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137-446: In a document from 885 to 896, the settlement is called "Thorhem", dwelling of Thor , the God of Thunder. Vikings quartered at Dorestad (now Wijk bij Duurstede ) called the place Thorhem because, reputedly, the god of thunder was worshipped there. Indeed, archeological diggings in a moor on the estate of Hoog Moersbergen, north of Doorn, prove that there was a pagan sacrificial site. At

274-420: A gýgr named Bestla . Some of the features of this myth, such as the cow Audumbla, are of unclear provenance; Snorri does not specify where he obtained these details as he did for other parts of the myths, and it may be that these were his inventions. Völuspá portrays Yggdrasil as a giant ash tree. Grímnismál claims that the deities meet beneath Yggdrasil daily to pass judgement. It also claims that

411-416: A cauldron large enough to brew ale for them all. They arrive, and Týr sees his nine-hundred-headed grandmother and his gold-clad mother, the latter of which welcomes them with a horn. After Hymir —who is not happy to see Thor—comes in from the cold outdoors, Týr 's mother helps them find a properly strong cauldron. Thor eats a big meal of two oxen (all the rest eat but one), and then goes to sleep. In

548-703: A memorial stone ; carving his hammer on the stone also served this function. In contrast to the few runic fragments, a considerable body of literary and historical sources survive in Old Norse manuscripts using the Latin script , all of which were created after the Christianisation of Scandinavia , the majority in Iceland. The first extensive Nordic textual source for the Old Norse Religion

685-486: A "cultural paganism", the re-use of pre-Christian myth "in certain cultural and social contexts" that are officially Christian. For instance, Old Norse mythological themes and motifs appear in poetry composed for the court of Cnut the Great , an eleventh-century Christian Anglo-Scandinavian king. Saxo is the earliest medieval figure to take a revived interest in the pre-Christian beliefs of his ancestors, doing so not out of

822-459: A "cultural patchwork" which emerged under a wide range of influences from earlier Scandinavian religions. It may have had links to Nordic Bronze Age : while the putatively solar-oriented belief system of Bronze Age Scandinavia is believed to have died out around 500 BCE, several Bronze Age motifs—such as the wheel cross—reappear in later Iron Age contexts . It is often regarded as having developed from earlier religious belief systems found among

959-418: A boat, out at sea. Hymir catches a few whales at once, and Thor baits his line with the head of the ox. Thor casts his line and the monstrous serpent Jörmungandr bites. Thor pulls the serpent on board, and violently slams him in the head with his hammer. Jörmungandr shrieks, and a noisy commotion is heard from underwater before another lacuna appears in the manuscript. After the second lacuna, Hymir

1096-558: A bridal head-dress, and the necklace Brísingamen . Thor rejects the idea, yet Loki interjects that this will be the only way to get back Mjölnir . Loki points out that, without Mjölnir , the jötnar will be able to invade and settle in Asgard . The gods dress Thor as a bride, and Loki states that he will go with Thor as his maid, and that the two shall drive to Jötunheimr together. After riding together in Thor's goat-driven chariot ,

1233-520: A broader Germanic religion found across linguistically Germanic Europe; of the different forms of this Germanic religion, that of the Old Norse is the best-documented. Rooted in ritual practice and oral tradition, Old Norse religion was fully integrated with other aspects of Norse life, including subsistence, warfare, and social interactions. Open codifications of Old Norse beliefs were either rare or non-existent. The practitioners of this belief system themselves had no term meaning "religion", which

1370-421: A cart or chariot pulled by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr (whom he eats and resurrects), and is ascribed three dwellings ( Bilskirnir , Þrúðheimr , and Þrúðvangr ). Thor wields the hammer Mjölnir , wears the belt Megingjörð and the iron gloves Járngreipr , and owns the staff Gríðarvölr . Thor's exploits, including his relentless slaughter of his foes and fierce battles with

1507-625: A desire to revive their faith but out of historical interest. Snorri was also part of this revived interest, examining pagan myths from his perspective as a cultural historian and mythographer. As a result, Norse mythology "long outlasted any worship of or belief in the gods it depicts". There remained, however, remnants of Norse pagan rituals for centuries after Christianity became the dominant religion in Scandinavia (see Trollkyrka ). Old Norse gods continued to appear in Swedish folklore up until

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1644-578: A detailed description of a ship burial . Since the literary evidence that represents Old Norse sources were recorded by Christians, archaeological evidence, especially of religious sites and burials is of great importance, particularly as a source of information on Norse religion before the conversion. Many aspects of material culture —including settlement locations, artefacts and buildings—may cast light on beliefs, and archaeological evidence regarding religious practices indicates chronological, geographic and class differences far greater than are suggested by

1781-573: A form of sorcery that some scholars describe as shamanistic . Various forms of burial were conducted, including both inhumation and cremation, typically accompanied by a variety of grave goods. Throughout its history, varying levels of trans-cultural diffusion occurred among neighbouring peoples, such as the Sami and Finns . By the 12th century, Old Norse religion had been replaced by Christianity, with elements continuing into Scandinavian folklore . A revival of interest in Old Norse religion occurred amid

1918-494: A literary creation designed to meet the ruling class' aspirations since the idea of deceased warriors owing military service to Oðinn parallels the social structure between warriors and their lord. There is no archaeological evidence clearly alluding to a belief in Valhalla. According to Snorri, while one-half of the slain go to Valhalla, the others go to Frejya's hall, Fólkvangr , and those who die from disease or old age go to

2055-461: A new conversion process to Christianise this incoming population. The Nordic world first encountered Christianity through its settlements in the already Christian British Isles and through trade contacts with the eastern Christians in Novgorod and Byzantium . By the time Christianity arrived in Scandinavia it was already the accepted religion across most of Europe. It is not well understood how

2192-538: A particular deity. Transmitted through oral culture rather than through codified texts, Old Norse religion focused heavily on ritual practice, with kings and chiefs playing a central role in carrying out public acts of sacrifice. Various cultic spaces were used; initially, outdoor spaces such as groves and lakes were typically selected, but after the third century CE cult houses seem to also have been purposely built for ritual activity, although they were never widespread. Norse society also contained practitioners of Seiðr ,

2329-447: A rage, causing all of the halls of the Æsir to tremble in her anger, and her necklace, the famed Brísingamen , falls from her. Freyja pointedly refuses. As a result, the gods and goddesses meet and hold a thing to discuss and debate the matter. At the thing, the god Heimdallr puts forth the suggestion that, in place of Freyja , Thor should be dressed as the bride, complete with jewels, women's clothing down to his knees,

2466-604: A realm known as Hel ; it was here that Baldr went after his death. The concept of Hel as an afterlife location never appears in pagan-era skaldic poetry, where "Hel" always references the eponymous goddess. Snorri also mentions the possibility of the dead reaching the hall of Brimir in Gimlé , or the hall of Sindri in the Niðafjöll Mountains . Various sagas and the Eddic poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana II refer to

2603-411: A ride from him. The ferryman, shouting from the inlet, is immediately rude and obnoxious to Thor and refuses to ferry him. At first, Thor holds his tongue, but Hárbarðr only becomes more aggressive, and the poem soon becomes a flyting match between Thor and Hárbarðr , all the while revealing lore about the two, including Thor's killing of several jötnar in "the east" and women on Hlesey (now

2740-419: A serpent gnaws at its roots while a deer grazes from its higher branches; a squirrel runs between the two animals, exchanging messages. Grímnismál also claims that Yggdrasil has three roots; under one resides the goddess Hel, under another the frost-þursar, and under the third humanity. Snorri also relates that Hel and the frost-þursar live under two of the roots but places the gods, rather than humanity, under

2877-591: A single time in Västergötland ( VG 150 ), Sweden. A fifth appearance may possibly occur on a runestone found in Södermanland , Sweden ( Sö 140 ), but the reading is contested. Pictorial representations of Thor's hammer appear on a total of five runestones found in Denmark ( DR 26 and DR 120 ) and in the Swedish counties of Västergötland ( VG 113 ) and Södermanland ( Sö 86 and Sö 111 ). It

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3014-414: A sitting man, and the man lying down often barks out lies." Loki states that it was indeed an effort, and also a success, for he has discovered that Þrymr has the hammer, but that it cannot be retrieved unless Freyja is brought to Þrymr as his wife. The two return to Freyja and tell her to put on a bridal head dress, as they will drive her to Jötunheimr . Freyja , indignant and angry, goes into

3151-568: A statue of Thor, who Adam describes as "mightiest", sits in the Temple at Uppsala in the center of a triple throne (flanked by Woden and "Fricco") located in Gamla Uppsala , Sweden . Adam details that "Thor, they reckon, rules the sky; he governs thunder and lightning, winds and storms, fine weather and fertility" and that "Thor, with his mace, looks like Jupiter". Adam details that the people of Uppsala had appointed priests to each of

3288-726: A stick bearing a runic message found among the Bryggen inscriptions in Bergen , Norway . On the stick, both Thor and Odin are called upon for help; Thor is asked to "receive" the reader, and Odin to "own" them. In the Poetic Edda , compiled during the 13th century from traditional source material reaching into the pagan period, Thor appears (or is mentioned) in the poems Völuspá , Grímnismál , Skírnismál , Hárbarðsljóð , Hymiskviða , Lokasenna , Þrymskviða , Alvíssmál , and Hyndluljóð . In

3425-540: Is cognate with Old High German Donarestag . All of these terms derive from a Late Proto-Germanic weekday name along the lines of * Þunaresdagaz ('Day of * Þun(a)raz '), a calque of Latin Iovis dies ('Day of Jove '; cf. modern Italian giovedì , French jeudi , Spanish jueves ). By employing a practice known as interpretatio germanica during the Roman period , ancient Germanic peoples adopted

3562-493: Is Ásynjur , which is properly the feminine of Æsir . An old word for goddess may be dís , which is preserved as the name of a group of female supernatural beings. Ancestral deities were common among Finno-Ugric peoples and remained a strong presence among the Finns and Sámi after Christianisation. Ancestor veneration may have played a part in the private religious practices of Norse people in their farmsteads and villages; in

3699-492: Is again stated that the Old Norse cosmogony began with a belief in Ginnungagap, the void. From this emerged two realms, the icy, misty Niflheim and the fire-filled Muspell , the latter ruled over by fire- jötunn , Surtr . A river produced by these realms coagulated to form Ymir, while a cow known as Audumbla then appeared to provide him with milk. Audumbla licked a block of ice to free Buri , whose son Bor married

3836-506: Is also a major base for the Royal Dutch Marines . Von Gimborn Arboretum , one of the sites of the botanical gardens of Utrecht University , is near the town. Doorn was an independent municipality until 1 January 2006. Since then, it has been the principal town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug . There is also a football club, Dev Doorn. The last German Emperor, Wilhelm II , lived at castle Doorn ( Huis Doorn ), in

3973-660: Is also seen on runestone DR 48 . The design is believed to be a heathen response to Christian runestones, which often have a cross at the centre. One of the stones, Sö 86 , shows a face or mask above the hammer. Anders Hultgård has argued that this is the face of Thor. At least three stones depict Thor fishing for the serpent Jörmungandr : the Hørdum stone in Thy , Denmark, the Altuna Runestone in Altuna , Sweden and

4110-750: Is apparent in Hávamál , a poem found in the Poetic Edda . In stanza 138 of Hávamál , Oðinn describes his self-sacrifice, in which he hangs himself on Yggdrasill, the world tree, for nine nights, to attain wisdom and magical powers. In the late Gautreks Saga , King Víkarr is hanged and then punctured by a spear; his executioner says "Now I give you to Oðinn". Textual accounts suggest a spectrum of rituals, from large public events to more frequent private and family rites, which would have been interwoven with daily life. However, written sources are vague about Norse rituals, and many are invisible to us now even with

4247-403: Is because " Freyja " has not slept for eight nights in her eagerness. The "wretched sister" of the jötnar appears, asks for a bridal gift from " Freyja ", and the jötnar bring out Mjölnir to "sanctify the bride", to lay it on her lap, and marry the two by "the hand" of the goddess Vár . Thor laughs internally when he sees the hammer, takes hold of it, strikes Þrymr , beats all of

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4384-456: Is debate as to precisely what form the name took at that early stage. The form * Þunraz has been suggested and has the attraction of clearly containing the sequence -unr- , needed to explain the later form Þórr . The form * Þunuraz is suggested by Elfdalian tųosdag ('Thursday') and by a runic inscription from around 700 from Hallbjäns in Sundre, Gotland , which includes

4521-581: Is described as red-bearded, but there is no evidence for a red beard in the Eddas. The name of the æsir is explained as "men from Asia ", Asgard being the "Asian city" (i.e., Troy). Alternatively, Troy is in Tyrkland (Turkey, i.e., Asia Minor), and Asialand is Scythia , where Thor founded a new city named Asgard. Odin is a remote descendant of Thor, removed by twelve generations, who led an expedition across Germany, Denmark and Sweden to Norway. In

4658-407: Is gone. Þrymr says that he has hidden Mjölnir eight leagues beneath the earth, from which it will be retrieved, but only if Freyja is brought to him as his wife. Loki flies off, the feather cloak whistling, away from Jötunheimr and back to the court of the gods. Thor asks Loki if his efforts were successful, and that Loki should tell him while he is still in the air as "tales often escape

4795-576: Is one reported example from pagan Norway in the family cult of Vǫlsi , where a deity called Mǫrnir is invoked. The Norns are female figures who determine individuals' fate. Snorri describes them as a group of three, but he and other sources also allude to larger groups of Norns who decide the fate of newborns. It is uncertain whether they were worshipped. The landvættir , spirits of the land, were thought to inhabit certain rocks, waterfalls, mountains, and trees, and offerings were made to them. For many, they may have been more important in daily life than

4932-577: Is sitting in the boat, unhappy and totally silent, as they row back to shore. On shore, Hymir suggests that Thor should help him carry a whale back to his farm. Thor picks both the boat and the whales up, and carries it all back to Hymir 's farm. After Thor successfully smashes a crystal goblet by throwing it at Hymir 's head on Týr 's mother's suggestion, Thor and Týr are given the cauldron. Týr cannot lift it, but Thor manages to roll it, and so with it they leave. Some distance from Hymir 's home, an army of many-headed beings led by Hymir attacks

5069-420: Is so angry, and comments that Thor will not be so daring to fight "the wolf" ( Fenrir ) when it eats Odin (a reference to the foretold events of Ragnarök ). Thor again tells him to be silent, and threatens to throw him into the sky, where he will never be seen again. Loki says that Thor should not brag of his time in the east, as he once crouched in fear in the thumb of a glove (a story involving deception by

5206-403: Is still in use as a Protestant church. Another castle, Kasteel Moersbergen, was first mentioned in 1435 and has been altered several times since the 17th century. The estate around Huis Doorn was so large that there was little room for extension of the town. Only after 1874, when the estate was parcelled out, was there room for growth. After World War II , the town has grown considerably. Doorn

5343-503: Is the husband of the golden-haired goddess Sif and the lover of the jötunn Járnsaxa . With Sif , Thor fathered the goddess (and possible valkyrie ) Þrúðr ; with Járnsaxa , he fathered Magni ; with a mother whose name is not recorded, he fathered Móði , and he is the stepfather of the god Ullr . Thor is the son of Odin and Jörð , by way of his father Odin, he has numerous brothers , including Baldr . Thor has two servants, Þjálfi and Röskva , rides in

5480-481: The Landnámabók , recounting the settlement and early history of Iceland, and the so-called sagas of Icelanders concerning Icelandic individuals and groups; there are also more or less fantastical legendary sagas . Many skaldic verses are preserved in sagas. Of the originally heathen works, we cannot know what changes took place either during oral transmission or as a result of their being recorded by Christians;

5617-434: The jötnar were not worshipped, although this has been questioned. The Eddic jötnar have parallels with their later folkloric counterparts, although unlike them they have much wisdom. Several accounts of the Old Norse cosmogony, or creation myth, appear in surviving textual sources, but there is no evidence that these were certainly produced in the pre-Christian period. It is possible that they were developed during

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5754-617: The Prose Edda euhemerises Thor as a prince of Troy , and the son of Menon by Troana, a daughter of Priam . Thor, also known as Tror , is said to have married the prophetess Sibyl (identified with Sif ). Thor is further said here to have been raised in Thrace by a chieftain named Lorikus , whom he later slew to assume the title of "King of Thrace", to have had a pale complexion and hair "fairer than gold", and to have been strong enough to lift ten bearskins. In later sagas he

5891-533: The Canterbury Charm from Canterbury , England , calls upon Thor to heal a wound by banishing a thurs . The second, the Kvinneby amulet , invokes protection by both Thor and his hammer. On four (or possibly five) runestones , an invocation to Thor appears that reads "May Thor hallow (these runes /this monument)!" The invocation appears thrice in Denmark ( DR 110 , DR 209 , and DR 220 ), and

6028-534: The Gosforth Cross in Gosforth , England. Sune Lindqvist argued in the 1930s that the image stone Ardre VIII on Gotland depicts two scenes from the story: Thor ripping the head of Hymir's ox and Thor and Hymir in the boat, but this has been disputed. In the 12th century, more than a century after Norway was "officially" Christianized, Thor was still being invoked by the population, as evidenced by

6165-540: The Prose Edda , Thor is mentioned in all four books; Prologue , Gylfaginning , Skáldskaparmál , and Háttatal . In Heimskringla , composed in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson , Thor or statues of Thor are mentioned in Ynglinga saga , Hákonar saga góða , Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar , and Óláfs saga helga . In Ynglinga saga chapter 5, a heavily euhemerized account of

6302-576: The Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peoples . It was replaced by Christianity and forgotten during the Christianisation of Scandinavia . Scholars reconstruct aspects of North Germanic Religion by historical linguistics , archaeology , toponymy , and records left by North Germanic peoples, such as runic inscriptions in

6439-673: The Younger Futhark , a distinctly North Germanic extension of the runic alphabet. Numerous Old Norse works dated to the 13th-century record Norse mythology , a component of North Germanic religion. Old Norse religion was polytheistic , entailing a belief in various gods and goddesses . These deities in Norse mythology were divided into two groups, the Æsir and the Vanir , who in some sources were said to have engaged in an ancient war until realizing that they were equally powerful. Among

6576-574: The de facto ruler of Norway, and although he agreed to be baptised under pressure from the Danish king and allowed Christians to preach in the kingdom, he enthusiastically supported pagan sacrificial customs, asserting the superiority of the traditional deities and encouraging Christians to return to their veneration. His reign (975–995) saw the emergence of a "state paganism", an official ideology which bound together Norwegian identity with pagan identity and rallied support behind Haakon's leadership. Haakon

6713-411: The jötnar , kills their "older sister", and so gets his hammer back. In the poem Alvíssmál , Thor tricks a dwarf , Alvíss , to his doom upon finding that he seeks to wed his daughter (unnamed, possibly Þrúðr ). As the poem starts, Thor meets a dwarf who talks about getting married. Thor finds the dwarf repulsive and, apparently, realizes that the bride is his daughter. Thor comments that

6850-762: The romanticist movement of the 19th century, during which it inspired a range of artworks. Academic research into the subject began in the early 19th century, initially influenced by the pervasive romanticist sentiment. The archaeologist Anders Andrén noted that "Old Norse religion" is "the conventional name" applied to the pre-Christian religions of Scandinavia . See for instance other terms used by scholarly sources include "pre-Christian Norse religion", "Norse religion", "Norse paganism", "Nordic paganism", "Scandinavian paganism", "Scandinavian heathenism", "Scandinavian religion", "Northern paganism", "Northern heathenism", "North Germanic religion", or "North Germanic paganism". This Old Norse religion can be seen as part of

6987-428: The sagas of Icelanders , in particular, are now regarded by most scholars as more or less historical fiction rather than as detailed historical records. A large amount of mythological poetry has undoubtedly been lost. One important written source is Snorri's Prose Edda , which incorporates a manual of Norse mythology for the use of poets in constructing kennings; it also includes numerous citations, some of them

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7124-488: The 10th century, Norwegian pagans attempted to encourage the Christian king Haakon to take part in an offering to the gods by inviting him to drink a toast to the ancestors alongside several named deities. Þorgerðr Hölgabrúðr and Irpa appear to have been personal or family goddesses venerated by Haakon Sigurdsson , a late pagan ruler of Norway. There are also likely to have been local and family fertility cults; there

7261-524: The 12th century, Christianity was firmly established across Northwestern Europe. For two centuries, Scandinavian ecclesiastics continued to condemn paganism, although it is unclear whether it still constituted a viable alternative to Christian dominance. These writers often presented paganism as being based on deceit or delusion; some stated that the Old Norse gods had been humans falsely euhemerised as deities. Old Norse mythological stories survived in oral culture for at least two centuries, being recorded in

7398-482: The 12th century, folk traditions and iconography of the Christianizing king Olaf II of Norway (Saint Olaf; c. 995 – 1030) absorbed elements of both Thor and Freyr. After Olaf's death, his cult had spread quickly all over Scandinavia, where many churches were dedicated to him, as well as to other parts of Northern Europe. His cult distinctively mixed both ecclesiastical and folk elements. From Thor, he inherited

7535-400: The 13th century. How this mythology was passed down is unclear; it is possible that pockets of pagans retained their belief system throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, or that it had survived as a cultural artefact passed down by Christians who retained the stories while rejecting any literal belief in them. The historian Judith Jesch suggested that following Christianisation, there remained

7672-544: The Althing in 999, an agreement was reached that the Icelandic law would be based on Christian principles, albeit with concessions to the pagan community. Private, albeit not public, pagan sacrifices and rites were to remain legal. Across Germanic Europe, conversion to Christianity was closely connected to social ties; mass conversion was the norm, rather than individual conversion. A primary motivation for kings converting

7809-577: The Bishops of Hamburg), written between 1066 and 1072, which includes an account of the temple at Uppsala , and Saxo Grammaticus ' 12th-century Gesta Danorum (History of the Danes), which includes versions of Norse myths and some material on pagan religious practices. In addition, Muslim Arabs wrote accounts of Norse people they encountered, the best known of which is Ibn Fadlan 's 10th-century Risala , an account of Volga Viking traders that includes

7946-635: The Christian institutions converted these Scandinavian settlers, in part due to a lack of textual descriptions of this conversion process equivalent to Bede's description of the earlier Anglo-Saxon conversion. However, it appears that the Scandinavian migrants had converted to Christianity within the first few decades of their arrival. After Christian missionaries from the British Isles—including figures like St Willibrord , St Boniface , and Willehad —had travelled to parts of northern Europe in

8083-495: The Danish island of Læsø ). In the end, Thor ends up walking instead. Thor is again the main character in the poem Hymiskviða , where, after the gods have been hunting and have eaten their prey, they have an urge to drink. They "sh[ake] the twigs" and interpret what they say. The gods decide that they would find suitable cauldrons at Ægir 's home. Thor arrives at Ægir 's home and finds him to be cheerful, looks into his eyes, and tells him that he must prepare feasts for

8220-543: The Germanic Iron Age peoples. The Germanic languages likely emerged in the first millennium BCE in present-day Denmark or northern Germany, after which they spread; several of the deities in Old Norse religion have parallels among other Germanic societies. The Scandinavian Iron Age began around 500 to 400 BCE. Archaeological evidence is particularly important for understanding these early periods. Accounts from this time were produced by Tacitus; according to

8357-765: The Germanic expansions of the Migration Period , to his high popularity during the Viking Age , when, in the face of the process of the Christianization of Scandinavia , emblems of his hammer, Mjölnir , were worn and Norse pagan personal names containing the name of the god bear witness to his popularity. Narratives featuring Thor are most prominently attested in Old Norse, where Thor appears throughout Norse mythology . In stories recorded in medieval Iceland , Thor bears at least fifteen names ,

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8494-577: The Germanic peoples were recorded by the Romans, and in these works Thor is frequently referred to – via a process known as interpretatio romana (where characteristics perceived to be similar by Romans result in identification of a non-Roman god as a Roman deity) – as either the Roman god Jupiter (also known as Jove ) or the Greco-Roman god Hercules . The first clear example of this occurs in

8631-636: The Good had converted to Christianity while in England. On returning to Norway, he kept his faith largely private but encouraged Christian priests to preach among the population; some pagans were angered and—according to Heimskringla —three churches built near Trondheim were burned down. His successor, Harald Greycloak , was also a Christian but similarly had little success in converting the Norwegian population to his religion. Haakon Sigurdsson later became

8768-460: The Helgi lays, where they are depicted as princesses who assist and marry heroes. Conflict with the jötnar and gýgjar (often glossed as giants and giantesses respectively) is a frequent motif in the mythology. They are described as both the ancestors and enemies of the gods. Gods marry gýgjar but jötnar 's attempts to couple with goddesses are repulsed. Most scholars believe

8905-590: The Latin weekly calendar and replaced the names of Roman gods with their own. Beginning in the Viking Age , personal names containing the theonym Þórr are recorded with great frequency, whereas no examples are known prior to this period. Þórr -based names may have flourished during the Viking Age as a defiant response to attempts at Christianization, similar to the widespread Viking Age practice of wearing Thor's hammer pendants. The earliest records of

9042-617: The Norse interacted closely with other ethnocultural and linguistic groups, such as the Sámi , Balto-Finns , Anglo-Saxons , Greenlandic Inuit , and various speakers of Celtic and Slavic languages. Economic, marital, and religious exchange occurred between the Norse and many of these other groups. Enslaved individuals from the British Isles were common throughout the Nordic world during

9179-552: The Old Norse Religion was Tacitus ' book, the Germania , which dates back to around 100 CE and describes religious practices of several Germanic peoples , but has little coverage of Scandinavia. In the Middle Ages, several Christian commentators also wrote about Scandinavian paganism, mostly from a hostile perspective. The best known of these are Adam of Bremen 's Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (History of

9316-458: The Roman historian Tacitus 's late first-century work Germania , where, writing about the religion of the Suebi (a confederation of Germanic peoples ), he comments that "among the gods Mercury is the one they principally worship. They regard it as a religious duty to offer to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of

9453-703: The Viking Age, Norse people left Scandinavia and settled elsewhere throughout Northwestern Europe . Some of these areas, such as Iceland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands , and the Faroe Islands , were hardly populated, whereas other areas, such as England, Southwest Wales, Scotland, the Western Isles, Isle of Man, and Ireland, were already heavily populated. In the 870s, Norwegian settlers left their homeland and colonized Iceland , bringing their belief system with them. Place-name evidence suggests that Thor

9590-523: The Viking Age. Different elements of Old Norse religion had different origins and histories; some aspects may derive from deep into prehistory, others only emerging following the encounter with Christianity. In Hilda Ellis Davidson 's words, present-day knowledge of Old Norse religion contains "vast gaps", and we must be cautious and avoid "bas[ing] wild assumptions on isolated details". A few runic inscriptions with religious content survive from Scandinavia, particularly asking Thor to hallow or protect

9727-574: The afterlife. Snorri refers to multiple realms which welcome the dead; although his descriptions reflect a likely Christian influence, the idea of a plurality of other worlds is likely pre-Christian. Unlike Christianity, Old Norse religion does not appear to have adhered to the belief that moral concerns impacted an individual's afterlife destination. Warriors who died in battle became the Einherjar and were taken to Oðinn's hall, Valhalla. There they waited until Ragnarok when they would fight alongside

9864-451: The archaeologists Andrén, Kristina Jennbert, and Catharina Raudvere stated that "pre-Christian Norse religion is not a uniform or stable category", while the scholar Karen Bek-Pedersen noted that the "Old Norse belief system should probably be conceived of in the plural, as several systems". The historian of religion Hilda Ellis Davidson stated that it would have ranged from manifestations of "complex symbolism" to "the simple folk-beliefs of

10001-423: The arrival of Christianity has generated consciousness of Old Norse religion as a distinct religion. Old Norse religion has been classed as an ethnic religion , and as a "non-doctrinal community religion". It varied across time, in different regions and locales, and according to social differences. This variation is partly due to its transmission through oral culture rather than codified texts. For this reason,

10138-498: The beast: Benjamin Thorpe translation: Then comes the mighty son of Hlôdyn : (Odin's son goes with the monster to fight); Midgârd 's Veor in his rage will slay the worm. Nine feet will go Fiörgyn's son, bowed by the serpent, who feared no foe. All men will their homes forsake. Henry Adams Bellows translation: Hither there comes the son of Hlothyn, The bright snake gapes to heaven above; ... Against

10275-434: The behavior at odds with his impression of Freyja , and Loki, sitting before Þrymr and appearing as a "very shrewd maid", makes the excuse that " Freyja 's" behaviour is due to her having not consumed anything for eight entire days before arriving due to her eagerness to arrive. Þrymr then lifts " Freyja 's" veil and wants to kiss "her". Terrifying eyes stare back at him, seemingly burning with fire. Loki says that this

10412-433: The castle is called Maarten Maartenshuis and is a part of the hotel and conference centre Zonheuvel. Thor Thor (from Old Norse : Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism . In Norse mythology , he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning , thunder , storms , sacred groves and trees , strength , the protection of humankind, hallowing , and fertility . Besides Old Norse Þórr ,

10549-643: The center of the village, after he was deposed in 1918. He died in Doorn in 1941. The Dutch novelist Simon Vestdijk lived in Doorn for a great part of his life (between 1939 and 1971, a few short intervals excepted). The environs of Doorn are clearly recognisable in the landscape descriptions in many of his novels. Maarten Maartens , a Dutch writer who wrote in English, had a small castle built in Doorn: Zonheuvel ("Sun Hill", finished in 1903). At present,

10686-494: The context of early Celtic–Germanic linguistic contacts, especially when added to other inherited terms with thunder attributes, such as * Meldunjaz –* meldo- (from * meldh - 'lightning, hammer', i.e. * Perk unos ' weapon) and * Fergunja –* Fercunyā (from * perk un-iyā 'wooded mountains', i.e. *Perk unos' realm). The English weekday name Thursday comes from Old English Þunresdæg , meaning 'day of Þunor', with influence from Old Norse Þórsdagr . The name

10823-471: The country was fully Christian by the early 12th. Olaf Tryggvason sent a Saxon missionary, Þangbrandr , to Iceland. Many Icelanders were angered by Þangbrandr's proselytising, and he was outlawed after killing several poets who insulted him. Animosity between Christians and pagans on the island grew, and at the Althing in 998 both sides blasphemed each other's gods. In an attempt to preserve unity, at

10960-403: The dead residing in their graves, where they remain conscious. In these thirteenth century sources, ghosts ( Draugr ) are capable of haunting the living. In both Laxdæla Saga and Eyrbyggja Saga , connections are drawn between pagan burials and hauntings. In mythological accounts, the deity most closely associated with death is Oðinn. In particular, he is connected with death by hanging; this

11097-728: The deity occurs in Old English as Thunor , in Old Frisian as Thuner , in Old Saxon as Thunar , and in Old High German as Donar , all ultimately stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym * Þun(a)raz , meaning 'Thunder'. Thor is a prominently mentioned god throughout the recorded history of the Germanic peoples , from the Roman occupation of regions of Germania , to

11234-763: The early 20th century. There are documented accounts of encounters with both Thor and Odin, along with a belief in Freja's power over fertility. Norse mythology , stories of the Norse deities, is preserved in Eddic poetry and in Snorri Sturluson 's guide for skalds , the Poetic Edda . Depictions of some of these stories can be found on picture stones in Gotland and in other visual records including some early Christian crosses, which attests to how widely known they were. The myths were transmitted purely orally until

11371-524: The earth out of the sea. A different account is provided in Vafþrúðnismál , which describes that the world is made from the components of Ymir's body: the earth from his flesh, the mountains from his bones, the sky from his skull, and the sea from his blood. Grímnismál also describes the world being fashioned from Ymir's corpse, although adds the detail that the jötnar emerged from a spring known as Élivágar . In Snorri's Gylfaginning , it

11508-512: The eighth century, Charlemagne pushed for Christianisation in Denmark, with Ebbo of Rheims , Halitgar of Cambrai , and Willeric of Bremen proselytizing in the kingdom during the ninth century. The Danish king Harald Klak converted (826), likely to secure his political alliance with Louis the Pious against his rivals for the throne. The Danish monarchy reverted to Old Norse religion under Horik II (854 – c. 867). The Norwegian king Hákon

11645-459: The encounter with Christianity, as pagans sought to establish a creation myth complex enough to rival that of Christianity; these accounts could also be the result of Christian missionaries interpreting certain elements and tales found in the Old Norse culture and presenting them to be creation myths and a cosmogony, parallel to that of the Bible , in part to aid the Old Norse in the understanding of

11782-638: The end of the period, and were subject to variation; one key poem, "Vǫluspá", is preserved in two variant versions in different manuscripts, and Snorri's retelling of the myths sometimes varies from the other textual sources that are preserved. There was no single authoritative version of a particular myth, and variation over time and from place to place is presumed, rather than "a single unified body of thought". In particular, there may have been influences from interactions with other peoples, including northern Slavs, Finns, and Anglo-Saxons, and Christian mythology exerted an increasing influence. Old Norse religion

11919-559: The event, however, as he is away in the east for unspecified purposes. Towards the end of the poem, the flyting turns to Sif , Thor's wife, whom Loki then claims to have slept with. The god Freyr 's servant Beyla interjects, and says that, since all of the mountains are shaking, she thinks that Thor is on his way home. Beyla adds that Thor will bring peace to the quarrel, to which Loki responds with insults. Thor arrives and tells Loki to be silent, and threatens to rip Loki's head from his body with his hammer. Loki asks Thor why he

12056-540: The exchange of hostages. Some mythographers have suggested that this myth was based on recollection of a conflict in Scandinavia between adherents of different belief systems. Major deities among the Æsir include Thor (who is often referred to in literary texts as Asa-Thor), Odin and Týr . Very few Vanir are named in the sources: Njǫrðr , his son Freyr , and his daughter Freyja ; according to Snorri all of these could be called Vanaguð (Vanir-god), and Freyja also Vanadís (Vanir- dís ). The status of Loki within

12193-461: The feather cloak whistling. In Jötunheimr , the jötunn Þrymr sits on a barrow , plaiting golden collars for his female dogs, and trimming the manes of his horses. Þrymr sees Loki, and asks what could be amiss among the Æsir and the elves ; why is Loki alone in Jötunheimr ? Loki responds that he has bad news for both the elves and the Æsir —that Thor's hammer, Mjölnir ,

12330-476: The god Freyr 's messenger, Skírnir , threatens the fair Gerðr , with whom Freyr is smitten, with numerous threats and curses, including that Thor, Freyr , and Odin will be angry with her, and that she risks their "potent wrath". Thor is the main character of Hárbarðsljóð , where, after traveling "from the east", he comes to an inlet where he encounters a ferryman who gives his name as Hárbarðr (Odin, again in disguise), and attempts to hail

12467-559: The god. In relation, Thunor is sometimes used in Old English texts to gloss Jupiter , the god may be referenced in the poem Solomon and Saturn , where the thunder strikes the devil with a "fiery axe", and the Old English expression þunorrād ("thunder ride") may refer to the god's thunderous, goat-led chariot. A 9th-century AD codex from Mainz , Germany, known as the Old Saxon Baptismal Vow , records

12604-425: The gods is provided, where Thor is described as having been a gothi —a pagan priest—who was given by Odin (who himself is explained away as having been an exceedingly powerful magic-wielding chieftain from the east) a dwelling in the mythical location of Þrúðvangr , in what is now Sweden. The saga narrative adds that numerous names—at the time of the narrative, popularly in use—were derived from Thor . Around

12741-488: The gods they venerated more or at all. There are also accounts in sagas of individuals who devoted themselves to a single deity, described as a fulltrúi or vinr (confidant, friend) as seen in Egill Skallagrímsson 's reference to his relationship with Odin in his " Sonatorrek ", a tenth-century skaldic poem for example. This practice has been interpreted as heathen past influenced by the Christian cult of

12878-453: The gods, and that the priests were to offer up sacrifices . In Thor's case, he continues, these sacrifices were done when plague or famine threatened. Earlier in the same work, Adam relays that in 1030 an English preacher, Wulfred, was lynched by assembled Germanic pagans for "profaning" a representation of Thor. Two objects with runic inscriptions invoking Thor date from the 11th century, one from England and one from Sweden. The first,

13015-436: The gods. Texts also mention various kinds of elves and dwarfs . Fylgjur , guardian spirits, generally female, were associated with individuals and families. Hamingjur , dísir and swanmaidens are female supernatural figures of uncertain stature within the belief system; the dísir may have functioned as tutelary goddesses . Valkyries were associated with the myths concerning Odin, and also occur in heroic poetry such as

13152-401: The gods. Annoyed, Ægir tells Thor that the gods must first bring to him a suitable cauldron to brew ale in. The gods search but find no such cauldron anywhere. However, Týr tells Thor that he may have a solution; east of Élivágar lives Hymir , and he owns such a deep kettle. So, after Thor secures his goats at Egil 's home, Thor and Týr go to Hymir 's hall in search of

13289-583: The hall, for "I know alone that you do strike", and the poem continues. In the comedic poem Þrymskviða , Thor again plays a central role. In the poem, Thor wakes and finds that his powerful hammer, Mjölnir , is missing. Thor turns to Loki, and tells him that nobody knows that the hammer has been stolen. The two go to the dwelling of the goddess Freyja , and so that he may attempt to find Mjölnir , Thor asks her if he may borrow her feather cloak. Freyja agrees, and says she would lend it to Thor even if it were made of silver or gold, and Loki flies off,

13426-459: The idea of an inescapable fate pervaded Norse worldviews. There is much evidence that Völuspá was influenced by Christian belief, and it is also possible that the theme of conflict being followed by a better future—as reflected in the Ragnarok story—perhaps reflected the period of conflict between paganism and Christianity. Old Nordic religion had several fully developed ideas about death and

13563-486: The latter of which inspired the form Thor . Though Old Norse Þórr has only one syllable, it too comes from an earlier, Proto-Norse two-syllable form which can be reconstructed as * Þunarr and/or * Þunurr (evidenced by the poems Hymiskviða and Þórsdrápa , and modern Elfdalian tųosdag 'Thursday'), through the common Old Norse development of the sequence -unr- to -ór- . All these forms of Thor's name descend from Proto-Germanic , but there

13700-630: The less sophisticated". During the Viking Age , the Norse likely regarded themselves as a more or less unified entity through their shared Germanic language, Old Norse . The scholar of Scandinavian studies Thomas A. DuBois said Old Norse religion and other pre-Christian belief systems in Northern Europe must be viewed as "not as isolated, mutually exclusive language-bound entities, but as broad concepts shared across cultural and linguistic lines, conditioned by similar ecological factors and protracted economic and cultural ties". During this period,

13837-562: The magic of Útgarða-Loki , recounted in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning )—which, he comments, "was hardly like Thor". Thor again tells him to be silent, threatening to break every bone in Loki's body. Loki responds that he intends to live a while yet, and again insults Thor with references to his encounter with Útgarða-Loki . Thor responds with a fourth call to be silent, and threatens to send Loki to Hel . At Thor's final threat, Loki gives in, commenting that only for Thor will he leave

13974-474: The monstrous serpent Jörmungandr —and their foretold mutual deaths during the events of Ragnarök —are recorded throughout sources for Norse mythology. Into the modern period, Thor continued to be acknowledged in folklore throughout Germanic-speaking Europe . Thor is frequently referred to in place names, the day of the week Thursday bears his name (modern English Thursday derives from Old English thunresdaeġ , 'Thunor's day'), and names stemming from

14111-446: The morning, he awakes and informs Hymir that he wants to go fishing the following evening, and that he will catch plenty of food, but that he needs bait. Hymir tells him to go get some bait from his pasture, which he expects should not be a problem for Thor. Thor goes out, finds Hymir 's best ox, and rips its head off. After a lacuna in the manuscript of the poem, Hymiskviða abruptly picks up again with Thor and Hymir in

14248-407: The most widespread deities were the gods Odin and Thor . This world was inhabited also by various other mythological races, including jötnar , dwarfs , elves , and land-wights . Norse cosmology revolved around a world tree known as Yggdrasil , with various realms existing alongside that of humans, named Midgard . These include multiple afterlife realms, several of which are controlled by

14385-484: The name of a deity. Magnus Olsen developed a typology of such place names in Norway, from which he posited a development in pagan worship from groves and fields toward the use of temple buildings. Personal names are also a source of information on the popularity of certain deities; for example, Thor's name was an element in the names of both men and women, particularly in Iceland. Andrén described Old Norse religion as

14522-524: The name of the god appears upon the Nordendorf fibulae , a piece of jewelry created during the Migration Period and found in Bavaria . The item bears an Elder Futhark inscribed with the name Þonar (i.e. Donar ), the southern Germanic form of Thor's name. Around the second half of the 8th century, Old English texts mention Thunor ( Þunor ), which likely refers to a Saxon version of

14659-545: The name of three Old Saxon gods, UUôden (Old Saxon " Wodan ") , Saxnôte , and Thunaer , by way of their renunciation as demons in a formula to be repeated by Germanic pagans formally converting to Christianity . According to a near-contemporary account, the Christian missionary Saint Boniface felled an oak tree dedicated to "Jove" in the 8th century, the Donar's Oak in the region of Hesse , Germany . The Kentish royal legend , probably 11th-century, contains

14796-463: The new Christian religion through the use of native elements as a means to facilitate conversion (a common practice employed by missionaries to ease the conversion of people from different cultures across the globe. See Syncretism ). According to the account in Völuspá , the universe was initially a void known as Ginnungagap . There then appeared a jötunn , Ymir , and after him the gods, who lifted

14933-435: The only record of lost poems, such as Þjóðólfr of Hvinir 's Haustlöng . Snorri's Prologue eumerises the Æsir as Trojans , deriving Æsir from Asia , and some scholars have suspected that many of the stories that we only have from him are also derived from Christian medieval culture. Additional sources remain by non-Scandinavians writing in languages other than Old Norse. The first non-Scandinavian textual source for

15070-596: The pagan period containing his own continue to be used today, particularly in Scandinavia. Thor has inspired numerous works of art and references to Thor appear in modern popular culture. Like other Germanic deities, veneration of Thor is revived in the modern period in Heathenry . The name Thor is derived from Norse mythology. Its medieval Germanic equivalents or cognates are Donar ( Old High German ), Þunor ( Old English ), Thuner ( Old Frisian ), Thunar ( Old Saxon ), and Þórr ( Old Norse ),

15207-406: The pantheon is problematic, and according to " Lokasenna " and "Vǫluspá" and Snorri's explanation, he is imprisoned beneath the earth until Ragnarok , when he will fight against the gods. As far back as 1889 Sophus Bugge suggested this was the inspiration for the myth of Lucifer . Some of the goddesses— Skaði , Rindr , Gerðr are jötnar origins. The general Old Norse word for the goddesses

15344-610: The permitted kind" and adds that a portion of the Suebi also venerate " Isis ". In this instance, Tacitus refers to the god Odin as " Mercury ", Thor as "Hercules", and the god Týr as " Mars ", and the identity of the Isis of the Suebi has been debated. In Thor's case, the identification with the god Hercules is likely at least in part due to similarities between Thor's hammer and Hercules' club. In his Annals , Tacitus again refers to

15481-432: The poem Grímnismál , the god Odin, in disguise as Grímnir , and tortured, starved and thirsty, imparts in the young Agnar cosmological lore, including that Thor resides in Þrúðheimr , and that, every day, Thor wades through the rivers Körmt and Örmt , and the two Kerlaugar . There, Grímnir says, Thor sits as judge at the immense cosmological world tree, Yggdrasil . In Skírnismál ,

15618-401: The poem Völuspá , a dead völva recounts the history of the universe and foretells the future to the disguised god Odin, including the death of Thor. Thor, she foretells, will do battle with the great serpent during the immense mythic war waged at Ragnarök , and there he will slay the monstrous snake, yet after he will only be able to take nine steps before succumbing to the venom of

15755-576: The question and answer session turns out to be a ploy by Thor, as, although Thor comments that he has truly never seen anyone with more wisdom in their breast, Thor has managed to delay the dwarf enough for the Sun to turn him to stone; "day dawns on you now, dwarf, now sun shines on the hall". In the poem Hyndluljóð , Freyja offers to the jötunn woman Hyndla to blót (sacrifice) to Thor so that she may be protected, and comments that Thor does not care much for jötunn women. The prologue to

15892-427: The quick temper, physical strength and merits as a giant-slayer. Early depictions portray Olaf as clean-shaven, but after 1200 he appears with a red beard. For centuries, Olaf figured in folk traditions as a slayer of trolls and giants, and as a protector against malicious forces. Norse paganism Old Norse religion , also known as Norse paganism , is a branch of Germanic religion which developed during

16029-529: The result of the fossilization of an original epithet (or epiclesis , i.e. invocational name) of the Proto-Indo-European thunder-god * Perk unos , since the Vedic weather-god Parjanya is also called stanayitnú- ('Thunderer'). The potentially perfect match between the thunder-gods * Tonaros and * Þunaraz , which both go back to a common form * ton(a)ros ~ * tṇros , is notable in

16166-451: The saints. Although our literary sources are all relatively late, there are also indications of change over time. Norse mythological sources, particularly Snorri and "Vǫluspá", differentiate between two groups of deities, the Æsir and the Vanir , who fought a war during which the Vanir broke down the walls of the Æsir's stronghold, Asgard , and eventually made peace utilizing a truce and

16303-413: The scholar Gabriel Turville-Petre , Tacitus' observations "help to explain" later Old Norse religion. Tacitus described the Germanic peoples as having priests, open-air sacred sites, and seasonal sacrifices and feasts. Tacitus notes that the Germanic peoples were polytheistic and mentions some of their deities trying to perceive them through Roman equivalents, so Romans could try to understand . During

16440-569: The sequence "þunurþurus". Finally, * Þunaraz is attractive because it is identical to the name of the ancient Celtic god Taranus (by metathesis –switch of sounds–of an earlier * Tonaros , attested in the dative tanaro and the Gaulish river name Tanarus ), and further related to the Latin epithet Tonans (attached to Jupiter ), via the common Proto-Indo-European root for 'thunder' * (s)tenh₂- . According to scholar Peter Jackson, those theonyms may have emerged as

16577-461: The serpent goes Othin's son. In anger smites the warder of earth,— Forth from their homes must all men flee;— Nine paces fares the son of Fjorgyn, And, slain by the serpent, fearless he sinks. Afterwards, says the völva , the sky will turn black before fire engulfs the world, the stars will disappear, flames will dance before the sky, steam will rise, the world will be covered in water and then it will be raised again, green and fertile. In

16714-444: The story of a villainous reeve of Ecgberht of Kent called Thunor, who is swallowed up by the earth at a place from then on known as þunores hlæwe (Old English 'Thunor's mound'). Gabriel Turville-Petre saw this as an invented origin for the placename demonstrating loss of memory that Thunor had been a god's name. In the 11th century, chronicler Adam of Bremen records in his Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum that

16851-766: The surviving texts. Place names are an additional source of evidence. Theophoric place names, including instances where a pair of deity names occur near, provide an indication of the importance of the religion of those deities in different areas, dating back to before our earliest written sources. The toponymic evidence shows considerable regional variation, and some deities, such as Ullr and Hǫrn , occur more frequently, than Odin place-names occur, in other locations. Some place-names contain elements indicating that they were sites of religious activity: those formed with - vé , - hörgr , and - hof , words for religious sites of various kinds, and also likely those formed with - akr or - vin , words for "field", when coupled with

16988-471: The third root. The term Yggr means "the terrifier" and is a synonym for Oðinn, while drasill was a poetic word for a horse; "Yggdrasil" thereby means "Oðinn's Steed". This idea of a cosmic tree has parallels with those from various other societies, and may reflect part of a common Indo-European heritage. The Ragnarok story survives in its fullest exposition in Völuspá , although elements can also be seen in earlier poetry. The Ragnarok story suggests that

17125-609: The time of its first settlement. Scandinavian settlers brought Old Norse religion to Britain in the latter decades of the ninth century. Several British place-names indicate possible religious sites; for instance, Roseberry Topping in North Yorkshire was known as Othensberg in the twelfth century, a name deriving from the Old Norse Óðinsberg ("Hill of Óðin"). Several place-names also contain Old Norse references to religious entities, such as alfr , skratii , and troll . The English church found itself in need of conducting

17262-545: The time, the settlement of Thorhem belonged to the homestead of Villa Thorhem. Around 1200, this homestead was in the possession of a provost of the Bishopric of Utrecht . He, or one of his successors, had a castle built in the 14th century, now Huis Doorn , and a church called the Maartenskerk ("St. Martin's Church") around 1200. The church was extended in the 15th century. It fell into Protestant hands around 1585 and

17399-417: The two, but are killed by the hammer of Thor. Although one of his goats is lame in the leg, the two manage to bring the cauldron back, have plenty of ale, and so, from then on, return to [Týr] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |3= ( help ) 's for more every winter. In the poem Lokasenna , the half-god Loki angrily flites with the gods in the sea entity Ægir 's hall. Thor does not attend

17536-483: The two, disguised, arrive in Jötunheimr . Þrymr commands the jötnar in his hall to spread straw on the benches, for Freyja has arrived to be his wife. Þrymr recounts his treasured animals and objects, stating that Freyja was all that he was missing in his wealth. Early in the evening, the disguised Loki and Thor meet with Þrymr and the assembled jötnar . Thor eats and drinks ferociously, consuming entire animals and three casks of mead . Þrymr finds

17673-512: The veneration of "Hercules" by the Germanic peoples; he records a wood beyond the river Weser (in what is now northwestern Germany ) as dedicated to him. A deity known as Hercules Magusanus was venerated in Germania Inferior ; due to the Roman identification of Thor with Hercules, Rudolf Simek has suggested that Magusanus was originally an epithet attached to the Proto-Germanic deity * Þunraz . The first recorded instance of

17810-457: The wedding agreement was made among the gods while Thor was gone, and that the dwarf must seek his consent. To do so, Thor says, Alvíss must tell him what he wants to know about all of the worlds that the dwarf has visited. In a long question and answer session, Alvíss does exactly that; he describes natural features as they are known in the languages of various races of beings in the world, and gives an amount of cosmological lore. However,

17947-414: The Æsir. According to the poem Grímnismál , Valhalla had 540 doors and a wolf stood outside its western door, while an eagle flew overhead. In that poem, it is also claimed that a boar named Sæhrímnir is eaten every day and that a goat named Heiðrún stands atop the hall's roof producing an endless supply of mead. It is unclear how widespread a belief in Valhalla was in Norse society; it may have been

18084-534: Was polytheistic , with many anthropomorphic gods and goddesses, who express human emotions and in some cases are married and have children. One god, Baldr , is said in the myths to have died. Archaeological evidence on the worship of particular gods is sparse, although placenames may also indicate locations where they were venerated. For some gods, particularly Loki , there is no evidence of worship; however, this may be changed by new archaeological discoveries. Regions, communities, and social classes likely varied in

18221-428: Was killed in 995 and Olaf Tryggvason , the next king, took power and enthusiastically promoted Christianity; he forced high-status Norwegians to convert, destroyed temples, and killed those he called 'sorcerers'. Sweden was the last Scandinavian country to officially convert; although little is known about the process of Christianisation, it is known that the Swedish kings had converted by the early 11th century and that

18358-416: Was only introduced with Christianity. Following Christianity's arrival, Old Norse terms that were used for the pre-Christian systems were forn sið ("old custom") or heiðinn sið ("heathen custom"), terms which suggest an emphasis on rituals, actions, and behaviours rather than belief itself. The earliest known usage of the Old Norse term heiðinn is in the poem Hákonarmál ; its uses here indicates that

18495-522: Was the Poetic Edda . Some of the poetic sources, in particular, the Poetic Edda and skaldic poetry, may have been originally composed by heathens, and Hávamál contains both information on heathen mysticism and what Ursula Dronke referred to as "a round-up of ritual obligations". In addition there is information about pagan beliefs and practices in the sagas , which include both historical sagas such as Snorri Sturluson 's Heimskringla and

18632-754: Was the desire for support from Christian rulers, whether as money, imperial sanction, or military support. Christian missionaries found it difficult convincing Norse people that the two belief systems were mutually exclusive; the polytheistic nature of Old Norse religion allowed its practitioners to accept Jesus Christ as one god among many. The encounter with Christianity could also stimulate new and innovative expressions of pagan culture, for instance through influencing various pagan myths. As with other Germanic societies, syncretisation between incoming and traditional belief systems took place. For those living in isolated areas, pre-Christian beliefs likely survived longer, while others continued as survivals in folklore. By

18769-424: Was the most popular god on the island, although there are also saga accounts of devotés of Freyr in Iceland, including a "priest of Freyr" in the later Hrafnkels saga . There are no place-names connected to Odin on the island. Unlike other Nordic societies, Iceland lacked a monarchy and thus a centralising authority which could enforce religious adherence; there were both Old Norse and Christian communities from

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