Comments on: Norse Viking Gods

By: Evan

Evan — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 22:09:31 +0000

Two questions on Norse mythology:
1) Norse beliefs say that certain deities and their characteristics are such-and-such, but I haven’t been able to find why they believe such-and-such. For example, Thor is the god of thunder, storm, and fertility. How did they come to that conclusion? What reason do they have to believe Thor exists, rather than storms being solely natural phenomena or the product of some other deity? As a comparison, if I hear explosions outside my window, I may think “gunfire” or “fireworks”, as both are plausible explanations. If I look out the window and see bright lights in the sky, that would lead me to conclude fireworks instead of gunfire. When a Viking saw the world and how it works, they may think “such-and-such gods”, so what is their “bright light in the sky” that indicates to them that such-and-such beliefs are what is actually going on?
2) Where do the Norse oral traditions, poems, legends, stories come from? For example, Christians claim that their writings come from “divine inspiration”, as in the Bible writers were guided by God for what to say. Did Vikings believe their teachings were passed down to humans by the gods? If not, how did humans come to know things about the gods, rituals, and afterlife? Along the same lines, but a separate issue, is the reliability of the subsequent beliefs. If belief in the gods originates from the gods themselves having told you, that carries significant clout. Whereas if the reasons to believe and what to believe originate from what humans profess, the accuracy is more questionable. Not necessarily wrong, just not as much of a guarantee. Because if we learn about the gods from the gods, then clearly they exist. Yet if we learn about the gods from human observation alone, isn’t it possible for the teachings to be moral, pragmatic lessons from a wise person, meanwhile there aren’t really any gods up there? Or the wrong ones (e.g., Vishnu instead of Odin)?

By: Darby

Darby — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 18:31:48 +0000

What would be the correct way to write “Freyja” I can’t seem to find it in runes other than a direct translation of roman letters to runes? But since there are mythologies of her, there must be a correct way to write it?

By: Karsten Mungo Madsen

Karsten Mungo Madsen — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 06:32:03 +0000

In reply to Viking Rune. - Which also refers to some of our names of the days: Tuesday meaning Tyrs day, Wednesday meaning Wodens day, Thursday meaning Thors day and Friday meaning Freyjas day, all translated from the latin names of the days: Dies Martis is Mars, Dies Mercurii is Mercury, Dies Jovies is Jupiter (roman for Hercules) and dies Veneris is Venus.. In Danish we also have lørdag meaning Lokis day translated from Saturnus.

By: Viking Rune

Viking Rune — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 09:54:59 +0000

In reply to Martin. Old Norse for Odin is Óðinn. Old English is Wōden, Old Saxon is Wōdan, and Old High German is Wuotan or Wōtan.

By: Viking Rune

Viking Rune — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 09:53:18 +0000

In reply to Nanna.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 04:00:39 +0000

In reply to Martin. Any of the aforementioned would be correct. Odin was also referred to as Woden or Wotan, so use whichever you prefer.

By: Viking Rune

Viking Rune — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 10:06:38 +0000

In reply to Zann. Zann, Christian influence on the Eddas as we know them is possible. However, it's very hard to determine what exactly was influenced and how deep the influence was.

By: Viking Rune

Viking Rune — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 10:04:30 +0000

In reply to Zann. Zann, one of the interpretations of the so called Oseberg Buddha figurine is that it represents Thor.

By: Nanna

Nanna — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 08:40:50 +0000

Hello, i am currently trying to find the runes to Nanna, and i don´t know how to find them. I am planning to have a tattoo made of her name in runes, from what time these runes should come from, i am not sure. My family have named some of us after the old gods. I was named Nanna, while my nephews are named Frey and Loke. I would appreciate if some of you could help me.

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 14:36:02 +0000

So if I wanted a tattoo of the name Odin – should it actually be Odin, or Woden or Wotan? and what would these look like? I assume his name is written “correctly” in some sources? Thanks