Germans are one of the Indo-European peoples who, according to some historians, inhabited Scandinavia around the 1st century BC and from there expanded westward and southeastward Europe. It is a collection of numerous tribes without a unified state, but with a common language, cultural connections, and religious symbolism.
Data on the religion and mythology of the ancient Germans are very scarce, and almost everything we know comes from two Icelandic texts – both called Eddas. The first of these is the Poetic or Elder Edda, a collection of Old Norse sagas gathered between the 7th and 10th centuries, and finalized in the 13th century. It consists of two types of poems: mythological and heroic. The mythological poems (The Lay of Thrym, Hymir’s Poem, Grimnir’s Words, Vafthrudnir’s Words…) are of particular importance as a valuable source of knowledge about North Germanic mythology. One of the most important mythological poems is Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Seeress), a monologue in which the seeress sees the past and future of the world from its creation.
One of the texts is the Poetic or Elder Edda. It is a collection of Old Norse poems, compiled in the 13th century. These poems were orally transmitted and written down from the 9th to the 12th century. The Poetic Edda consists of various mythological and heroic poems, which depict the Scandinavian gods, heroes, and their adventures. The poems cover a wide range of themes, including creation, the battles of the gods, and the final destruction and rebirth of the world. Particularly interesting is the poem Havamal (Words of the High One), which contains wise sayings, rules, and advice for everyday life, as well as information about ancient customs.
The other text is the Prose or Younger Edda, also known as Snorri’s Edda. It was written by the Icelandic chieftain and historian Snorri Sturluson in the year 1220. It contains most of the known information about Scandinavian mythology. Snorri used the poems from the Poetic Edda to construct a mythological picture of the world and directly quoted many verses.
Snorri’s Edda consists of a prologue and three parts: Gylfaginning (The Beguiling of Gylfi), Skaldskaparmal (The Language of Poetry), and Hattatal (List of verse forms). In the prologue, Snorri presents his view on the mythological content he transmits. The first and most important part of the Edda (The Beguiling of Gylfi) is a concise presentation of North Germanic mythology: from the creation of the world, through the stories of the gods’ lives, to their ultimate downfall – Ragnarok. The second part (The Language of Poetry) explains and illustrates various poetic devices and techniques. The third part (List of verse forms) provides a detailed overview of different types of poetic meters and forms. they recount complex metaphors of skaldic poetry, which are based on mythological characters and events. The third part (List of verses) is Snorri’s poem that provides examples of a hundred types of skaldic verses, with each stanza characterized by a different type of verse.
Gylfi’s Deception
Gylfi is a mythical Swedish king, wise and knowledgeable in magic. Disguised as Gangleri (The Wanderer), Gylfi travels to Asgard to meet the Aesir (gods), gain their wisdom, and establish a connection between them and his people. In Asgard, he encounters three gods called High, Just-as-high, and Third. They answer his questions about the origin and downfall of the world, about the gods and their deeds. After the Aesir exhaust their knowledge, they get rid of Gangleri, who suddenly finds himself alone on the field from which the courts and gods have disappeared. What he experienced and heard continues to be retold in his land.
The Creation of the World
Gangleri asked, “What was the beginning, or “How did everything come to be and what existed before?”
The High One replied: “As it is said in the Prophecy of the Seeress (Voluspa):
“In the beginning, there was nothing;
no sand, no sea,
no cold waves;
there was no land,
nor sky above,
only the abyss of Ginnungagap
– not a blade of grass.”
Ginnungagap was the abyss that existed between the realm of fire and the realm of ice. When the warm air from the south met the cold of the north, the giant Ymir and the cow Audhumla were created. Ymir fed on the milk of the primeval cow Audhumla. When Audhumla licked the ice, Buri, the ancestor of the gods, emerged. Growing tired of Ymir’s cruelty and the increasing number of ice giants, Buri’s grandsons, the gods Odin, Vili, and Ve, killed Ymir. All the ice giants drowned in his blood, except for Bergelmir and his wife, who managed to escape. Odin, Vili, and Ve carried Ymir’s body to Ginnungagap. There, they used his flesh to create the land, his bones became mountains, his blood formed the seas and lakes. They fashioned the sky from his skull, which they firmly fixed to the four sides.” “e, and on each side they placed four dwarfs: Austri – East, Vestri – West, Nordi – North, and Sudri – South.
ODIN
is the god of bravery and victory who decides everything related to the fate of humans. He is depicted armed with armor and a golden helmet. He carries the magical spear Gungnir forged by the dwarfs and rides the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Odin is also the god of wisdom and as such, the protector of poets and thinkers. His love for wisdom was so great that he sacrificed one of his eyes in order to drink from Mimir’s well (the well of wisdom). Odin has control over the runes, which the ancient Germanic people engraved on spears and rocks. From his elevated throne Hlidskjalf, he can see the entire world. He is accompanied by two wolves: Geri (Greedy) and Freki (Gluttonous), and two ravens, Hugin (Thought) and Munin (Memory), rest on his shoulders. They whisper into his ear everything they hear and see on their morning journeys throughout all inhabited corners of the Earth. He resides in Valhalla, a palace with golden walls, where warriors gather.” Brave warriors who fell on the battlefield are praised. Legends say that Odin’s intention is for these warriors to assist the gods in the final great battle against giants, so he chooses only the best warriors. Valkyries serve him for this purpose, warrior maidens who, when not serving beer and mead in Valhalla, ride on wolves across the battlefield and select warriors to accompany them to Valhalla. They are depicted with armor and a helmet, and in their hand they hold a shield and a spear that spews fire. According to legend, they are invisible to everyone except those whose death they have determined, and the chosen hero sees the Valkyrie just before the deadly blow.
Then Odin, Vili, and Ve brought to life a pair of immovable trees, from which humans originated in the plant kingdom. Odin gave them a soul and life, Vili gave them understanding and mobility, and Ve gave them form, speech, hearing, and sight. The gods gave humans Midgard (Old Norse: Middle Earth) to inhabit, and they built a fortress for themselves and named it Asgard (World of the gods). The world of humans and the world of gods were connected by the Bifröst bridge. He is often depicted as a tall warrior with a red, curly beard. His weapon is the hammer Mjölnir, which represents Thor’s lightning. He wears a magical belt that doubles his strength and iron gloves that make it easier for him to handle the hammer.
Edda also mentions other worlds. In addition to Asgard and Midgard, there are: Alfheim – the world of bright elves; Vanaheim – the world of the Vanir, another divine family; Jotunheim – the world of frost giants; Muspell – the realm of eternal fire, the world of fire giants; Nidavellir – the underworld of caves and caverns, the land of dwarves; Svartalfheim – the land of dark elves; Niflheim – the land of eternal ice and mist where the world of the dead is located. “Hello Helheim.
These worlds were connected by Yggdrasil, the eternal green ash tree, the sacred tree of the Germanic people. Yggdrasil is described as the largest and most magnificent tree that ever existed.
Gangleri asked, ‘What can be said about this place?’
To this, High One replied, ‘The ash is the greatest and best tree of all. Its branches spread over the entire world and cover the sky. It is held upright by three roots that extend far; one is located among the gods of Asgard, the second among the frost giants, where Ginnungagap once was, and the third stretches above Niflheim…’
Germanic Gods
The ancient Germanic people saw the universe as a continuous battle between the forces of order – the gods, and the forces of chaos – the giants. The creation of the world marks the moment of the gods’ victory over the giants, but the world still faces constant danger from the land of the giants. The fight between them continues until the great cosmic battle – Ragnarok.
TYR
Tyr, or Tiw, is the god of war, son of Odin and his wife.” Frigg, and according to him, the English name for Tuesday is “Tuesday” (tiwesdaeg). After the Anglosaxons (Germans) conquered England, they introduced their own nomenclature, so Tuesday, which in England carried the name Martius thanks to the long influence of Rome, dedicated to the Roman god of war Mars, now carries the name of the Nordic god of war, Tiw. It is possible that Tiw was previously the god of the sky whose functions and powers were later transferred to Odin.
The older branch of Germanic gods were the Vanir, benevolent deities of fertility who shared light and rain with the fields. The second, younger branch of gods were the Aesir. Shortly after the creation of the world, the Vanir and Aesir fought for power. After the Aesir emerged victorious, peace was sealed by exchanging gods and goddesses. The Vanir sent the god of the sea, Njord, and his twins, the son Frey and the daughter Freya, gods and goddesses of fertility, to Asgard.
Among the Aesir, led by Odin, are his sons Balder and Bragi, the gods of poetry and eloquence, Thor, the god of justice Forseti, Heimdall, whose functions and powers I will It is the duty to call all living beings to Ragnarok with his horn, blind Hodr, Tyr, Odin’s brothers Vili and Ve, and another son of Odin, Vidarr, whose destiny is to avenge his father’s death in Ragnarok. Of the goddesses of the Aesir, the most famous are Odin’s wife Frigg, the goddess of wisdom, and the goddess Idun, the guardian of the apples of youth.
Gangleri asked, “Which Aesir gods should people believe in?”
The High One answered, “There are twelve divine Aesir.”
To that the Equally High said, “The goddesses of the Aesir are no less holy, and their power is by no means smaller.”
Then the Third said, “Odin is the highest and oldest of the Aesir: he rules over everything, and no matter how mighty the other gods may be, they serve him like obedient children of a father.”
Ragnarok – the Twilight of the Gods
And now Gangleri said, “What can be told about the downfall of the gods? I haven’t heard anything about it yet.”
The High One said, “Many great things can be said about it. First, there will come the great winter Fimbulvetr: snow will fall from all directions, great frosts will encase everything, and icy winds will rage.” There will be famine – The Sun will be helpless. There will be three such winters in the end, with no summer to separate them. Before that, however, three other winters will pass, followed by great wars that will engulf the entire world. Brothers will kill each other out of self-interest, and no one will spare father or son from murder or defilement. As it is said in the Oracle’s Vision:
‘Brother will strike brother
And both will fall,
Brothers and sisters
Will defile their kin;
People will experience misery and sorrow,
Adultery will spread throughout the world,
The age of the axe, the age of the sword,
Shields will shatter,
The age of wind, the age of wolf,
Before the world’s downfall.’
After the horrific winter, which lasted three years, the final battle between gods and giants was supposed to take place on the plain of Vigrid. Odin and the gods were joined by the glorious dead who had fallen in battle and were taken to Valhalla. On the other side, fighting alongside the fire god Loki and his monstrous children, the goddess Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the serpent Jormungandr, were the icy and fiery giants. Odin knew that this battle was inevitable, but and she is not the end of the world. The wolf Fenrir kills Odin, Thor and Jormungandr kill each other, and most of the gods heroically die in mutually destructive conflicts with giants. And Yggdrasil, the Tree of Order, collapses…
But, after everything, a new world rises from the water. Before the battle, two people, Liv and Leiftrasir, will hide on the tree Hoddmimir and in the new world, a new human race will emerge from them. A few gods also survived, among them Odin’s sons Vidarr and Vali, and Odin’s brother Honir, Thor’s sons Modi and Magni who will inherit Thor’s hammer, and Balder who returns from the realm of the dead. Ragnarok or “Twilight of the Gods” is just the end of one cycle and the beginning of a new one.
Ragnarok is also a depiction of the inevitability of destiny. The Germans deeply believed in a destiny from which no one can escape, not even the gods. Although Odin knew the fate that the gods would experience in Ragnarok, he still entered the battle.
The Myth of Balder
Gylfaginning contains many stories of the adventures of the gods Thor and Loki, but The central place is occupied by the myth of Balder. The myth of Balder is a very ancient Germanic myth. Scenes of Balder’s murder with a mistletoe arrow (spear), funeral burning, and journey to the underworld of the dead often inspired medieval writers and artistic carvings.
LOKI
is one of the most enigmatic characters in Germanic mythology. He is the son of giants, a spirit of fire. He helps the gods with wise advice, but also often defies them, getting them into trouble. With his wife from the giant clan, Angrboda, he has monstrous children: the wolf Fenrir, the Midgard serpent Jormungandr, and the ruler of the underworld, Hel. Odin took care to bring those monsters to Asgard. Then Jormungandr was thrown into the ocean, where it grew so big that it encircled the entire Earth, Hel was thrown into Niflheim, the world of the dead, and Fenrir was bound.
Balder or Baldr was the son of Odin and Frigg, the god of light, mesmerizing beauty that shines around him. Wherever he went, he spread light and benevolence. Once, Balder dreamt of of his own death. The gods were terrified, and to protect him, his mother, the goddess Frigg, asked everything that exists to swear not to harm her son. When that was done, the gods amused themselves by testing various weapons on Balder and watching them have no effect. Everyone was satisfied except for Loki. In a conversation with the goddess Frigg, Loki learned that she had received a promise from everything except mistletoe, a plant that seemed too young to swear. Loki found mistletoe, made a magical arrow from it, brought it to Asgard, and gave it to the blind god Hodr to shoot at Balder. The arrow pierced Balder and killed him. Balder’s wife Nanna died of grief, and they were both burned on the funeral pyre on Balder’s ship. The god Hermod went to the underworld to find out from the goddess Hel if there was a way for her to allow Balder to return to Asgard. Hel promised to release Balder from the underworld if everything in existence wept for him. Messengers They were all sent off and everyone mourned for Balder. But one old icy female diva refused to cry – none other than the disguised Loki. And so Balder had to remain in the realm of the dead, and the Germans were left with nothing but to wait for his return – the return of hope for a new era.