NORSE
MYTHOLOGY
121
Norse
Copyright 2012 American Classical League
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Norse
A short summary of the information
on pages 9 through 136
of d’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths
According to d’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths, at first only Niflheim (the realm of frozen fog) and
Muspelheim (the realm of flames) existed with Ginungagap (a gaping pit) in between. Fog and flame
whirled around, and from Ginungagap arose Ymir (the first jotun) and a cow. As Ymir slept, a male and
female jotun appeared from his armpit. Then a six-headed Troll grew from his feet. These creatures
produced offspring.
The Ice Cow licked the ice until a new creature arose. He was the grandfather of the first Aesir gods: Odin,
Hoenir, and Lodur. They slew Ymir, and his briny blood caused a flood. All the jotuns drowned except for
two who went to Jotunheim.
Midgard was created from Ymir’s body. The moon and sun traveled across the sky in carts pulled by horses
who were pursued by wolves.
Other gods in the universe were the Vanir gods who took care of weather. They lived in Vanaheim.
The Aesir gods created elves who lived in Alfheim; from worms, they created gnomes who lived
underground. Finally, to inhabit Midgard, they created a man and a woman from an ash tree and an alder
tree. Each successive generation of people had better qualities than the last. Odin came to earth to
instruct these people about the best way to live their lives.
Presiding over all of the Norse worlds were the Fays of Destiny (Norns) who decided the fate of both
mankind and the gods.
The Norns lived at the foot of Yggdrasil, the world tree whose demise signaled the end of the Aesir gods.
The Norns cared for Yggdrasil by healing its wounds with water from a sacred pool. An eagle lived at the
top of Yggdrasil, and Nidhogg, the dragon, lived at the roots. Ratatosk, the squirrel, ran between them.
The Aesir gods lived in Asgard where Odin became the supreme ruler after he had hung for nine days from
the branches of Yggdrasil. Odin sat at the top of a silver tower on the Lidskjalf, his throne, with his dearest
wife, Frigg. Odin became the wisest of the wise after he gave his left eye to the jotun,
Mimir, in exchange for a drink from his well of wisdom.
Odin’s son, Thor, wielded Mjolnir (his hammer) and rode in a cart pulled by billy goats.
He was invaluable to the other Aesir gods because he arrived immediately when
summoned. Thor was married to Sif whose hair was shorn and replaced by the
unpredictable trickster Loki, a jotun who became Odin’s blood brother. Loki was
married to Sigunn, an Aesir goddess, and also to Angerboda, an ogress.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION (continued)
Norse
At the same time that Loki convinced the gnomes to make new hair for Sif, he flattered them into forging
weapons and treasures for the Aesir. They created Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer; Skidbladnir, a collapsible ship;
Draupnir, an arm ring; Gungnir, a spear that always hit its mark; and a golden flying boar. During his
dealings with the gnomes, Loki lost a bet and nearly lost his head, but the gnome, Brokk, punished him by
sewing his mouth shut instead.
Loki and Angerboda had three children: Midgard’s Serpent, Hel (ruler of the dead), and Fenris the wolf.
Tyr, one of Odin’s son, lost his hand during the chaining of Fenris.
Balder, another of Odin’s sons, was the god of light. He was married to Nanna, and their son was Forsete,
the chief judge of the Aesir.
Heimdall, yet another of Odin’s sons, guarded the entrance to Asgard. Only Gullveig, a witch from
Vanaheim, was able to trick Heimdall into letting her enter. When the Aesir discovered that she wanted
their gold, they tried to burn her at the stake, but she survived. The Vanir wanted revenge, however, and
fought with the Aesir on the field of Ida. Since neither side was victorious, they exchanged hostages. The
Aesir sent Hoenir and Mimir to Vanaheim; the Vanir sent Njord, Frey, and Freya to Asgard. Njord was a
wind god, Frey brought fruitful harvests, and Freya was the goddess of love.
Kvasir, the spirit of knowledge, was created in a vat of chewed berries. From these berries, the gnomes
made a special mead which fell into the hands of Suttung, a jotun. Odin tricked Suttung’s daughter,
Gunnlod, into letting him drink the mead, and he took it back to Asgard. Anyone who drank the mead
became a poet, and Bragi, an adopted son of Odin, became the god of bards. Bragi’s wife was Idunn, the
goddess who guarded the apples of youth.
The Aesir decided that they should build a stone wall around Asgard since the Vanir had attacked them.
Loki masterminded a tricky plan in which a jotun mason was required to build the wall by himself in a short
period of time. He thought that these stipulations would eliminate having to give the mason the payment
that he demanded: Freya, the sun, and the moon. The mason nearly did the impossible task, but Loki
transformed himself into a mare and lured the mason’s stallion away so he could not finish the job. The
offspring of the mare and stallion was Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged steed.
During battles, Odin threw his spear over the side destined to lose.
He was accompanied by the Valkyries, warrior maidens who
selected men to die in battle and brought them to Valhalla, Odin’s
guesthouse in Asgard. These heroes led a life of feasting and
fighting, and after their daily battles, the injured would put
themselves back together so they would be ready to fight again on
the next day. Freya served as hostess for the dead heroes, both in
her own hall and in Valhalla.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION (continued)
Norse
Frigg, Odin’s favorite wife, spent her time spinning yarn and keeping a watchful eye on domestic issues in
Midgard. Her attendants and companions were Fulla, Gna, Lin, Eir, and Var. Once, during a war, Frigg
answered women’s prayers by giving them advice about gaining a victory. Since she knew Odin’s plan, she
was able to guide them successfully. The goddesses Saga and Gefjon were frequently mistaken for Frigg.
Gefjon created and won for herself the island of Sjaelland by harnessing her sons in the form of bulls and
plowing so deep that a piece of land separated from the mainland.
The gnomes made Freya a lovely necklace, and Loki wanted it. In the form of a fly, Loki
visited Freya and removed the necklace as she slept. He then transformed himself into
a seal, and as he was escaping, Heimdall became suspicious, turned himself into a seal,
too, and pursued Loki. The two seals fought, and since Heimdall was the stronger, he
won the fight and returned the necklace to Freya.
Tjasse, a storm jotun in the form of an eagle, stole meat from the Aesir. Loki tried to get the meat back,
but when he hit the eagle, he stuck to him. Tjasse said the only way for Loki to get free was to promise
that he would bring Idunn and her apples to him. Loki tricked Idunn into entering the woods with her
apples, and Tjasse flew away with her. The Aesir began to age, and they discovered that Loki was
responsible for Idunn’s disappearance. In the form of a falcon, Loki went to retrieve her, and he put Idunn
and her apples into a nutshell and headed to Asgard. Tjasse flew after him, but the Aesir built a fire that
leapt high into the air, and Tjasse was incinerated. Idunn was safe, and the Aesir all took bites of the
apples to restore their youth.
Tjasse’s daughter, Skade, wanted recompense for his death. Instead of giving her gold, the Aesir told
Skade that they would make her a goddess, but there were two conditions to this arrangement. First,
Skade said that the Aesir must make her laugh, and second, the Aesir said that Skade must choose her
husband by looking only at his legs. Loki succeeded in making Skade laugh, and although Skade wanted
Balder for her husband, unfortunately she chose Njord. Skade lived in the mountains and became the
goddess of skiers, but Njord preferred living near the seashore so they seldom saw one another.
Frey, Njord’s son, fell in love with Gerd, a Jotun maiden. The lovesick Frey was neglecting his duties, and
so the fields on earth were barren. Frey’s servant, Skirnir, went to woo Gerd. By casting a spell upon her,
Skirnir was able to convince Gerd to give her love to Frey. They were married, and once again the fields
produced abundant harvests.
When Thor’s hammer was stolen, Loki was sent to find it. He discovered that it was in
the possession of Thrym, the jotun. Thrym refused to return the hammer until Freya
became his bride. Freya refused to marry a jotun, and so the Aesir decided that Thor
must disguise himself as Freya and that Loki should pretend to be his maid. The two
went to Jotunheim, and Thrym presided at the wedding feast. To keep his part of the
bargain, Thrym placed Thor’s hammer on the lap of his supposed bride. Thor threw
off his disguise, lifted his hammer, and destroyed Thrym and his kin.
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Loki, in the shape of a falcon, went to the hall of Geirrod, the jotun. Putting Loki under a
spell, Geirrod captured him and locked him in a chest. The condition for release was that
Loki must bring Thor, without his weapons, to Geirrod. With the promise of excellent food
and drink, Loki convinced Thor to pay a friendly visit
to Geirrod’s hall. On the way, a giantess named
Grid convinced Thor that he was in danger. He hid
the weapons she gave him. When Thor was in
danger of drowning and of being crushed, he used
Grid’s staff to save himself. Thor was ready for
Geirrod’s attack when he arrived at his hall, and Grid’s iron mitt
allowed him to catch the glowing bolt thrown at him and to kill
Geirrod with it.
Accompanied by Tjalfi, a newly acquired servant, Thor and Loki made a
journey to the realm of the jotun, Utgardsloki. On the way, they slept in
the giant Skrymir’s mitten. They tried to open Skrymir’s food bag, but it
was tied with a troll knot. In anger, Thor hit Skrymir with his hammer a
number of times, but the blows had very little effect. As they parted
company, Skrymir warned Thor to be polite when he encountered
Utgardsloki. Once in Utgardsloki’s hall, many contests were held. Logi
beat Loki in an eating contest;
Hugi beat Tjalfi in a race; Thor
was unable to drain a drinking horn, he failed to lift
Utgardsloki’s cat, and Granny Elle made him kneel during a
wrestling match. Thor was very ashamed of his failures and
those of his companions. Finally, Utgardsloki confessed that he
had tricked them. Thor tried to strike Utgardsloki with his
hammer, but he disappeared before Thor could do so. Loki was
secretly pleased at Thor’s lack of success.
Odin and the jotun Rungnir entered Asgard during a horse race. Odin
obeyed the laws of hospitality and offered a drink to Rungnir. When
Rungnir became belligerent, Odin summoned Thor. Rungnir
proposed a combat between him and Thor on the following day. The
jotuns made a clay man with a mare’s heart to serve as Rungnir’s
second. During the battle, Rungnir and Thor hurled their weapons
simultaneously. Thor fell when his head was penetrated by a splinter
of Rungnir’s whetstone; Rungnir fell on top of Thor after his head was
smashed by Thor’s hammer. Tjalfi, Thor’s servant, disabled the clay
man by digging a hole under him. Magni, Thor’s young son, held up
Rungnir’s leg so that his father could move out from under the jotun.
From that time forward, Thor suffered from painful headaches.
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The Aesir gods frequently entertained Aegir, the jotun lord of the stormy sea. Aegir,
however, never invited the Aesir to his hall, and Thor demanded that he do so.
Aegir stated that he did not have a caldron big enough to make beer for so many
guests although he would gladly entertain the Aesir if he had one. The only caldron
that huge was owned by Hymir, a particularly wild jotun. Aegir, supposing that
Hymir would not loan his caldron, requested that the Aesir bring it to him. One of
Hymir’s grandsons was Tyr, and so he and Thor headed for Jotunheim. With Tyr’s
mother help, the two Aesir gained admittance to Hymir’s hall. Hymir
obeyed the laws of hospitality and fed them a huge meal. Then he
suggested a fishing expedition on the next day so that they could eat
again. Hymir caught two whales, and Thor hooked Midgard’s Serpent. After feasting on the
whales, Hymir told Thor that he would loan him a caldron if he could break his crystal goblet.
Following Tyr’s mother’s suggestion, Thor threw the goblet at Hymir’s head, and the goblet
shattered. Hymir gave up his caldron, but he followed the two Aesir gods and tried to get it
back. Thor’s hammer took care of Hymir and his entire army of jotuns and trolls. Once Aegir
had the caldron, he prepared a wonderful yearly feast for the Aesir.
When Odin went to the grave of a volva to find out
the meaning of Balder’s bad dreams, he learned that
Balder would die soon. Frigg, Balder’s mother, was
confident that he would not die because she made
all things promise not to harm him. Loki, consumed
with jealousy for Balder, discovered that the
mistletoe had not been asked to give its promise.
Loki put a sharp arrow made of mistletoe into Hod’s
bow, and with Loki’s guidance, the blind god shot
Balder in the heart.
The grieving Aesir placed Balder on a funeral pyre
on a ship, set the pyre aflame, and watched as the
ship sank down to Hel. Hermod told Frigg that he
would go to Hel and ask her to release Balder. Hel
agreed to let Balder return if all things wept for
him. Unfortunately, an old hag called Thokk who
was really Loki in disguise refused to weep. Thus,
Balder had to remain in Hel, and he was soon
joined by Hod, the god who accidentally killed him.
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