Georges Dumézil was a twentieth-century comparative mythologist like Joseph Campbell or Carl Jung, but unlike either of them, he thought that myths could only be properly understood in their original historical context – and not as part of a universalistic theory that ignores that context. For that reason, Dumézil chose to focus on analyzing the various Indo-European mythologies and religions in relation to each other, and not in relation to other mythologies or religions outside of that historically-linked community.^[1]

(If you’re unfamiliar with the term “Indo-European,” see Who Were the Indo-Europeans and Why Do They Matter?)

Dumézil’s primary contribution to Indo-European studies was his theory of “trifunctionalism,” the idea that a particular arrangement of three societal “functions” lay at the heart of Indo-European life and thought. This arrangement manifested itself most straightforwardly in the social hierarchy, which consisted of three classes that corresponded to the three functions. However, as the word “function” implies, the three classes were distinguished not just according to differing quantitative amounts of power, but also qualitatively in terms of the “functions” that each of the three groups served within society. The Indo-Europeans’ gods, too, were organized into this trifunctional structure.

What, then, are these three functions?

The first function is that of sovereignty, and corresponds to the highest social class – that of rulers, priests, and legal specialists. This function is divided into two aspects, one “magical” and the other “juridical.”^[2] The former “consists of the mysterious administration, the ‘magic’ of the universe, the general ordering of the cosmos. This is a ‘disquieting’ aspect, terrifying from certain perspectives. The other aspect is more reassuring, more oriented to the human world. It is the ‘juridical’ part of the sovereign function.”^[3]

The Indo-Europeans’ gods of the first function tend to include one god who falls into each of these two categories. One is a “magician-creator” who rules “by virtue of [his] creative violence,” while the other is a “jurist-organizer” who rules “by virtue of [his] organizing wisdom.”^[4] The two types of sovereign gods form an “antithesis,” but complement one another rather than being in conflict.^[5]

The second function “carries the trait of physical force in all its manifestations, from energy, to heroism, to courage.” Its “insatiable champions… vanquish demons and save the universe.”^[6] In human society, the second function is the class of warriors, who carry out the orders of the first class and fight on behalf of their people. The gods of the second function are warriors whose intellectual abilities are inferior to those of the first, but who possess the necessary strength to actually put the decisions of the intellectual gods into action.

The third function “is the generative function. It is the domain of the healers, of youth, of luxury, of fecundity, of prosperity; also the domain of the healing gods, the patron deities of goods, of opulence – and also of the ‘people,’ as opposed to the small number of warriors and kings.”^[7] The third function’s human social class consists of the farmers, herders, and other “common people” engaged in productive physical labor, who provide the goods necessary for the sustenance of themselves and of the rest of society. Its gods are those who preside over fertility, abundance, and peace. They tend to be simple but wealthy and fun-loving.

For Dumézil, “The Indo-European vision of a smoothly functioning world required an ‘organization’ in which the representatives of the first function commanded, the second fought for and defended the community, and the third (the greatest number of them) worked and were productive. In their eyes, it was in this hierarchy that one found the harmony necessary to the proper functioning of the cosmos, as well as that of the society. It’s an Indo-European version of the ‘social contract.’”^[8]

Although a similar social organization can be found in various non-Indo-European societies, what makes the Indo-European concept distinct is just how foundational and pervasive it was in their worldview, theology, cosmology, mythology, and political philosophy. It touched every aspect of their way of life and their outlook on life.^[9]

Trifunctionalism in Norse/Germanic Mythology

The Germanic peoples, including the Norse, were one of the branches of the Indo-European family tree. Thus, it should come as no surprise that their social organization, religion, and mythology all had the kind of trifunctional structure described above. Since this is a site on Norse mythology, after all, it makes sense to draw from Norse mythology for examples with which to illustrate Dumézil’s trifunctional schema as it applies to mythology and religion.

The Norse gods of the first function are Odin and Tyr. Odin, the chieftain of the gods known above all else for his vast knowledge and fits of ecstatic inspiration, is the “sovereign magician” who rules through his inscrutable power and wisdom.^[10]

Tyr, meanwhile, is the “jurist-god” and “heroic legal expert.”^[11] This is illustrated, for example, in the famous myth in which Tyr sacrificed his hand so that the monster Fenrir would stop menacing the gods. Dumézil comments that “with his sacrifice, [Tyr] not only procures the salvation of the gods but also regularizes it: he renders legal that which, without him, would have been pure fraud.”^[12]

Fascinatingly, therefore, the two Norse gods of the first function both have disfigurements that illustrate their role in the trifunctional hierarchy. The counterpart to Tyr’s loss of his hand is Odin’s loss of one of his eyes, which he sacrificed in order to gain yet more esoteric wisdom.^[13]

The Norse god of the second function is Thor, the indefatigable champion fighter who defends the gods from their enemies.^[14]

Although Odin, Tyr, and Thor are all war gods, they preside over very different aspects of war, and those differing aspects are emblematic of their trifunctional roles. Thor is the god concerned with the physical fighting itself, while Odin governs ecstatic battle frenzy and magic. Tyr is the “jurist of war” who decides the time, place, and manner of battle. And since the law can be used to gain victory over an opponent just like war, it’s a kind of metaphorical battle, a connection which the Norse certainly noticed.^[15][16]

The main gods of the third function are Freyr and his father Njord, both of whom are characterized by their great wealth, their tendency toward hedonism, and their bringing “peace and plenty” to their worshipers.

In an illustration of how deeply-rooted the trifunctional model was in the Norse psyche, Odin, Thor, and Freyr – the signature gods of each function – were frequently depicted together as a shorthand for the totality of divinity. This can be found in, for example, the German historian Adam of Bremen’s famous description of the three statues in a holy site in Sweden, and the text of several magical charms. In fact, this “trinity” – or “tripartite formula” – was so pervasive that it endured well into the Christian era, where it could be found alternating with the Christian trinity in the text of magical charms.^[17]

Conclusion

The main flaw in Dumézil’s work, in my view, is that he sometimes overstates his case by trying to explain too high a level of detail though his comparative theory – as if any similarity, no matter how superficial, between any recorded aspect of any two Indo-European religions must be the result of a common Proto-Indo-European inheritance. The general patterns in Indo-European thought that Dumézil describes definitely seem to be there, but they’re just that: general patterns. The more Dumézil tries to account for the specifics of any one Indo-European religion, the more he has to stretch the data and his interpretive logic to fit his preferred conclusions. This quibble aside, however, the core of Dumézil’s thought is a tremendous gift to anyone who wants to better understand any Indo-European religion, including that of the Norse and other Germanic peoples.

Want to learn more about the Norse branch of Indo-European mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.

References:

^[1] Benoist, Alain de. 2002. Priests, Warriors, and Cultivators: Alain de Benoist’s Interview with Georges Dumézil. In Tyr, Vol. 1. Translated by William Wallace. p. 41.

^[2] Dumézil, Georges. 1973. Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Edited by Einar Haugen. p. 118.

^[3] Benoist, Alain de. 2002. Priests, Warriors, and Cultivators: Alain de Benoist’s Interview with Georges Dumézil. In Tyr, Vol. 1. Translated by William Wallace. p. 43.

^[4] Dumézil, Georges. 1988. Mitra-Varuna: An Essay on Two Indo-European Representations of Sovereignty. Translated by Derek Coltman. p. 115-116.

^[5] Ibid. p. 113.

^[6] Benoist, Alain de. 2002. Priests, Warriors, and Cultivators: Alain de Benoist’s Interview with Georges Dumézil. In Tyr, Vol. 1. Translated by William Wallace. p. 44.

^[7] Ibid.

^[8] Ibid. p. 45.

^[9] Ibid. p. 46-47.

^[10] Dumézil, Georges. 1988. Mitra-Varuna: An Essay on Two Indo-European Representations of Sovereignty. Translated by Derek Coltman. p. 121.

^[11] Ibid. p. 142.

^[12] Ibid.

^[13] Ibid.

^[14] Ibid. p. 118.

^[15] Ibid. p. 127.

^[16] Dumézil, Georges. 1973. Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Edited by Einar Haugen. p. 44-45.

^[17] Ibid. p. 4-6.

The post An Introduction to Georges Dumézil appeared first on Norse Mythology for Smart People.

Gungnir (Old Norse Gungnir, “Swaying;”^[1] pronounced “GUNG-neer”) is the name of the mighty spear that belongs to the god Odin.

In the recorded Norse myths, Gungnir is the weapon most consistently and powerfully associated with Odin.^[2] Both poetry and visual art demonstrate that this connection is deep and long-standing. It goes back at least as far as the ninth century, when the poet Bragi Boddason referred to Odin as Gungnis váfaðr (“Gungnir’s shaker”).^[3] Pre-Christian Scandinavian visual art often depicts Odin bearing a spear; in fact, the spear is one of his most typical iconographic attributes. Such depictions are found from Viking Age runestones all the way back to Bronze Age rock carvings of a spear god, who very well may be Odin (though due to the very early date and lack of other distinguishing features, it’s impossible to say for certain).^[4]

As you’d expect for the weapon of a god, Gungnir is no ordinary spear. It was created by the dwarves, the most skilled smiths in the cosmos, as is related in the tale of how the gods’ greatest treasures were made. Gungnir is said to have runes carved on its point,^[5] which presumably increase its aim and deadliness through magic. Archaeology confirms that the Norse and other Germanic peoples did in fact carve runes into some of their spears;^[6] perhaps this was done in imitation of the mythical model of Gungnir.

Other aspects of Gungnir definitely did serve as mythical models for human actions. This is especially true with regard to the spear’s role in human sacrifices offered to Odin.

In the war between the two tribes of gods, Odin led the Aesir gods into battle against the Vanir. He began the battle by hurling his spear over the enemy host and crying, “Óðinn á yðr alla!” (“Odin owns all of you!”). The historical Norse repeated this paradigmatic gesture, giving the opposing army as a gift to Odin in hopes that the god would return the favor by granting them victory.^[7]

Likewise, when Odin sacrificed himself to himself in order to discover the runes, he simultaneously stabbed himself with Gungnir and hanged himself. It’s fitting, therefore, that when the Norse sacrificed someone to Odin, whether a single individual or a large group of people, they typically did so by means of a spear, either by itself or in combination with hanging.^[8]

In the Viking Age, Odin was the chief of the gods, a role which in earlier times he had shared with the god Tyr. Just as Tyr’s sword seems to have been a symbol of the power and authority of lordship (we can infer this from the number of Indo-European parallels), so Odin’s spear probably was as well.^[9] Gungnir, the finest spear in the cosmos, would have served as a compelling image of the ferocious might, both magical and military, of the grim ruler of the gods.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.

References:

^[1] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. p. 124.

^[2] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 47.

^[3] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. p. 124.

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] The Poetic Edda. Sigrdrífumál, stanza 17.

^[6] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. p. 124.

^[7] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 47.

^[8] Examples of this in Old Norse literature can be found in Gautreks Saga, Styrbjarnar Þáttr, Eyrbyggja Saga, and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, amongst others.

^[9] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. p. 124.

The post Gungnir appeared first on Norse Mythology for Smart People.

There’s a bewildering array of books out there on Greek mythology, especially at the beginner level. Which ones are most deserving of your hard-earned money? This list (last updated in April of 2019) was written with the intention of helping you make that decision.

Different people find Greek mythology to be meaningful for different reasons. For some, the wondrous tales and their larger-than-life characters make for great literature. For others, the value of the Greek myths and the religion of which they were a part lies in their importance for understanding the history of Western civilization and thought. Still others might be interested in the subject for spiritual or scholarly reasons. But whatever it is that draws you to Greek mythology, you’ll probably find at least a book or two on this list that fits what you’re looking for.

The order of the books in this list runs roughly from the most newbie-friendly to the most advanced. The lower-numbered books aren’t necessarily better than the higher-numbered ones, but the lower-numbered ones are more accessible.

If you find this list to be helpful enough that you decide to buy one or more of the books listed here, the best way you can say “thank you” is to buy whatever you decide to buy through the Amazon links provided at the end of each book’s description. When you do, I automatically get a small commission on your purchase with no extra cost or hassle for you whatsoever.

1. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton

Ever since its original publication in 1942, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology has been widely seen as the quintessential introduction to Greek mythology for adults, even as countless other introductions to the topic have come and gone. Yes, it’s stood the test of time that well.

Hamilton masterfully retells all of the major myths of the Greeks, and gives overviews of all of their main deities and heroes. Her prose is clear and lucid, yet poetic and evocative – an ideal style for both the head and the heart. The book assumes no prior knowledge of the topic whatsoever, making it perfectly suited to the total beginner.

As an added bonus, Mythology includes a brief treatment of Norse mythology at the end.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive introduction to Greek mythology that reads like great literature, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology is the book I’d recommend. Click here to view or buy Mythology at Amazon.

2. The Complete World of Greek Mythology by Richard Buxton

Another deservedly popular and impeccably newbie-friendly introduction to the topic that you might want to consider is Richard Buxton’s The Complete World of Greek Mythology. Buxton’s book covers much of the same ground as Hamilton’s, but is written in a less literary style and has more of an emphasis on the historical and geographical contexts within which the myths were told. For example, Buxton will teach you much more about the wider religion and society of which Greek mythology was a part, the roles that particular features of the Greeks’ landscape played in their ancient myths, and how subsequent centuries have used and re-imagined Greek mythology.

But perhaps the biggest draw of The Complete World of Greek Mythology for most people will be its 330 illustrations, including 139 in color, which adorn practically every page of the book. These pictures range from artifacts from ancient Greece to photos of Greek landscapes to classic paintings of scenes from Greek mythology.

Bottom line: you can’t go wrong with either Hamilton or Buxton – or both, if you find both of their approaches appealing. Click here to view or buy The Complete World of Greek Mythology at Amazon.

3. D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire

If you’re looking for a great book on Greek mythology for kids, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths is easily the best one out there. It’s written in a style so simple and clear that children should have no problem understanding it, but the language is also very colorful and evocative. It entertains as it informs.

The book is as comprehensive as you could wish for in a book of this sort, and gives accounts of the personalities of the gods and most of the heroes, as well as retellings of most of the major myths themselves. Along the way, countless lavish illustrations help to bring the stories and characters to life. This book is sure to kindle your child’s imagination and take him or her on a journey to an enchanting world filled with extraordinary beings who do epic deeds, but who are cast as being surprisingly relatable for a child.

Much like Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths was originally published decades ago – in 1962, in fact – but has yet to be surpassed to this day. It’s that good. Click here to view or buy D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths at Amazon.

4. The Iliad by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles

Back to the books for adults.

Who could consider themselves to be knowledgeable about Greek mythology without a familiarity with Homer’s masterpieces, the Iliad and the Odyssey? Even if you’ve read the summaries in introductory works on the topic, there’s no substitute for reading the original epic poems (in English translation, of course, unless you can read Homeric Greek).

The experience of reading Homer’s works is just as valuable as the knowledge of Greek mythology you’ll glean from them. Homer is regarded as one of the greatest poets of all time for good reasons; his verse is poignantly beautiful without being flowery or effusive, his signature rapid pacing makes for an action-packed read, and the stories he tells feature many of the most paradigmatic characters and scenes in all of world literature.

The Iliad tells the story of the conquest of the city of Troy by a Greek army led by the likes of Achilles, Agamemnon, and Odysseus. The fight is ultimately over Helen, a daughter of Zeus and one of the most beautiful women to ever walk the earth, who is abducted by one of the Trojans. The plot is tugged one way and then another by the characters’ complex psyches, twists of fate, and divine interventions. Click here to view or buy the Iliad at Amazon.

5. The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles

Homer’s second major epic poem, the Odyssey, picks up where the plot of the Iliad leaves off. Troy has been conquered, but for Odysseus, one of the heroes of the victorious army, many battles still loom ahead before he can return home to the arms of his wife, Penelope, and their son, Telemachus. Over the course of twenty years, Odysseus must undergo captivity at the hands of a nymph, the curse of the god Poseidon, a fight with a cyclops, malevolent drugs and spells, the now-proverbial Scylla and Charybdis, and many other trials and tribulations before he can at last set foot again in his home city of Ithaca.

Meanwhile, Penelope and Telemachus must fend off many dozens of suitors, who want to gain Penelope’s hand and, with it, access to Odysseus’s great wealth.

As with the Iliad, the best translation of the Odyssey for most people will be that of Robert Fagles, who makes both of these Greek masterpieces read like masterpieces in English. Click here to view or buy the Odyssey at Amazon.

6. Theogony by Hesiod, translated by M.L. West

Another primary source that every Greek mythology enthusiast owes it to himself or herself to read is Hesiod’s Theogony.

Theogony is a prose work from the late eighth century BCE that provides a remarkably systematic account of the origins of the first gods. (“Theogony” means the genesis of gods.) It’s one of the main sources we have on ancient Greek creation narratives, and its clear, point-by-point structure has made it a favorite source for modern retellings.

M.L. West’s translation is probably the best one out there – easy to understand, but full of poetic richness and nuance. This edition also includes Hesiod’s Works and Days, a collection of advice for farmers on how to live a good life. Click here to view or buy Theogony at Amazon.

7. The Library of Greek Mythology by Apollodorus, translated by Robin Hard

The Library of Greek Mythology (a.k.a. the Bibliotheca) is the only work that survives from classical antiquity that attempts to provide a comprehensive account of all – or at least large parts – of Greek mythology. As such, it’s long been one of the main ancient sources that scholars have used to piece together Greek mythology.

The material in The Library of Greek Mythology covers the birth of the gods and the creation of the world, the later exploits of the gods, and the mighty deeds of heroes like Hercules, Jason, Perseus, Theseus, and the men and women of the Trojan War.

Robin Hard’s translation is modern and accessible, and makes for pleasurable reading. Click here to view or buy The Library of Greek Mythology at Amazon.

8. Greek Religion by Walter Burkert

If you’re interested in going beyond the mythology and learning more about the ancient religion to which Greek mythology belonged, Walter Burkert’s Greek Religion is probably the best single book out there on the topic.

Whereas a few of the other books on this list contain some basic remarks about the Greek gods and other aspects of Greek religion that pertain directly to the myths, Burkert goes much further. Greek Religion offers a comprehensive account of the ancient Greeks’ sanctuaries, rituals, deities, theology (both explicit and implicit), ideal of heroism, views on death and the afterlife, and more. The last two sections focus on later developments in Greek religion, such as the “mystery” cults and the beginnings of the philosophical tradition.

Throughout the book, Burkert provides an ideal synthesis of factual detail and abstract, conceptual interpretation. Click here to view or buy Greek Religion at Amazon.

9. The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology by Pierre Grimal

I imagine that most of you who are reading this have read the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Remember how his works typically come with glossaries so that you don’t become too bewildered by the sheer profusion of proper nouns – the names of characters, places, etc.?

Well, Greek mythology contains a similar abundance of such “key terms.” Therefore, when reading any book on the topic, it’s extremely helpful to have a guide to those “key terms” handy.

Pierre Grimal’s Dictionary of Classical Mythology (reprinted by Penguin Books as The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology) is the best such guide available today. It covers virtually every proper noun you’ll encounter when reading about Greek mythology. Each alphabetical entry contains a description of the character, place, concept, or other “key term” that’s thorough but makes sure that the main points don’t get lost amongst the details. Click here to view or buy The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology at Amazon.

10. Myth and Philosophy: A Contest of Truths by Lawrence J. Hatab

Those of you who have particularly intellectual interests will likely find Lawrence Hatab’s Myth and Philosophy to be engrossing and illuminating, just as I have.

Hatab first offers an overview of early Greek myth and religion from a philosophical standpoint – including what myth is, what its latent or implicit theory of knowledge is, its relationship with the political system and view of the self that prevailed in early Greece, and other such themes. The philosophies of Nietzsche and Heidegger often help to frame these discussions.

The book then considers the historical transformation from myth to philosophy in ancient Greece, and the roles that the above themes and others played in that transformation. Along the way, Hatab points out ways in which earlier Greek myth and religion provided raw concepts that later philosophy would take up and transform, and ways in which elements of myth remained in Greek philosophy (such as Plato’s view that an inner, intuitive “spark” was the root of all reason).

Myth and Philosophy is probably one of my personal favorite books, and is indispensable reading for anyone interested in both philosophy and myth. Click here to view or buy Myth and Philosophy at Amazon.

If you’ve found this list to be helpful, you might also be interested in these other guides of mine:

• The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books

• The 10 Best Books on the Vikings

• The 10 Best Celtic Mythology Books

• The 10 Best Egyptian Mythology Books

The post The 10 Best Greek Mythology Books appeared first on Norse Mythology for Smart People.

I’m currently working on original, reader-friendly renderings of the Gnostic texts. So far, I’ve completed the Secret Book of John and the Gospel of Thomas, with many more to come.

April 27, 2020: After eight years, I’ve decided to end my work here. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished here, but the topic no longer particularly reflects my interests. I’m quite a different person now than the person who created this site and my books. The only writing I want to do these days is my private philosophical writing, which has nothing to do with anything Norse. That being the case, I don’t feel that I have anything to add to what I’ve done here. The site and books will remain available in their current forms in perpetuity, though, so there’s no need to worry about them going anywhere. Thank you to all of you for being part of what’s been an incredible experience in my life.

All the best,
Dan

September 20, 2019: A Turkish translation of The Viking Spirit has just been published by İletişim Yayınları! Check it out if you speak Turkish.

July 17, 2019: After numerous requests, an audiobook version of The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion is finally out! The narrator, Andrew Tell, did a terrific job. You can find it on Amazon here.

May 22, 2019: Added a review of Neil Price’s forthcoming book The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia, a new, updated edition of the classic work.

April 24, 2019: Added an article on Viking Ships.

March 14, 2019: Updated and expanded the article on Thor’s hammer.

March 1, 2019: Fijavan Brenk has translated the article on the Norse creation myth into Finnish. Check it out if you speak Finnish!

February 8, 2019: Added The Vikings’ Conversion to Christianity.

January 12, 2019: I’m taking a break from this site at the moment. I’ll resume posting new articles in February.

October 1, 2018: Rewrote the article on Ragnarok.

September 30, 2018: Rewrote the head article on Tales.

August 8, 2018: Rewrote the head article on Concepts.

July 31, 2017: Rewrote the articles on Fate and the Norns.

July 27, 2018: Rewrote the article on Yggdrasil.

July 24, 2018: Rewrote much of The Creation of the Cosmos.

July 23, 2018: Slew the old article on Ymir and fashioned a new one from its corpse, as it were.

July 20, 2018: Rewrote the article on Ask and Embla.

July 10, 2018: Rewrote much of Gods and Creatures.

July 6, 2018: I’ve made relatively minor changes to dozens of articles here over the past several days. I started this site six years ago, and many of the earliest articles haven’t been updated since then. It’s time to bring them up to speed. So if you’re a long-time reader and something somewhere seems different to you, that’s probably why.

June 29, 2018: Edited The Enchanted World to clear up some passages that struck me as incomplete or ambiguous. I also rewrote the ending of the article on Odin, and made some minor changes to several other articles to bring them into accordance with my current thinking on Norse mythology and religion (which is exemplified by my book The Viking Spirit).

June 6, 2018: Added an article on The Vikings’ Selfish Individualism.

May 19, 2018: Added an article on The Enchanted World – how the Vikings and other Germanic peoples saw the world as being infused with divine presence and sacred meaning.

April 24, 2018: Updated the list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books (added Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology and Jackson Crawford’s translation of the Poetic Edda).

March 10, 2018: Added an article on Viking Weapons and Armor.

February 25, 2018: Added an article on Viking Clothing and Jewelry.

February 9, 2018: Added an article on Viking Food and Drink.

January 29, 2018: Edited the section on the Vikings on the homepage to bring it up to speed with the recent and ongoing series of articles on the Vikings.

January 15, 2018: Lightly edited the page on ancestors and added what I think is a really touching bit of information about cemetery placement.

January 14, 2018: A previously unknown Viking settlement has been discovered in Ireland, and there may be an exhibition of some of the finds later this year.

January 6, 2018: Added an article on Outlawry in the Viking Age.

December 1, 2017: Added an article on Norse Theology, which discusses the “implicit theology” of the Norse myths – in other words, what the Norse meant when they used the word “god.” This article replaces the now-defunct articles “Polytheistic Theology and Ethics” and “Pantheism,” both of which I’ve been deeply dissatisfied with for a very long time. The new article is more historically accurate, and, I think, more existentially inspiring.

November 23, 2017: Extensively revised the section “What is Norse Mythology?” on the homepage.

November 3, 2017: Added an article on Viking Gender Roles.

October 4, 2017: Added an article on The Viking Social Structure.

September 20, 2017: Added an article on Viking Political Institutions.

September 15, 2017: Despite many people’s wishful thinking, there’s still no solid evidence that there were female Viking warriors, let alone that it was a widespread and accepted practice. That new study being paraded all over the place in the media is so sloppy that it’s basically useless. See Judith Jesch’s expert blog post on the topic and Ars Technica’s lighter overview of many of the same points.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that there were female Viking warriors here and there, but the point is that we still don’t know for sure one way or another.

August 25, 2017: The Kindle version of The Viking Spirit is back up on Amazon!

August 22, 2017: The Kindle version of The Viking Spirit is currently unavailable because Amazon doesn’t like some of the formatting in it. Once I make the changes necessary to appease the powers that be, it will be back up – surely in just a few days. I’ll update this page once it’s available again. I’m sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause to any of you. The paperback version is still up as usual.

August 20, 2017: I’m in the process of converting the whole site from HTTP to HTTPS. If you notice that something isn’t loading or displaying correctly, please send me an email and I’ll fix the problem as soon as possible.

August 14, 2017: Added Who Were the Historical Vikings? This is the intro article to the ongoing series of articles on the Vikings themselves, apart from “just” their mythology and religion.

July 13, 2017: Added The 10 Best Books on the Vikings.

June 16, 2017: Added an article on Daily Life in the Viking Age.

May 11, 2017: Added an article on Viking Trade and Commerce.

April 20, 2017: Added an article on The Vikings as Explorers and Settlers.

April 3, 2017: Added an article on Viking Raids and Warfare, the first article in a new series on the historical Vikings themselves (apart from “just” their religion/mythology). In time, this will become a major new section of the site.

February 15, 2017: Rewrote the article on Valhalla.

February 12, 2017: Rewrote the article on Hel (The Underworld).

February 10, 2017: Rewrote the article on Death and the Afterlife.

February 9, 2017: Updated the article on the goddess/giantess Hel.

January 27, 2017: Updated the article on Loki. Most of the material that’s been added to the article is drawn from my recent book The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion, so if you like what you see in this new version of the article, there’s more where that came from.

January 10, 2017: Updated and expanded the article on The Self and Its Parts (formerly “The Parts of the Self”).

January 9, 2017: Updated the article on Gullveig.

January 8, 2017: Rewrote the article on Hugin and Munin.

December 20, 2016: Expanded the article on Norse symbols with a bit about how to distinguish between truly Norse symbols and those that are merely “Norse-flavored.”

December 11, 2016: Updated the article on the tale of The Binding of Fenrir.

December 8, 2016: Rewrote the article on Tyr.

November 1, 2016: Updated the article on the Vegvisir.

October 23, 2016: Added An Introduction to Georges Dumézil, the French scholar who first discovered and articulated the concept of “trifunctionalism” in the societies, religions, and mythologies of the Norse and other Indo-European peoples.

October 17, 2016: It seems that a technical error has been causing this page to load incorrectly. Apologies for that. The error seems to have been fixed.

October 13, 2016: Added an article on Gungnir, Odin’s spear.

October 1, 2016: Added An Introduction to Mircea Eliade, one of the all-time great theorists of religion.

September 23, 2016: Experimenting with different caching systems today. Please let me know if anything isn’t loading or displaying correctly.

September 7, 2016: Added an article on the Gjallarhorn.

August 13, 2016: Added an article on how the Norse viewed dreams.

August 2, 2016: Added The 10 Best Greek Mythology Books.

July 25, 2016: Added an article on kennings.

July 16, 2016: More or less rewrote the article on Bragi, the bard of Valhalla.

July 14, 2016: Edited and expanded the article on Nidavellir/Svartalfheim, the homeland of the dwarves.

July 12, 2016: The Viking Spirit is back up for sale on Amazon.com.

July 11, 2016: I’ve made some slight edits to the source files of The Viking Spirit, so it might be unavailable for a few days while those are being processed. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause – I’m only doing this to make sure that all future copies are as pristine as possible.

July 6, 2016: Added an article on Folkvang, Freya’s afterlife realm.

June 30, 2016: Added The 10 Best Advanced Norse Mythology Books, a sequel to the beginner-oriented list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books. If you’re looking for recommendations on what books to pick up on the topic at either level, those lists are where I’d advise you to head.

June 21, 2016: Added a new article on the einherjar, the spirits of dead elite warriors who live in Valhalla.

And by the way, without naming any names, it seems that the publisher of another introductory book on Norse mythology has changed the book’s cover to be a shameless rip-off of the cover of my new book, The Viking Spirit. It’s a reprint of an old book in the public domain; I guess publishers who have nothing to offer but slavish rehashings of outdated material can’t be bothered to think up their own cover designs, either. So when you go to Amazon to buy The Viking Spirit, make sure you’re getting “the real McCoy” and not a decoy.

June 19, 2016: Updated and expanded the Music section of the Links page.

June 13, 2016: After several requests, here’s an article on the Vegvisir, a popular symbol from an early modern Icelandic grimoire that may or may not date back to the Viking Age.

June 6, 2016: My new book, The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion, is now out! It can be acquired as a Kindle ebook or a good, old fashioned print book at Amazon.com. I’m absolutely thrilled to finally be able to share this with you.

Over the course of the day, I’ve made several adjustments to various aspects of the site in light of the book release. The most significant of them have been an update of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books and a rewrite of the page for my previous book The Love of Destiny.

May 28, 2016: The Kindle ebook version of my forthcoming book, The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion, can now be pre-ordered from Amazon.com here! Working on getting this option set up for the physical version as well. Once again, the release date is June 6th.

I’ve also created a page for the new book.

May 25, 2016: Three more bits of information about my forthcoming book, The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion:

First, the release date will be June 6, 2016. That’s, like, really soon.

Second, here’s the front cover:

Third, as you can see from that cover image, I’ll be using my full(er) name for this book. Just thought I’d make that clear to avoid any potential confusion.

May 12, 2016: After eight and a half months of work, the main body of the manuscript of my forthcoming book is now finished. Expect it to be published within the next two months. (I’ll make a formal announcement on this page as soon as it’s out, of course.)

This seems like a good time to go ahead and reveal some more details about this book. As I’ve said before, it’s an introduction to Norse mythology and religion written to scholarly standards but in a simple, clear, entertaining style suited for a general audience.

It’s the only book in existence that provides a comprehensive introduction to both the Vikings’ mythology and the wider religion of which it was a part, and which incorporates the groundbreaking scholarly research of the past few decades.

The book consists of 46 chapters, including lively retellings of no less than 34 Norse myths – more than any other book in the field.

It’s titled The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion.

While this site strives to provide the ultimate online introduction to Norse mythology and religion, The Viking Spirit strives to provide the ultimate introduction to the field period.

April 2, 2016: It seems that a second Viking settlement in North America may have been discovered. So far, the data sounds tentative but promising.

In other news, the new book is coming together nicely. I’m aiming for a summer publication. More details to follow in the coming months.

March 12, 2016: March 14th (two days from today) is the TV premier of the Major League Baseball documentary for which I was interviewed, Iron Knight: Lou Gehrig. It’s slated to air at 8:00 PM Eastern Time in the US on the Smithsonian Channel. My contributions consist mostly of comparing the story of Lou Gehrig’s life to that of the Norse god Balder. This is a really well-done documentary about a truly remarkable person, and I highly recommend that you watch it if you have the chance. And, as a reminder, you can buy the DVD series if you’re so inclined from Amazon.com.

February 15, 2016: Big news: I’m currently writing a new book in connection with this site. It’s in no way a follow-up to The Love of Destiny, but is a different project altogether, related to that earlier book only by the common topic of Norse mythology and religion. I’ve set a rather lofty goal for this project: to provide the definitive introduction to Norse mythology and religion for the twenty-first century. This new book incorporates the latest research in the field and is written to a high scholarly standard, yet in a style that aims to be accessible and engaging for a general, non-academic audience. It’s somewhat similar to the articles on this site in that regard, but better and more up-to-date in every way.

I’m aiming to finish and publish this book sometime later this year. A summer publication seems probable at this point, but you can’t rush a process like this, so I can’t make any firm guarantees about timing yet.

In the meantime, in the interest of devoting as much attention to this book as possible, I don’t plan to write many, if any, new articles for this site until the book is finished. (It’s not like I’ve exactly been posting new pieces here at a breakneck pace, anyway.)

Details about the book are top secret for now, but I’ll reveal more when the time is right.

This is a really exciting project for me, and I hope that, when you get your hands on the final result, you’ll find it exciting, too.

January 4, 2016: Added a review of Christopher Abram’s Myths of the Pagan North, a book that does a masterful job of tracing the development of the Norse myths during the Viking Age and the medieval period, and discussing what this development means for our understanding of what “Norse mythology” is.

December 16, 2015: Here’s a review of Anders Winroth’s excellent and highly readable general introduction to the Vikings and the Viking Age, The Age of the Vikings.

November 18, 2015: Added an article on Hliðskjálf, the high place from which Odin looks out over the entire cosmos.

October 20, 2015: Awhile back, I was interviewed for a documentary the Major League Baseball Association has been putting together on Lou Gehrig. That project has finally come to fruition and has been released by A&E under the title “Iron Knight: Lou Gehrig” as part of their “Baseball Legends” series, which compares four of the sport’s greatest luminaries to particular figures from mythology.

In “Iron Knight,” I discuss the Norse god Baldr and the connections between Baldr’s story and Gehrig’s. I’m very pleased with the final result, not only because it represents my contributions very well, but, more importantly, because it crafts a truly poignant and inspiring narrative about an extraordinary person who rose to the top of his field, succumbed to a terrible disease at the height of his powers, and accepted his fate with impeccable grace and dignity.

Like any good mythical narrative, the film’s significance is timeless and universal. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to appreciate it. (I don’t particularly follow baseball or any other sport myself.)

“Iron Knight: Lou Gehrig” is set to air on the Smithsonian Channel sometime in 2016. In the meantime, you can purchase it as a DVD on Amazon.com here.

October 11, 2015: Added a review of H.R. Ellis Davidson’s The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature.

September 18, 2015: Doubled the list of The Best Books on Celtic Mythology from five to ten, and edited and updated what was already there. My intent was to turn that list into the Celtic equivalent of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books.

August 24, 2015: While we’re all eagerly awaiting the release of Neil Price’s new book, Odin’s Whisper: Death and the Vikings (and no, I’m not in the loop on this one, and I have no idea what’s behind the repeated delays), here’s some footage of three lectures Dr. Price presented at Cornell University a few years ago. If the subject matter is any indication, much of the research that’s gone into these presentations will likely feature prominently in Odin’s Whisper. All three include an hour-long talk and a 20-minute Q&A session.

In the first, The Children of Ash: Cosmology and the Viking Universe, Price gives an excellent overview of ancient Norse cosmology that lays some groundwork for the next two lectures. Much of this will probably be familiar to many of you, but some of the intriguing nuances may not be.

(I used to have these videos embedded here, but that seemed to be putting too much strain on the server, so I’ve replaced them with basic YouTube links.)

The Children of Ash: Cosmology and the Viking Universe

In the second, Life and Afterlife: Dealing with the Dead in the Viking Age, Price presents a great deal of evidence, both archaeological and literary, for Viking burial practices. This, too, is setting the stage for the next lecture.

Life and Afterlife: Dealing with the Dead in the Viking Age

The third, The Shape of the Soul: The Viking Mind and the Individual, is where everything really comes together. Here, Price discusses what Viking burial practices can tell us about the Vikings’ worldview, as well as their ramifications for what we think of as “Norse mythology.” And, without giving anything away, it’s quite a lot.

The Shape of the Soul: The Viking Mind and the Individual

This is some really groundbreaking work, and I hope you can find the time to watch all three of these videos.

August 1, 2015: Added an article on Sigyn, the wife of Loki.

July 12, 2015: Added a review of Carolly Erickson’s The Medieval Vision: Essays in History and Perception.

June 19, 2015: Added a new article on the concept of Óðr.

May 31, 2015: Yesterday I finished re-reading Rudolf Otto’s 1917 classic The Idea of the Holy, which explores the nonrational experience of the numinous (a word Otto coined, or at least introduced into widespread usage) as the heart of religion. Otto describes how the doctrines that comprise the outer, “rational” aspect of religion are second-order, after-the-fact accounts of a common experience of a certain uncanny, majestic presence or feeling that is “wholly other” than anything we experience in day-to-day life. It’s something that we find ourselves irresistibly attracted to, as if it fulfilled our desires in a way and on a level that nothing in the world of ordinary experience can, and yet it’s simultaneously profoundly troubling, even terrifying and gruesome in some cases, because of just how unlike anything in our mundane lives it is. Otto articulates his arguments with extraordinary lucidity and examples from many different religious traditions from all over the world, and along the way provides some of the most fitting and insightful language out there for describing the numinous itself (which can only be hinted at in words, but some words are much better than others, of course).

The Idea of the Holy is probably the single best philosophy of religion book I’ve ever read. It was also a tremendous influence on Mircea Eliade, another one of my favorite philosophers of religion, whose work I cite extensively throughout this site and in The Love of Destiny. If you’re interested in religion and spirituality from an intellectual angle – and if you’ve found this site, chances are you do – I highly recommend The Idea of the Holy.

May 11, 2015: Just a heads up that the series of articles on ancient Egyptian mythology and religion that I wrote for another one of my sites, the now-defunct World-Mythology.org, has now been moved to its own dedicated site: Egyptian Mythology for Smart People. The old pages all redirect to their corresponding new ones, and I’ve made this announcement on both of those sites already, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to mention it here, too, for those of you who are interested in that part of my work as well.

May 8, 2015: Major site redesign unveiled today, as those of you who are long-term readers have no doubt already noticed. The older design was starting to look rather dated, and it didn’t display correctly on mobile devices. This update should fix both of those issues – and hopefully without creating any new ones in the process. Please email me and let me know if anything isn’t working correctly, and I’ll fix the problem asap. And if you have strong feelings about the new design one way or another, I’d be interested in hearing that, too. Please be specific.

May 8, 2015: Many of you will likely be interested in this: Norway’s ‘We’re Sorry’ Monument to 91 Dead Witches.

April 11, 2015: Finished and published an extensive revision of The 10 Best Books on the Runes. How extensive? Six of the ten books are different. Hopefully this version of the list proves to be more useful and helpful than its previous incarnations.

April 3, 2015: Updated the intro page for the Gods and Creatures section of the site – added links to, and in some cases brief descriptions of, the articles in this section that I’ve written since that page originally went up in late 2012. (Yes, there was quite a bit to add!) I’m not really sure how many people use those intro pages to navigate the site as opposed to just using the navigation menu, but for those who use the intro pages, hopefully this will make it easier to find what you’re looking for.

March 11, 2015: Updated the page on The Old Norse Language and How to Learn It to reflect the fact that the second volume in Jesse L. Byock’s Viking Language series has been released! It’s by far the best resource for learning Old Norse at an intermediate level out there at this point.

March 8, 2015: Added A Response to Common Criticisms of The Love of Destiny.

March 2, 2015: After being out of print and next to impossible to find for a long time, Runes and Magic by Stephen Flowers (aka Edred Thorsson) is now apparently available again, and for quite a reasonable price! If you want to understand what the runes really meant to the pre-Christian Germanic peoples, this is indispensable reading. It was one of the main sources I used for my own articles on the runes. Here’s a link to its page on Amazon.com, and here’s a link to the mini-review I wrote of it in The 10 Best Books on the Runes.

February 8, 2015: Added an article on The Tale of Utgarda-Loki. Despite this story’s popularity, it’s actually a late fairy tale, and has little to nothing to do with myth in any meaningful sense of the word.

January 18, 2015: I’ve just come across a very under-appreciated musical artist whose enchanting, luminous work will likely speak to many readers of this website: Anilah. Here’s her official website, and here’s her Bandcamp page where you can purchase/download her music. Her latest work is a re-recording of her earlier song “Warrior,” which features a collaboration with Einar Selvik (“Kvitrafn”) of Wardruna, with whom many of you are probably familiar. It’s simply overwhelmingly beautiful, and can be streamed here prior to its official release on January 22nd.

January 4, 2015: Added a review of Thomas A. DuBois’s excellent Nordic Religions in the Viking Age, which I’ve used extensively as a source when writing many of the articles on this site.

December 10, 2014: Added an article on the Disir.

November 12, 2014: Recently it’s come to my attention that a number of sites have been re-posting articles from this site, and in many cases the owners of the sites in question have been trying to pass off my work as their own. I realize that this is a common practice on the internet, but it’s one that I’m very much opposed to on principle. As the sole author and copyright holder of every article on this site, I don’t authorize such use of my work. Anything I write is written with the intention of its being displayed where I actively choose to publish it, and there alone.

If you’ve re-posted something of mine, I’m flattered that you’ve found it to be valuable enough to want to do that, but, in the end, you’re only going to acquire my disdain by actually stealing it and posting it elsewhere without my consent. You’re not doing me any kind of service – quite the contrary. Do you really want to run a blog or a website whose operations are dependent upon stealing the work of others, and that garner the scorn of those whose work you apparently admire so much? Besides, your site is never going to go anywhere if you can’t even be bothered to write original content. You’re committing internet suicide by consigning your site to the dustbin of mediocrity and irrelevance. (Google, for example, treats my original work at this site very differently than it does slavish re-postings of it.) If you want to quote or cite my work, by all means, go ahead, but re-posting an entire article is inexcusable.

However, I’ll have much more respect for those who remove my material from their websites immediately and refrain from re-posting anything of mine without my consent in the future. So, if you’re among those who have looted my work, please show that you have some honor and remove my work from your site.

November 9, 2014: Published what is definitely the most significant edit so far to the very popular The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books since it was first published two years ago. There are now actually 13 books on the list, and it’s sure to be more useful than ever for anyone who wants to learn more about Norse mythology and religion, from the total beginner to the advanced scholar.

November 3, 2014: Added an article on the obscure god Odr (Óðr).

October 20, 2014: Added a review of Emma Wilby’s The Visions of Isobel Gowdie: Magic, Witchcraft, and Dark Shamanism in Seventeenth-Century Scotland.

October 14, 2014: Added an article on the gods Vili and Ve, who were probably of much more central importance than the relative sparseness of mentions of them in Old Norse literature might suggest.

October 7, 2014: Added an article on the god Kvasir.

October 5, 2014: As you can see, the unwieldy “blog” page has been replaced with this much simpler and more straightforward one. This site consists of articles, which are static pages, not blog posts, so using blog posts to update readers whenever I write a new article – linking to the article in a two-line post – was a really wonky system that, fortunately, is no more. This site no longer has a “blog” of any kind. In the future, all updates will be listed on this page.

The post News/Updates appeared first on Norse Mythology for Smart People.

Ullr (pronounced “ULL-er,” often Anglicized as “Ull,” and also occasionally referred to as “Ullinn”) is an obscure and enigmatic Norse god. References to him in Old Norse literature are sparse and tell us little to nothing about his personality or role in pre-Christian religion and mythology. Nevertheless, these passing references indicate that he was once a deity of considerable importance, even if we don’t know why.

Ullr is the son of the grain goddess Sif, and therefore the stepson of the thunder god Thor.^[1] Kennings establish that Ullr is an excellent archer, hunter, skater, and skier, handsome, warlike, and an especially apt deity to invoke before a duel. “Ullr’s ship” is a kenning for “shield,” which indicates that there was a tale of his traveling across the ocean on a shield, but if so, this tale has been lost.^[2] One of the poems in Poetic Edda, the Grímnismál, states that his home is called Ýdalir, “Yew Dales.”^[3] Yew wood was preferred above that of all other trees for making bows, which probably explains this association.^[4]

Elsewhere in the poem, Odin, who is entrapped between two fires, promises the blessings of “Ullr and all the gods” on whomever will rescue him.^[5] This placement suggests a position of particular prominence for Ullr relative to other deities. This suggestion is corroborated by the medieval Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, who tells us that Ullr (whose name is here Latinized as “Ollerus”) assumed the leadership of the gods during a period when their usual chief, Odin, was in exile.^[6] Similarly, another Old Norse poem, the Atlakviða, features a scene involving the swearing of oaths wherein the last and most solemn oath is sworn on the ring of Ullr.^[7]

The prevalence of place names derived from “Ullr” throughout Sweden and eastern Norway further attests to Ullr having once been an exceptionally prominent figure amongst the Scandinavian gods. Many of these names are combined with elements such as hof, “temple,” which indicates active worship of Ullr during the early Viking Age and possibly later as well.^[8][9]

The meaning and etymology of his name are uncertain, but some have suggested that it could be derived from a Germanic root that can also be found in Gothic wulþus, “glory,” and Old English wuldor (“glory, splendor, honor”).^[10]

Some have attempted to equate Ullr with the sky god Tyr, who, as his article on this site discusses, was the Germanic version of the highest god of the Proto-Indo-Europeans, from whom the Norse and other Germanic peoples are descended.^[11]

This connection seems to me to be technically possible, but it’s quite a stretch. Tyr was, amongst other things, a god of law and justice. The episode of swearing an oath on Ullr’s ring in the Atlakviða could indicate that Ullr was likewise appealed to as a patron of law and justice. But since swearing an oath on a symbol of divinity – any divinity, regardless of that deity’s connection with justice and law – was a common practice in heathen Germanic society, this episode alone is insufficient to establish that Ullr had anything in particular to do with these attributes. Both gods were apparently more prominent in Norse religion at one time than they were by the time Old Norse literature was written, but this does not in and of itself establish a connection between the two, either. And that’s the only evidence that connects Ullr and Tyr in any way – if you even want to call that evidence. This speculation, therefore, is nothing more than a speculation, for which and against which it is impossible to persuasively argue.

Others have wanted to connect Ullr with the Vanir tribe of deities on similarly shaky evidence: the distribution of place names with “Freyr” and “Njord” in them in the vicinity of place names bearing “Ullr,” and the fact that Ullr apparently once traveled across the sea (some deities who are grouped amongst the Vanir were associated with the ocean). More fundamentally, however, any argument that assumes the Vanir were a distinct tribe is by that virtue alone open to considerable suspicion, because it’s highly debatable to what extent the Vanir were seen as being a distinct tribe of gods, if at all.^[13]

So, in the end, we know just enough about Ullr to infer that he was once a deity of prime importance, but we have no idea who he really was or what made him so important to the ancient Scandinavians. Like so many other aspects of pre-Christian Germanic religion, the information we have on Ullr is fragmentary and insubstantial, but, what is even more frustrating, tantalizingly so.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.

References:

^[1] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 182.

^[2] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. p. 339-340.

^[3] The Poetic Edda. Grímnismál, stanza 5.

^[4] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 182-183.

^[5] The Poetic Edda. Grímnismál.

^[6] Saxo Grammaticus. Gesta Danorum.

^[7] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 182-183.

^[8] Ibid.

^[9] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. p. 339.

^[10] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 184.

^[11] Ibid.

^[12] Ellis-Davidson, Hilda Roderick. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. p. 105-106.

^[13] Simek, Rudolf. 2010. The Vanir: an Obituary. In The Retrospective Methods Newsletter, December 2010. Edited by Helen F. Leslie and Mathais Nordvig.

The post Ullr appeared first on Norse Mythology for Smart People.

Garm (Old Norse Garmr, whose meaning/etymology is unknown) is a dog or wolf associated with the underworld and the forces of destruction. Little is known about him, since the references to him are sparse and vague. There’s just barely enough material in the surviving Old Norse sources to get a general idea about the kind of being he was perceived to be during the Viking Age.

In the Grímnismál, one of the poems in the Poetic Edda, Garm is said to be to canines what Odin is to gods and what Yggdrasil is to trees – that is, the greatest among them, the exemplar.^[1]

In the Völuspá, another Eddic poem, Garm is mentioned as part of a refrain that repeats throughout the poem:

Now Garm howls wildly
Before Gnipa Cave.
Chains will snap
And the wolf will run.^[2]

While the reference to Garm in the Grímnismál calls him a hundr, “dog,” this reference in the Völuspá uses the word freki, “wolf.” This refrain is recited as part of an account of the events leading up to and during Ragnarok, the destruction of the cosmos and its re-submergence into chaos. Another one of the events that was said to herald Ragnarok was the escape of the wolf Fenrir, who had been tied up by the gods and left in a remote swamp so that he wouldn’t devour the cosmos. The two images of bound wolves breaking loose at the same time can’t help but make one wonder whether or not Fenrir and Garm are ultimately the same figure.

This interpretation is supported by the fact that, as the gods and the forces of chaos battle during Ragnarok, the god Tyr is said to engage Garm in single combat.^[3] Since Tyr had earlier tricked Fenrir into allowing himself to be bound in an unbreakable chain, and since Fenrir had bitten off the god’s hand in the process, it would make sense for the two to have a vendetta against each other, which in turn makes it likely that the wolf Tyr will fight during Ragnarok is none other than Fenrir.^[4]

Some scholars have also linked Garm with the nameless hound of Hel mentioned in another Eddic poem, Baldrs Draumar. The reference to the dog in the poem is only in passing; he barks at Odin as the god rides into the underworld.^[5] The identification of Garm with this hound is difficult to demonstrate conclusively due to the fact that we have no idea what or where “Gnipa Cave” is. Still, cave imagery is used to depict the underworld in mythologies from all over the world, which makes the suggestion that Gnipa Cave is an entrance to the underworld, and Garm its guardian, far from unreasonable.

Regardless of whether or not Garm, Fenrir, and the hound of Hel are the same figure, they certainly seem to be little more than multiplications of the same type of figure: a canine associated with the underworld and the forces of chaos who breaks free at the world’s end as an omen of its destruction and in order to aid its destruction. The exact differences between these figures are highly ambiguous, and, in any case, probably superficial.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.

References:

^[1] The Poetic Edda. Grímnismál, stanza 44.

^[2] The Poetic Edda. Völuspá. My translation. The original Old Norse reads:

Geyr nú Garmr mjök
fyr Gnipahelli,
festr mun slitna,
en freki renna.

^[3] Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Gylfaginning.

^[4] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 280-281.

^[5] The Poetic Edda. Baldrs Draumar, stanza 2.

The post Garm appeared first on Norse Mythology for Smart People.

Since I reference the Indo-Europeans and Proto-Indo-Europeans in several articles on this site, I figured it would be helpful to provide a brief overview of who these people were and why they matter, both in general and in the specific context of understanding the pre-Christian mythology and religion of the Norse and other Germanic peoples.

As the name implies, the Proto-Indo-Europeans were the original Indo-European society. While many of the details of when and where they first erupted into history are controversial, linguistic and archaeological evidence points most convincingly to an origin in the Bronze Age – specifically, around five thousand years ago – in the steppes north of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in what is today eastern Ukraine and southwestern Russia.^[1] (By “today” I mean early May 2014 – surely I don’t need to discuss how the political maps in this region are currently being redrawn.)

The Proto-Indo-Europeans were pastoralists whose economy centered around raising a few species of livestock. As such, they were semi-nomadic, journeying long distances to find new pastures in which their animals could graze. Like most, if not all, pastoralist peoples throughout history, they were patriarchal and fiercely warlike; those new pastures they’d have to find every so often were usually occupied by others, and the newcomers would have to conquer, kill, or drive off the land’s earlier inhabitants in order to use their fields.

However, the Proto-Indo-Europeans had two particular military advantages over their neighbors: the domesticated horse and the wheel. All other things being equal, warriors on foot just don’t stand a chance against warriors who are mounted on horseback or riding in chariots.

Thus equipped, the Proto-Indo-Europeans spread out over much of Eurasia in the following centuries. Wherever they went – virtually all of Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and many of the lands in between – they conquered and assimilated the local populations. While the customs, languages, and worldviews of the pre-Indo-European populations certainly exerted an influence on the hybrid societies that formed after this conquest, the basic template of these societies was solidly Indo-European.

As this underlying structure changed over time in its various new environments – with regard to language, religion, class systems, etc. – the societies that we today would recognize as the Celts, the Greeks, the Romans, the Slavs, the Indians (of India, of course), and, yes, the Germanic peoples, arose. These societies are all referred to as “Indo-European” because they’re all descended from Proto-Indo-European society.

The relationships between the various Indo-European peoples can perhaps be best understood at a glance by considering the following family tree of the Indo-European language families. (“Indo-European” at the top refers to the Proto-Indo-European language, from which all of the others are descended. Old Norse, the language of the Vikings, is – somewhat arbitrarily – split into East Norse and West Norse here. And as you can see, English – the language which you’re reading right now – is a West Germanic language that can also be traced back to Proto-Indo-European.)

Why Do the Indo-Europeans Matter?

We’ll approach this question from two different angles: first, why does the comparative study of the Indo-European world matter for the study of Germanic mythology and religion? And second, why is the study of the Indo-European world relevant to our lives today?

As for the first question, the primary sources of our current knowledge of the worldview and ways of life of the pre-Christian Germanic peoples are sparse, fragmentary, and often cryptic. It’s impossible to form any kind of comprehensive picture of heathen Germanic religion from a face-value consideration of the sources alone. Various interpretive and comparative strategies are necessary.

That’s where Indo-European studies comes in. The different branches of Indo-European religion – Germanic, Celtic, Hindu, etc. – all had some common core features due to their inheritance from the Proto-Indo-Europeans. Knowing what those core features were enables one to understand, in light of those models, some elements of Germanic religion that wouldn’t otherwise make sense. To be sure, one can’t automatically assume that “since Proto-Indo-European religion had X feature, later Germanic religion also had X feature,” but when utilized as one possible interpretive lens among several others, a comparative Indo-European perspective can be a powerful asset. A few examples:

The Norse god Tyr is a relatively obscure figure in the Old Norse literary sources. However, based on linguistic evidence, we can trace him back to the highest god of the Indo-European pantheon, *Dyeus,^[2] and thereby we can tentatively reconstruct various aspects of his personality and role within the divine hierarchy.

Speaking of the divine hierarchy, Proto-Indo-European society was divided into three distinct classes or “functions”: the first function, that of the priests and rulers; the second function, that of the warriors; and the third function, that of the farmers, herders, craftsmen, etc – the “common people.”^[3] While this threefold division of society may, in and of itself, be found in societies outside of the Indo-European world, “it is the treatment of this structure as a special class of concepts requiring and receiving almost endless elaboration in all spheres of cultural ideology and behaviour that makes it truly unique to the Indo-Europeans.”^[4]

Mythology is one such “sphere of cultural ideology and behavior.” In Norse mythology, Tyr and Odin exemplify the two distinct facets of the first function, with Tyr being the benevolent king or judge who rules by law and Odin being the “Terrible Sovereign” who rules by magical power. Thor, the indefatigable defender of Asgard, exemplifies the second function, although he also had agricultural associations that link him to third function. (Again, the correspondence is striking, but far from perfect.) The third function is represented by Freyr more than any other deity.^[5] Thus, it’s surely no coincidence that in eleventh-century German historian Adam of Bremen’s description of the heathen temple he visited in Uppsala, Sweden, the “idols” he mentioned as occupying the central position were three imposing depictions of Odin, Thor, and Freyr – all three functions – side by side.^[6]

Those are just two examples among many, but they should suffice to illustrate the point that Germanic mythology makes a lot more sense when considered in its Indo-European context than it does purely on its own.

With regard to the second question – why is the study of the Indo-Europeans relevant to our lives today? – I would give two answers.

The first is that the world wouldn’t be what it is today had it not been for the Indo-Europeans. If you’re reading this article, chances are that your first language is an Indo-European language, and it’s also very likely that all of the languages you speak are Indo-European languages. Given how powerfully language shapes the range of thoughts available for us to think, this fact exerts no small influence on our outlook on life and therefore, by extension, on our actions. Vestiges of the tri-functional hierarchy are still present in our societies; at least in theory, governments have more power than the police and military, who in turn have more power than the rest of the “civilian” population.

More specific examples could also be readily furnished. For example, Christianity couldn’t have existed without the Persian prophet Zoroaster/Zarathustra first articulating the idea of a dualistic, moral good and evil, and even though Zoroaster’s philosophy and religion, Zoroastrianism, was in many respects a radical departure from earlier Indo-European thinking, he nevertheless used his Indo-European heritage as so many building blocks from which to craft his own vision.^[7]

My second answer to the question of why Indo-European studies is relevant is that, as powerfully as it’s influenced our modern social structure and thought, there are also many ways in which the Indo-European worldview is strikingly different from our own. Studying it enables you to have that many more perspectives to draw from in creating your own worldview.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.

References:

^[1] Anthony, David W. 2007. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World.

^[2] Mallory, J.P., and D.Q. Adams. 2006. The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. p. 408-409.

^[3] Dumézil, Georges. 1988. Mitra-Varuna: An Essay on Two Indo-European Representations of Sovereignty. Translated by Derek Coltman.

^[4] Mallory, J.P. 1991. In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth. p. 271.

^[5] Dumézil, Georges. 1973. Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Edited by Einar Haugen.

^[6] Adam of Bremen. c. 1080. History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen. Translated by Francis Joseph Tschan. p. 207.

^[7] Winn, Shan M. M. 1995. Heaven, Heroes, and Happiness: The Indo-European Roots of Western Ideology.

The post Who Were the Indo-Europeans and Why Do They Matter? appeared first on Norse Mythology for Smart People.

The swastika is one of the oldest and most widespread of humanity’s symbols. It can be found on artifacts thousands of years old from several continents. While it was used by the Norse and other Germanic peoples from the beginnings of those societies, the swastika is far from just a Germanic symbol. It was one of the central symbols of Proto-Indo-European society, the society that gave rise to the Germanic, Celtic, Slavic, Greek, and Roman societies in Europe, as well as Hindu society in India, which accounts for its use by both ancient and modern-day Hindus and Buddhists. Nor was it an exclusively Indo-European symbol, however; it can also be found in the indigenous art of the American Indians, the Sami of the far north of Scandinavia, and plenty of other peoples across the world.

The Germanic peoples were carving the swastika onto rocks as far back as the Bronze Age, before most other Germanic symbols, including the runes, had yet appeared.^[1][2] Its meaning for them was dynamic and hard to pin down into any simple definition, but it had much to do with luck, prosperity, power, protection, and sanctity, and was often associated with the sun and sky.

This article discusses the role the swastika played in ancient Germanic symbolism, the meanings it had within that system, and how it was tragically appropriated in the twentieth century by the Nazi movement, whose values were antithetical to those of the pre-Christian Germanic peoples.

The Swastika, the Sunwheel, and Thor’s Hammer

As it was used by the Germanic peoples, the swastika was so closely tied to two other symbols, the sunwheel and Thor’s hammer, that the three were practically interchangeable.

The sunwheel (Old Norse sólarhvél), like the swastika, was found throughout the Indo-European world – that is, Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe and parts of Asia. Among the Celts, for example, the two symbols are generally found in the same archaeological context, occurring next to or in place of a depiction of a sky god in engravings and statues.^[3] This suggests two things: that the two symbols were seen to be synonymous – and indeed, their visual forms themselves would suggest that they’re simply variations on a common image – and that they had an especially close association with the solar and celestial powers.

These same qualities are also found amongst the Germanic peoples. In runic inscriptions, which often included non-runic symbols, the sunwheel and swastika appear to have meant the same thing.^[4]

As for the connection with a sky god, for the Norse the two symbols were hardly distinguishable from a third common symbol: the Mjöllnir or Thor’s hammer. Thor was the principal sky god of the Norse peoples during the Viking Age (having apparently taken over this role from Tyr over the course of the centuries). In the Norse tales, his hammer was used to defend the gods’ celestial stronghold, Asgard, from the giants, the forces of chaos, decay, and destruction. Ritualistically, the symbol of Thor’s hammer was used to consecrate and bless a marriage, a person, an endeavor, a piece of land, or anything else that one wanted to be protected by the forces of cosmic order and health against those of anti-cosmic chaos.

The swastika was often engraved on hammers. On runestones, the swastika can often be found beside or in connection with Thor.^[5] In fact, the title “Thor’s hammer” (Old Norse Þórshammar) commonly referred to the swastika/sunwheel. For example, in one book of Icelandic spells, a clearly drawn image of a swastika is referred to as a “Thor’s hammer.”^[6]

In a well-known episode from King Hakon the Good’s Saga, King Hakon, a Christian, attended a pagan feast. When it was his turn to drink from the cup of liquor being passed around the table – an act that had particular ritual implications – he made the sign of the cross over it before drinking from it. The other guests took offense. One of Hakon’s friends came to his defense by claiming that he had made the sign of “Thor’s hammer” over the vessel to consecrate it to Thor. If the visual form the king’s friend had in mind were a hammer, his defense would have made little sense. But if he and the other guests took “Thor’s hammer” to mean a swastika, then this defense can be much more easily explained.^[7]

The Meaning of the Swastika

The meaning of the swastika, then, seems to have been the same as that of Thor’s hammer. Being hallowed with this symbol made the consecrated person or thing holy, lucky, safe, and prosperous.^[8] In spells, especially runic inscriptions, the presence of the swastika/sunwheel/hammer heightened the potency of the spell.^[9] The swastika was the quintessential and mightiest Germanic “good luck charm,” and was believed to take its bearer from one state of being – that of chaos, the mundane, and weakness – to another – that of sacred order and strength. In its many forms it seems to have been as central to the pre-Christian religion of the Germanic peoples as the cross was (and is) in Christianity.

The Nazi Appropriation of the Swastika

Of course, when most people hear the word “swastika” today, none of that grand history comes to mind. Instead, people associate this once beautiful and noble symbol with totalitarianism and a genocidal impulse. How did this happen? Why did the National Socialist movement of early-to-mid-twentieth century Germany adopt the swastika of all symbols as its own central icon?

During the Romantic period in the nineteenth century, the peoples of Europe took a great deal of interest in rediscovering their pagan heritage. Additionally, the English were fascinated by questions of what exactly made them English, the French were fascinated by questions of what exactly made them French, and so on.

Perhaps nowhere were these trends more pronounced than in Germany. Nowhere else did they achieve the same level of cultural prominence and social organization, nowhere else did they become as explicitly nationalistic, and nowhere else did these tendencies last well into the twentieth century.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Germany was awash with so-called völkisch (often anglicized as “folkish”) groups, who combined a kind of ethnic nationalism with the “occult” spiritualism that was flourishing at the margins of society. The völkisch groups and the people who comprised them were a very diverse and dynamic bunch; some were relatively private and mostly focused on esoteric spiritual pursuits, while some were overtly political, with various and often competing agendas in that regard.

What the völkisch groups generally had in common, however, was an insistence that the unifying forces of German ethnicity and cultural traditions were things to be celebrated, as well as a notion that looking to the past history of the German people provided clues to how Germans should live in the present day.

(Note that this outlook is not necessarily racist nor totalitarian. Many modern American Indian groups, for example, could also be classified as völkisch with regard to their own ancestral traditions and modern interpretations thereof. Except for a few outliers, it would be awfully difficult to seriously argue that these American Indian groups are racist and/or totalitarian, and the same thing, broadly speaking, could be said of the German movements in question.)

Given the prominence of the swastika in ancient Germanic society and spirituality, these groups often adopted it as a favored symbol. It thereby came to be a well-known motif in early twentieth century German culture, where it was associated with ethnic nationalism.

The relationship between the völkisch movements and the Nazis was tense and complicated. While many völkisch groups and individuals certainly supported the Nazis, others adamantly opposed them and were ultimately persecuted by them.

In any case, when the Nazis came to power over the course of the 1920s and 30s, they often utilized the superficial trappings of pagan Germanic society for propaganda purposes while utterly ignoring that tradition’s deeper content. The swastika is perhaps the foremost example of this trend. Despite its original meaning for the ancient Germanic peoples, and despite its near-worldwide occurrence, by this time the popular German imagination saw it only – and, of course, with reference to its earlier meaning, mistakenly – as a symbol of that which was specifically German and “Aryan.”^[10] (“Aryan” is an older word for “Indo-European,” and, before the Nazis, usually had no connotations different than those that the word “Indo-European” does today.)

Thus, when Hitler explained the symbolism of the various components of the National Socialists’ flag in Mein Kampf, he wrote, “we see… in the swastika the mission of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man.”^[11]

This appropriation of the swastika was as anachronistic as it was tragic. As I describe at some length in this article, pagan Germanic society was quite individualistic. As political leaders go, Viking chieftains were about as far from a Führer as you can be. A warrior’s loyalties were largely chosen rather than absolute and obligatory, especially those loyalties that we would consider to be “political” and “economic.” This ability to choose one’s duties and responsibilities, and to seek glory for oneself as an individual, was a matter of the highest pride for the Vikings and other ancient Germanic warriors. Their basic attitude would have been deeply hostile toward anything like twentieth-century totalitarianism, whether in its right-wing or left-wing forms.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.

References:

^[1] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 84.

^[2] MacLeod, Mindy, and Bernard Mees. 2006. Runic Amulets and Magic Objects. p. 100.

^[3] Green, Miranda. 1989. Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art. p. 4, 154.

^[4] MacLeod, Mindy, and Bernard Mees. 2006. Runic Amulets and Magic Objects. p. 9.

^[5] Ellis-Davidson, Hilda Roderick. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. p. 83.

^[6] Flowers, Stephen, editor and translator. 1989. The Galdrabók: An Icelandic Grimoire. p. 39.

^[7] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 84.

^[8] MacLeod, Mindy, and Bernard Mees. 2006. Runic Amulets and Magic Objects. p. 21.

^[9] Ibid. p. 24.

^[10] Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. 1993. The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology.

^[11] Shirer, William L. 1960. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. p. 44.

The post The Swastika – Its Ancient Origins and Modern (Mis)use appeared first on Norse Mythology for Smart People.

This page is the fourth part of a five-part article on the runes. The other four parts are:

Part I: Introduction
Part II: The Origins of the Runes
Part III: Runic Philosophy and Magic
Part V: The 10 Best Books on the Runes

This section provides the sign, name, phoneme (sound), and short description of the meaning of each of the twenty-four runes that comprise the Elder Futhark. The given meanings are based on the medieval Rune Poems (which are conveniently available online here) exclusively. Where our present knowledge isn’t extensive enough to give an explanation of which one can be reasonably certain, this is noted and the meaning is left unexplained or only partially explained. This article is hardly the place for esoteric speculations, which have been avoided. (If you’re interested in going beyond the evidence and using less academically acceptable means of discerning other meanings of the runes, you have to do that yourself. The books on my list of The 10 Best Books on the Runes might help.)

Name: Fehu, “cattle.” Phoneme: F. Meaning: wealth.

Name: Uruz, “aurochs.” Phoneme: U (long and/or short). Meaning: strength of will.

Name: Thurisaz, “Giant.” Phoneme: Th (both soft and hard). Meaning: danger, suffering.

Name: Ansuz, “an Aesir god.” Phoneme: A (long and/or short). Meaning: prosperity, vitality.

Name: Raidho, “journey on horseback.” Phoneme: R. Meaning: movement, work, growth.

Name: Kaunan, “ulcer.” Phoneme: K. Meaning: mortality, pain.

Name: Gebo, “gift.” Phoneme: G. Meaning: generosity.

Name: Wunjo, “joy.” Phoneme: W. Meaning: joy, ecstasy.

Name:Hagalaz, “hail.” Phoneme: H. Meaning: destruction, chaos.

Name: Naudhiz, “need.” Phoneme: N. Meaning: need, unfulfilled desire.

Name: Isaz, “ice.” Phoneme: I (long and/or short). Meaning: unknown (the rune poems are ambiguous and contradictory).

Name: Jera, “year.” Phoneme: Germanic J, modern English Y. Meaning: harvest, reward.

Name: Eihwaz, “yew.” Phoneme: I pronounced like “Eye.” Meaning: strength, stability.

Name: unknown. Phoneme: P. Meaning: unknown. (Note: the theory that this rune’s name was “Pertho” is just speculation. No one really knows, because the Viking Age and medieval sources are too vague.)

Name: unknown (the rune poems are contradictory). Phoneme: Z. Meaning: protection from enemies, defense of that which one loves.

Name: Sowilo, “sun.” Phoneme: S. Meaning: success, solace.

Name: Tiwaz, “the god Tiwaz.” Phoneme: T. Meaning: victory, honor.

Name: Berkanan, “birch.” Phoneme: B. Meaning: fertility, growth, sustenance.

Name: Ehwaz, “horse.” Phoneme: E (long and/or short). Meaning: trust, faith, companionship.

Name: Mannaz, “man.” Phoneme: M. Meaning: augmentation, support.

Name: Laguz. Phoneme: L. Meaning: formlessness, chaos, potentiality, the unknown.

Name: Ingwaz, “the god Ingwaz.” Phoneme: Ng. Meaning: fertilization, the beginning of something, the actualization of potential.

Name: Othalan, “inheritance.” Phoneme: O (long and/or short). Meaning: inheritance, heritage, tradition, nobility.

Name: Dagaz, “day.” Phoneme: D. Meaning: hope, happiness.

Continue on to Part V, The 10 Best Books on the Runes.

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The Norse pseudo-god Loki, who is by turns the friend and the enemy of the other gods, had three fearfully hideous and strong children with the giantess Angrboda (“She Who Bodes Anguish”). The first was the serpent Jormungand, and the second was the death-goddess Hel. The third was the wolf Fenrir.

The gods had terrible forebodings concerning the fate of these three beings. And they were absolutely correct. Jormungand would later kill the god Thor during Ragnarok, the downfall of the cosmos, an event which would be largely brought about by Hel’s refusal to release the radiant god Baldur from the underworld. During these cataclysmic events, Fenrir would devour Odin, the chief of the gods.

In order to keep these monsters at bay, they threw Jomungand into the ocean, where he encircled Midgard, the world of humankind. Hel they relegated to the underworld. Fenrir, however, inspired too much fear in them for them to let him out from under their watchful eyes, so they reared the pup themselves in their stronghold, Asgard. Only Tyr, the indefatigable upholder of law and honor, dared to approach Fenrir to feed him.

Fenrir grew at an alarming rate, however, and soon the gods decided that his stay in Asgard had to be temporary. Knowing well how much devastation he would cause if he were allowed to roam free, the gods attempted to bind him with various chains. They were able to gain the wolf’s consent by telling him that these fetters were tests of his strength, and clapping and cheering when, with each new chain they presented him, he broke free.

At last, the gods sent a messenger down to Svartalfheim, the realm of the dwarves. The dwarves, being the most skilled craftspeople in the cosmos, were able to forge a chain whose strength couldn’t be equaled; it was wrought from the sound of a cat’s footsteps, the beard of a woman, the roots of mountains, the breath of a fish, and the spittle of a bird – in other words, things which don’t exist, and against which it’s therefore futile to struggle. Gleipnir (“Open”) was its name.

When the gods presented Fenrir with the curiously light and supple Gleipnir, the wolf suspected trickery and refused to be bound with it unless one of the gods would lay his or her hand in his jaws as a pledge of good faith. None of the gods agreed, knowing that this would mean the loss of a hand and the breaking of an oath. At last, the brave Tyr, for the good of all life, volunteered to fulfill the wolf’s demand. And, sure enough, when Fenrir discovered that he was unable to escape from Gleipnir, he chomped off and swallowed Tyr’s hand.

The fettered beast was then transported to some suitably lonely and desolate place. The chain was tied to a boulder and a sword was placed in the wolf’s jaws to hold them open. As he howled wildly and ceaselessly, a foamy river called “Expectation” (Old Norse Ván) flowed from his drooling mouth. And there, in that sordid state, he remained – until Ragnarok.^[1][2][3]

Tyr’s Character and Role

Of all of the surviving Norse myths, this tale is the only one that prominently features Tyr. Without it, we wouldn’t understand Tyr’s character or role nearly as well as we can with the help of this myth.

Many people who have only a passing knowledge of Norse mythology think of Tyr as a war god. That he certainly was, but virtually all of the Norse gods and goddesses had something or another to do with war. Tyr, like all of the other Norse war gods, was far more than only a war god.

This myth powerfully illustrates Tyr’s role as the divine legal expert and upholder of the law. In the words of the celebrated scholar of comparative religion Georges Dumézil, when Tyr sacrifices his hand, “he not only procures the salvation of the gods but also regularizes it: he renders legal that which, without him, would have been pure fraud.”^[4] The gods had sworn an oath to Fenrir, and the guarantee of their intention to follow through with their pledge was Tyr’s hand (or arm – the percentage of the limb bitten off by Fenrir is irrelevant). When the gods didn’t follow through with their oath, Fenrir was entitled to Tyr’s hand as compensation. By allowing the wolf to claim his limb, Tyr fulfilled the gods’ end of the bargain, grisly and tragic though it was for him.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.

References:

^[1] The Poetic Edda. Lokasenna, stanza 38.

^[2] Eyvindr Skáldaspillir. Hákonarmál, stanza 20.

^[3] Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Gylfaginning 34.

^[4] Dumézil, Georges. 1988. Mitra-Varuna: An Essay on Two Indo-European Representations of Sovereignty. Translated by Derek Coltman. p. 142.

The post The Binding of Fenrir appeared first on Norse Mythology for Smart People.