Odin - King of the Gods; God of Wisdom; never eats during feasts; has two pet wolves and two pet ravens who give him all of his wisdom; it's his job to postpone Ragnarok (see below) as long as possible
Thor - Son of Odin; Prince of the Gods; God of Thunder
Balder - Odin's other son; also Prince of the Gods; doesn't really have a purpose, except getting killed
Tyr - God of War (unlike Ares, the Greek God of War, he's not a pansy)
Frigg - Odin's wife; Goddess of the household and marriage
Freya - Goddess of Beauty and Battle
Heimdall - Guards the Rainbow Bridge that leads to Asgard
Other important figures include:
Loki - Only half god; God of Mischief and Trickery; tricked Hod (Balder's brother) into killing Balder
Hel - Loki's daughter; Queen of Niflheim (the afterlife for losers that don't die in battle)
Fenrir - one of Loki's sons; giant wolf
Jormungander - Loki's other son; giant sea serpent
So those are the important Gods/creatures of Norse Mythology. But is that it? Of course not. First of all, I'm sure you all know that this is the religion of the Vikings, right? Well, that means that kick-ass warriors who die in battle get to go to Valhalla (Viking heaven, located in Asgard, basically dead Vikings get to drink Mead and eat good food with the gods all day). Pretty awesome, huh? Anyway, the Vikings believed that there were nine worlds that sat on the branches of a giant tree called Yggdrassil. Only a select few of these worlds are worth mentioning: Midgard (where humans live), Asgard (where Gods and dead heroes live), Jotunheim (where trolls live), and Niflheim (World of Ice; the Underworld for losers, as previously mentioned).
The most important concept of Norse Paganism/Mythology is probably Ragnarok. The events are first set in motion when Loki tricks Hod into killing Balder. Odin, who had sworn brotherhood with Loki, was outraged and had him punished. Loki was chained to a rock (much like Prometheus of Greek Paganism/Mythology) where a snake dripped venom on his head every few seconds. His wife would catch the poison in a cup, but every time she emptied it, the venom would burn Loki's face and he would scream in agony (my favorite part, even if Loki is one of my favorites). Anyway, the concept of Ragnarok is that Loki will eventually break free of his bindings and lead all of the giants and trolls in a war against the Aesir. Everyone will kill each other (killing all of the humans in the process). Then there will be a rebirth with new gods and tiny organisms will evolve into humans again. Obviously, this hasn't happened yet, but it will. I strongly advocate this religion (obviously, I practice it) and highly suggest that you forsake your silly monotheistic religions and convert to this.
Back to Religions
Back to Home