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Norse Mythology: Pantheon, Ragnarok, Creation, & More
The Christians who the Vikings raided for centuries refer to them in their records as barbaric heathens, but Norse mythology underpinned a highly sophisticated religion that reflected the values and beliefs that made the Vikings such fearsome and daring warriors. This article provides an overview of the main cornerstones of Norse mythology, including their creation myth, pantheon of gods, afterlife beliefs, and the Ragnarök prophecy.
Norse Creation Myth
Audumbla licking Buri out of salt rime while liquid flows from her udders, from Icelandic manuscript SAM 66, 74r, 1765. Source: My Norse Digital Image Repository
According to the Norse creation myth, in the beginning, there was a great yawning void in the universe known as the Ginnungagap. At the very top of the void was a world of heat and fire called Muspelheim, and at the very bottom, a world of cold and mist called Niflheim. Over time, heat and mist seeped into the void and formed a salty rime, from which life emerged.
The first life to emerge was the primordial jotun or giant Ymir. He sustained himself by drinking the milk of the primordial cow Audumbla. Meanwhile, she fed herself by licking the salty rime. After three days, she licked another being out of the rime, Buri, the first of the gods. At some point, the mighty world tree Yggdrasil also grew across the void, with its roots fed by rivers in Niflheim and its branches reaching up into Muspelheim.
Odin and his brothers killing Ymir, by George Hand Wright, 1902. Source: My Nose Digital Image Repository
These primordial beings then “went forth and multiplied.” Ymir was able to reproduce asexually, with giants and beasts springing forth from the sweat of his armpits. The gods seem to have reproduced the old-fashioned way. Buri, by some unknown method, had a son Borr. He married the giantess Bestla, and they had three sons, the gods Odin, Vili, and Ve.
The gods soon became concerned that the ever-multiplying giants vastly outnumbered them. Therefore, Odin and his brothers killed Ymir, and flooded the world with his blood, killing most of his giant offspring. They then used the remains of Ymir’s enormous body to give shape to the world.
In the end, Yggdrasil held nine worlds among her roots and branches. This included Midgard, which the gods populated with their own creations, mankind. Midgard was connected to Asgard, the world of the Aesir gods led by Odin, by the Rainbow Bifrost Bridge. There was also Jotunheim, the world of the giants, a world of chaos, as made plain in the story of Thor traveling through Jotunheim to the stronghold of Utgard-Loki.
The Norse Pantheon
Thor’s Fight with the Giants, by Martin Eskil Winge, 1872. Source: National Museum, Sweden
The Aesir gods established themselves in the realm of Asgard. There they were ruled by Odin the All-Father, the god of war and wisdom. Odin was married to Frigg, the matron goddess, and had many children with many different women. The most famous of these was Thor, the god of thunder, considered the strongest of the gods. Consequently, he was charged with protecting the realms of Asgard and Midgard from the chaotic threat of the giants with his hammer Mjolnir, which causes lightning and thunder when it strikes.
While the giants and gods were long-term nemeses, there was plenty of intermarriage between the two supernatural tribes. For example, Thor’s mother was the giantess Jord. The giant Loki was also allowed to live in Asgard among the gods due to a brotherhood pact he made with Odin. Moreover, the giants were not the only supernatural beings with whom the Aesir had conflict.
Odin throws a spear at the Vanir host in the Aesir-Vanir war, by Lorenz Frohlich, 1895. Source: Wikimedia Commons
While the Aesir gods were deities of social order and war, ruling over realms such as warfare, justice, and family duty, there was another tribe of gods known as the Vanir. They were deities more closely connected with nature and magic. Early in the history of Norse myth, the Aesir and the Vanir went to war. One of the main points of contention seems to have been that the Vanir engaged in chaotic practices forbidden by the Aesir, such as brother-sister marriages.
The war ended in a stalemate and hostages were exchanged. While the Aesir sent Mimir to live among the Vanir in Vanaheim, the Vanir god Njord and his divine children Freyr and Freyja were sent to live among the Aesir. They were quickly accepted among the Aesir and became some of the most popular gods in the Norse pantheon.
The Walls of Asgard and Divine Treasures
The giant Thjazi kidnaps the goddess Idun with the walls of Asgard visible in the background, by Elmer Boyd Smith, 1930. Source: My Norse Digital Image Repository
After this conflict, the Aesir gods decided they needed fortifications around their home. One day, a builder stopped and offered to build the walls of Asgard in exchange for the sun and the moon, and the hand of Freyja in marriage. The gods were ready to refuse, but Loki convinced them that they could trick the builder and get him to complete a good section of the walls without paying anything by making the payment conditional that he completed the work alone and within a tight time limit. The builder agreed to the terms, on the condition that he could use his horse Svadilfari.
As the deadline approached, the gods realized that, due to the help of this amazing horse, the builder was likely to complete the task. Unwilling to pay the cost, they blamed Loki for their predicament and demanded he fix the problem. Therefore Loki, a shapeshifter, transformed himself into a beautiful mare and distracted Svadilfari. Not only did the gods not pay, but when they realized the builder was a giant, they killed him. Another unforeseen consequence was that Loki the mare became pregnant, giving birth to Odin’s eight-legged steed Sleipnir.
The story of Loki getting the gods into trouble and then having to help them get out of it is a repeating theme in many Norse myths. For example, this was how the gods gained many of their treasures. When Loki removed the hair of Thor’s wife Sif as a joke, he was told to replace it or face the consequences. Therefore, he went to the dwarves, the master craftsmen of the Norse cosmos, to get her an enchanted golden headpiece. While there, Loki also got into mischief that saw him retrieve several other treasures for the gods, including Thor’s famous hammer.
The Children of Loki
Children of Loki, by C.E. Brock, 1930. Source: My Norse Digital Image Repository
Loki lived among the Aesir gods and had an Aesir wife, Sigyn, but he also had a giantess wife, Angrboda. Loki and Angrboda had three children, the mighty wolf Fenrir, the enormous snake Jormungandr, and the half-living and half-dead giantess Hel. When the Aesir learned of these children, they decided that they were too dangerous to be left to their own devices. The gods decided to put each somewhere in the universe where they could do the least harm.
Fenrir was chained up on a deserted island with a magical unbreakable chain. Because the wolf was too big and strong to be subdued, he had to be tricked into donning the chains himself, with the gods suggesting that he break them as a show of strength. Sensing the trap, Fenrir only agreed if one of the gods placed their hand in his mouth as a guarantee. Only the god Tyr, a god of war and justice, was brave and self-sacrificing enough. He lost his hand to subdue the wolf.
Jormungandr was thrown into the waters surrounding Midgard, earning him the name Midgard Serpent. There, he grew to such an enormous size that he could encircle the entire world and hold his tail in his mouth. He is so big that he is part of the ecosystem, and his movements can cause tidal waves.
The gods considered Hel too horrible to look upon, so they sent her to Niflheim to rule over the underworld located there, which became known as Helheim in her honor.
Destiny and Death
Valhalla, illustration by Johannes Gehrts, 1885. Source: GermanicMythology.com
The Vikings believed in destiny. Fate was overseen by the Norns, Norse fates, who lived at the base of Yggdrasil, near the Well of Destiny, one of the three wells that feed the world tree. There, they carve destiny into the tree’s bark using the runes. Odin was so jealous of their knowledge of the runes that he hung himself from Yggdrasil for nine days and nights while pierced by his own spear until their secrets were revealed to him. He then shared those secrets with mankind as both an alphabet and the basis for Norse rune magic.
The Norns also spun the fates of individuals, visiting each person at birth and cutting their life string to measure. Consequently, the Vikings believed that their time of death was already determined and could not be changed. But how they lived their lives and how they faced death was within their control.
While Helheim was one of the Viking afterlives, it was only one of several places where a person might find themselves after death. Unlike Christian Hell, it was a general afterlife where anyone could find themselves. But where Viking warriors wanted to find themselves was Valhalla. This was one of Odin’s halls in Asgard. With the help of the Valkyries, Odin chose the bravest fallen warriors from the battlefield to live there in the afterlife. These Einherjar trained and feasted, preparing to fight alongside the gods in the final battle.
The Death of Balder
Hodr Killing Balder, illustration in SAM 66 75v, by Jakob Sigurðsson, 1765-1766. Source: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, Reykjavik, Iceland
While all warriors wanted to find themselves in Valhalla, the god Balder, the son of Odin and Frigg, found himself in Helheim. Balder was the god of light and joy and his mother, Frigg, was determined to protect her son following prophetic dreams. Frigg was infamously a seeress who never told anyone what she saw. The goddess there secured promises from everything in existence never to hurt or assist in hurting her son. As a result, Balder was invincible, and the gods entertained themselves by throwing things at Balder and watching them harmlessly bounce off.
Loki, for unknown reasons but perhaps to get revenge for the treatment of his children, was determined to learn whether Balder had any weaknesses. Disguised as an old woman, he entered Frigg’s house and gained her trust. Eventually, Frigg admitted that she may have forgotten to get the promise from the humble mistletoe plant. Loki wasted no time. He made a dart from mistletoe and took it to the hall where the gods played their game. There, he encountered Hodr, Balder’s blind brother. Loki pretended that he was helping Hodr participate in the game and directed him to throw the dart at Balder. To the shock of everyone present, Balder died instantly.
Rather than finding himself in Valhalla, Balder landed in Helheim. The gods sent Hermodr, the divine messenger, to Helheim to bargain with Hel for his return. He told the queen of the underworld that Balder was beloved by all things and should be returned to the realm of the living. She said that he would agree if they could prove how beloved Balder was, by having all things in existence weep for him. The gods almost succeeded, but one witch, assumed to be Loki in disguise, refused to weep, and Balder was forced to remain in the afterlife.
The Punishment of Loki
Loki and Sigyn, by W.G. Collingwood, 1908. Source: The Open Library
While Vali was born and grew to adulthood in a single day to kill Hodr for his role in Balder’s death, Loki was not immediately punished, either because his role was unclear or because of his brotherhood pact with Odin. But soon his guilt became apparent and intolerable.
Things came to a head when the gods hosted a feast, to which Loki was not invited. He turned up anyway and started insulting all the gods, in the Viking tradition of flyting, in a story known as the Lokasenna. Loki insults the gods, accusing them of things such as sexual promiscuity, adultery, and cowardice, and admits his guilt in the death of Balder. This proves a step too far, and when Thor shows up, Loki flees.
The gods track Loki down and punish him for his actions by tying him to a rock in a cave and hanging a venomous serpent over him to dip poison painfully onto his body. His wife Sigyn tries to save him from the worst of the pain by sitting beside him with a bowl to catch the venom, but when she must leave to empty the bowl, he suffers, and his writhing causes earthquakes. This breaking of the long friendship between Loki and the gods is one of the prerequisites for Ragnarök.
The Ragnarök Prophecy
Skoll, illustration by Louis Moe, 1929. Source: My Norse Digital Image Repository
Odin received a prophecy from a Volva, a Viking seeress and witch, about Ragnarök, which means the “twilight of the gods.” The prophecy records the events that will lead to the end of the world.
There will be portents that signal the arrival of Ragnarök. Principle among them, the world will endure a “Fimbulvetr,” a long winter, that lasts for three winters without relief. This will lead to famine and war, with brother killing brother. The sun and moon will be devoured by the wolves Skoll and Hati, throwing the world into darkness. The cold and dark will make Jormungandr uncomfortable in his waters, and the Midgard Serpent will finally emerge.
The movement of Jormungandr’s great body will cause earthquakes. It will allow both Loki and Fenrir to break their chains and lead a charge of enemies against the Aesir gods. They will be joined by an army of the unworthy dead from Helheim led by Hel, who will sail on ships made from the fingernails and toenails of the dead. It will also crack open the entrance to Muspelheim, the realm of fire, allowing the giants there to join the battle. They will be led by Surtr, who carries a flaming sword.
Ragnarök. Odin fights the Fenrir Wolf and Thor the Midgard Serpent, by Johannes Gehrts, 1903. Source: Norwegian Digital Learning Arena
When the enemy army descends on Asgard, Heimdall, the watchman of Asgard, will sound the alarm. The battle will begin, and many gods and monsters are destined to kill one another. Odin, at the head of his army of Einherjar, will be devoured by the great wolf Fenrir, who will in turn be killed by Odin’s son Vidar. Thor and Jormungandr will fight to the death. Thor will kill the serpent with his hammer, but Jormungandr will spew so much venom into Thor that he will die in just nine steps. Freyr will fight to the death with the fire giant Sutr, Tyr will fight to the death with Garm, the guard dog of Helheim, and Heimdall and Loki will kill one another.
The great war will cause immense destruction, with Jormungandr spewing poison into the air and Surtr burning all with his sword. As a result, the universe will be destroyed and sink back into the water of chaos. Several surviving versions of the Ragnarök prophecy end there, with the destruction of all things. But a few later versions, written by Norse Christians, suggest that a new world will emerge from the destruction. It is hard to know if this is part of the original myth or a Christian addition. Whatever the case, the prophecy shows that fate is all-powerful and cannot be avoided by anyone, not even the gods.
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