As Iceland prepares to build its first temple to the Norse gods since the Viking age, we look at the deities that will be worshipped, including an amoral trickster and the blue ruler of the underworldIf pushed, most of us remember that almost all the days of the week are named after Norse gods. We might remember that Thor makes thunder with his mighty hammer, and if you’re a Marvel fan you might even know that the hammer is called Mjölnir. But most of us would struggle to recall much more than that about these northern deities. The persisting bias towards a classical education leaves us with a better knowledge of the Greek and Roman myths, and that’s a shame. The Vikings (closer to us in time and space) left a significant mark on the English language, our place names and perhaps our psyche. Their mythology is rich and strange, and well worth discovering.Remarkably, Norse lore covers the entire history of the world; it’s not typical for a culture’s mythology to tell us how the world will end. For the Vikings, that “happened” at Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods, but the start of time is not neglected either. The stories even speak of the great void of Ginnungagap that existed even before the universe was created. Creation myths are often among the strangest of all stories, and the Norse version is no exception. We learn how the first god was licked into existence from a block of salty ice by a primeval cow called Auðumbla. That god was called Búri, and he was the grandfather of perhaps the greatest of all the gods, Odin. Related: Iceland to build first temple to Norse gods since Viking age Continue reading...
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