Odin wanted to drink from the well of wisdom so that he could become wiser, and gain knowledge of the future. He wouldn’t be allowed to drink from the well unless he could pay a high price to Mimir, guardian of the well. Mimir was a frost giant, and he didn’t want to give power to an enemy of the giants. Mimir was sure that Odin would refuse and leave. Odin proceeded to rip out his eye in exchange for drinking from the well. Once Odin drank from the well he could see the future, and saw that the future of humans was dire.

Stroebe, Klara (1922b). Nordische Volksmärchen. Teil 2: Schweden (in German). Asbjornsen and Moe (orig. eds.). E. Diederichs. Teil 2 via Google Books For Hel, see Lindow (2001), p.172, and Orchard (1997), p.79. For Valhalla, see Lindow (2001), pp.308–09, and Orchard (1997), pp.171–72. For Fólkvangr, see Lindow (2001), p.118, and Orchard (1997), p.45.Since the pre-Christian Norse never wrote down their myths – theirs was an almost exclusively oral culture – the primary sources upon which our current knowledge of Norse mythology rests were all written while the Norse were converting to Christianity, or generations thereafter. Thus, we can’t be absolutely certain that the stories as they’ve come down to us are the same as the tales the pagan Vikings would have told to one another. But while the myths from the Old Norse Eddas and sagas may not be “pure,” they nevertheless contain much that certainly is an authentic product of the Viking Age – and, in any case, they’re all we’ve got today. (See my book The Viking Spirit for discussions of which parts of which stories are likely authentic and which probably aren’t.) Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with several other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar, beings who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of the gods. The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central sacred tree, Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings. Various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, and the first two humans are Ask and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök when an immense battle occurs between the gods and their enemies, and the world is enveloped in flames, only to be reborn anew. There the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world. According to legend, the dwarves lived in their own region of Midgard, hidden from humans. They were smaller people with long beards who were masters at smithing. Wells, Marie (2013), "Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, and Jørgen Moe", in Murray, Christopher John (ed.), Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850, Routledge, pp.35–36, ISBN 978-1135455798 A deluxe volume of 16 traditional Nordic folk tales that is sure to impress any fan of cultural and mythological literature with impactful and stunning illustrations by contemporary artist Ulla Thynell.

The Prose Edda features layers of euhemerization, a process in which deities and supernatural beings are presented as having been either actual, magic-wielding human beings who have been deified in time or beings demonized by way of Christian mythology. [7] Texts such as Heimskringla, composed in the 13th century by Snorri and Gesta Danorum, composed in Latin by Saxo Grammaticus in Denmark in the 12th century, are the results of heavy amounts of euhemerization. [8] Iversen, Pat Shaw, ed. (1990) [1960]. Norwegian Folktales. Translated by Norman, Carl. Asbjørnsen and Moe (orig. eds.). Pantheon Books. pp.17–18. ISBN 82-09-10598-1. Munch, Peter Andreas (1927). Norse Mythology: Legends of Gods and Heroes, Scandinavian Classics. Trans. Sigurd Bernhard Hustvedt (1963). New York: American–Scandinavian Foundation. ISBN 0-404-04538-3. Murdoch, Brian; Hardin, James N.; Read, Malcolm Kevin (2004). Early Germanic Literature and Culture. Boydell & Brewer. pp.98–99. ISBN 157113199X. Of even more importance is Snorri Sturluson, the Icelandic scholar and politician, who did our knowledge of heathen religion such good service... he offers a scholarly portrayal of Old Norse mythology, which is admittedly heavily influenced by his Christian education and classical education, but remains nonetheless our most important medieval source for North Germanic mythology. Norwegian Folktales ( Norwegian: Norske folkeeventyr) is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as Asbjørnsen and Moe, after the collectors. [1] Asbjørnsen and Moe [ edit ]

Rydberg, Viktor (1889). Teutonic Mythology, trans. Rasmus B. Anderson. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co. Reprinted 2001, Elibron Classics. ISBN 1-4021-9391-2. Reprinted 2004, Kessinger Publishing Company. ISBN 0-7661-8891-4. Turville-Petre, E. O. G. (1964). Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Prinsessen som ingen kunne målbinde (from Eventyrbog for Børn 1883-1887, Asbjørnsen and Moltke Moe edd.) [41] [h] Christiansen, Reidar Th. (1922). The Norwegian Fairytales: A Short Summary. Folklore Fellows Communications. Vol.46. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. This article appears to contain trivial, minor, or unrelated references to popular culture. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture, providing citations to reliable, secondary sources, rather than simply listing appearances. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2023)

Although it’s entirely possible Vikings waited for a cat to die of natural causes before using its fur, there’s also a good chance they were killed when other sources of fur were not available for the winter. The warriors that fought with ambition and courage on the battlefield are usually the ones chosen to fight with the gods in Valhalla. Br." "Iversen & Nor." "Str. & Martens" "Nunn." - the Braekstad, Iversen & Norman, Stroebe & Martens, and Nunnally translations.

MacLeod, Mindy; Mees, Bernard (2006). Runic Amulets and Magic Objects. Boydell Press. ISBN 1-84383-205-4. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023 . Retrieved 17 October 2015. He screams when he appears from the water, and legend says that you can see the Draugen during stormy nights, drowning fisherman.