Norse Mythology

Though the world came to know of the Norse and their legends through Roman interaction about the time of Christ, most of what we came to know were handed down from folk tales gathered by native writers like Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241). This was from a time when the Norse had already been converted to Christianity. Some of what Sturluson wrote was clearly influenced by Christian beliefs of the time. As with all sources, we have to assume at least a little bit of bias was involved. The age of belief in the Norse gods had ended. We can only guess how much of those old beliefs were left out because they may have been incompatible with the new beliefs of Christendom. Sturluson gathered the tales in a work now known as the Prose Edda.

Several anonymous writers of the pre-Christian era created poems which have collected in what is now called the Poetic Edda. These pre-date Sturluson's work and thus are far more likely to give us insights into the thinking and attitudes of the early Norse people.

Danish scholar Saxo Grammaticus gave us a Latin language version of Danish history, Gesta Danorum, written in the twelfth century. But even earlier, we have more matter-of-fact writing of Roman historian Tacitus in the first century, discussing the tribes of the region they called Germania.

As with most stories, it's best to start at the beginning. And as with any story of gods, we start with the Norse version of creation.

Within this book, you'll find the answers to these questions and more. Just some of the questions and topics covered include

• Norse Creation Story
• The Nine Realms
• Gods and the "Giants" of J tunheim
• Midgard and the Humans
• Elves, Dwarves, Trolls and Valkyries
• Odin, Frigg, Thor, and Loki
• The Death of Baldr
• Conflict Between the Realms
• English Days of the Week
• And more