"""The Blade"". Odinic Rite The Odinic Rite (OR) is a Heathen organisation practicing a form of religion termed Odinism after the chief god of Norse mythology, Odin. It is a reconstructionist religious organization focusing on Germanic paganism, Germanic mythology, Norse paganism, and Anglo-Saxon paganism, whom some consider to be neo-völkisch. Current research suggests that the term ""Odinism"" was first used in the 1820s. It was most notably used in 1840 by the Scottish writer, historian, and philosopher, Thomas Carlyle where it featured in his book, ""On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History"". It was later used, and often mistakenly"
"The Chief God Odin was the great-grand son of the Giant Ymir. Norse mythology also holds that the entire world of men was created from the flesh of Ymir, a giant of cosmic proportions, which name is considered by some to share a root with the name Yama of Indo-Iranian mythology. An old Icelandic legend says that two night-prowling giants, a man and a woman, were traversing the fjord near Drangey Island with their cow when they were surprised by the bright rays of daybreak. As a result of exposure to daylight, all three were turned into stone. Drangey represents"
"often used in an ASCII context or as an anglicization of ""Búri"". In the mainland Scandinavian languages ""Bure"" is used as a familiar form. Búri Búri (or Buri) was the first god in Norse mythology. He is the father of Borr and grandfather of Odin, Vili and Ve. He was formed by the cow Auðumbla licking the salty ice of Ginnungagap during the time of Ymir. The only extant source of this myth is Snorri Sturluson's ""Prose Edda"". Búri is mentioned nowhere in the ""Poetic Edda"" and only once in the skaldic corpus. In ""Skáldskaparmál"" Snorri Sturluson quotes the following"
"Búri Búri (or Buri) was the first god in Norse mythology. He is the father of Borr and grandfather of Odin, Vili and Ve. He was formed by the cow Auðumbla licking the salty ice of Ginnungagap during the time of Ymir. The only extant source of this myth is Snorri Sturluson's ""Prose Edda"". Búri is mentioned nowhere in the ""Poetic Edda"" and only once in the skaldic corpus. In ""Skáldskaparmál"" Snorri Sturluson quotes the following verse by the 12th century skald Þórvaldr blönduskáld. The length of the u in the name is not explicitly marked in the manuscripts but"
"Mjölnir In Norse mythology, Mjölnir (; , ) is the hammer of Thor, the Norse god associated with thunder. Mjölnir is depicted in Norse mythology as one of the most fearsome and powerful weapons in existence, capable of leveling mountains. In its account of Norse mythology, the ""Prose Edda"" relates how the hammers characteristically short handle was due to a mistake during its manufacture. Similar hammers (Ukonvasara) were a common symbol of the god of thunder in other North European mythologies. Modern depictions of Mjolnir are most prevalent amongst practitioners of Heathenry (a modern Pagan religious movement) and white supremacist"
"and possesses a resounding horn; the jötunn Loki, who brings tragedy to the gods by engineering the death of the goddess Frigg's beautiful son Baldr; and numerous other deities. Most of the surviving mythology centres on the plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar, beings who may be friends, lovers, foes or family members of the gods. The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central cosmological tree, Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings. Various forms of"
"(or aesir, as they were called) worth mentioning are the thunder-god Thor and the love-goddess Freya. Most information about Scandinavian mythology is contained in the old Norse literature including Norwegian literature, the Eddas and later sagas. Other information comes from the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus with fragments of legends preserved in old inscriptions. Unfortunately, we know relatively little about old religious practices in Norway or elsewhere as most of the knowledge was lost in the gradual Christianisation. Due to nationalistic movements in the late 18th century, Norwegian scholars found renewed interest for Norse religion, translating many of the myths to"
"Fornjót In Norse mythology, Fornjót (Old Norse: ""Fornjótr"") was an ancient giant and king of """"Gotland, Kænland and Finnland"""" meaning Gotland, Kvenland and Finland Proper. His children are Ægir (the ruler of the sea), Logi (fire giant) and Kári (god of wind). The name has often been interpreted as ""forn-jótr"" ""ancient giant"", and Karl Simrock (1869) because of this identified Fornjotr with the primeval giant Ymir. But it is also possible, as was suggested by Peter Erasmus Müller (1818), that it is one of a well-established group of names or titles of gods in ""-njótr"" ""user, owner, possessor"", which would"
"Lóðurr Lóðurr (also Lodurr) is a god in Norse mythology. In the ""Poetic Edda"" poem ""Völuspá"" he is assigned a role in animating the first humans, but apart from that he is hardly ever mentioned, and remains obscure. Scholars have variously identified him with Loki, Vé, Vili and Freyr, but consensus has not been reached on any one theory. The name's meaning is unknown. It has been speculatively linked to various Old Norse words, such as ""lóð"", ""fruit, land"", ""ljóðar"", ""people"" and ""laða"", ""to attract"". The Gothic words ""liudan"", ""to grow"" and ""laudi"", ""shape"", as well as the German word"
"enemies by invoking the power of Odin. As one scholar notes regarding encounters between the Christian Anglo-Saxons and the invading pagan Scandinavians: The raven is a common iconic figure in Norse mythology. The highest god Odin had two ravens named Huginn and Muninn (""thought"" and ""memory"" respectively) who flew around the world bringing back tidings to their master. Therefore, one of Odin's many names was the ""raven god"" (""Hrafnaguð""). In ""Gylfaginning"" (c. 1220), the medieval Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson explains: Odin was also closely linked to ravens because in Norse myths he received the fallen warriors at Valhalla, and ravens"
"that this hypothesis was in contradiction with the insignificance of the cult of Ullr. The expression could also refer to Odin, as the most important god of the Norse pantheon. But apart from the fact that his cult was not very widespread in Iceland, his unpredictable nature strongly goes against this solution. Rudolf Simek also suggested that the ""almáttki áss"" might be Týr. Even if this god was little known in Iceland, the oath was a legal one and Týr was historically linked to law (cf. Mars Thingsus and possibly regnator omnium deus). Finally, as the oath was transmitted by"
"of Norse gods as examples of these functions in his 1981 essay--he finds that the Norse gods Odin and Tyr reflect the different brands of sovereignty. Odin is the author of the cosmos, and possessor of infinite esoteric knowledge--going so far as to sacrifice his eye for the accumulation of more knowledge. While Tyr--seen as the ""just god""--is more concerned with upholding justice, as illustrated by the epic myth of Tyr losing his hand in exchange for the monster Fenrir to cease his terrorization of the gods. What this tells us is that through these myths, concepts of universal wisdom"
"the gods. While often translated as ""giants"", most are described as being roughly human sized. Some are portrayed as huge, such as frost giants (""hrímþursar""), fire giants (""eldjötnar""), and mountain giants (""bergrisar""). The giants are the origin of most of various monsters in Norse mythology (e.g. the Fenrisulfr), and in the eventual battle of Ragnarök the giants will storm Asgard and fight them, until the world is destroyed. Even so, the gods themselves were related to the giants by many marriages, and there are giants such as Ægir, Loki, Mímir, and Skaði, who bear little difference in status to them."
"character Thor, based on the Norse god, a magical hammer similarly based on the original Mjölnir plays a major role. The Marvel adaptation endowed the hammer with additional powers not attested in the original myth - especially, that when holding it Thor can fly through air at great speed. Mjölnir In Norse mythology, Mjölnir (; , ) is the hammer of Thor, the Norse god associated with thunder. Mjölnir is depicted in Norse mythology as one of the most fearsome and powerful weapons in existence, capable of leveling mountains. In its account of Norse mythology, the ""Prose Edda"" relates how"
"Ragnarök In Norse mythology, Ragnarök (; ) is a series of future events, including a great battle, foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including the Gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Afterward, the world will resurface anew and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors. Ragnarök is an important event in Norse mythology and has been the subject of scholarly discourse and theory throughout the"
"Norse cosmology The cosmology of Norse mythology has ""nine homeworlds"" or ""nine realms"", unified by the world tree Yggdrasil. Mapping the nine worlds escapes precision because the ""Poetic Edda"" often alludes vaguely. The Norse creation myth tells how everything came into existence in the gap between fire and ice, and how the gods shaped the homeworld of humans. A cosmic ash tree, Yggdrasil, lies at the center of the Norse cosmos. Three roots drink the waters of the homeworlds, one in the homeworld of the gods, the Æsir, Asgard, one in the homeworld of the humans, Midgard, and one in"
"the possible fertility-related meanings of Lóðurr's name but otherwise has little direct evidence to support it. Lóðurr Lóðurr (also Lodurr) is a god in Norse mythology. In the ""Poetic Edda"" poem ""Völuspá"" he is assigned a role in animating the first humans, but apart from that he is hardly ever mentioned, and remains obscure. Scholars have variously identified him with Loki, Vé, Vili and Freyr, but consensus has not been reached on any one theory. The name's meaning is unknown. It has been speculatively linked to various Old Norse words, such as ""lóð"", ""fruit, land"", ""ljóðar"", ""people"" and ""laða"", ""to"
"where it is said that ""Óðs mey"" was given to the giants. Nothing else is stated of him by this name in the Eddic poems. In Gylfaginning, Snorri briefly states that Óðr traveled to many nations and that Freyja searched for him in earnest, weeping as she went. Óðr is often theorized as somehow connected to Odin (Old Norse: ""Óðinn""), the head of the Óðr Æsir in Norse mythology, by way of etymological similarities between the two names (Lindow states that the linguistic relationship is identical to that of ""Ullr"" and ""Ullin""—often considered as variant names of a single god),"
"Thor, not with Forseti. Forseti Forseti (Old Norse ""the presiding one,"" actually ""president"" in modern Icelandic and Faroese) is the god of justice and reconciliation in Norse mythology. He is generally identified with Fosite, a god of the Frisians. Jacob Grimm noted that if, as Adam of Bremen states, Fosite's sacred island was Heligoland, that would make him an ideal candidate for a deity known to both Frisians and Scandinavians, but that it is surprising he is never mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus. Grimm took ""Forseti"", """"praeses"""", to be the older form of the name, first postulating an unattested Old High"
"Baldr Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Norse mythology, and a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg. He has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In the 12th century, Danish accounts by Saxo Grammaticus and other Danish Latin chroniclers recorded a euhemerized account of his story. Compiled in Iceland in the 13th century, but based on much older Old Norse poetry, the ""Poetic Edda"" and the ""Prose Edda"" contain numerous references to the death of Baldr as both a great tragedy to the Æsir and a harbinger of Ragnarök. According to ""Gylfaginning"", a book"
"Njörðr In Norse mythology, Njörðr is a god among the Vanir. Njörðr, father of the deities Freyr and Freyja by his unnamed sister, was in an ill-fated marriage with the goddess Skaði, lives in Nóatún and is associated with the sea, seafaring, wind, fishing, wealth, and crop fertility. Njörðr is attested in the ""Poetic Edda"", compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, the ""Prose Edda"", written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, in euhemerized form as a beloved mythological early king of Sweden in ""Heimskringla"", also written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, as one of"
"through the sky. The leader of the wild hunt is frequently attested as the god Wodan (Norse Odin), bearing (among many names) the names ""Jólnir"", meaning ""Yule figure"", and ""Langbarðr"", meaning ""long-beard"", in Old Norse. Wodan's role during the Yuletide period has been theorized as having influenced concepts of St. Nicholas in a variety of facets, including his long white beard and his gray horse for nightly rides (compare Odin's horse Sleipnir) or his reindeer in North American tradition. Folklorist Margaret Baker maintains that ""the appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day is the 25th of December, owes"
"tree based on ""Historia Norwegiæ"", ""Ynglinga saga"", ""Beowulf"" and other Old Norse sources. The names of Swedish kings are shown in bold. Notes: Fornjót In Norse mythology, Fornjót (Old Norse: ""Fornjótr"") was an ancient giant and king of """"Gotland, Kænland and Finnland"""" meaning Gotland, Kvenland and Finland Proper. His children are Ægir (the ruler of the sea), Logi (fire giant) and Kári (god of wind). The name has often been interpreted as ""forn-jótr"" ""ancient giant"", and Karl Simrock (1869) because of this identified Fornjotr with the primeval giant Ymir. But it is also possible, as was suggested by Peter Erasmus"
"with the story and show Hymir: the Ardre VIII image stone, the Hørdum stone, and the Gosforth Cross. A stone slab that may be a portion of a second cross at Gosforth also shows a fishing scene using an ox head for bait. The legend is also depicted on the Altuna Runestone, but its image does not show Hymir, possibly due to the narrow shape of that stone. Hymir In Norse mythology, Hymir is a giant, husband of the giantess Hroðr and according to the Eddic poem ""Hymiskviða"" the father of the god Týr (in other sources, Odin is Tyr's"
"Lýtir Lytir (Old Norse ""Lýtir"") is considered a god in Norse mythology and Norse paganism. His name is either related to the Old Norse word ""hlutr"", meaning ""lot, share, foretell"" or ""lýti"" meaning ""blemish"". If the former meaning is assumed, then priests of Lytir would probably have been spámaðr or fortune-tellers. Supporting this etymology is a story about Lytir in ""Hauks þáttr hábrókar"" (in the ""Flateyjarbók"") during which a Swedish king consults the god. Lytir's ceremonial wagon was taken to a sacred place where the god entered it and then taken back to the king's hall, where it was used"
"Freyr Freyr (Old Norse: Lord), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god associated with sacral kingship, virility and prosperity, with sunshine and fair weather, and pictured as a phallic fertility god in Norse mythology. Freyr is said to ""bestow peace and pleasure on mortals"". Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden and seen as an ancestor of the Swedish royal house. In the Icelandic books the ""Poetic Edda"" and the ""Prose Edda"", Freyr is presented as one of the Vanir, the son of the sea god Njörðr, as well as the twin brother of"
"Forseti Forseti (Old Norse ""the presiding one,"" actually ""president"" in modern Icelandic and Faroese) is the god of justice and reconciliation in Norse mythology. He is generally identified with Fosite, a god of the Frisians. Jacob Grimm noted that if, as Adam of Bremen states, Fosite's sacred island was Heligoland, that would make him an ideal candidate for a deity known to both Frisians and Scandinavians, but that it is surprising he is never mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus. Grimm took ""Forseti"", """"praeses"""", to be the older form of the name, first postulating an unattested Old High German equivalent *""forasizo"" (cf."
"Norns The Norns (, plural: """") in Norse mythology are female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men. They roughly correspond to other controllers of humans' destiny, such as the Fates, elsewhere in European mythology. In Snorri Sturluson's interpretation of the ""Völuspá"", Urðr (Wyrd), Verðandi and Skuld, the three most important of the Norns, come out from a hall standing at the Well of Urðr or Well of Fate. They draw water from the well and take sand that lies around it, which they pour over the Yggdrasill tree so that its branches will not rot. These three"
"primordial Niflheimr and the punishing Niflhel are ""equally dreadful"" places; it is not clear whether they are identical or distinct. Norse cosmology The cosmology of Norse mythology has ""nine homeworlds"" or ""nine realms"", unified by the world tree Yggdrasil. Mapping the nine worlds escapes precision because the ""Poetic Edda"" often alludes vaguely. The Norse creation myth tells how everything came into existence in the gap between fire and ice, and how the gods shaped the homeworld of humans. A cosmic ash tree, Yggdrasil, lies at the center of the Norse cosmos. Three roots drink the waters of the homeworlds, one"
"desire, ""vé"" to the sacred or numinous and ""óðr"" to the manic or ecstatic. A second clan of gods, the ""Vanir"", is also mentioned in Norse mythology: the god Njörðr and his children, Freyr and Freyja, are the most prominent Vanir gods who join the Æsir as hostages after a war between Æsir and Vanir. The Vanir appear to have mainly been connected with cultivation and fertility and the Æsir were connected with power and war. In the ""Eddas"", however, the word ""Æsir"" is used for gods in general, while ""Asynjur"" is used for the goddesses in general. For example,"
"Old Norse religion was polytheistic, with many anthropomorphic gods and goddesses, who express human emotions and in some cases are married and have children. One god, Baldr, is said in the myths to have died. Archaeological evidence on worship of particular gods is sparse, although placenames may also indicate locations where they were venerated. For some gods, particularly Loki, there is no evidence of worship; however, this may be changed by new archaeological discoveries. Regions, communities, and social classes likely varied in the gods they venerated more or at all. There are also accounts in sagas of individuals who devoted"
"and Norse mythology. In Greek mythology Artemis was the leader (, ""hegemon"") of the nymphs, who had similar functions with the Nordic Elves. The ""elf-shot"" originally indicated disease or death attributed to the elves, but it was later attested denoting stone arrow-heads which were used by witches to harm people, and also for healing rituals. The Vedic Rudra has some similar functions with Apollo. The terrible god is called ""The Archer"", and the bow is also an attribute of Shiva. Rudra could bring diseases with his arrows, but he was able to free people of them, and his alternative Shiba"
"Njörun In Norse mythology, Njörun (Old Norse: ""Njǫrun"", sometimes modernly anglicized as ""Niorun"") is a goddess attested in the ""Prose Edda"", written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and various kennings (including once in the ""Poetic Edda""). Scholarly theories concerning her name and function in the pantheon include etymological connections to the Norse god Njörðr and the Roman goddess Nerio, and suggestions that she may represent the earth or be the unnamed sister-wife of Njörðr. Njörun is listed (after Bil) as an ásynja within the ""Prose Edda"" book ""Skáldskaparmál"". No further information other than her name is provided there."