Collected Norse Myths

Some of my friends ask me why I follow the Ásatrú faith.. Some people think its just because they are cool, or because its different, but because to me it makes more sense, though some of it is pretty far out there, such as the creation of the world. My following information will come from the Prose and Poetic Edda's. I will cite which after each section

In the beginning nothing existed except for Ginnungagap, the great abyss. Nothing had yet been created; not sand, sea, heaven nor earth. After a long span of time, a new realm had begun to arise in the south called Niflheim. It was made of fire, glowing embers, and scorching heat. In the north a second region sprang forth called Muspell, consisting of bitter winds, and of freezing ice and snow.

Ginnungagap was situated between these two realms, and the waters from the eleven rivers of Hvergelmir flowed here. In the middle of the void all was mild, until one day the elements of fire and ice collided. In the north Niflheim's cold breeze began to freeze the void, while the southern part was thawed by the warmth emanating from Muspell. All was disorder. Life emerged from the drops of this great chaos in the shape of a giant. His name was Ymir and the frost giants are his descendants.

While Ymir was asleep, the first man and woman were born from the sweat of his left armpit, and his legs gave birth to a son. Meanwhile, the ice on Ginnungagap continued to melt, untilAudumblathe cow emerged.

She fed the giant Ymir with her four teats. She sustained herself by licking the ice. As Audumbla licked the salty ice blocks for three consecutive nights, another being appeared, He was named Buri. Buri's son Borr married Bestla. They had three sons, Odin, Vili, and Ve.

Borr's sons had a raging hatred towards the giant Ymir, and they plotted his death. Ymir's corpse was carried to the center of Ginnungagap and cut into many pieces. Odin, Vili, and Ve fashioned the world out of Ymir's body.

From Ymir's flesh they made the earth, and the mountains from his unbroken bones. From Ymir's shattered skeleton parts, teeth, and toes they created pebbles, boulders and rocks. Ymir's flowing blood gave rise to the rivers, lakes, and sea. Maggots grew from Ymir's rotting carcass,and they were shaped into dwarfs.

Odin, Vili, and Ve lifted Ymir's skull so high it reached the end of the earth's limits, and they called it the sky. The sons of Borr placed a dwarf on each of the four corners to hold it over the earth. Their names were: Nordri, Sudri, Austri, and Vestri.

Odin, Vili, and Ve snatched glowing embers from the realm of Muspellheim and fashioned the sun, moon, and stars. These orbs were placed above the world to illuminate the earth. Some stars were given a fixed point in the sky, while others were allowed to dance freely.

Snorri Sturlson. The Prose Edda. Trans. Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1916.

Very possibly, my favorite of all of the Germanic myths; Baldr's death was a tragic accident among the Æsir.

Before the incident, Baldr began to expierence night terrors evry night. His dream was of his own death. The Æsir were so shaken by these dreams, that Odin left Asgard on a trek to Hel. When he arrived, Odin used his great powers to ressurect a seeress; this seeress did not recognize him though, and Odin asked her four questions. With his first three questions, he discorvered that Hodr would be the slayer of Baldr, and that Vali would take vengence on Hodr; with the fourth question the seeress recognized her interrogator, and refused to answer any more questions.

The Æsir and the Vanir began then to think of all things that may harm Baldr, and Frigga volunteered then to travel to the nine worlds and convince every thing on all worlds to swear an oath to not harm Baldr. When she returned, the Gods made sport of testing his invulnerability: Darts and axes were thrown, but nothing could harm Baldr the Good.

Loki, the trickster and God of Fire, became envious. He disguised himself as an elderly woman and speaking with Frigga, and they chatted for an extended time like old friends. From this chat, though, Loki learned that Frigga had actually left out a small bush from the oath of protection; the bush she left out was the mistletoe. Loki then went in search of a mistletoe bush and found one, and took one of its branches an turned it into a sharpened dart.

Loki the returned to the company of the Gods, who were throwing darts at Baldr. To one side was Hodr, the blind brother of Baldr, who did not partake in the sport. Loki asked why Hodr did not join in the sport, to which Hodr responded that he had no dart, nor could he see his throw if he did. Loki said that he had a dart, and would guide his aim. Hodr took the dart, and guided by the Trickster's hand, threw the dart with great strength. The dart flew through the air and hit Baldr, piercing his chest. Bladr fell forward on his face, dead.

The silence in the hall was deafening. All of the Æsir knew who was responsible; Hodr could not see their gaze, and Loki could not bear it. Loki fled from the hall.

Frigga begged for someone to take the journey to Hel and retrive the fallen god, and Hermodr volunteered. Odin offered him his six legged steed, Sleipnir for the voyage.

While Hermodr was filling out this task, Baldr's body was laid out on a funeral pyre that was built on his ship, Hringhorni. Baldr's wife, was also laid on the pyre, after dying from grief. Baldr's horse was also slain, and laid along side of him. Odin also took off his ring, Draupnir, and set on Baldr's arm. In doing so, the pyre was lit and pushed out to sea, but not before whispering into his son's ear.

Nine nights passed as Hermodr rode down the dark road to the land of the dead. Then he finally came to the bridge Gjallarbrú over the river Gjöll. The maiden who guarded the bridge, Móðguðr, noticed that the bridge creaked more beneath Hermodr and Sleipnir than it had beneath five batallions of dead just one day before. From this she drew to the conclusion that he was still among the living. She asked Hermodr what he wanted in the land of the dead, and then she confirmed that Baldr had indeed crossed that very bridge earlier.

Hermodr rode onward until he came to the gates of the land of the dead. He spurred Sleipnir onward, and they jumped completely over the gate.

Hermodr finally came to the hall of Hel, daughter of Loki and ruler of the kinggdom of the dead. Hel was willing to release Bladr, but only under the condition that all creatures living or dead would weep for him. If any creature refused to weep then Baldr would remain in Hel. Hermodr bid farewell to Baldr and Nanna who gave him many gifts, including Draupnir.

On Hermodrs return, the Aesir sent messengers to all the nine worlds. All things did weep for baldr; man and beast, stone and metal, which wept by being covered in frost, which then began to thaw.

The messengers of the Aesir then came to a cave where a giantess lived alone. When she was asked to weep for Baldr, she replied "Alive or dead, the old man's son has been no use to me. Let Hel hold what she has." Despite entreaties, the giantess would neither weep, nor say another word. The Aesir had no doubt that the giantess was truly Loki in disguise, in his malice, seeking to keep baldr with Hel.

The Norse code of conduct required Odin to avenge the death of his son Baldr. Using trickery and magic against an unwilling Rind, Odin sired with her a son named Váli. The infant grew rapidly from the first moment of his birth. On the first night of his life, before he had even combed his hair or washed his hands, Váli came to Asgard and slew Hodr with an arrow.

No one knows what Odin Whispered in his sons ear before they lit the pyre. In the poem Völuspá it says that Frigga wept, not for the lose of her son, but for the woe of Valhalla because she recognized this as a sign of forthcoming Ragnarok.

Earlier I mentioned this to be possibly my favorite of the myths, and that is because it shows the truth to how vulnerable we all are to things. Whether you believe in the Aesir or not, you can not deny that this feeling of immortality in the sense of "nothing can stop me now" or "That won't happen to me" happens all around us today. Even the gods can be brought down in Asatru faith, as is told in the story above and in the story of Ragnarok, which I may just add later.

Snorri Sturlson. The Prose Edda. Trans. Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1916.