59-533: In Norse mythology , the Vanir ( / ˈ v ɑː n ɪər / ; Old Norse :, singular Vanr ) are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future. The Vanir are one of two groups of gods (the other being the Æsir ) and are the namesake of the location Vanaheimr ( Old Norse "Home of the Vanir"). After the Æsir–Vanir War , the Vanir became a subgroup of the Æsir. Subsequently, members of
118-411: A name shared with Freyr . The Heimskringla book Ynglinga saga (chapter 4) provides an euhemerized account of the Æsir–Vanir War . As a peace agreement, the two sides agreed to trade hostages. The Vanir sent Njörðr and Freyr to the Æsir, and in turn the Æsir sent Hœnir and Mímir to the Vanir. Upon receiving Mímir , the Vanir sent the "cleverest amongst them", Kvasir . In Vanaheimr,
177-427: A central sacred tree , Yggdrasil . Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings. Various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir , and the first two humans are Ask and Embla . These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök when an immense battle occurs between the gods and their enemies, and
236-527: A crystal cup full of mead, noting that she never thought that she would love one of the Vanir. The Vanir are mentioned in the Prose Edda books Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál . In chapter 23 of Gylfaginning , the enthroned figure of High relates that Njörðr was raised in Vanaheimr . High says that during the Æsir–Vanir War , the Vanir sent Njörðr as a hostage to the Æsir, and the Æsir sent to
295-455: A female being of the same name , may be ferried away by valkyries to Odin's martial hall Valhalla , or may be chosen by the goddess Freyja to dwell in her field Fólkvangr . The goddess Rán may claim those that die at sea, and the goddess Gefjon is said to be attended by virgins upon their death. Texts also make reference to reincarnation . Time itself is presented between cyclic and linear, and some scholars have argued that cyclic time
354-449: A form of the gods as venerated by the pagan Anglo-Saxons . Numerous theories have been proposed for the etymology of Vanir . Scholar R. I. Page says that, while there is no shortage of etymologies for the word, it is tempting to link the word with Old Norse vinr ('friend') and Latin Venus ('goddess of physical love'). Vanir is sometimes anglicized to Wanes (singular Wane ). In
413-494: A game of wits with the jötunn Vafþrúðnir . Gagnráðr asks Vafþrúðnir where the Van god Njörðr came from, for though he rules over many hofs and hörgrs , Njörðr was not raised among the Æsir. Vafþrúðnir responds that Njörðr was created in Vanaheimr ("home of the Vanir") by "wise powers" and details that during the Æsir–Vanir War, Njörðr was exchanged as a hostage. In addition, when the world ends ( Ragnarök ), Njörðr "will return to
472-417: A man and a woman with a leafy bough between them, facing or embracing one another. The human figures are almost always clothed and are sometimes depicted with their knees bent. Scholar Hilda Ellis Davidson says that it has been suggested that the figures are partaking in a dance, and that they may have been connected with weddings and linked to the Vanir, representing the notion of a divine marriage, such as in
531-424: A metrical alternative to Æsir but with the caveat that "These observations should not, however, be considered to present a solution to the riddle of vanir ". In a collection of papers in honor of Simek, Frog (2021) states support for Simek's proposal. However, Simek's proposal has been rejected by several scholars, including Clive Tolley, Leszek P. Słupecki, Jens Peter Schjødt, and Terry Gunnell. Tolley argues that
590-457: A narrative may have existed for complex social reasons ( structuralists ) among the early Indo-European peoples, and thereafter spread to their descendants. Notable proponents of the historicist position include Karl Helm , Ernst Alfred Philippson , Lotte Motz , and Lotte Headegger, whereas notable proponents of the structuralist view include Georges Dumézil , Jan de Vries , and Gabriel Turville-Petre . The structuralist view has generally gained
649-540: A poem by the 11th century skald Þórðr Sjáreksson is provided where Njörðr is described as a Vanr. In chapter 7, poetic names for Freyr are listed, including names that reference his association with the Vanir; "Vanir god", "descendant of Vanir", and "a Van". Freyja is also repeatedly cited as a Vanr. In chapter 20, some of Freyja's names are listed and include "Van-deity" and "Van-lady", and chapter 37 provides skaldic verse referring to Freyja as "Van-bride". In chapter 75, names for pigs are provided, including "Van-child",
SECTION 10
#1732766167854708-463: A region in the center of the cosmos. Outside of the gods, humanity, and the jötnar, these Nine Worlds are inhabited by beings, such as elves and dwarfs . Travel between the worlds is frequently recounted in the myths, where the gods and other beings may interact directly with humanity. Numerous creatures live on Yggdrasil, such as the insulting messenger squirrel Ratatoskr and the perching hawk Veðrfölnir . The tree itself has three major roots, and at
767-453: Is Njörðr's unnamed sister (her name is unprovided in the source material). However, there is more information about his pairing with the skiing and hunting goddess Skaði . Their relationship is ill-fated, as Skaði cannot stand to be away from her beloved mountains, nor Njörðr from the seashore. Together, Freyja, Freyr, and Njörðr form a portion of gods known as the Vanir . While the Aesir and
826-526: Is engineered by Loki , and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel , a realm ruled over by an entity of the same name . Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess, Freyja . She is beautiful, sensual, wears a feathered cloak, and practices seiðr . She rides to battle to choose among the slain and brings her chosen to her afterlife field Fólkvangr . Freyja weeps for her missing husband Óðr and seeks after him in faraway lands. Freyja's brother,
885-441: Is possessed by the Æsir, the elves , mankind, and the Vanir. In Skírnismál , the beautiful jötunn Gerðr first encounters the god Freyr 's messenger Skírnir , and asks him if he is of the elves, of the Æsir, or of the "wise Vanir". Skírnir responds that he is not of any of the three groups. Later in the poem, Skírnir is successful in his threats against Gerðr (to have Gerðr accept Freyr's affections), and Gerðr offers Skírnir
944-603: Is primarily attested in dialects of Old Norse , a North Germanic language spoken by the Scandinavian people during the European Middle Ages and the ancestor of modern Scandinavian languages . The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Iceland , where the oral tradition stemming from the pre-Christian inhabitants of the island was collected and recorded in manuscripts. This occurred primarily in
1003-579: The Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The northernmost extension of Germanic mythology and stemming from Proto-Germanic folklore , Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition. The source texts mention numerous gods such as
1062-622: The North Germanic peoples , proposing an early Germanic model of a ship in a "field of the dead" that may be represented both by Freyja's afterlife field Fólkvangr and by the Old English Neorxnawang (the mysterious first element of which may be linked to the name of Freyja's father, Njörðr). Richard North theorizes that glossing Latin vanitates ("vanities", "idols") for "gods" in Old English sources implies
1121-462: The Poetic Edda poem Skírnismál ; the coming together of the Vanir god Freyr and his love, Gerðr. Much of the discussion among scholars on the topic of the Vanir has historically been on the question of whether the Vanir are the reflection of a purported historic meeting between different peoples in the ancient past ( historicists ) or an extension of Proto-Indo-European mythology where such
1180-471: The Poetic Edda , the Vanir, as a group, are specifically referenced in the poems Völuspá , Vafþrúðnismál , Skírnismál , Þrymskviða , Alvíssmál , and Sigrdrífumál . In Völuspá , a stanza describes the events of the Æsir–Vanir War , noting that during the war the Vanir broke the walls of the stronghold of the Æsir, and that the Vanir were "indomitable, trampling the plain". In Vafþrúðnismál , Gagnráðr (the god Odin in disguise) engages in
1239-626: The 13th century by Snorri and Gesta Danorum , composed in Latin by Saxo Grammaticus in Denmark in the 12th century, are the results of heavy amounts of euhemerization. Numerous additional texts, such as the sagas , provide further information. The saga corpus consists of thousands of tales recorded in Old Norse ranging from Icelandic family histories ( Sagas of Icelanders ) to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila
SECTION 20
#17327661678541298-756: The 13th century. These texts include the Prose Edda , composed in the 13th century by the Icelandic scholar, lawspeaker , and historian Snorri Sturluson , and the Poetic Edda , a collection of poems from earlier traditional material anonymously compiled in the 13th century. The Prose Edda was composed as a prose manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Old Norse poetry composed by skalds . Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse , kennings , and several metrical forms. The Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after
1357-401: The 13th to 20th centuries". Simek states that he "believe[s] that these are not mistakes that we are dealing with here, but a deliberate invention on the part of Snorri". Simek's argument receive some level of support from Frog and Jonathan Roper (2011), who analyze the small corpus of poetic usages of Vanir . The authors suggest that this implies that vanir was a "suspended archaism" used as
1416-695: The Christianization process and also frequently refers back to the poems found in the Poetic Edda . The Poetic Edda consists almost entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, and this poetry— Eddic poetry—utilizes fewer kennings . In comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively unadorned. The Prose Edda features layers of euhemerization , a process in which deities and supernatural beings are presented as having been either actual, magic-wielding human beings who have been deified in time or beings demonized by way of Christian mythology . Texts such as Heimskringla , composed in
1475-617: The Hun ( legendary sagas ). Objects and monuments such as the Rök runestone and the Kvinneby amulet feature runic inscriptions —texts written in the runic alphabet , the indigenous alphabet of the Germanic peoples —that mention figures and events from Norse mythology. Objects from the archaeological record may also be interpreted as depictions of subjects from Norse mythology, such as amulets of
1534-656: The Norwegian woman Ragnhild Tregagås —convicted of witchcraft in Norway in the 14th century—and spells found in the 17th century Icelandic Galdrabók grimoire also sometimes make references to Norse mythology. Other traces, such as place names bearing the names of gods may provide further information about deities, such as a potential association between deities based on the placement of locations bearing their names, their local popularity, and associations with geological features. Central to accounts of Norse mythology are
1593-455: The Vanir are sometimes also referred to as members of the Æsir. The Vanir are attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda and Heimskringla , both written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson ; and in the poetry of skalds . The Vanir are only attested in these Old Norse sources. All sources describe the god Njörðr , and his children Freyr and Freyja as members of
1652-456: The Vanir formed a truce by spitting into a vat. When they left, the gods decided that it shouldn't be poured out, but rather kept as a symbol of their peace, and so from the contents they made a man; Kvasir. Kvasir is later murdered by dwarves , and from his blood the Mead of Poetry is made. In chapter 6, poetic names for Njörðr are provided, including "descendant of Vanir or a Van". As reference,
1711-409: The Vanir made Hœnir a chieftain. However, whenever Hœnir appeared at assemblies or meetings where the Vanir asked him his opinion on difficult issues, his response was "let others decide". The Vanir suspected that they had been cheated by the Æsir in the hostage exchange, and so grabbed hold of Mímir, cut off Mímir's head, and sent it to the Æsir. The same chapter describes that while Njörðr lived among
1770-545: The Vanir originated as the deities of a distinct people. Some scholars have doubted that they were known outside Scandinavia; however, there is evidence that the god Freyr is the same god as the Germanic deity Ing (reconstructed as Proto-Germanic *Ingwaz ), and that, if so, he is attested as having been known among the Goths . Hilda Ellis Davidson theorizes that all of the wives of the gods may have originally been members of
1829-494: The Vanir retain distinct identification, they came together as the result of the Aesir–Vanir War . While they receive less mention, numerous other gods and goddesses appear in the source material. (For a list of these deities, see List of Germanic deities .) Some of the gods heard less of include the apple-bearing goddess Iðunn and her husband, the skaldic god Bragi ; the gold-toothed god Heimdallr , born of nine mothers ;
Vanir - Misplaced Pages Continue
1888-400: The Vanir the god Hœnir . The sending of Njörðr as a hostage resulted in a peace agreement between the Æsir and the Vanir. Chapter 35 provides information regarding the goddess Freyja , including that one of her names is " Dis of the Vanir". In the same chapter, High tells that the goddess Gná rides the horse Hófvarpnir , and that this horse has the ability to ride through the air and atop
1947-483: The Vanir with the elves . In a 2010 piece building on an earlier proposal by Lotte Motz , Rudolf Simek argues that vanir was originally nothing more than a general term for deities like æsir , and that its employment as a name for a distinct group of deities was an invention of Snorri, whom he identifies as the author of the Prose Edda . According to Simek, the Vanir are therefore "a figment of imagination from
2006-415: The Vanir's Gunnell concludes that The Vanir are featured in the poem " Om vanerne " by Oehlenschläger (1819). Some Germanic Neopagans refer to their beliefs as Vanatrú (meaning "those who honor the Vanir"). Norse mythology Norse , Nordic , or Scandinavian mythology , is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples , stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after
2065-399: The Vanir, his wife (unnamed) was his sister, and the couple had two children: Freyr and Freyja. However, "among the Æsir it was forbidden to marry so near a kin". By Odin's appointment, Njörðr and his son Freyr became priests over offerings of sacrifice , and they were recognized as gods among the Æsir. Freyja was priestess at the sacrifices, and "it was she who first taught the Æsir magic as
2124-470: The Vanir, noting that many of them appear to have originally been children of jötnar . Davidson additionally notes that "it is the Vanir and Odin who seem to receive the most hostile treatment in Christian stories about mythological personages". Joseph S. Hopkins and Haukur Þorgeirsson, building on suggestions by archaeologist Ole Crumlin-Pedersen and others, link the Vanir to ship burial customs among
2183-512: The Vanir. A euhemerized prose account in Heimskringla adds that Njörðr's sister —whose name is not provided—and Kvasir were Vanir. In addition, Heimskringla reports a tale involving king Sveigðir 's visit to Vanaheimr, where he meets a woman by the name of Vana and the two produce a child named Vanlandi (whose name means "Man from the Land of the Vanir"). While not attested as Vanir,
2242-717: The ancient god Týr , who lost his right hand while binding the great wolf Fenrir ; and the goddess Gefjon , who formed modern-day Zealand , Denmark . Various beings outside of the gods are mentioned. Elves and dwarfs are commonly mentioned and appear to be connected, but their attributes are vague and the relation between the two is ambiguous. Elves are described as radiant and beautiful, whereas dwarfs often act as earthen smiths. A group of beings variously described as jötnar , thursar , and trolls (in English these are all often glossed as " giants ") frequently appear. These beings may either aid, deter, or take their place among
2301-630: The base of one of these roots live the Norns , female entities associated with fate. Elements of the cosmos are personified, such as the Sun ( Sól , a goddess), the Moon ( Máni , a god), and Earth ( Jörð , a goddess), as well as units of time, such as day ( Dagr , a god) and night ( Nótt , a jötunn). The afterlife is a complex matter in Norse mythology. The dead may go to the murky realm of Hel —a realm ruled over by
2360-490: The cosmological tree Yggdrasil to gain knowledge of the runic alphabet, which he passed on to humanity, and is associated closely with death, wisdom, and poetry. Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Asgard , and leader of the Aesir . Odin's wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Baldr . After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his impending death, his death
2419-459: The existence of *uuani (a reconstructed cognate to Old Norse Vanir ) in Deiran dialect and hence that the gods that Edwin of Northumbria and the northern Angles worshiped in pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon England were likely to have been the * uuani . He comments that they likely "shared not only the name but also the orgiastic character of the [Old Icelandic] Vanir ". Alaric Hall has equated
Vanir - Misplaced Pages Continue
2478-491: The form of three gifts. After the cataclysm of Ragnarok, this process is mirrored in the survival of two humans from a wood; Líf and Lífþrasir . From these two humankind is foretold to repopulate the new and green earth. Alv%C3%ADss Alvíss ( Old Norse : [ˈɑlˌwiːsː] ; "All-Wise") was a dwarf in Norse mythology . In the " Alvíssmál " poem within the 12th century Poetic Edda , Thor 's daughter, Þrúðr ,
2537-486: The god Freyr , is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts, and in his association with the weather, royalty, human sexuality, and agriculture brings peace and pleasure to humanity. Deeply lovesick after catching sight of the beautiful jötunn Gerðr , Freyr seeks and wins her love, yet at the price of his future doom. Their father is the powerful god Njörðr . Njörðr is strongly associated with ships and seafaring, and so also wealth and prosperity. Freyja and Freyr's mother
2596-409: The god Heimdallr possesses foreknowledge, "as the Vanir also can". Sigrdrífumál records that the Vanir are in possession of a "sacred mead ". In the poem, the valkyrie Sigrdrífa provides mystical lore about runes to the hero Sigurd . Sigrdrífa notes that runes were once carved on to various creatures, deities, and other figures, and then shaved off and mixed with a "sacred mead ". This mead
2655-503: The god Thor's hammer Mjölnir found among pagan burials and small silver female figures interpreted as valkyries or dísir , beings associated with war, fate or ancestor cults. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology , comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology (such as the Old High German Merseburg Incantations ) may also lend insight. Wider comparisons to
2714-683: The gods Heimdall and Ullr have been theorized as potential members of the group. In the Prose Edda , a name listed for boars is "Van-child". Scholars have theorized that the Vanir may be connected to small pieces of gold foil found in Scandinavia at some building sites from the Migration Period to the Viking Age and occasionally in graves. They have speculated whether the Vanir originally represented pre-Indo-European deities or Indo-European fertility gods , and have theorized
2773-459: The gods. The Norns , dísir , and aforementioned valkyries also receive frequent mention. While their functions and roles may overlap and differ, all are collective female beings associated with fate. In Norse cosmology , all beings live in Nine Worlds that center around the cosmological tree Yggdrasil . The gods inhabit the heavenly realm of Asgard whereas humanity inhabits Midgard ,
2832-564: The modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, and references to Norse mythology may now be found throughout modern popular culture . The myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism . The historical religion of the Norse people is commonly referred to as Norse mythology . Other terms are Scandinavian mythology , North Germanic mythology or Nordic mythology . Norse mythology
2891-456: The most support among academics, although with caveats, including among Jens Peter Schjødt , Margaret Clunies Ross , and Thomas DuBois . Like the Vanr goddess Freyja, the Vanir as a group are not attested outside Scandinavia. Traditionally, following Völuspá and the Prose Edda , scholarship on the Vanir has focused on the Æsir–Vanir War, its possible basis in a war between peoples, and whether
2950-463: The mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths. Only a tiny amount of poems and tales survive of the many mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, and before. Later sources reaching into the modern period, such as a medieval charm recorded as used by
3009-436: The mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, and is wed to the beautiful, golden-haired goddess Sif . The god Odin is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf - and raven -flanked, with a spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the nine realms. In an act of self-sacrifice, Odin is described as having hanged himself upside-down for nine days and nights on
SECTION 50
#17327661678543068-605: The plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as with the jötnar , who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of the gods. Numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. As evidenced by records of personal names and place names, the most popular god among the Scandinavians during the Viking Age was Thor the thunder god , who is portrayed as unrelentingly pursuing his foes, his mountain-crushing, thunderous hammer Mjölnir in hand. In
3127-404: The sea. High continues that "once some Vanir saw her path as she rode through the air" and that an unnamed one of these Vanir says, in verse (for which no source is provided): Gná responds: In chapter 57 of Skáldskaparmál , the god Bragi explains the origin of poetry. Bragi says the origin of poetry lies in the Æsir-Vanir War. During the peace conference held to end the war both the Æsir and
3186-606: The term must have originated in historical usage, and that "it is something of a misrepresentation of the evidence to suggest that Snorri is the main source for the vanir ". Tolley continues: Słupecki argues that the Vanir remained distinct from the Æsir – except for Freyja and Freyr, whom he follows the Prose Edda in seeing as having been born after Njörðr became a hostage among the Æsir, and thus regards as Æsir – and therefore that Ragnarök "[has] no importance for their world". According to Jens Peter Schjødt, Schjødt, in response to Simek's piece, says: Terry Gunnell proposes that
3245-401: The thunder-god Thor , the raven -flanked god Odin , the goddess Freyja , and numerous other deities . Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with several other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar , beings who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of the gods. The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank
3304-640: The wise Vanir". Alvíssmál consists of question and answer exchanges between the dwarf Alvíss and the god Thor . In the poem, Alvíss supplies terms that various groups, including the Vanir, use to refer to various subjects. Alvíss attributes nine terms to the Vanir; one for Earth ("The Ways"), Heaven ("The Weaver of Winds"), clouds ("Kites of the Wind"), calm ("The Hush of the Winds"), the sea ("The Wave"), fire ("Wildfire"), wood ("The Wand"), seed ("growth"), and ale ("The Foaming"). The poem Þrymskviða states that
3363-524: The world is enveloped in flames, only to be reborn anew. There the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world. Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century when key texts attracted the attention of the intellectual circles of Europe. By way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics , scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology . During
3422-760: Was practiced among the Vanir". In chapter 15, the king Sveigðir is recorded as having married a woman named Vana in "Vanaland", located in Sweden . The two produced a child, who they named Vanlandi (Old Norse "Man from the Land of the Vanir". Small pieces of gold foil decorated with pictures of figures dating from the Migration Period into the early Viking Age (known as gullgubber ) have been discovered in various locations in Scandinavia , in one case almost 2,500. The foil pieces have been found largely at sites of buildings, only rarely in graves. The figures are sometimes single, occasionally an animal, sometimes
3481-425: Was the original format for the mythology. Various forms of a cosmological creation story are provided in Icelandic sources, and references to a future destruction and rebirth of the world— Ragnarok —are frequently mentioned in some texts. According to the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda poem, Völuspá , the first human couple consisted of Ask and Embla ; driftwood found by a trio of gods and imbued with life in
#853146