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111-514: In some euhemeristic accounts, Asgard is portrayed as being a city in Asia or Troy , however in other accounts that likely more accurately reflect its conception in Old Nordic religion , it is depicted as not conforming to a naturalistic geographical position. In these latter accounts, it is found in a range of locations such as over the rainbow bridge Bifröst , in the middle of the world and over

222-441: A Christian addition to the poem. In stanza 66, the völva ends her account with a description of the dragon Níðhöggr , corpses in his jaws, flying through the air. The völva then "sinks down." It is unclear if stanza 66 indicates that the völva is referring to the present time or if this is an element of the post- Ragnarök world. The Vanir god Njörðr is mentioned in relation to Ragnarök in stanza 39 of

333-566: A hof named Glaðsheimr at Iðavöllr , in the centre of the burg, or walled city, with a high seat for Odin and twelve seats for other gods. It is described as like gold both on the inside and the outside, and as the best of all buildings in the world. They also built Vingólf for the female gods, which is described as both a hall and a hörgr , and a forge with which they crafted objects from gold. After Ragnarök , some gods such as Váli and Baldr will meet at Iðavöllr where Asgard once stood and discuss matters together. There they will also find in

444-524: A consolation. Cyprian proceeds directly to examples, the apotheosis of Melicertes and Leucothea ; "The Castors [i.e. Castor and Pollux ] die by turns, that they may live", a reference to the daily sharing back and forth of their immortality by the Heavenly Twins. "The cave of Jupiter is to be seen in Crete, and his sepulchre is shown", Cyprian says, confounding Zeus and Dionysus but showing that

555-530: A daughter at least as beautiful as she, and this daughter will follow the same path as her mother. Vafþrúðnismál stanza 47 is quoted, and so ends the foretelling of Ragnarök in Gylfaginning . Various objects have been identified as depicting events from Ragnarök . Thorwald's Cross , a partially surviving runestone erected at Kirk Andreas on the Isle of Man , depicts a bearded human holding

666-521: A feast for Ægir and the gods. The second instance is in Þrymskviða when Loki is attempting to convince Thor to dress up as Freyja in order to get back Mjölnir by claiming that without his hammer to protect them, jötnar would soon be living in Asgard. Grímnismál contains among its cosmological descriptions, a number of abodes of the gods, such as Álfheim , Nóatún and Valhalla , which some scholars have identified as being in Asgard. Asgard

777-426: A great battle in which numerous great Norse mythological figures will perish (including the gods Odin , Thor , Týr , Freyr , Heimdall , and Loki ); it will entail a catastrophic series of natural disasters, including the burning of the world, and culminate in the submersion of the world underwater. After these events, the world will rise again, cleansed and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and

888-404: A long history of interpretation. Its first element is clear: ragna , the genitive plural of regin (n. pl.) 'the ruling powers, gods.' The second element is more problematic, as it occurs in two variants, -rök and -røkkr . Writing in the early 20th century, philologist Geir Zoëga treats the two forms as two separate compounds, glossing ragnarök as 'the doom or destruction of

999-677: A quote from Völuspá to highlight that the dragon Níðhöggr harasses the corpses of the dead there. Chapter 53 begins with Gangleri asking if any of the gods will survive and if there will be anything left of the earth or the sky. High responds that the earth will appear once more from the sea, beautiful and green, where self-sown crops grow. The field Iðavöllr exists where Asgard once was, and, there, untouched by Surtr's flames, Víðarr and Váli reside. Now possessing their father's hammer Mjölnir , Thor's sons Móði and Magni will meet them there, and, coming from Hel , Baldr and Höðr also arrive. Together, they all sit and recount memories, later finding

1110-467: A rage, revealing his identity as a jötunn. Thor then kills the builder with Mjöllnir , before any harm to the gods is done. The chapter does not explicitly name Asgard as the fortress but they are commonly identified by scholars. In Gylfaginning , the central cosmic tree Yggdrasil is described as having three roots that hold it up; one of these goes to the Æsir, which has been interpreted as meaning Asgard. In Grímnismál , this root instead reaches over

1221-407: A rational explanation that Orithyia was playing with Pharmacia, when a northern gust carried her over the neighbouring rocks; and this being the manner of her death, she was said to have been carried away by Boreas. Socrates illustrates a euhemeristic approach to the myth of Boreas abducting Orithyia . He shows how the story of Boreas, the northern wind, can be rationalised: Orithyia is pushed off

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1332-484: A reading of Cyprian, with the details enormously expanded. Isidore of Seville , compiler of the most influential early medieval encyclopedia, devoted a chapter De diis gentium to elucidating, with numerous examples and elaborated genealogies of gods, the principle drawn from Lactantius , Quos pagani deos asserunt, homines olim fuisse produntur ("Those whom pagans claim to be gods were once mere men"). Elaborating logically, he attempted to place these deified men in

1443-480: A scene interpreted as Víðarr fighting Fenrir. The 11th-century Ledberg stone in Sweden , similarly to Thorwald's Cross, features a figure with his foot at the mouth of a four-legged beast, and this may also be a depiction of Odin being devoured by Fenrir at Ragnarök . Below the beast and the man is a depiction of a legless, helmeted man, with his arms in a prostrate position. The Younger Futhark inscription on

1554-559: A spear downward at a wolf, his right foot in its mouth, while a large bird sits at his shoulder. Rundata dates it to 940, while Pluskowski dates it to the 11th century. This depiction has been interpreted as Odin, with a raven or eagle at his shoulder, being consumed by Fenrir at Ragnarök . On the other side of the stone is a depiction of a large cross and another image parallel to the Odin figure that has been described as Christ triumphing over Satan. These combined elements have led to

1665-474: A vertical axis, leading upwards towards the heavens. There is debate between scholars over whether the gods were conceived of as living in the heavens, with some aligning their views with Snorri, and others proposing that he at times presents the system in a Christian framework and that this organisation is not seen in either Eddic or skaldic poetry . The concept of attempting to create a spatial cosmological model has itself been criticised by scholars who argue that

1776-455: Is "a case of reduplication of the anthropogeny , understandable from the cyclic nature of the Eddic eschatology ." Simek says that Hoddmímis holt "should not be understood literally as a wood or even a forest in which the two keep themselves hidden, but rather as an alternative name for the world-tree Yggdrasill . Thus, the creation of mankind from tree trunks ( Askr, Embla ) is repeated after

1887-609: Is an explorable realm in the video game God of War: Ragnarök , a sequel to 2018's Norse-themed God of War . In the Assassin's Creed Valhalla video game, Asgard is featured as part of a "vision quest". Euhemeristic Euhemerism ( / j uː ˈ h iː m ər ɪ z əm , - h ɛ m -/ ) is an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages. Euhemerism supposes that historical accounts become myths as they are exaggerated in

1998-399: Is aroar, and that the Æsir are in council. The dwarfs groan by their stone doors. Surtr advances from the south, his sword brighter than the sun. Rocky cliffs open and the jötnar women sink. The gods then do battle with the invaders: Odin is swallowed whole and alive fighting the wolf Fenrir , causing his wife Frigg her second great sorrow (the first being the death of her son,

2109-477: Is built from the spines of snakes, and resembles "a house with walls woven from branches"; the heads of the snakes face the inside of the house and spew so much venom that rivers of it flow throughout the hall, in which oath breakers and murderers must wade. Third here quotes Völuspá stanzas 38 to 39, with the insertion of original prose stating that the worst place of all to be is in Hvergelmir , followed by

2220-436: Is dealing with none other than Odin, whom he refers to as "the wisest of beings," adding that Odin alone could know this. Odin's message has been interpreted as a promise of resurrection to Baldr after Ragnarök . Ragnarök is briefly referenced in stanza 40 of the poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana II . Here, the valkyrie Sigrún 's unnamed maid is passing the deceased hero Helgi Hundingsbane 's burial mound . Helgi

2331-582: Is harsh in the world,   whoredom rife —an axe age, a sword age   —shields are riven— a wind age, a wolf age—   before the world goes headlong. No man will have   mercy on another. The "sons of Mím " are described as being "at play," though this reference is not further explained in surviving sources. Heimdall raises the Gjallarhorn into the air and blows deeply into it, and Odin converses with Mím's head. The world tree Yggdrasil shudders and groans. The jötunn Hrym comes from

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2442-655: Is kept peculiar. Eusebius in his Chronicle employed euhemerism to argue the Babylonian God Baʿal was a deified ruler and that the god Belus was the first Assyrian king. Euhemeristic views are found expressed also in Tertullian ( De idololatria ), the Octavius of Marcus Minucius Felix and in Origen . Arnobius ' dismissal of paganism in the fifth century, on rationalizing grounds, may have depended on

2553-553: Is not mentioned at any point in the poem. Furthermore, Völuspá references Iðavöllr , one of the most common meeting places of Æsir gods, which in Gylfaginning , Snorri locates in the centre of Asgard. The Prose Edda 's euhemeristic prologue portrays the Æsir gods as people that travelled from the East to northern territories. According to Snorri, Asgard represented the town of Troy before Greek warriors overtook it. After

2664-535: Is poisoned by the serpent, and manages to walk only nine steps before falling to the earth dead. Fenrir swallows Odin, though immediately afterwards his son Víðarr kicks his foot into Fenrir's lower jaw, grips the upper jaw, and rips apart Fenrir's mouth, killing the great wolf. Loki fights Heimdallr and the two kill each other. Surtr covers the earth in fire, causing the entire world to burn. High quotes stanzas 46 to 47 of Völuspá , and additionally stanza 18 of Vafþrúðnismál (the latter relating information about

2775-433: Is presented in a vague and often contradictory manner when viewed from a naturalistic standpoint. Snorri places Asgard in the centre of the world, surrounded by Midgard and then the lands inhabited by jötnar , all of which are finally encircled by the sea. He also locates the homes of the gods in the heavens. This had led to the proposition of a system of concentric circles, centred on Asgard or Yggdrasil, and sometimes with

2886-476: Is there with a retinue of men, surprising the maid. The maid asks if she is witnessing a delusion since she sees dead men riding, or if Ragnarök has occurred. In stanza 41, Helgi responds that it is neither. Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda quotes heavily from Völuspá and elaborates extensively in prose on the information there, though some of this information conflicts with that provided in Völuspá . In

2997-409: Is unable to assist Odin because he has engaged Jörmungandr in combat. According to High, Freyr fights fiercely with Surtr, but falls because he lacks the sword he once gave to his messenger, Skírnir . The hound Garmr (described here as the "worst of monsters") breaks free from his bonds in front of Gnipahellir , and fights the god Týr, resulting in both of their deaths. Thor kills Jörmungandr but

3108-522: The Ragnarök as well." Simek says that in Germanic regions , the concept of mankind originating from trees is ancient, and additionally points out legendary parallels in a Bavarian legend of a shepherd who lives inside a tree, whose descendants repopulate the land after life there has been wiped out by plague (citing a retelling by F. R. Schröder). In addition, Simek points to an Old Norse parallel in

3219-452: The Ragnarök story, even by a scholar as cautious of such interpretations as David M. Wilson . The Ragnarök battle itself may be depicted on the north side. The cross features various figures depicted in Borre style , including a man with a spear facing a monstrous head, with one foot thrust into the beast's forked tongue and on its lower jaw, and the other is against its upper jaw,

3330-583: The Church Fathers , embraced euhemerism in attempt to undermine the validity of pagan gods. The usefulness of euhemerist views to early Christian apologists may be summed up in Clement of Alexandria 's triumphant cry in Cohortatio ad gentes : "Those to whom you bow were once men like yourselves." The Wisdom of Solomon , a deuterocanonical book , has a passage giving a euhemerist explanation of

3441-475: The Minoan cave cult was still alive in Crete in the third century AD. In his exposition, it is to Cyprian's argument to marginalize the syncretism of pagan belief, in order to emphasize the individual variety of local deities: From this the religion of the gods is variously changed among individual nations and provinces, inasmuch as no one god is worshipped by all, but by each one the worship of its own ancestors

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3552-688: The Prose Edda and in a single poem in the Poetic Edda , the event is referred to as Ragnarøkkr ( Old Norse for 'Twilight of the Gods';), a usage popularised by 19th-century composer Richard Wagner with the title of the last of his Der Ring des Nibelungen operas, Götterdämmerung (1876), which is "Twilight of the Gods" in German. The Old Norse compound word ragnarok has

3663-401: The Prose Edda book Gylfaginning , various references are made to Ragnarök . Ragnarök is first mentioned in chapter 26, where the throned figure of High , king of the hall, tells Gangleri (King Gylfi in disguise) some basic information about the goddess Iðunn , including that her apples will keep the gods young until Ragnarök . In chapter 34, High describes the binding of

3774-546: The Vedic god Vishnu in that both have a "cosmic stride" with a special shoe used to tear apart a beastly wolf. Larger patterns have also been drawn between "final battle" events in Indo-European cultures, including the occurrence of a blind or semi-blind figure in "final battle" themes, and figures appearing suddenly with surprising skills. Hilda Ellis Davidson theorizes that the events in Völuspá occurring after

3885-486: The anthropocentric origin of religion, through ancestor worship . Rationalizing methods of interpretation that treat some myths as traditional accounts based upon historical events are a continuous feature of some modern readings of mythology. The twentieth century poet and mythographer Robert Graves offered many such "euhemerist" interpretations in his telling of The White Goddess (1948) and The Greek Myths (1955). His suggestions that such myths record and justify

3996-533: The early modern period from the 16th century, to modern times. In 1711, the French historian Antoine Banier in his Mythologie et la fable expliqués par l'histoire ("The Mythology and Fables of the Ancients, Explained") presented strong arguments for a euhemerist interpretation of Greek mythology. Jacob Bryant 's A New System or Analysis of Ancient Mythology (1744) was also another key work on euhemerism of

4107-782: The Æsir in Valhalla , and the third, unnamed soot-red rooster crows in the halls of the underworld location of Hel in stanza 43. After these stanzas, the völva further relates that the hound Garmr produces deep howls in front of the cave of Gnipahellir . Garmr's bindings break and he runs free. The völva describes the state of humanity: Brœðr muno beriaz   ok at bǫnom verða[z] muno systrungar   sifiom spilla. Hart er í heimi,   hórdómr mikill —skeggǫld, skálmǫld   —skildir ro klofnir— vindǫld, vargǫld—   áðr verǫld steypiz. Mun engi maðr   ǫðrom þyrma. Brothers will fight   and kill each other, sisters' children   will defile kinship. It

4218-748: The 2011 film Thor . After that, Thor becomes a regular character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reappears in several films, including the Avengers series. Asgard becomes the central element of the film Thor: Ragnarok , where it is destroyed following the Old Norse mythos. These and other Norse mythology elements also appear in video games, TV series, and books based in and on the Marvel Universe, although these depictions do not closely follow historical sources. Asgard

4329-457: The Cretans into thinking that Zeus had died and was buried there. Influenced by Euhemerus, Porphyry in the 3rd century AD claimed that Pythagoras had discovered the tomb of Zeus on Crete and written on the tomb's surface an inscription reading: "Here died and was buried Zan, whom they call Zeus". Varro also wrote about the tomb of Zeus. Hostile to paganism, the early Christians, such as

4440-517: The German reception of Norse mythology ). Other terms used to refer to the events surrounding Ragnarök in the Poetic Edda include aldar rök ( aldar means age, 'end of an age') from a stanza of Vafþrúðnismál , tíva rök from two stanzas of Vafþrúðnismál , þá er regin deyja ('when the gods die') from Vafþrúðnismál , unz um rjúfask regin ('when the gods will be destroyed') from Vafþrúðnismál , Lokasenna , and Sigrdrífumál , aldar rof ('destruction of

4551-539: The Middle Ages through the realization that while in most respects the ancient Greeks and Roman had been superior to themselves, they had been in error regarding their religious beliefs. An examination of the principal writings in Middle English with considerable reading of literature other than English, discloses the fact that the people of the Middle Ages rarely regarded the so-called gods as mere figments of

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4662-498: The Serpent's venom. The god Freyr fights Surtr and loses. After this, people flee their homes, and the sun becomes black while the earth sinks into the sea, the stars vanish, steam rises, and flames touch the heavens. The völva sees the earth reappearing from the water and an eagle over a waterfall hunting fish on a mountain. The surviving Æsir meet together at the field of Iðavöllr . They discuss Jörmungandr, great events of

4773-713: The Viking as a frozen wasteland dominated by the Halls of Valhalla on a high plateau. In the film the Æsir are depicted as spoilt children Thor first appeared in the Marvel Universe within comic series Journey into Mystery in the issues #83 during August 1962. Following this release, he becomes one of the central figures in the comics along with Loki and Odin. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe , Thor and Loki make their first appearance together in

4884-451: The age') from Helgakviða Hundingsbana II , regin þrjóta ('end of the gods') from Hyndluljóð , and, in the Prose Edda , þá er Muspellz-synir herja ('when the sons of Muspell move into battle') can be found in chapters 18 and 36 of Gylfaginning . The Poetic Edda contains various references to Ragnarök : In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá , references to Ragnarök begin from stanza 40 until 58, with

4995-484: The ancient skeptic philosophical tradition of Theodorus of Cyrene and the Cyrenaics , Euhemerus forged a new method of interpretation for the contemporary religious beliefs. Though his work is lost, the reputation of Euhemerus was that he believed that much of Greek mythology could be interpreted as natural or historical events subsequently given supernatural characteristics through retelling. Subsequently, Euhemerus

5106-529: The battlefield Vígríðr). At the beginning of chapter 52, Gangleri asks "what will be after heaven and earth and the whole world are burned? All the gods will be dead, together with the Einherjar and the whole of mankind. Didn't you say earlier that each person will live in some world throughout all ages?" The figure of Third, seated on the highest throne in the hall, responds that there will be many good places to live, but also many bad ones. Third states that

5217-642: The beliefs of other related Indo-European peoples . Subsequently, theories have been put forth that Ragnarök represents a later evolution of a Proto-Indo-European belief along with other cultures descending from the Proto-Indo-Europeans. These parallels include comparisons of a cosmic winter motif between the Norse Fimbulwinter , the Iranian Bundahishn and Yima . Víðarr's stride has been compared to

5328-531: The best place to be is Gimlé in the heavens, where a place exists called Okolnir that houses a hall called Brimir —where one can find plenty to drink. Third describes a hall made of red gold located in Niðafjöll called Sindri , where "good and virtuous men will live." Third further relates an unnamed hall in Náströnd , the beaches of the dead, that he describes as a large repugnant hall facing north that

5439-412: The bridge will then break. The sons of Muspell (and their shining battle troop) advance to the field of Vígríðr , described as an expanse that reaches "a hundred leagues in each direction," where Fenrir, Jörmungandr, Loki (followed by "Hel's own"), and Hrym (accompanied by all frost jötnar ) join them. While this occurs, Heimdallr stands and blows the Gjallarhorn with all his might. The gods awaken at

5550-467: The common people worship, is known from this: they were formerly kings, who on account of their royal memory subsequently began to be adored by their people even in death. Thence temples were founded to them; thence images were sculptured to retain the countenances of the deceased by the likeness; and men sacrificed victims, and celebrated festal days, by way of giving them honour. Thence to posterity those rites became sacred, which at first had been adopted as

5661-570: The cross as being described as " syncretic art ," a mixture of pagan and Christian beliefs. The Gosforth Cross (920–950), in Cumbria , England, is a standing cross of a typical Anglo-Saxon form, carved on all sides of the long shaft, which is nearly square in section. Apart from panels of ornament, the scenes include a Christian crucifixion , and possibly another scene in Hell, but the other scenes are generally interpreted as narrative incidents from

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5772-474: The death of the gods (the sun turning black, steam rising, flames touching the heavens, etc.) may be inspired by the volcanic eruptions on Iceland. Records of eruptions in Iceland bear strong similarities to the sequence of events described in Völuspá , especially the eruption at Laki that occurred in 1783. Bertha Phillpotts theorizes that the figure of Surtr was inspired by Icelandic eruptions and that he

5883-519: The defeat, Trojans moved to northern Europe , where they became a dominant group due to their "advanced technologies and culture". Eventually, other tribes began to perceive the Trojans and their leader Trór ( Thor in Old Norse) as gods. In Gylfaginning , Snorri Sturluson describes how during the creation of the world, the gods made the earth and surrounded it with the sea. They made the sky from

5994-410: The east, his shield before him. The Midgard serpent Jörmungandr furiously writhes, causing waves to crash. "The eagle shrieks, pale-beaked he tears the corpse," and the ship Naglfar breaks free thanks to the waves made by Jormungandr and sets sail from the east. The fire jötnar inhabitants of Muspelheim come forth. The völva continues that Jötunheimr , the land of the jötnar ,

6105-534: The enduring influence of Euhemerus upon later thinkers such as the classical poet Ennius (b. 239 BC) and modern author Antoine Banier (b. 1673 AD) identified him as the traditional founder of this school of thought. In a scene described in Plato's Phaedrus , Socrates offers a euhemeristic interpretation of a myth concerning Boreas and Orithyia : Phaedr. On the way to the Ilissus Phaedrus asks

6216-466: The family of Saturn and Uranus. The principal sources of these views are the handed-down accounts of Lactantius and Diodorus; or second, in the widest sense, as a rationalist movement which sought to explain the mundane origins of all the Hellenistic gods and heroes as mortals." Other modern theorists labeled Euhemerism as a "subject of classical paganism that was fostered in the minds of the people of

6327-502: The figure of Örvar-Oddr , "who is rejuvenated after living as a tree-man ( Ǫrvar-Odds saga 24–27)." Theories have been proposed about the relation between Ragnarök and the 9th-century Old High German epic poem Muspilli about the Christian Last Judgment , where the word Muspille appears, and the 9th-century Old Saxon epic poem Heliand about the life of Christ , where various other forms of

6438-483: The first sign of Ragnarök will be Fimbulwinter , during which time three winters will arrive without a summer, and the sun will be useless. High details that, before these winters, three earlier winters will have occurred, marked with great battles throughout the world. During this time, greed will cause brothers to kill brothers, and fathers and sons will suffer from the collapse of kinship bonds. High then quotes stanza 45 of Völuspá . Next, High describes that

6549-398: The following engraving: Iarð skal rifna ok upphiminn Earth shall be riven and the over-heaven. Jansson (1987) notes that at the time of the inscription, everyone who read the lines would have thought of Ragnarök and the allusion that the father found fitting as an expression of his grief. Rudolf Simek theorizes that the survival of Líf and Lífþrasir at the end of Ragnarök

6660-500: The forest of Hoddmímis holt , that they will consume the morning dew, and will produce generations of offspring. In stanza 46, Odin asks what sun will come into the sky after Fenrir has consumed the sun that exists. Vafþrúðnir responds that Sól will bear a daughter before Fenrir assails her and that after Ragnarök this daughter will continue her mother's path. In stanza 51, Vafþrúðnir states that, after Surtr's flames have been sated, Odin's sons Víðarr and Váli will live in

6771-458: The god Baldr ). Odin's son Víðarr avenges his father by rending Fenrir's jaws apart and stabbing it in the heart with his spear, thus killing the wolf. The serpent Jörmungandr opens its gaping maw, yawning widely in the air, and is met in combat by Thor . Thor, also a son of Odin and described here as protector of the earth, furiously fights the serpent, defeating it, but Thor is only able to take nine steps afterwards before collapsing dead from

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6882-462: The gods grow desperate as it becomes apparent that the jötunn will construct the burg on time. To their surprise, his stallion contributes much of the progress, swiftly moving boulders and rocks. To deal with the problem, Loki comes up with a plan whereupon he changes his appearance to that of a mare, and distracts Svaðilfari to slow down construction. Without the help of his stallion, the builder realises he cannot complete his task in time and goes into

6993-442: The gods' and ragnarøkkr as 'the twilight of the gods.' The plural noun rök has several meanings, including 'development', 'origin', 'cause', 'relation', 'fate.' The word ragnarök as a whole is then usually interpreted as the 'final destiny of the gods.' The singular form ragnarøk(k)r is found in a stanza of the Poetic Edda poem Lokasenna , and in the Prose Edda . The noun røk(k)r means 'twilight' (from

7104-416: The gold game pieces the Æsir once owned. Völuspá stanza 51 is then quoted. High reveals that two humans, Líf and Lífþrasir , will have also survived the destruction by hiding in the wood Hoddmímis holt . These two survivors consume the morning dew for sustenance, and from their descendants, the world will be repopulated. Vafþrúðnismál stanza 45 is then quoted. The personified sun, Sól, will have

7215-637: The golden grove Glasir . It also records a name for Thor as 'Defender of Ásgard' ( Old Norse : verjandi Ásgarðs ). In the Ynglinga saga , found in Heimskringla , Snorri describes Asgard as a city in Asia, based on a perceived, but erroneous, connection between the words for Asia and Æsir. In the opening stanzas of the Saga of the Ynglings, Asgard is the capital of Asaland, a section of Asia east of

7326-440: The grass the golden chess pieces that the Æsir had once owned. Later, the section describes how an unnamed jötunn came to the gods with his stallion, Svaðilfari and offered help in building a burg for the gods in three winters, asking in return for the sun, moon, and marriage with Freyja . Despite Freyja's opposition, together the gods agree to fulfill his request if he completes his work in just one winter. As time goes on,

7437-471: The great serpent Jörmungandr , also described as a child of Loki in the same source, will breach land as the sea violently swells onto it. The ship Naglfar, described in the Prose Edda as being made from the human nails of the dead, is released from its mooring and sets sail on the surging sea, steered by a jötunn named Hrym . At the same time, Fenrir, eyes and nostrils spraying flames, charges forward with his mouth wide open, his upper jaw reaching to

7548-422: The heavens, and his lower jaw touching the earth. At Fenrir's side, Jörmungandr sprays venom throughout the air and the sea. During all of this, the sky splits into two. From the split, the "sons of Muspell " ride forth. Surtr rides first, surrounded by flames, his sword brighter than the sun. High says that "Muspell's sons" will ride across Bifröst , described in Gylfaginning as a rainbow bridge, and that

7659-631: The imagination but rather believed that they were or had been real beings, sometimes possessing actual power" (John Daniel Cook). In the Prose Edda , composed around 1220, the Christian Icelandic bard and historian Snorri Sturluson proposes that the Norse gods were originally historical leaders and kings. Odin , the father of the gods, is introduced as a historical person originally from Asia Minor , tracing his ancestry back to Priam ,

7770-449: The inscription bearing his name. This claim however did not originate with Euhemerus, as the general sentiment of Crete during the time of Epimenides of Knossos (c. 600 BC) was that Zeus was buried somewhere in Crete. For this reason, the Cretans were often considered atheists , and Epimenides called them all liars (see Epimenides paradox ). Callimachus , an opponent of Euhemerus' views on mythology , argued that Zeus' Cretan tomb

7881-610: The king of Troy during the Trojan War . As Odin travels north to settle in the Nordic countries , he establishes the royal families ruling in Denmark , Sweden and Norway at the time: And whatever countries they passed through, great glory was spoken of them, so that they seemed more like gods than men. Snorri's euhemerism follows the early Christian tradition. Euhemeristic interpretations of mythology continued throughout

7992-416: The middle of the world a city which is called Ásgard; men call it Troy. There dwelt the gods and their kindred; and many tidings and tales of it have come to pass both on earth and aloft. There is one abode called Hlidskjálf , and when Allfather sat in the high-seat there, he looked out over the whole world and saw every man's acts, and knew all things which he saw. After Asgard is made, the gods then built

8103-712: The mighty human spirits of the patriarchs of the Old Testament . Martin of Braga , in his De correctione rusticorum , wrote that idolatry stemmed from post-deluge survivors of Noah's family, who began to worship the sun and stars instead of God . In his view, the Greek gods were deified descendants of Noah who were once real personages. Christian writers during the Middle Ages continued to embrace euhemerism, such as Vincent of Beauvais , Petrus Comestor , Roger Bacon and Godfrey of Viterbo . "After all, it

8214-419: The night within a cave. Inside the cave they hear noises, witness a pair of immense burning eyes, and then the being with burning eyes recites a poem of 12 stanzas. The poem the being recites contains references to Norse mythology (including a mention of Thor) and also prophecies (including that "mountains will tumble, the earth will move, men will be scoured by hot water and burned by fire"). Surtr's fire receives

8325-479: The opinion of Socrates respecting the truth of a local legend. I should like to know, Socrates, whether the place is not somewhere here at which Boreas is said to have carried off Orithyia from the banks of the Ilissus? Soc. Such is the tradition. Phaedr. And is this the exact spot? The little stream is delightfully clear and bright; I can fancy that there might be maidens playing near. Soc. I believe that

8436-414: The oral traditions did not form a naturalistic, structured system that aimed to be internally geographically consistent. An alternative proposal is that the world should be conceived of as a number of realms connected by passages that cannot be typically traversed. This would explain how Asgard can be located both to the east and west of the realm of men, over the sea and over Bifröst. It has been noted that

8547-506: The origin of idols. The early Christian apologists deployed the euhemerist argument to support their position that pagan mythology was merely an aggregate of fables of human invention. Cyprian , a North African convert to Christianity, wrote a short essay De idolorum vanitate ("On the Vanity of Idols") in 247 AD that assumes the euhemeristic rationale as though it needed no demonstration. Cyprian begins: That those are no gods whom

8658-434: The past, and the runic alphabet . In stanza 61, in the grass, they find the golden game pieces that the gods are described as having once happily enjoyed playing games with long ago (attested earlier in the same poem). The reemerged fields grow without needing to be sown. The gods Höðr and Baldr return from Hel and live happily together. The völva says that the god Hœnir chooses wooden slips for divination and that

8769-442: The period, but argued so from a Biblical basis. Of the early 19th century, George Stanley Faber was another Biblical euhemerist. His work The Origin of Pagan Idolatry (1816) proposed that all the pagan nations worshipped the same gods, who were all deified men. Outside of Biblical influenced literature, some archaeologists embraced euhemerist views since they discovered myths could verify archaeological findings. Heinrich Schliemann

8880-560: The poem Vafþrúðnismál . In the poem, Odin, disguised as Gagnráðr , faces off with the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir in a battle of wits. Vafþrúðnismál references Njörðr's status as a hostage during the earlier Æsir–Vanir War , and that he will "come back home among the wise Vanir" at "the doom of men." In stanza 44, Odin poses the question to Vafþrúðnir as to who of mankind will survive the "famous" Fimbulwinter ("Mighty Winter" ). Vafþrúðnir responds in stanza 45 that those survivors will be Líf and Lífþrasir and that they will hide in

8991-406: The political and religious overthrow of earlier cult systems have been widely criticized and are rejected by most scholars. Author Richard Carrier defines "euhemerization" as "the taking of a cosmic god and placing him at a definite point in history as an actual person who was later deified". Euhemerus ... depicted an imaginary scholar discovering that Zeus and Uranus were once actual kings. In

9102-416: The process Euhemerus invents a history for these 'god kings', even though we know there is no plausible case to be made that either Zeus or Uranus was ever a real person. In this framing, rather than being presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages, the mythological accounts are claimed to have had such origins, and historical accounts invented accordingly – such that, counter to

9213-407: The prophecies foretold that he would be the death of Odin." As a consequence of his role in the death of the god Baldr, Loki (described as father of Fenrir) is bound on top of three stones with the internal organs of his son Narfi (which are turned into iron) in three places. There, venom drops onto his face periodically from a snake placed by the jötunn Skaði . Loki's wife Sigyn collects

9324-610: The realm of men. The bridge Bifröst is told to span from the heavens to the earth and over it the Æsir cross each day to hold council beneath Yggdrasil at the Urðarbrunnr . Based on this, Bifröst is commonly interpreted as the bridge to Asgard. Asgard is mentioned briefly throughout Skáldskaparmál as the name for the home of the Æsir, as in Gylfaginning . In this section, a number of locations are described as lying within Asgard including Valhalla, and in front of its doors,

9435-457: The rest of the poem describing the aftermath. In the poem, a völva (a female seer) recites information to Odin . In stanza 41, the völva says: Fylliz fiǫrvi   feigra manna, rýðr ragna siǫt   rauðom dreyra. Svǫrt verða sólskin   of sumor eptir, veðr ǫll válynd.   Vitoð ér enn, eða hvat? It sates itself on the life-blood   of fated men, paints red the powers' homes   with crimson gore. Black become

9546-560: The retelling, accumulating elaborations and alterations that reflect cultural mores . It was named after the Greek mythographer Euhemerus , who lived in the late 4th century BC. In the more recent literature of myth, such as Bulfinch's Mythology , euhemerism is termed the "historical theory" of mythology. Euhemerus was not the first to attempt to rationalize mythology in historical terms: euhemeristic views are found in earlier writings including those of Sanchuniathon , Xenophanes , Herodotus , Hecataeus of Abdera and Ephorus . However,

9657-593: The river Tana-kvísl or Vana-Kvísl (kvísl is "arm"), which Snorri explains is the river Tanais (now Don), flowing into the Black Sea. Odin then leaves to settle in the northern part of the world and leaves his brothers Vili and Vé to rule over the city. When the euhemerised Odin dies, the account states that the Swedes believed he had returned to Asgard and would live there forever. Cosmology in Old Nordic religion

9768-486: The rock cliffs through the equation of Boreas with a natural gust of wind, which accepts Orithyia as a historical personage. But here he also implies that this is equivalent to rejecting the myth. Socrates, despite holding some euhemeristic views, mocked the concept that all myths could be rationalized, noting that the mythical creatures of "absurd forms" such as Centaurs and the Chimera could not easily be explained. In

9879-485: The sea. The word Ásgarðr is a compound formed from Old Norse : āss ("god") and garðr ("enclosure"). Possible anglicisations include: Ásgarthr, Ásgard, Ásegard, Ásgardr, Asgardr, Ásgarth, Asgarth, Esageard, and Ásgardhr. Asgard is named twice in Eddic poetry . The first case is in Hymiskviða , when Thor and Týr journey from Asgard to Hymir 's hall to obtain a cauldron large enough to brew beer for

9990-474: The six great periods of history as he divided it, and created mythological dynasties. Isidore's euhemeristic bent was codified in a rigid parallel with sacred history in Petrus Comestor 's appendix to his much translated Historia scholastica (written c. 1160), further condensing Isidore to provide strict parallels of figures from the pagan legend , as it was now viewed in historicised narrative, and

10101-606: The skull of Ymir and settled the jötnar on the shores of the earth. They set down the brows of Ymir, forming Midgard , and in the centre of the world they built Asgard, which he identifies as Troy : Þar næst gerðu þeir sér borg í miðjum heimi, er kölluð er Ásgarðr. Þat köllum vér Trója. Þar byggðu goðin ok ættir þeira, ok gerðust þaðan af mörg tíðendi ok greinir bæði á jörðu ok í lofti. Þar er einn staðr, er Hliðskjálf heitir, ok þá er Óðinn settist þar í hásæti, þá sá hann of alla heima ok hvers manns athæfi ok vissi alla hluti, þá er hann sá. Next they made for themselves in

10212-512: The sons of two brothers will widely inhabit the windy world. She sees a hall thatched with gold in Gimlé , where nobility will live and spend their lives pleasurably. Stanzas 65, found in the Hauksbók version of the poem, refers to a "powerful, mighty one" that "rules over everything" and who will arrive from above at the court of the gods (Old Norse regindómr ), which has been interpreted as

10323-465: The sound, and they meet. Odin rides to Mímisbrunnr in search of counsel from Mímir. Yggdrasil shakes, and everything, everywhere fears. High relates that the Æsir and the Einherjar dress for war and head to the field. Odin, wearing a gold helmet and an intricate coat of mail , carries his spear Gungnir and rides before them. Odin advances against Fenrir, while Thor moves at his side, though Thor

10434-489: The spot is not exactly here, but about a quarter of a mile lower down, where you cross to the temple of Artemis, and there is, I think, some sort of an altar of Boreas at the place. Phaedr. I have never noticed it; but I beseech you to tell me, Socrates, do you believe this tale? Soc. Socrates desires to know himself before he enquires into the newly found philosophy of mythology. The wise are doubtful, and I should not be singular if, like them, I too doubted. I might have

10545-412: The stone bears a commonly seen memorial dedication, but is followed by an encoded runic sequence that has been described as "mysterious," and "an interesting magic formula which is known from all over the ancient Norse world." On the early 11th-century Skarpåker Stone , from Södermanland , Sweden, a father grieving his dead son used the same verse form, fornyrðislag , as in the Poetic Edda in

10656-423: The sun's beams   in the summers that follow, weathers all treacherous.   Do you still seek to know? And what? The völva then describes three roosters crowing: In stanza 42, the jötunn herdsman Eggthér sits on a mound and cheerfully plays his harp while the crimson rooster Fjalar ( Old Norse "hider, deceiver" ) crows in the forest Gálgviðr . The golden rooster Gullinkambi crows to

10767-439: The temples of the gods, and that Thor's sons Móði and Magni will possess the hammer Mjolnir. In stanza 52, the disguised Odin asks the jötunn about his fate. Vafþrúðnir responds that "the wolf" will consume Odin, and that Víðarr will avenge him by sundering its cold jaws in battle. Odin ends the duel with one final question: what did Odin say to his son before preparing his funeral pyre? With this, Vafþrúðnir realizes that he

10878-505: The tendency to link Asgard to Troy is part of a wider European cultural practice of claiming Trojan origins for one's culture, first seen in the Aeneid and also featuring in Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia regum Britanniae for the founding of Britain . Both Asgard and Valhalla have been portrayed many times in popular culture Asgard is depicted in the 1989 film comedy film Erik

10989-411: The usual sense of "Euhemerism", in "euhemerization" a mythological figure is in fact transformed into a (pseudo)historical one. Ragnar%C3%B6k In Norse mythology , Ragnarök ( / ˈ r æ ɡ n ə r ɒ k / RAG -nə-rok or / ˈ r ɑː ɡ -/ RAHG - ; Old Norse : Ragnarǫk [ˈrɑɣnɑˌrɒk] ) is a foretold series of impending events, including

11100-458: The venom into a bucket, but whenever she leaves to empty it, the drops reach Loki's face, and the pain he experiences causes convulsions, resulting in earthquakes . Loki is further described as being bound this way until the onset of Ragnarök . Chapter 51 provides a detailed account of Ragnarök interspersed with various quotes from Völuspá , while chapters 52 and 53 describe the aftermath of these events. In Chapter 51, High states that

11211-465: The verb røkkva 'to grow dark'), suggesting a translation 'twilight of the gods.' This reading was widely considered a result of folk etymology , or a learned reinterpretation of the original term due to the merger of / ɔ / (spelled ǫ) and / ø / (spelled ø) in Old Icelandic after c.  1200 (nevertheless giving rise to the calque Götterdämmerung 'Twilight of the Gods' in

11322-402: The wolf will swallow the sun, then his brother will swallow the moon, and mankind will consider the occurrence as a great disaster resulting in much ruin. The stars will disappear. The earth and mountains will shake so violently that the trees will come loose from the soil, the mountains will topple, and all restraints will break, causing Fenrir to break free from his bonds. High relates that

11433-414: The wolf Fenrir by the gods, causing the god Týr to lose his right hand, and that Fenrir remains there until Ragnarök . Gangleri asks High why, since the gods could only expect destruction from Fenrir, they did not simply kill Fenrir once he was bound. High responds that "the gods hold their sacred places and sanctuaries in such respect that they chose not to defile them with the wolf's blood, even though

11544-417: The word appear. In both sources, the word is used to signify the end of the world through fire. Old Norse forms of the term also appear throughout accounts of Ragnarök , where the world is also consumed in flames, and, though various theories exist about the meaning and origins of the term, its etymology has not been solved. Parallels have been pointed out between the Ragnarök of Norse religion and

11655-483: The world will be repopulated by two human survivors, Líf and Lífþrasir . Ragnarök is an important event in Norse mythology and has been the subject of scholarly discourse and theory in the history of Germanic studies . The event is attested primarily in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda , written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson . In

11766-521: Was a prominent archaeologist of the 19th century who argued myths had historical truths embedded in them. Schliemann was an advocate of the historical reality of places and characters mentioned in the works of Homer . He excavated Troy and claimed to have discovered artifacts associated with various figures from Greek mythology, including the Mask of Agamemnon and Priam's Treasure . Herbert Spencer embraced some euhemeristic arguments in attempt to explain

11877-462: Was a volcano demon. Surtr's name occurs in some Icelandic place names, among them the lava tube Surtshellir , a number of dark caverns in the volcanic central region of Iceland. Parallels have been pointed out between a poem spoken by a jötunn found in the 13th-century þáttr Bergbúa þáttr ("the tale of the mountain dweller"). In the tale, Thórd and his servant get lost while travelling to church in winter, and so take shelter for

11988-523: Was alive and modern scholars consider his apotheosis to have influenced Euhemerus' views on the origin of all gods. Euhemerus was also living during the contemporaneous deification of the Seleucids and " pharaoization " of the Ptolemies in a fusion of Hellenic and Egyptian traditions. Euhemerus argued that Zeus was a mortal king who died on Crete , and that his tomb could still be found there with

12099-403: Was considered to be an atheist by his opponents, most notably Callimachus . Euhemerus' views were rooted in the deification of men, usually kings, into gods through apotheosis . In numerous cultures, kings were exalted or venerated into the status of divine beings and worshipped after their death, or sometimes even while they ruled. Dion , the tyrant ruler of Syracuse , was deified while he

12210-412: Was during this time that Christian apologists had adopted the views of the rationalist Greek philosophers. And had captured the purpose for Euhemerism, which was to explain the mundane origins of the Hellenistic divinities. Euhemerism explained simply in two ways: first in the strictest sense as a movement which reflected the known views of Euhemerus' Hiera Anagraphe regarding Panchaia and the historicity of

12321-521: Was fabricated, and that he was eternal: Cretans always lie. For the Cretans even built a tomb, Lord, for you. But you did not die, for you are eternal. A later Latin scholium on the Hymns of Callimachus attempted to account for the tomb of Zeus. According to the scholium, the original tomb inscription read: "The tomb of Minos , the son of Jupiter " but over time the words "Minos, the son" wore away leaving only "the tomb of Jupiter". This had misled

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