By: Kora
Ms. Nicole Bush
 Anglo-saxons, Scandinavians, Iceland, and Denmark
 Defined by Tacitus, a Roman, by the language spoken
 Not Celtic-, Latin-,or Slav-based
 Each tribe had it’s own name, king and history.
 Considered barbarians by the Romans.
 Around 800 ad, different German dialects develop
into:
• Dutch
• English
• Flemish
• Danish
• Swedish
• Norwegian
• Icelandic
• as the different tribes migrate around Europe.
 24 letters in the original runic
alphabet.
 Called “futhark”

From the order of the first 6
letters
 Used for recording names on
weapons
 Associated with magic
 Early Germans
worshiped in natural,
sacred places
 Groves
 Hilltops
 Islands
 Heroic Poetry
 From the oral traditions
 Two types of poetry
 Poetic Edda
 A collection of lays found in 1 Icelandic manuscript
 Composed around 800 ad.
 Primary source for:
 Thor versus Giants
 Odin as god of wisdom, poetry and magic
 The death of Balder
 The creation and destruction of the world
 Epic
 Only 1 complete example survives.
 English Beowulf
 Germany
 A fragment of The Tale of Hildibrand and Hadubrand
 None from Scandinavia survive.
 3 areas
 Niflheim: land of ice, mist and darkness
 North
 Muspelsheim: Land of fire
 South
 Abyss in between the two
 Ginnungagap
 Rivers flow from Muspelsheim
 Winds from Niflheim
 Ymir – the first giant
 Father of giants, humans and gods
 The Cow – Audhumla
 4 rivers flow from her udders
 Buri born from the drops off her tongue
 Giant
 Buri capable of reproducing and bore a son
 Bor - Married Bestla, one of Ymir’s descendants.
 3 gods born of this marriage.
 Odin, Vili and Ve
 The race of giants created from Ymir’s sweat
 Sons of Bor attacked Ymir and killed him
 Blood filled Ginnungagap
 One son and his wife survive.
 God‘s dragged Ymir’s body
 It’s pieces created
 Blood – oceans
 Flesh – earth
 Bones – mountains
 Skull – vault of heaven supported by 4 dwarfs
 Later named the 4 directions
 Brain – clouds
 Sun’s sparks got stuck in the vault of heaven
 Became stars
 Gods decided and began the rhythm of the
seasons
 Night came first, then day
 Common in ancient cultures
 Humans
 Created after Asgard was built
 Two tree trunks molded into human shapes
 Odin – souls
 Hoenir – senses
 Lodur – life and color
 3 realms
 Asgard: home of the gods
 Midgard: home of human race
 Niflheim: land of the dead
 Asgard
 Connected to Midgard by a bridge, The Bifrost
 Formed by rainbows
 Contains many halls
 Valhalla – hall of the slain heros
 Valaskjalf – houses Odin’s high seat Hlidskjalf
 Vanaheim – home of the Vanir
 Alfheim – home of the Light-Elves
 Midgard
 Land surrounded by an ocean
 Inhabited by a huge serpent
 Niflheim
 Only giants and dwarfs can live there
 Hel’s domain
 Land of ice and darkness
 An Ash tree
 Whole world is in the shadow of its branches
 Roots go deep into the earth and up into the sky
 3 roots
 1 in Urd’s well
 Fountain of youth
 1 in Niflheim to the Hvergelmir fountain
 Gives water to all rivers in the world
 1 to the fountain of Mimir
 Fountain of wisdom
 Will protect 2 humans during Ragnarok
 Lif and Lifthrasir
 2 races of gods
 Aesir – Gods of war
 Vanir – Gods of fertility and earth
 War with each other
 Compromise – Njord, Freyr and Freyja to Asgard
 Father and leader of all the gods
 Master of magic
 Runes
 God of war
 Patron of warriors
 Decides the fates of warriors
 Patron god of poetry
 Weapon
 Spear – Gungnir
 Animal attendants
 Wolves: Geri and Freki
 Ravens: Huginn (mind) and Munnin (memory)
 Sleipnir: 8 legged horse
 God of thunder
 Destroyer of giants
 Son of Odin
 Weapons
 Hammer – Mjollnir
 A very short handle
 Like a boomerang
 The thunderbolt
 Magic belt
 Makes Thor twice as strong
 Iron gloves
 God of the sea
 Invoked for sailing or fishing
 Extremely rich
 Married to Skadi
 He lived in his hall by the sea, she in her hall in the
mountains
 Father of Freyr and Freyja
 God of human procreation
and male potency
 God of horses
 During the migration
period
 Many horse remains are
found in Viking graves and
at sites in Sweden.
 A horse cult
 Freyja’s twin brother
 Resembles the relationship
between the Greek
Artemis and Apollo
 Not much is known about
this god
 Son of Odin
 God of light
 Adored by all the gods
 Good natured
 Beautiful
 Peaceful
 His dreams directly
precede Ragnarok
 Killed by Hod
 Guided by Loki
 Reborn after Ragnarok
 Odin’s wife
 Chief goddess
 Comparable to Hera in Greek mythology
 Men prayed to her to
 Protect marriages
 Bless them with children
 She knew the future
 Told no-one
 Goddess of erotic and
sensual love
 Mimics the Greek
Aphrodite
 Can turn into a falcon or
a feather
 Shamanistic powers
 seeress
 She is described as
 Desirable
 Strong willed
 Passionate
 Not a god, but allowed to live in Asgard
 The trickster
 Nobody was immune from his practical jokes
 The gods used his advice to get out of sticky situations
 The wall of Asgard
 Becomes truly evil after a fashion of playing pranks
 Father of monsters
 Sleipnir
 Hel
 Fenrir
 Nordic gods are mortal
 Everyone dies during Ragnarok; some to be reborn
in a new world
 Starts with Balder’s dream
 Death of Balder
 Gods vs. Giants
 Odin is the first god to die
 Eaten by Fenrir
 Avenged by his son, Vidar
 Freyr is killed by the fire giant, Surt
 Thor kills the serpent of Midgard
 Breathes too much poison and falls
 Loki kills Heimdall, and then is slain
Nature
 Storms and cataclysms
 Fires, earthquakes and tidal waves
 Human race dies except Lif and
in Yggdrdasill
Lifthrasir sheltered
 The ocean submerges everything
 The Ginnungagap opens again on all sides
 at once a new world
rises from the waves
 Everything is new and
pure
 An Eden-like world
 Some gods are reborn
 Balder – Master of this
world
 Hod – Balder’s brother
 Odin’s sons
 Vidar
 Vali
 Odin’s brothers
 Vili
 Ve
 Thor’s sons
 Magni and Modi
 Hoenir
 Announces the new age