Norse Mythology
Norse mythology survives mainly through Icelandic sources written in the 13th and 14th centuries — the Prose Edda, attributed to Snorri Sturluson (c. 1220), and the Poetic Edda, a collection of older poems preserved in manuscript. Both were recorded by Christian authors, centuries after Scandinavia's conversion, which shapes how the tradition has come down to us.
- OdinThe All-Father — wisdom, war, poetry, and magic.
- ThorThe god of thunder — strength, protection, and the hammer Mjölnir.
- LokiThe trickster — cunning, ambiguity, and the death of Baldr.
- FriggThe queen of Asgard — foreknowledge, marriage, and motherhood.
- FreyjaThe Vanir goddess — love, seiðr magic, and the hall Fólkvangr.
- FreyrThe Vanir god — fertility, prosperity, and the ship Skíðblaðnir.
- TyrThe god of justice — law, courage, and the sacrifice of the hand.
- HeimdallThe watchman of the gods — guardian of Bifröst and the horn Gjallarhorn.
- BaldrThe fairest, most beloved god — his death and the road to Ragnarök.
- NjordThe Vanir god of the sea — seafaring, wealth, and the marriage to Skadi.
- IdunKeeper of the golden apples — youth, abduction, and rescue.
- SkadiThe winter giantess — vengeance, skiing, and the marriage to Njord.
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Frequently asked questions
- Are the sources on Norse mythology contemporary with the Viking Age?
- Not entirely. The main written sources — the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda — were recorded in 13th- and 14th-century Iceland, several generations after the conversion to Christianity, by Christian authors preserving a pre-existing oral tradition. This means the texts we have today already carry some distance and reinterpretation relative to original Viking-Age religious practice.