Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share by e-mail. Skadi — the giantess who married the sea god. Heimdall — the father of mankind. Freyja predicted the future. Balder — loved by everyone. Frigg — the goddess of marriage. Thor — a temperamental thunder-god. Explore the History The worlds and beings of Norse mythology.
Explore the History The mythological world of the Vikings. Today at the museum More about "Events". Clothes pins depicting the war god Odin with his two ravens. Odin received information from his two ravens Hugin and Munin. Every day they flew out over the world and observed what occurred. In this way Odin could find out about everything that happened.
Here you can read about the most popular and important gods:. Odin The supreme god is Odin. Thor Thor was the most popular of all the gods. Illustration: Johannes Gehrts. On the stone from Snaptun Loki is depicted with his mouth sewn up. Loki had gambled his life in a bet with the dwarf Brokk. For Odin, any kind of limitation is something to be overcome by any means necessary, and his actions are carried out within the context of a relentless and ruthless quest for more wisdom, more knowledge, and more power, usually of a magical sort.
One of the most striking attributes of his appearance is his single, piercing eye. His other eye socket is empty — the eye it once held was sacrificed for wisdom. At the end of this ordeal, he perceived the runes , the magically-charged ancient Germanic alphabet that was held to contain many of the greatest secrets of existence. He is depicted as having subsequently boasted:. Then I was fertilized and grew wise; From a word to a word I was led to a word, From a work to a work I was led to a work.
The prize was the head of the loser, and Odin won by asking his opponent something that only he himself could know. Odin then claimed his prize and returned to Asgard. His shamanic spirit-journeys are well-documented. Odin, like shamans all over the world, [14] is accompanied by many familiar spirits , most notably the ravens Hugin and Munin , the wolves Geri and Freki, and the valkyries. The shaman must typically undergo a ritual death and rebirth in order to acquire his or her powers, [15] and Odin underwent exactly such an ordeal when he discovered the runes.
This was the form of Germanic shamanism that was the most socially acceptable for men to practice. The other main form of Germanic shamanism is contained within the magical tradition known as seidr , of which Odin and Freya are the foremost divine practitioners. In traditional Germanic society, for a man to engage in seidr was effectively to forsake the male gender role , which brought considerable scorn upon any male who chose to take up this path. A fuller discussion of the relationship between Germanic shamanism and gender roles can be found here.
There was no question Kvasir could not answer, and he roamed the world sharing his wisdom. One day, Kvasir visited the home of the evil dwarves Fjalar and Galar, who murdered Kvasir and brewed the Mead of Poetry from his blood. When Fjalar and Galar crossed the wrong family of giants, they too were killed and the mead fell into the hands of the giant Suttung. Odin tried to take the mead from Suttung first by tricks, then by treachery.
When Odin finished the work, however, Suttung refused even a sip of his precious beverage. Odin then transformed himself into a snake and bored his way into the giant's mountain home. While in flight, Odin spit his liquid loot into the vessels the Aesir gods left out for him, thus offering the Mead of Poetry to the world. In the nineteenth century, the emergence of German nationalism stimulated a revival of Germanic culture and a rediscovery of its mythic history.
Odin, among other gods and heroes of old, was brought back into the realm of popular culture and has remained there ever since. In recent years, Odin has been featured prominently in many pieces of popular media. He also appeared in the God of War video game series.
Perhaps the most accessible manifestation of Odin was seen in the Marvel comic book franchise, where Odin was featured as the father of Thor. In these movies, as with most modern depictions of Odin, the all-father was cast as a wizened old leader who ruled benevolently over Asgard, fought honorably against various cosmic foes, and generally dispensed fatherly wisdom. In reality, Odin ruled with great cynicism, fought dishonorably through trickery and subterfuge, and was seldom the fatherly figure he has become in recent years.
The History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen. Translated with introduction and notes by Francis J. New York: Columbia University Press, Translated by Henry Adams Bellows. Internet Sacred Text Archive. Lindow, John. New York: Oxford University Press, Sturluson, Snorri. Translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. It tells of Norse religious practice, often in disparaging tones, as when Adam treats the Norse practice of offering human sacrifices to the god Odin, or Wotan, as the German scholar referred to him.
Apel, Thomas.
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