Æsir: Encyclopedia II - Æsir - Norse mythology

Æsir - Norse mythology

The interaction between the Æsir and the Vanir is an interesting aspect of Norse mythology. While other cultures have had "elder" and "younger" families of gods, as with the Titans versus the Olympians of ancient Greece, the Æsir and Vanir were portrayed as contemporary. The two clans of gods fought battles, concluded treaties, and exchanged hostages (Freyr and Freyja are mentioned as such hostages). It is tempting to speculate that the interactions described as occurring between Æsir and Vanir reflect the types of interaction common to various Norse clans at the time. According to another theory, the cult of the Vanir (who are mainly connected with fertility and relatively peaceful) may be of an older date, and that of the more warlike Æsir of later origin, so the mythical war may perhaps mirror a religious conflict. On the other hand this may be a parallel to the historicized conflict between the Romans and the Sabines. The noted comparative religion scholar Mircea Eliade speculated that both conflicts are actually different versions of an older Indo-European myth of conflict and integration between deities of sky and rulership vs. deities of earth and fertility, with no strict historical antecedents.

The chronology of the cults would in that case not be pictured in the myths. However, only Odin and Thor were important in both myth and cult; an áss like Ullr is almost unknown in the myths, but his name is seen in a lot of geographical names, especially in Sweden, so his cult was probably quite wide-spread.

The Æsir stayed forever young by eating the apples of Iðunn, although they could be slain, as it was predicted that nearly all will die at Ragnarok.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Norse mythology", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki