The first was a husband of her choosing (though she had to choose him only by his feet); the second was memorializing her father's eyes in the stars; and the third was giving her one good, honest-to-god laugh. This last one proved to be the most difficult. They tried and tried, ...
This could mean that there are more than three Norns and not just three for each race. It is possible that the three main ones are Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, and then there are multiple tiers of Norns, based on race and perhaps luck. Each being could also have their own norn, just l...
Whatever disputes may have existed as to the mythology of other branches of the Teutonic subdivision of the Aryan race—whatever discussions may have arisen as to the position of this or that divinity among the Franks, the Anglo-Saxons, or the Goths-about the Norsemen there can be no disput...
The Norseman’s god was a god of battles, and victory his greatest gift to men; but this was not the only aspect under which the Great Father was revered. Not victory in the fight alone, but every other good gift came down from him and the Aesir. Odin’s supreme will was that treas...
The wordrunecomes from the Germanic wordrun,which means secret or whisper. According to Norse mythology it was Odin, king of the gods, and god of wisdom and war, that gained knowledge of the runes. In this story from Norse mythology, he willingly hung himself from Yggdrasil, the Tree of...
Here we see one of the motifs that would persist in elf stories throughout Europe – don’t cross them. Even today, our term “stroke” (for the life-threatening neurological emergency) comes from the notion that elves could smite someone who had invoked their wrath. Likewise, bad luck in...
days was dedicated to a god or goddess. Monday was sacred to the goddess of the moon." Tuesday, the name of the third day of the week, was taken from Tiu, or Tiw, which was the Anglo-Saxon form of Tyr, the name of the Norse god of war. Tyr was the son of Odin, or Woden....
The first was a husband of her choosing (though she had to choose him only by his feet); the second was memorializing her father's eyes in the stars; and the third was giving her one good, honest-to-god laugh. This last one proved to be the most difficult. They tried and tried, ...
The first was a husband of her choosing (though she had to choose him only by his feet); the second was memorializing her father's eyes in the stars; and the third was giving her one good, honest-to-god laugh. This last one proved to be the most difficult. They tried and tried, ...
Weirder still, this alcohol god was also the smartest god who ever existed. He liked imparting wisdom to whomever he met, and traveled extensively to do to. One day he came upon two dwarves with whom he tried to share his worldly knowledge. Instead of listening, as they probably should ...