thralls which were
the slaves
-yes for the most part
-Wives had complete authority over the
household and thralls (slaves)
-women were sometimes allowed to choice
their husbands
-women were encouraged to be resourceful,
self-reliant and to have a sense of self worth
-women could become wealthy and influential
figures in society, this is reflected in mythology
in Freya who is the most famous of the
Goddesses
-Freydis the daughter of Erik the Red is known
for sailing to Greenland with her husband and
two brothers, once they arrived Freydis
decided to hatch a scheme to get all the
profits and trick her husband into killing the
brothers and their crew. Her husband
however shrank from killing five women that
were on board and Freydis took an axe and
killed them
-women were not allowed to vote but were
allowed to attend the Thing (assembly)
Did Viking society have equality?
What values were important in Norse society?
-wealth
-social status
-bravery, strength in battle
-loyalty
Why were ships important in the development -allowed for expansion
of Viking society?
-capturing wealth, equipment and prisoners
-allowed for exploration of new lands
What were the causes of the Viking Age?
What is some information about some of the
more famous Gods and Goddesses?
Who were some of the most famous Vikings?
What were they famous for?
What were some of Viking Mythological
beliefs?
Source Information: Haywood, J. (2000).
Encyclopedia of the Viking Age.
New York, NY: Thames & Hudson.
-aggressive Viking kings
-oldest sons got all of their fathers land leaving
younger sons wanting to seek fortunes by
conquering lands
-shortage of herring
-lack of land for a growing population
-Balder was loved by all of the gods and was
the son of Odin, Odin made all of nature vow
never to harm him
-Odin was known as the high god and leader
of the Norse pantheon, he brought the first
man and women to life, he had an obsession
with wisdom and was known as a cruel and
malicious god that was fond of human
sacrifice, had an eight legged horse and “had
won the mead of poetry for the gods and
humans from the giant Suttung…” (137)
-Leif Eriksson first to discover North America
-Erik the Red founded colony in Greenland
-Jon Thardarson and Magnus Thorhallsson
wrote “The Book of Flatey” the biggest and
most beautiful manuscript of Icelandic
manuscripts the book features a continual
history of Norway and feature many sagas
that have not been preserved elsewhere
-Vikings believe that the universe had three
levels Asgard which was the home of the gods,
the middle realm consisted of Midgard which
was the home of the humans and Jothunhiem
which was home of the giants, below the
middle realm was Niflheim the frozen land of
the dead.
Important traits in Viking culture.
What are some other elements in Norse
mythology besides deities?
How were Norse gods similar to other
religions?
Connections seen between Norse society and
current society?
-physical bravery
-composure when in danger or faced with
death
-loyalty
-altruism
-to behave in a way that brought honor and
respect
-common-sense and wisdom especially when
concerning not talking about things you don’t
understand, listening instead of talking helps
you to learn better
-honesty with yourself and friends
-deception and cunning when faced with
enemies
-never EVER betray your family or friends (or
you could be cast out as a less then nothing or
outcast) it’s the worst sin
Allan, P. (1999). God checker. Retrieved from
http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/norsemythology.php?_gods-list
-Norns (similar to three fates in Greek
mythology)
-Ice Giants apposed the rule of the gods and
create chaos
-Nibelungs are a dwarf race that were valiant
and tough, guard treasure
-Andvari a dwarf that created a ring and
became master of all the gold in the universe
-Valkyries female servants of warriors in
Valhalla
-Light elves
-Ask and Embla, uprooted tree turned into the
first humans by Odin, Vili and Ve similar to
Adam and Eve
-Lord of the Rings has similar traits,
midgard/middle earth, many of the races e.i.
dwarves, humans, light elves
-modern references Supernatural, The
Avengers
-many traits of Norse people still considered
valued in our society bravery loyalty to family
and friends, cunning
Who were the Aesir and Vanir?
What are some of the Norse most famous
Sagas?
-Aesir consisted of Odin, Thor and Loki
included many other gods, they were the
ruling Gods of the world and ruled from
Asgard
-Vanir were the rival gods of Aesir and
consisted mostly of the wild and natural gods
-Havamal, Odin’s autobiography written in 850
A.D
Bibliography
Norse Mythology A to Z had easy to find information on a number of topics in Norse Mythology. The
accompanying pictures made the text easier to understand while still allowing room for a multitude of
information. The book although not incredibly recent was the latest of my resources available.
Rengel, M., & Daly, K. N. (2004). Norse Mythology A to Z.
New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.
Encyclopedia of the Viking Age had a lot of information on every aspect of Viking life, this was especially
helpful when trying to figure out mythology impacted their culture and which parts of Norse mythology
was prominent in traditions and their daily lives.
Haywood, J. (2000). Encyclopedia of the Viking Age.
New York, NY: Thames & Hudson.
The Vikings: Voyagers of Discovery and Plunder had the most information it was organised in
alphabetical order and would tell you what stories certain figures were in if you looked up that particular
figure. The Back of the book had a glossary to make understanding the text easier.
Chartrand, R., Durham, K., Harrison, M., Heath, I., & Magnusson, M. (2006). The Vikings:
Voyagers of Discovery and Plunder. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing Ltd.
Vikings: The battle at the end of time had pictures accompanying every page which showed what the text
was talking about. It was organised into parts of the daily lives of the Vikings such as tradition or travel
which made information simple to find.
Allan, T. (2002). Vikings: The battle at the end of time.
London, England: Duncan Bard Publishers.
God Checker had information on all types of mythology. In the Norse Mythology they were less formal in
the language they used making it easy to understand. At the bottom of each section there was a summary
of the information on the page, and the website had a table of content where you could click on the name
of the mythological figure you wanted to research.
Allan, P. (1999). God checker. Retrieved from
http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/norse-mythology.php?_gods-list