Norse mythology

Norse mythology (Icelandic: Norræn goðafræði) is the body of myths of the North Germanic people stemming from Norse paganism and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia and into the Scandinavian folklore of the modern period. The northernmost extension of Germanic mythology, Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition.

Numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts such as the hammer-wielding, humanity-protecting thunder-god Þórr, who relentlessly fights his foes; the one-eyed, raven-flanked god Óðinn, who craftily pursues knowledge throughout the worlds and bestowed among humanity the runic alphabet; the beautiful, seiðr-working, feathered cloak-clad goddess Freyja who rides to battle to choose among the slain; the vengeful, skiing goddess Skaði, who prefers the wolf howls of the winter mountains to the seashore; the powerful god Njörðr, who may calm both sea and fire and grant wealth and land; the god Freyr, whose weather and farming associations bring peace and pleasure to humanity; the goddess Iðunn, who keeps apples that grant eternal youthfulness; the mysterious god Heimdallr, who is born of nine mothers, can hear grass grow, has gold teeth, and possesses a resounding horn; the Jǫtunn Loki, who brings tragedy to the gods by engineering the death of the goddess Frigg's beautiful son Baldr; and numerous other deities.

Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar, beings who may be friends, lovers, foes or family members of the gods. The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Realms that flank a central cosmological tree, Yggdrasill. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings. Various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, and the first two humans are Askr and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök, when an immense battle occurs between the gods and their enemies, and the world is enveloped in flames, only to be reborn anew. There the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world.

Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century, when key texts were brought to the attention of the intellectual circles of Europe. By way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology. In the modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, and references to Norse mythology may now be found throughout modern popular culture. The myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism.

Gods and other beings
Central to accounts of Norse mythology are the plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as with the jötnar, who may be friends, lovers, foes or family members of the gods. Numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. As evidenced by records of personal names and place names, the most popular god among the Scandinavians during the Viking Age was Thor, who is portrayed as unrelentingly pursuing his foes, his mountain-crushing, thunderous hammer Mjöllnir in hand. In the mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, and is wed to the beautiful, golden-haired goddess Sif.

The god Óðinn is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf and raven-flanked, and spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the worlds. In an act of self-sacrifice, Odin is described as having hanged himself on the cosmological tree Yggdrasill to gain knowledge of the runic alphabet, which he passed on to humanity, and is associated closely with death, wisdom, and poetry. Odin has a strong association with death; Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Valhǫll, where valkyries carry half of those slain in battle. Odin's wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Baldr. After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his impending death, his death is engineered by Loki, and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel, a realm ruled over by a goddess of the same name.

Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess; Freyja. She is beautiful, sensual, wears a feathered cloak, and practices seiðr. She rides to battle to choose among the slain and brings her chosen to her afterlife field Fólkvangr. Freyja weeps for her missing husband Óðr, and seeks after him in faraway lands. Freyja's brother, the god Freyr, is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts, and in his association with the weather, royalty, human sexuality, and agriculture brings peace and pleasure to humanity. Deeply lovesick after catching sight of the beautiful jötunn Gerðr, Freyr seeks and wins her love, yet at the price of his future doom. Their father is the powerful god Njörðr. Njörðr is strongly associated with ships and seafaring, and so also wealth and prosperity. Freyja and Freyr's mother is Njörðr's sister (her name is unprovided in the source material). However, there is more information about his pairing with the skiing and hunting goddess Skaði. Their relationship is ill-fated, as Skaði cannot stand to be away from her beloved mountains, nor Njörðr from the seashore. Together, Freyja, Freyr, and Njörðr form a portion of gods known as the Vanir. While the Aesir and the Vanir retain distinct identification, they came together as the result of the Æsir–Vanir War.

While they receive less mention, numerous other gods and goddesses appear in the source material. (For a list of these deities, see a list of Germanic deities.) Some of the gods heard less of include the apple-bearing goddess Iðunn and her husband, the skaldic god Bragi; the gold-toothed god Heimdallr, born of nine mothers; the ancient god Týr, who lost a hand while binding the great wolf Fenrir; and the goddess Gefjon, who formed modern day Zealand, Denmark.

Various beings outside of the gods are mentioned. Elves and dwarfs are commonly mentioned and appear to be connected, but their attributes are vague and the relation between the two is ambiguous. Elves are described as radiant and beautiful, whereas dwarfs often act as earthen smiths. A group of beings variously described as jötnar, thursar, and trolls (in English these are all often glossed as "giants") frequently appear. These beings may either aid, deter, or take their place among the gods. The norns, dísir, and aforementioned valkyries also receive frequent mention. While their functions and roles may overlap and differ, all are collective female beings associated with fate.

Cosmology
The cosmology of the worlds in which all beings inhabit—nine in total—centers around a cosmological tree, Yggdrasil. The gods inhabit the heavenly realm of Ásgarðr whereas humanity inhabits Miðgarðr, a region in the center of the cosmos. Outside of the gods, humanity, and the jötnar, these Nine Worlds are inhabited by beings, such as elves and dwarfs. Travel between the worlds is frequently recounted in the myths, where the gods and other beings may interact directly with humanity. Numerous creatures live on Yggdrasil, such as the insulting messenger squirrel Ratatoskr and the perching hawk Veðrfölnir. The tree itself has three major roots, and at the base of one of these roots live a trio of Norns. Elements of the cosmos are personified, such as the Sun (Sól, a goddess), the Moon (Máni, a god), and Earth (Jörð, a goddess), as well as units of time, such as day (Dagr, a god) and night (Nótt, a jötunn).

The afterlife is a complex matter in Norse mythology. The dead may go to the murky realm of Hel—a realm ruled over by a female being of the same name, may be ferried away by valkyries to Odin's martial hall Valhǫll, or may be chosen by the goddess Freyja to dwell in her field Fólkvangr. The goddess Rán may claim those that die at sea, and the goddess Gefjon is said to be attended by virgins upon their death. Texts also make reference to reincarnation. Time itself is presented between cyclic and linear, and some scholars have argued that cyclic time was the original format for the mythology. Various forms of a cosmological creation story are provided in Icelandic sources, and references to a future destruction and rebirth of the world—Ragnarök—are frequently mentioned in some texts.

Humanity
According to the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá and the Prose Edda, the first human couple consisted of Ask and Embla; driftwood found by a trio of gods and imbued with life in the form of three gifts. After the cataclysm of Ragnarok, this process is mirrored in the survival of two humans from a wood; Líf and Lífþrasir. From this two humankind are foretold to repopulate the new, green earth.

Numerous heroes appear in Norse mythology and are celebrated in a variety of poems, songs, and narratives. Within the Prose and Poetic Edda, notable humans include Gylfi, the first King of Sweden, in the Gylfaginning, King Geirröth in the [Grímnismál], and two peasant children Þjálfi and Röskva, who are tricked into bond service to Thor by Loki and appear in Skáldskaparmál and the Gylfaginning. The Prose Edda also describes the afterlife for humans, with honorable warriors feasting and battling endlessly in Valhalla, while those who died dishonorably or out of battle were sent to Niffelheim.

Influence on the popular culture
With the widespread publication of Norse myths and legends at this time, references to the Norse gods and heroes spread into European literary culture, especially in Scandinavia, Germany, and Britain. In the later 20th century, references to Norse mythology became common in science fiction and fantasy literature, role-playing games, and eventually other cultural products such as comic books and Japanese animation. Traces of the religion can also be found in music and has its own genre, viking metal. Bands such as Amon Amarth, Bathory and Månegarm generally sing about Norse mythology.

Deities
Norse mythology has numerous divine figures among it's accounts, with Odin, Thor and Loki been the most prominent, and also most used Norse gods in popular culture, such as comic books, television and film. Among the many Norse gods and goddesses there are:

Major deities

 * Óðinn
 * Þórr
 * Loki
 * Týr
 * Baldr
 * Heimdallr
 * Njörðr
 * Freyr
 * Freyja
 * Frigg

Items
Main article: Items in Norse mythology

Triquetra
The triquetra is a knot-like formation with three ends, commonly shown interlaced around a circle. The symbol is also known as the symbol of charm, and is used in the depiction of several norse and scandinavian items such as the Mjöllnir. The Triquetra was heavily used by Norse pagans, as they used articles like pendants resembling the Mjolnir with a Triquetra symbol crafted on it.

Mjöllnir
The Mjölnir, also known as Mjolnir (or Mjollnir), prenounced "MYOL-neer", is a heavy mystic hammer forged by dwarf smiths known as Brokk and Eitri, which were the sons of Sindri. The hammer is wielded by the Norse god of thunder, Thor.

Valknut
The valknut (coined from Old Norse valr, "slain warriors" and knut, "knot") is a symbol consisting of three interlocked triangles. Scholars have proposed a variety of explanations for the symbol, sometimes associating it with the god Óðinn, and it has been compared to the three-horned symbol found on the 9th-century Snoldelev Stone, with which it may be related.

Races

 * Æsir
 * Draugr
 * Dwarf
 * Elf
 * Fairy
 * Giant
 * Norns
 * Ogre
 * Troll
 * Valkyries
 * Vanir

The Nine Worlds
In Norse mythology, the nine worlds also known as nine realms, are planets or massive city-like places located throughout the cosmos, connected by the world three known as Yggdrasill. The interdimensional rainbow-like path known as Bifröst, bridges Asgard with other realms.


 * Álfheimr
 * Ásgarðr
 * Jǫtunheimr
 * Miðgarðr
 * Múspellsheimr
 * Niðavellir
 * Niflheimr
 * Svartálfaheimr
 * Vanaheimr

Other locations

 * Valhǫll
 * Bifröst
 * Útgarðar

Comics
Norse mythology has been heavily used by Marvel Comic's as source material for various of their storylines in the Thor comic books. Not to forget, Marvel Comic's used Norse mythology's deities like Thor and Loki to create their own super heroic and villainous versions of the characters respectively.

A very popular comic series called "Valhalla" made by the Danish Peter Madsen detailed many of the stories and legends of the Norse mythology.

Music
Some bands are influenced by Norse Mythology and make music about it. Examples are: Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" is greatly inspired by Norse Mythology.
 * Manowar
 * Amon Amarth
 * Týr
 * Heidevolk
 * Therion

Rick Riordan wrote about the norse gods in his book series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

Other media

 * Rooster Teeth Productions ' s web series RWBY features the character Nora Valkyrie. Not only does her last name reference the female warriors who would lead Viking champions to Valhalla, but she also alludes to Thor. Her weapon is a hammer/grenade launcher known as Magnhild which she uses with uncanny strength. Her semblance (a superpower unique to the individual) is the production and channeling of electricity, similar to how Thor is the god of thunder. Nora's female gender alludes to the story where Thor disguised himself as Freyja in order to retrieve his hammer from a giant who wanted the goddess as his wife.
 * The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game has a series of cards the (Nordic and Aesir archetypes) based on Norse gods and other mythological creatures.
 * The Space Wolves chapter of Space Marines in Warhammer 40,000 are heavily influenced by Norse mythology, with their homeworld of Fenris being named for Fenrir the wolf, who also serves as inspiration for massive Fenrisian wolves that prowl the planet's wintery landscape.