Norse Mythology and Saga of the Volsungs

1. Norse Mythology and Saga of the Volsungs Petty 2005

2. Introduction to Norse 4th century- Pytheas- impossible to say anything about the northern regions because of all of the white feathers. Paganism- longer than any other place. Vikings- terrorists? In the 4th century BC, the Greek Pytheas described a place where the laws of nature seemed to be suspended, where earth and water and air came together and everything seemed to float about freely. The renowned historian Herodot complained that it was actually quite impossible to say anything at all about the northern regions, because one simply couldn't see a foot in front of one. This was because of all the white feathers that constantly blew in people's faces - the air is thick with such feathers, he wrote, and the ground completely covered by them! We should probably interpret this observation as the somewhat unsuccessful attempt of a southerner to describe a snowstorm. It�s always been a mystery. Paganism too lasted longer here in the north. When the rest of Europe had been Christianized for almost a thousand years, Norwegians were still worshipping their old pagan gods. They were called Vikings, the Norsemen who around the year 1000 rendered the coasts of Europe unsafe, terrorizing people from London and Paris to deep into the Mediterranean area, those wild and ruthless "barbarians" who did not hesitate to plunder churches and monasteries. Was nothing sacred to them? What did these blond marauders themselves believe in? In the 4th century BC, the Greek Pytheas described a place where the laws of nature seemed to be suspended, where earth and water and air came together and everything seemed to float about freely. The renowned historian Herodot complained that it was actually quite impossible to say anything at all about the northern regions, because one simply couldn't see a foot in front of one. This was because of all the white feathers that constantly blew in people's faces - the air is thick with such feathers, he wrote, and the ground completely covered by them! We should probably interpret this observation as the somewhat unsuccessful attempt of a southerner to describe a snowstorm. It�s always been a mystery. Paganism too lasted longer here in the north. When the rest of Europe had been Christianized for almost a thousand years, Norwegians were still worshipping their old pagan gods. They were called Vikings, the Norsemen who around the year 1000 rendered the coasts of Europe unsafe, terrorizing people from London and Paris to deep into the Mediterranean area, those wild and ruthless "barbarians" who did not hesitate to plunder churches and monasteries. Was nothing sacred to them? What did these blond marauders themselves believe in?

3. Norse Creation Myth In the beginning� there was the abyss. North of the abyss was Nifelheim, the world of cold where Cold and Darkness rule. South of the abyss was the hot Muspelheim, the place where the being Surte ruled with a flaming sword. A frozen stream formed�the mixture of flames and ice formed two giant beings: a cow named Audhumbla and a giant named Ymer.

4. Norse Creation Myth Audhumbla�s warm breath created a man named Bure. Bure somehow got a wife (how? Unknown). Bure and his wife were the first of the Asa dynasty of which the most powerful gods would be born. Ymer created his own dynasty of giants and were generally known as evil.

5. Norse Creation Myth Odin and his brothers fought Ymer and killed him. Ymer�s body parts became our world. Ymer�s body was used as a ground for the new world. His blood became the sea. His skull became the sky. The bones in his skeleton became mountains, his brain the clouds and his tissues were ground in a great mill around whose main axis the universe turned, to become the dirt. Ymer�s eyebrows became a wall against the inhabitable surroundings. This new world was called Midg�rd.

6. Norse Gods to Know Odin- leader and greatest of all gods. A sage and a magician. Wednesday is his day (Odin�s day), while Friday is named after his wife Frigg (Frigg's day). Odin's horse Sleipner had eight legs. Odin had two ravens (Hugin and Munin), who flew out over the world every morning to watch and listen, returning home in the evening to report to Odin all they had seen. His spear Gungnir never failed to hit its mark. Odin had only one eye; as a young man, he pawned the other to the giant Mime for the right to drink from the marvelous fountain of wisdom guarded by the giant. Mime was later beheaded, but Odin found the giant's bloody skull and anointed it with healing herbs. The eyes in the head immediately opened and the mouth was again able to form words. After that, Mime's head remained one of Odin's most cherished advisers.

7. Norse Gods to Know Thor- second mightiest god. Thursday (Thor�s day) is his day. Strong and quick-tempered, Thor was always ready to do battle with giants and trolls. Although Tyr (Tuesday) might have been a little braver, no one in the whole world was as strong as Thor. Thor�s hammer Miolnir was the most dangerous weapon, both in heaven and on earth. Thor could make it as small or as large as he wanted. When he threw it, it always struck its target and then returned to his hand. Whenever he traveled, his chariot was drawn by goats instead of horses. His goats, Cracktooth and Gaptooth, could be slaughtered in the evening and yet be full of life again the next morning, if care was taken not to break a single bone when eating the goat meat, and if all the bones were collected and placed in the goatskins at the end of the meal. Thunder was the sound made by Thor's chariot rolling across the sky.

8. Norse Gods to Know Odin had many sons. Although it's impossible to mention all of them, we can't get around Balder. Balder was renowned for his friendliness, gentleness and wisdom. Balder was haunted by nightmares and was afraid of dying, but his mother - the most powerful of all the �sgard goddesses - extracted an oath from everyone and everything that no one would ever do him harm. The gods soon made a game of flinging weapons at Balder, since he could no longer be killed or wounded. However, Frigg forgot to ask the mistletoe, which she considered too small and insignificant. Loki the Troublemaker learned of this, and deceived the blind Hod into killing Balder with an arrow made of mistletoe. The �sir sent a rider to Helheim, the Realm of the Dead, to ask for Balder's return. Hel, Queen of Helheim, replied that Balder would be restored to life if the entire world shed tears over his fate. And everything and everyone - even the stones and trees - are still trying (in vain) to weep the dead god back to life.

9. Norse Gods to Know Loki the Troublemaker- a joker, a trait that eventually led to his downfall. As punishment for causing Balder�s death, he was chained beneath a serpent that dripped deadly, acid venom onto his face. However, his wife Sigyn, who remained loyal to him, stood patiently by his side holding a large bowl to catch the poisonous venom. From time to time, however, she had to turn aside to empty the bowl. Then the venom dripped right onto Loki's face, making him writhe so violently that the entire world trembled. This is what is called earthquakes.

10. Norse After-Life First of three places to go in death: Hel- Loki�s daughter a ghastly girl child, half black, half white. She was expelled from �sgard and settled far to the north, where she created a subterranean realm of the dead, a cold, damp, grey world. Her name, and that of the kingdom over which she ruled, was Hel. All those who died of illness and old age went to Hel, where they led a sad, shadowy existence. The Queen of Death herself resembled a corpse, and everything she owned had names reminiscent of the cold "life" in the grave. In the olden days, when people felt the presence of ghosts, they would say, "The gate to Hel is open."

11. Norse After-Life Those who displayed valour on the battlefield went to Odin or Freya when they died. The king of the gods sent out Valkyries clad in coats of mail to fetch fallen heroes. These female warriors were armed and could ride through the air. In �sgard the dead were divided up between Odin and Freya. Half of them lived with Odin in Valhall ("val" means battlefield), and the other half with Freya in Folkvang ("folk" in this context meaning men arrayed for battle). Folkvang- little is known about Folkvang. Everyone else?

12. Norse After-Life Valhalla- On the embankment outside the enormous "barracks," the heroes were allowed to fight to their heart's content all day long. It did not matter if they lost a arm or two, because in the evening they arose from the battlefield without a scratch. As friends on the best of terms, they marched into the vast banquet hall where beautiful Valkyries served them mead and boiled pork. The pig they ate, S�hrimnir, was also unique. Every day it was slaughtered and eaten, yet when dawn came it had been restored to life.

13. How the World Will End The final, decisive and bloody battle will be fought at a place called the Plain of Vigrid. Odin will be devoured by the Fenris Wolf. Thor and the Midgard Serpent will slay each other, as will Heimdall and Loki. The whole world will go up in flames. Even Yggdrasil - the great world tree - will burn. When the flames die down, the world will be a smoking ruin. The charred remains will sink below the surface of the sea and disappear. Out of the sea a new earth, green and lovely, will grow, fertile as a dream. With fields that sow themselves, and an abundance of fish and game. No one will go hungry any more, nor will anyone suffer from the cold.

14. The Story of Sigmund Volsung had ten children- including a set of twins named Signy and Sigmund. One day, during a feast, Odin disguised as old man, came to the hall and drove a great sword into Branstock. Odin told them it would be his gift to the person who could draw the sword out of great oak tree. The sword had the power to make the owner win all his battles. No one in the hall except Sigmund, Volsung's younger son, could extract the sword from Branstock. Siggeir, who could not draw the sword from Branstock, wanted the sword for himself, offered to buy the sword off Sigmund. Sigmund scornfully rejected Siggeir's offer of gold. Offended by the young man's reply, Siggeir was determined to destroy Volsung's family.

15. The Story of Sigmund One day, Siggeir, king of Gothland, came and asked for Volsung, his daughter's hand in marriage. Volsung agreed, though Signy did not want to marry Siggeir, knowing him to be treacherous and murderous king. Signy unsuccessfully tried to persuade her father not to marry her to the king. She had forboding that Siggeir will betray them. Volsung refused to heel her warning.

16. The Story of Sigmund After Siggeir married the reluctant Signy, he invited Volsung to come to his home. Again, Signy warned her father, fearing her new husband would attack them, but again Volsung ignored her warning. The moment Volsung and his sons arrived in Siggeir's territory, they were ambushed in the woods. Volsung was killed in the fighting and all his sons were captured.

17. The Story of Sigmund Siggeir had the brothers boundin chains in the trees. A she-wolf would come each night to kill and devour them. One by one, the brothers were killed by the she-wolf until only Sigmund was left. Signy secretly went to her brother and smeared honey all over his face and inside his mouth. When the she-wolf came, instead of biting Sigmund, she licked his face and inside of the youth's mouth. Sigmund bit hard on the wolf, until she died. Somehow, Sigmund managed to get out of his chain and hid in a cave in the woods.

18. The Story of Sigmund Sigmund became a great king and married Hjordis. Sigmund became embroiled in a fierce battle. At night, Hjordis, who was still pregnant with Sigmund's child, found her husband mortally wounded in the battlefield. Sigmund advised his wife to gather the shards of his shattered sword, so that their son could make forge a new sword. Sigmund foretold that his unborn son would avenge him and Hjordis' father. Hjordis gave birth to a son, whom she named Sigurd. Alf, the son of King Hjalprek of Denmark, brought up Sigmund's son as if he was his very own son.

19. The Story of Sigurd Sigurd, like his father (Sigmund) and grandfather, Volsung, grew at rapid pace, both in size and in strength. His stepfather (Alf) gave permission to Sigurd to select any horse he wished from his stable. Sigurd met an old man with one eye (Odin in disguised again) and advised Sigurd to choose the young grey, telling the young hero that this horse was bred by Sleipnir (Odin's horse). Sigurd chosen the grey as his horse and named it Grani (Greyfell). Sigurd had a tutor named Regin, who was his foster-father.

20. The Story of Sigurd Regin�s Story: Regin was the son of Hreidmar, and brother of Otter and Fafnir. Otter was able to shift-change into an otter. Loki, who was traveling with Odin and Hoenir, saw Otter by the river, killed him and skinned the otter. Loki wore the pelt over his shoulder. When Odin, Loki and Hoenir came to Hreidmar's estate and imposed upon the owner for hospitality, Hreidmar discovered that Loki had killed his son. Hreidmar captured three strangers and chained the three gods. Hreidmar will released the gods, on the condition that one of them pay a ransom. Loki agreed to perform the task and was released.

21. The Story of Sigurd Regin�s Story: Loki knew that the only ransom that would be able to release Odin and Hoenir, was the treasure of Andvari. Andvari was a dwarf who not only owned a treasure hoard, but also a magic gold ring called Andvaranaut. Andvaranaut could help him find or make more gold. Loki managed to steal the treasure but Andvari escaped with the ring by changing himself into a salmon. Loki managed to capture the dwarf and forced Andvari to give up the Andvaranaut.

22. The Story of Sigurd Regin�s Story: As Loki left the dwarf, Andvari hurled a curse upon the Andvaranaut, causing tragedy to fall on any mortal who wore the ring. Loki returned with the ransom, now known as the Ottergild (meaning Otter's Ransom, which was later called Rhinegold), and the other gods were released. Hreidmar forgot about his grief over his son at the sight of the treasure.

23. The Story of Sigurd Regin�s Story: Hreidmar's two sons wanted a share in the treasure, but in his greed, Hreidmar refused to share with Fafnir and Regin. Fafnir, wanting the treasure for himself murdered his own father and drove Regin away. The greed of Fafnir transformed the son of Hreidmar into a great dragon. Fafnir lived with his treasure on what was called Gnitaheath or "Glittering Heath."

24. The Story of Sigurd To face the dragon, Sigurd needed a great sword. Twice, Regin made Sigurd a sword, and each time the sword broke on the anvil. Finally Hjordis gave her son the shard of Sigmund's broken sword. Regin forge a new with the shard, Sigurd called the sword Gram. With Gram, Sigurd cleaved the anvil in two.

25. The Story of Sigurd Read about what happens between Fafnir and Sigurd.

26. The Story of Sigurd Sigurd killed Regin by striking off his head. Sigurd ate Fafnir's heart himself. Among the treasure he found the magic ring Andvaranaut, the sword Rotti (Hrotti), the Aegishj�lmr (Helm of Awe, Aegishjalmr) and the Golden Byrnie (cuirass). Sigurd then left Glittering Heath and journeyed north to Hindfell.

27. Saga of the Volsungs If you�d like to learn more about this gripping epic, you can read Saga of the Volsungs. There is a copy for you to borrow in the back.