Bilskirnir, Breidablik, Élivágar, Eliudnir, Fensalir, Fólkvangr, Gimlé, Ginnungagap, Gjallar Bridge, Gjöll, Gladsheim, Glasir, Glitnir, Gnipa, Himinbjörg, Hindarfjall, Horgr, Idavoll, Jotunheim, Ironwood, Hlidskjalf, Midgard, Muspelheim, Mirkwood, Nastrond, Niflheim, Noatun, Sessrúmnir, Singasteinn, Slidr River, Sökkvabekkr, Thrudvang, Thrymheim, Utgard, Valhall, Vanaheim, Hvergelmi ...

Including:

• Norse mythology - Sources
• Norse mythology - Cosmology
• Norse mythology - Supernatural beings
• Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world
• Norse mythology - Kings and heroes
• Norse mythology - Norse worship
• Norse mythology - Centres of faith
• Norse mythology - Priests
• Norse mythology - Human sacrifice
• Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity
• Norse mythology - Modern influences
• Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia - Norse mythology

Main articles: Norse paganism and Blót Norse mythology - Centres of faith. The Germanic tribes rarely or never had temples in a modern sense. The Blót, the form of worship practiced by the ancient Germanic and Scandinavian people resembled that of the Celts and Balts : it could occur in sacred groves. It could also take place at home and/or at a simple altar of piled stones known as a "horgr". However, there seems to have been a few more important c ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Overview, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Norse worship

Norse mythology - Centres of faith. The Germanic tribes rarely or never had temples in a modern sense. The Blót, the form of worship practiced by the ancient Germanic and Scandinavian people resembled that of the Celts and Balts : it could occur in sacred groves. It could also take place at home and/or at a simple altar of piled stones known as a "horgr". However, there seems to have been a few more important centres, such as Skiringsal, Lejre and Uppsala. Adam of Bremen claims that there was a temple in Uppsala (see Temple at Uppsala) with three wooden statues of Thor, Odin and Freyr.

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Norse worship

In Norse mythology, the earth was believed to be a flat disc. This disk is situated in the branches of the world tree, or Yggdrasil. Asgard, where the gods lived, was located at the centre of the disc, and could only be reached by walking across the rainbow (the Bifröst bridge). The Giants lived in an abode called Jötunheimr (giant realm). A cold, dark underground abode called Niflheim was ruled by Hel, daughter of Loki. According to the Prose Edda this was the eventual dwelling-place of most of the dead. Located somewhere in ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Cosmology

In Norse mythology, the earth is represented as a flat disc. This disk is situated in the branches of the world tree, or Yggdrasil. Asgard, where the gods lived, was located at the centre of the disc, and could only be reached by walking across the rainbow (the Bifröst bridge). The Giants lived in an abode called Jötunheimr (giant realm). A cold, dark underground abode called Niflheim was ruled by Hel, daughter of Loki. According to the Prose Edda this was the eventual dwelling-place of mos ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Overview, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Cosmology

The mythological literature relates the legends of heroes and kings, as well as supernatural creatures. These clan and kingdom founding figures possessed great importance as illustrations of proper action or national origins. The heroic literature may have fulfilled the same function as the national epic in other European literatures, or it may have been more nearly related to tribal identity. Many of the legendary figures probably existed, and generations of Scandinavian scholars h ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Overview, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Kings and heroes

Most of this mythology was passed down orally, and much of it has been lost. However, some of it was captured and recorded by Christian scholars, particularly in the Eddas and the Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson, who believed that pre-Christian deities were men and women rather than devils. There is also the Danish Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus, where, however, the Norse gods are strongly Euhemerized. The Prose or Younger Edda was written in the early 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, who was a leading ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Sources

The Germanic gods have left traces in modern vocabulary. An example of this is some of the names of the days of the week: modelled after the names of the days of the week in Latin (named after Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn), the names for Tuesday through to Friday were replaced with Germanic equivalents of the Roman gods. In English, Saturn was not replaced, while Saturday is named after the sabbath in German, and is called "washing day" in Scandinavia. Norse mythology also influenced Richard Wagner's use of literary themes from it to compose the four operas that comprise Der Ring ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Overview, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Modern influences

An important problem in interpreting this mythology is that often the closest accounts that we have to "pre-contact" times were written by Christians. The Younger Edda and the Heimskringla were written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, over two hundred years after Iceland became Christianized. Virtually all of the saga literature came out of Iceland, a relatively small and remote island, and even in the climate of religious tolerance there, Snorri was guided by an essentially Christian viewpoint. The Heimskring ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Overview, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity

Norse mythology was a collection of beliefs and stories shared by Northern Germanic tribes. It was not a revealed religion, in that it was not a truth handed down from the divine to the mortal (although it does have tales of normal persons learning the stories of the gods from a visit to or from the gods), and it had no scripture. The mythology was orally transmitted in the form of long, regular poetry. Oral transmission continued through the Viking Age, and our knowledge about it is mainly based on the Eddas and other medieval texts wri ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Overview, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Overview

An important problem in interpreting this mythology is that often the closest accounts that we have to "pre-contact" times were written by Christians. The Younger Edda and the Heimskringla were written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, over two hundred years after Iceland became Christianized. Virtually all of the saga literature came out of Iceland, a relatively small and remote island, and even in the climate of religious tolerance there, Snorri was guided by an essentially Christian viewpoint. The Heimskring ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity

The Germanic gods have left traces in modern vocabulary. An example of this is some of the names of the days of the week: modelled after the names of the days of the week in Latin (named after Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn), the names for Tuesday through to Friday were replaced with Germanic equivalents of the Roman gods. In English, Saturn was not replaced, while Saturday is named after the sabbath in German, and is called "washing ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Modern influences

The mythological literature relates the legends of heroes and kings, as well as supernatural creatures. These clan and kingdom founding figures possessed great importance as illustrations of proper action or national origins. The heroic literature may have fulfilled the same function as the national epic in other European literatures, or it may have been more nearly related to tribal identity. Many of the legendary figures probably existed, and generations of Scandinavian scholars h ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Kings and heroes

Most of this mythology was passed down orally, and much of it has been lost. However, some of it was captured and recorded by Christian scholars, particularly in the Eddas and the Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson, who believed that pre-Christian deities were men and women rather than devils. There is also the Danish Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus, where, however, the Norse gods are strongly Euhemerized. The Prose or Younger Edda was written in the early 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, who was a leading ...

See also:

Norse mythology, Norse mythology - Overview, Norse mythology - Sources, Norse mythology - Cosmology, Norse mythology - Supernatural beings, Norse mythology - Völuspá: the origin and end of the world, Norse mythology - Kings and heroes, Norse mythology - Norse worship, Norse mythology - Centres of faith, Norse mythology - Priests, Norse mythology - Human sacrifice, Norse mythology - Interactions with Christianity, Norse mythology - Modern influences, Norse mythology - Bibliography

Read more here: » Norse mythology: Encyclopedia II - Norse mythology - Sources