Norse Mythology – Construction of the Wall of Asgard

The story goes that once a man by the name of Hrimthurs claimed to the gods that he could build the walls within a single winter, but for a price. If he completed, then the gods would have to give him the Sun and the Moon for compensation as well as Freyja for a wife. 

Loki was convinced that he could never finish them on time and got the gods to accept the wager. What the gods did not know was that Hrimthurs could do so, since he wasn’t a human. He was actually a giant and had a magical horse called Svadilfari. This horse could move huge blocks with magical ease.

When the winter was just about coming to an end, Hrimthurs had nearly completed the task on hand. The gods realised they were in trouble and that they would have to part with the prised possession of the Sun and Moon and above all, the goddess Freyja. All the gods approached Loki to bail them out, since it was anyway he who had convinced them into this.

Loki, true to his self, changed himself into a beautiful mare and went on to distract Hrimthurs horse, Svadilfari. Svadilfari began to chase Loki who was in the form of a mare, leaving Hrimthurs to fend for himself! Without the horse, he could not complete his task and lost the wager. When Hrimthurs come to know of the truth, he threatened to destroy his work, and in his rage, he lost his disguise, revealing to all that he was no human but a giant.



Odin Riding the eight-legged Sleipner



 Thor was very angry at this and struck him with his mighty hammer, killing him instantly. Few months’ back Loki brought to Asgard an eight-legged colt named Sleipner, which was the offspring of Svadilfari and Loki as the mare. Sleipnir became the magical steed of Odin when it grew up and was a constant companion of Odin.

This Nordic myth has similarities to the Indian myth of amrut-manthan, where the demons disguise as gods to drink the nectar (as compared to the giant disguising as human here) to achieve immortality (here to gain the Sun, Moon as well as goddess Freyja). In the amrut-manthan, Vishnu disguises as Mohini to distract the demons, and here we have Loki disguised as a mare to distract the giant’s stallion. Just as the union of the horse and Loki as the mare gives birth to an eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, which becomes dear to Odin, in amrut-manthan we have seen, how the union of Shiva and Vishnu as Mohini gives birth to Lord Ayappa!

Norse Mythology – Yggdrasill, the World Tree

Yggdrasill or the World Tree is a tree which supports the universe, with its roots connecting the nine Nordic worlds. Notable amongst all the worlds are Asgard, Valhalla, Midgard and Hel. Besides the worlds, there are three wells too. Before we move ahead, let us understand the worlds as per the tree.

Asgard was the home of the Gods. The only entrance to the Asgard was                        thru the “Rainbow Bridge”. The red arc in the rainbow stood for burning fire – to                               make it impassable for the Giants, since they were made of Frost and also known as the Frost Giants. Asgard was home to all gods and goddesses and each one had his or her own palace. Amongst all the halls in Asgard, the most important of all was Valhalla.

Valhalla

Valhalla is Odin’s hall in Asgard and is considered to be the best one in. Valhalla literally means the “Hall of Heroes”. The brave warriors who died in battle were brought here by the Valkyries (women warriors who served Odin) after death, which is considered to be an honour. In Valhalla, Odin dined with the warriors. The warriors were kept here for the final war called the Ragnarok, where only the brave would participate. (Ragnarok is a separate chapter altogether and will be discussed separately). The description of Valhalla is also very beautiful.

Valhalla had overlapping shields for a roof, held up by the spear-shafts as rafters. There were 540 doors. And from each of the door, eight hundred warriors could enter or leave the hall. Instead of torch-fires, the light in the great hall were lit by the glowing blades of swords. Mail shirts were strewn on the benches. In front of the western doors, there hanged a wolf. Hovering above Valhalla was a single eagle. There was also a tree standing in front of the doors of Valhalla; the tree had red-gold foliage.

Midgard was the dwelling of the Mankind. According to the Nordic Mythology, man was made from tree trunks and the Askr and Embla were the first man and woman, respectively. Odin had bestowed them with the gift of breath, Hoenir (another god) gave them understanding and the god Lodur gave them senses and outer appearance.

Hel or Niflhel was considered to be the land of the dead.

Besides the worlds, there were three wells. The significance of water is explained through different wells. One of them was considered to be a holy well water from which was used to water the Tree to avoid from the rotting of its roots. The other was the Well of Knowledge and as we have seen earlier, Odin had to pay with his eye to have a drink from this well. The third well was known as the Roaring Kettle, where a giant serpent which was continuously chewing at the root of the Tree, leading to its ultimate collapse during Ragnarok. This serpent was at constant war with the eagle at top of the tree. This eagle was extremely wise and fuelling the constant war was a squirrel that would keep going up and down the Tree delivering messages between the two to keep them at a constant war!

The concept of a tree at the centre of universe and the deep roots holding on to the worlds and every iota of existence is a beautiful thought. This is quite similar to the other cultures which consider a tree to be nourishing and life-giving. The details of Yggdrasill is covered in the poems is in great details, and the above is a gist of just a few of the important aspects of the same.

Tomorrow we will discuss the myth of the Construction of Wall of Asgard where we will read about the role of Loki, the trickster.

Norse Mythology – Chief Deities

Odin – was the chief god of the Nordic pantheon and was considered to be the father of all gods. He was the god of war and death, and also of wisdom. He was supposed to have hung on the Tree of Life for nine days pierced by his own spear. He was supposed to have even given one of his eyes for a drink from the well of knowledge and thus he is depicted as the one-eyed god. He is also depicted as wearing a cloak, being old, having a long grey beard, and wearing a wide brimmed hat down low over his face to conceal his one-eyed visage. Odin could make the dead speak to question the wisest amongst them.

Odin had a spear which never missed its mark and a bow which unleashed ten arrows with every pull. He also owned a magic ring which created nine of itself every night. Another one of Odin's prized possessions was his wonderful horse which had eight legs. It could travel to the underworld and through the air. Odin also had two wolves, and two ravens who were known as, Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory). He sent his ravens out every day to gather knowledge for him.

Thor – was the god of thunder and son of Odin and was one of the most powerful of all the gods. He was usually depicted as a powerful man with red beard and eyes, which represented lightning. He was a popular god as he was considered to be the protector of both gods and mankind against all evil. His popularity could also be because of his worship did not require human sacrifices, as in the case of Odin.

During a thunderstorm Thor is believed to be riding through the heavens on his chariot which is pulled by two goats. Lightning flashes each time he throws his mighty hammer Mjollnir. He wears a belt which doubles his already amazing strength and wears a pair of iron gloves which are needed to hold his hammer. The fourth day of the week, Thursday is derived from his name.

Freyja – was the goddess of love and fertility. She was a paragon of beauty and sensuality and stood for all things associated with love. She loved music and poetry. It is said that when she mourned for her dead husband, her tears turned into gold! She is always shown wearing a precious necklace, which is also one of her key attributes. She could take the form of a falcon, which helped her to travel long distances. Her name is the origin of the fifth day of the week, Friday.

Loki – was a trickster, who though a god, was responsible for creating lot of trouble. He was both cunning and wicked and had the ability to change his appearance into anything that he wanted to.

Balder – was the god of purity, light and above all, reconciliation. He was loved by both the gods and mankind; He did not have too many powers, but his death plays an important role in the Nordic mythology.

Balder was troubled by dreams of his impending death which bothered his mother. She extracted an oath from all the living creatures that they would not harm him ever, thus making him sort of invincible. This left Balder in some peace. Loki was jealous of Balder’s popularity and through trickery learnt that his mother had not bothered to extract such an oath from mistletoe, a herb, thinking it was too small to be bothered. Once when everyone was playing dart, with Balder as the target (!), Loki tricked Balder’s twin brother, to try a dart made of mistletoe. As intended it pierced Balder’s heart and killed him instantly.

Later it was decided that Balder would be resurrected, only if everything in the world, living or dead would cry for him. All did, except Loki who wanted to see the end of Balder, and thus Balder remained in the underworld. This episode is considered to be an important act in the entire mythology of the Norse.

Norse Mythology – An Introduction

Norse Mythology refers to the mythology of the Scandinavians, i.e. the modern day Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and parts of Germany.

The Norse people lived from about A.D. 200 to 500 in northern Europe & Scandinavia. After A.D. 700, the Norse migrated in search of new lands, settling in parts of the British Isles, Iceland, Greenland and East into Russia. From this period on, the Norse are known as Vikings. Needless to say that one of the most famous Vikings known and loved the world over was the famous comic character, Hagar the Horrible!

Their mythology reflects the Nordic men’s love of battle and conflict. Death and violence are rarely far away, for that was the only life that he early warriors knew.

There isn’t too much of original writing now available except for some short runic inscriptions on wood, bone, stone or metal. However, majority of the stories and myths are based on the Christian writers. Majority of the myths are based on the poems and prose written by such writers. Amongst the prominent sources are:

1.     Saxo Grammaticus who wrote in heavy Latin style

2.     Snorri Sturluson wrote in native Icelandic, especially his Prose Edda

3.     Some precious manuscripts called the Codex Regius found in an Icelandic farmhouse, and better known as Elder or Poetic Edda.

Besides the above, there are references in Archaeology, architecture and art, which gives glimpses of the times and their heroes.

We also get an occasional glimpse of the life of Vikings and their religious customs thru the eyes of Latin or Arab travellers who visited their settlements and trading centres.

The Principal gods of the Norse were Odin, Thor, Freya, Balder, Freyr and Loki to name a few. In the centre of the world in the Tree of Life, Yggdrasill, around which everything in the universe revolves. The gods lived in Asgard and mankind lived in Midgard. Another interesting place in the Valhalla, which was the Hall of the Heroes who were all preparing for the final war, known as the Ragnarok.

Over the next few days, we will go through each one of them in more details.

Helen of Troy – A Greek Romance

For all those who are suffering from yesterday’s hangover of love and romance, here is another romance of mythical times.

All of us have read, or heard or even seen on celluloid the Greek romance of Helen and Paris of Troy. So what is it that has made the romance so well known that generations later, people recount it again and again?

Many of us know about the romance leading to war, but not many might know as what led to the romance in the first place. So let us start at the very beginning i.e. with the root cause of the romance which led to the massive war in which gods sided with mortals, something quite unheard of.

Apple of Discord

It all started in the heavens, with the episode better known as the Judgement of Paris. Eris was an evil goddess of Discord (conflict) and due to her nature; she was not invited to the heavenly gatherings. During one such gathering, she was the lone goddess who was not invited. She decided to avenge the insult by creating trouble, and trouble she did! She threw in the banquet hall a golden apple, on which was written ‘For the Fairest’. Quite predictably all the goddesses laid claim on it, but eventually it narrowed down to three of them, viz. Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They asked Zeus, the King of Gods, to arbitrate, but better sense prevailed and he suggested that they go to Mount Ida and meet Prince Paris, who was supposed to be a good judge of beauty and let him decide.

Before we move further, Paris, though a son of the King, was guarding the sheep as his father was told that he would be responsible for the destruction of his country. The King had thus sent him away to the mountains, to keep him away from the country, lest the prophecy became true. The three goddesses reached Mount Ida and asked Paris to arbitrate on the celestial problem. Paris was amazed at the job, and could not believe his luck. However, his judgement did not rest on the actual beauty of the goddesses, but on the bribes that each offered to him. Hera promised to make him the Lord of Europe and Asia. Athena offered him victory of the Trojans against the Greeks, leading to the ruin of Greece. Aphrodite offered him the love of the fairest of all mortals (which was none other than Helen). Paris offered the golden apple to Aphrodite, much to the disappointment of the others. It is this judgement, due to which the great Trojan was fought.

Helen’s beauty was a subject of heavens and was the mortal daughter of Zeus from Leda. Every prince in Greece wanted to marry her and when all had assembled to ask for her hand, it was a gathering of who’s who amongst the rich and powerful. Helen’s father, or rather the husband of her mother, was scared to choose one, lest he offended the rest and invite the collective wrath of the mighty. He then extracted an oath from all, that all of them would stand by Helen’s husband, whoever he be, and if he faced any problem, then all would unite with the husband and fight the enemy. Each agreed as each wanted to be the husband. Helen’s father then selected, Menelaus and also made him the King of Sparta.

Aphrodite having won her title of the fairest took Paris straight to Sparta where he was received by Menelaus and Helen. To cut short the story, before anybody realised, love had blossomed and Helen had eloped with Paris. When Menelaus came to know about it, he called on all the chiefs of Greece, and sought their help to get Helen back. They all responded as they were bound by the oath.

The war between the Greeks and the Trojans was war of the epics. Heroes were made and killed. Gods sided with the central characters during the war. Gods like Zeus, Achilles, Athena, Hera, Apollo, etc. all took sides. Heroes like Odysseus, Menelaus, Hector were made and some died heroic deaths. The Trojans were destroyed (episode of the Trojan Horse, is etched in our memories) and the Greeks were victorious. I will spare the details of heroism of the bloody war, as our subject is still love and what’s a better love story than the one which has a happy ending?

Helen goes back to Menelaus, and the initial prophecy was proven that Paris would bring destruction to his country.

Needless to say, that the gods were behind the mortal destruction, all for vanity of three goddesses, which I thought, was a human emotion!