I got this today at a book fair for $4. The Encyclopaedia of Mythology by Arthur Cotterell

I have a memory of reading a story when I was younger that I now cannot remember whether it was a depiction of an actual piece of mythology or if it was a modern invention. It was about a group of berserkers who fought giants that could read minds and thus were almost unbearable as they always knew their opponents next move. However, while raging the berserkers themselves didn’t know their next move so they were able to defeat the giants. Does this story have a basis in Norse mythology?

Hello. Does anyone know anything about runes? I would like the right rune for a funeral of a good friend that will accompany him on his further journey

I love the design of this tattoo but before i get it i would like to know what the writings at the top mean. if anyone has any idea that would be great help!!

After reading it I asked myself about the moral message of his story and why he came to the point of brutally killing the sons of the king of Norway

There’s no justice in what happened, or perhaps I’m missing the point here which I think is what it is.

So those who read Völund’s story, please share your knowledge and what you know about it.

I recall once upon a time hearing that mjölnir was made of womens' beards and other "stuff that don't exist" bc they used so much of it to make the hammer that it exhausted the resource. Is this a real thing? Anyone have the full list if so? If not do you know what I'm conflating it with?

Thank you in advance.

I'm writing a short novel that's a remake of the Ragnarok myth, adding dialogue and extra stuff and stuff. But I don't know EXACTLY what happened in Ragnarok. Who were the survivors, what happened before, etc.

This is what I know (Feel free to skip this part):

-Frigg's dreams about Baldr, the oath to all living beings not to kill him. All except the mistletoe.

-Baldr holds a tournament to prove his immortality. His blind brother Hodr, god of winter (?), is tricked by Loki and kills him by shooting him with a mistletoe arrow.

-Vali burns Hodr, Fimbulwinter begins because of his death (?).

-They try to revive Baldr, they fail because Loki transformed into a giantess (?).

-Loki is discovered by the events of Lokasenna. After that he is enclosed in a stone with the guts of his normal children and sprinkled with snake venom.

-Three years pass, Ragnarok begins.

-Skoll and Hati catch the moon and the sun.

-Garm breaks his chains in the cave howling.

-An earthquake frees Loki.

-Fenrir breaks his chains (?)

-Surtr goes to Asgard (?)

-Jormungandr get out of the sea (?).

-The giants go to Asgard with their ships.

-Hel and Loki go to Asgard from Helheim with their ships.

-Fenrir kills Odin, Vidar took revenge for his father by killing Fenrir.

-Thor kills Jormungandr, dies later from the poison. Magni and Modi keep the match.

-Garm and Tyr kill each other.

-Surtr kills Freyr because he left without his sword.

-Surtr burns the universe, only a few survive.

-Two humans survive, Baldr and Hodr revive, Magni, Modi, Freya survive, and others I don't know what else stills alive (Heeeeeeelp)

-Niddhoggr escapes from the roots of the world tree in Nastrond, scattering corpses in the world (?)

Thanks for reading, have a nice day and sorry for writing so much.

I'm running a dnd game and they're fighting evil dwarves and I want to name them after dwarves who were antagonists in norse myth. I've already turned Fjalar and Galar into a pair of necromancers trying to exhume Kvasir's corpse. And I have the sons of ivaldi as a cult of Loki who have an ancient vendetta against Brokkr and Eitri for beheading their god eons ago. But that's the only 2 cases of dwarves being antagonists in norse myth I can find and I admit to stretching the definition of antagonist for the sons of Ivaldi.

Why do we know nothing about her?

What are your favorite stories from Norse mythology that have a good moral lesson to be learned from them?

Just wondering if anyone knows of any short prayers that Vikings may have uttered before they went into battle/knew their death was imminent?

Original Norwegian or English translations welcome!

Really need to find something appropriate for a university project so would be so so appreciated

"About the secrets of giants and of all gods

I can tell the truth,

because I have come to each world;

I came to nine worlds beneath Niflhel;

humans die there from Hel."

As far as I know (mostly from people on subs like this and r/Norse), the idea of nine underworld realms is a possible explanation of what the phrase "níu heimar" is referring to. I think I agree with this (though I haven't really read any of the sources outside of the Eddas, and I don't know if there even are any other sources that talk about this since I don't think I've seen people cite anything else), but I don't understand why Vafþrúðnir brings up having been to nine homes/realms beneath Niflhel as the reason that he can tell "[the truth] about the secrets of giants and of all gods." My only guess was that maybe it has something to do with talking with the dead like Óðinn does sometimes, but I'm not sure if that makes sense.

just wondering

Hi, I'm not too big into Norse mythology as much as I am curious about mythology in general world wide. However, I just learned that apparently it's not just Nidhöggr gnawing at the world tree's roots but rather 7 other serpents as well.

Does anyone know if there is any symbolism or significance to that number?

(Curiously, the Japanese myth of Yamata no Orochi involves the thunder god Susanoo slaying the eight-headed serpent Orochi. Although the number of serpents or heads aren't specified in other myths, the idea reoccurs in other cultures: The Greek Typhon was a multi-headed serpentine giant, Lotan/Leviathan slain by Hadad-Baʿal, the Egyptian Apep fought by Ra, and the Sumerian/Babylonian draconic mother goddess Tiamat slain by Marduk. This seems to occur roughly around the time period the Proto Indo-European earth mother goddess was falling out of favor.)

Can an expert at this tell me sort of what this means?

I've been trying to find a definitive answer to this question for the past few months and have come up short. Are Geri and Freki different colors, Huginn and Munninn or is it that all four of them are? A lot of depictions, although entirely made up and of no historical importance, show both sets of the four creatures as both being the same color and different colors. I always thought that it was Geri and Freki that differed in color but some illustrations show Huginn and Muninn being different as well.

Basically I am confused as to how the nine realms sit cosmologicaly. Is, for example, Muspelheimr below the earth much like Hades or Hell, or does it sit as it's own continent so very far to the south of us?

Answers on this topic have been hard to find, and I also know that hey may not even be clear or exist. But at this point I will take even educated theories at this point.

I want to ask something, in norse mythology, there are 9 worlds and humans live in midgard, is midgard like a planet, or like a universe for humans?

Some dude

I can't seem to find a clear answer. There's the frost giants and fire giants, which as far as I can tell are their own things, usually pretty regular in form. Then there's a veriety of other jotnar that I can't pin down, including Loki, Angrboða, and their children (and a few of the æsir as well I guess, since they're more of a clan).

These jotnar I'm asking about often come in varying forms as well; Hel, Jormungandr, and Fenrir for instance are all completely different dispite all having the same parents (granted, their father is a shapeshifter, but still, iirc they're not the only examples).

I know the norse didn't put stuff like this in nice little categories very much, and we are sorely lacking in a lot of information, so I won't be too surprised if there isn't a real answer, but if there is one I would like to know.