Норвезька or Scandinavian mythology є органом міфи в North Germanic peoples, stemming from Norse paganism and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Scandinavian folklore of the modern period. The northernmost продовження Germanic mythology and stemming from Proto-Germanic folklore, Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition.

The source texts mention numerous gods, such as the hammer-wielding, humanity-protecting thunder-god Тора, who relentlessly fights his foes; the one-eyed, raven-flanked бог Один, who craftily pursues knowledge throughout the worlds and bestowed among humanity the runic alphabet; the beautiful, seiðr-working, feathered cloak-clad goddess Фрейя who rides to battle to choose among the slain; the vengeful, skiing goddess Skaði, who prefers the wolf howls of the winter mountains to the seashore; the powerful god Njörðr, who may calm both sea and fire and grant wealth and land; the god Фрейр, whose weather and farming associations bring peace and pleasure to humanity; the goddess Iðunn, who keeps apples that grant eternal youthfulness; the mysterious god Heimdallr, who is born of nine mothers, can hear grass grow, has gold teeth, and possesses a resounding horn; the jötunn‘s son, the god Локі, who brings tragedy to the gods by engineering the death of the goddess Frigg‘s beautiful son БолдрІ numerous other deities.

Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with several 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 складається з Дев’ять світів that flank a central sacred tree, Иггдрасиль. Units of time and elements of cosmology are personified as deities or beings. Various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Іміра, and the first two humans are Ask and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Рагнарок when an immense battle occurs between the gods and their enemies, and the world is enveloped in flames, only to be reborn anew. There the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world.

Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century, when key texts attracted the attention of the intellectual circles of Europe. By way of comparative mythology і historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology. During the modern period, the Romanticist Відродження вікінгів re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, and references to Norse mythology may now be found throughout modern popular culture. The myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism.

Джерела

Norse mythology is primarily attested in dialects of Старий скандинавський, то North Germanic language spoken by the Scandinavian people during the European Середньовіччя and the ancestor of modern Scandinavian languages. The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Ісландія, where the oral tradition stemming from the pre-Christian inhabitants of the island was collected and recorded in manuscripts. This occurred primarily in the 13th century. These texts include the Prose Edda, composed in the 13th century by Сноррі Стурлусон, А Поетична Едда, a collection of poems from earlier traditional material anonymously compiled in the 13th century.

повне г, повне г,, показали, від, номер, XNUMX Prose Edda was composed as a prose manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Старий скандинавський poetry composed by skalds. Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse, родини, and several metrical forms. The Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after the Christianization process and also frequently refers back to the poems found in the Поетична Едда,  Поетична Едда consists almost entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, and this poetry—Eddic poetry—utilizes fewer родини. In comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively unadorned.

повне г, повне г,, показали, від, номер, XNUMX Prose Edda features layers of euhemerization, a process in which deities and supernatural beings are presented as having been either actual, magic-wielding human beings who have been обожнювали in time or beings демонізований в вигляді Christian mythology. Texts such as Heimskringla, composed in the 13th century by Snorri and Gesta Danorum, composed in Latin by Saxo Grammaticus in Denmark in the 12th century, are the results of heavy amounts of euhemerization.Numerous further texts, such as the саги, provide further information. The saga corpus consists of thousands of tales recorded in Old Norse ranging from Icelandic family histories (Саги про ісландців), Щоб Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Аттіла Гун (legendary sagas). Objects and monuments such as the Rök runestone і Kvinneby amulet особливість runic inscriptions—texts written in the runic alphabet, the indigenous alphabet of the Germanic peoples—that mention figures and events from Norse mythology.Objects from the archaeological record may also be interpreted as depictions of subjects from Norse mythology, such as amulets of the god Thor’s hammer Мьйольнір found among pagan burials and small silver female figures interpreted as валькірії or dísir, beings associated with war, fate or ancestor cults. By way of historical linguistics і comparative mythology, comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology (such as the Староверхньонімецька Merseburg Incantations) may also lend insight. Wider comparisons to the mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths. The best surviving norse manuscript, is the saga of Beowulf.Only a tiny amount of poems and tales survive of the mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, and before. Later sources reaching into the modern period, such as a medieval charm recorded as used by the Norwegian woman Ragnhild Tregagås—convicted of чаклунство in Norway in the 14th century—and spells found in the 17th century Icelandic Galdrabók гримуар also sometimes make references to Norse mythology. Other traces, such as place names bearing the names of gods may provide further information about deities, such as a potential association between deities based on the placement of locations bearing their names, their local popularity, and associations with geological features.

Gods and other beings

members of the gods. Numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. As evidenced by records of personal names and place names, the most popular god among the Scandinavians during the Viking Age was Thor the thunder god, who is portrayed as unrelentingly pursuing his foes, his mountain-crushing, thunderous hammer Мьйольнір in hand. In the mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, and is wed to the beautiful, golden-haired goddess Сиф.

Бог Один is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, вовк– і ворон-flanked, with spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the worlds. In an act of self-sacrifice, Odin is described as having hanged himself upside-down for nine days and nights on the cosmological tree Иггдрасиль to gain knowledge of the runic alphabet, which he passed on to humanity, and is associated closely with death, wisdom, and poetry. Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Asgard, and leader of the Есір. Odin’s wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Болдр. After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his impending death, his death is engineered by Локі, and Baldr thereafter resides in Хель, a realm ruled over by an entity of the same name.

Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess, Фрейя. She is beautiful, sensual, wears a feathered cloak, and practices seiðr. She rides to battle to choose among the slain and brings her chosen to her afterlife field Fólkvangr. Freyja weeps for her missing husband Óðr, and seeks after him in faraway lands. Freyja’s brother, the god Фрейр, is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts, and in his association with the weather, royalty, human sexuality, and agriculture brings peace and pleasure to humanity. Deeply lovesick after catching sight of the beautiful jötunn Gerðr, Freyr seeks and wins her love, yet at the price of his future doom. Their father is the powerful god Njörðr. Njörðr is strongly associated with ships and seafaring, and so also wealth and prosperity. Freyja and Freyr’s mother is Njörðr’s sister (her name is unprovided in the source material). However, there is more information about his pairing with the skiing and hunting goddess Skaði. Their relationship is ill-fated, as Skaði cannot stand to be away from her beloved mountains, nor Njörðr from the seashore. Together, Freyja, Freyr, and Njörðr form a portion of gods known as the Ванір. While the Aesir and the Vanir retain distinct identification, they came together as the result of the Aesir–Vanir War.

While they receive less mention, numerous other gods and goddesses appear in the source material. (For a list of these deities, see List of Germanic deities.) Some of the gods heard less of include the apple-bearing goddess Iðunn and her husband, the skaldic god Брагі; the gold-toothed god Heimdallr, born of nine mothers; the ancient god Týr, who lost his right hand while binding the great wolf Фенрір; and the goddess Гефжон, who formed modern-day Зеландія, Denmark.

Various beings outside of the gods are mentioned. Ельфи і карлики are commonly mentioned and appear to be connected, but their attributes are vague and the relation between the two is ambiguous. Elves are described as radiant and beautiful, whereas dwarfs often act as earthen smiths. A group of beings variously described as jötnar, thursar, і тролів (in English these are all often glossed як “гіганти“) frequently appear. These beings may either aid, deter, or take their place among the gods.The норни, dísir, and aforementioned валькірії also receive frequent mention. While their functions and roles may overlap and differ, all are collective female beings associated with fate.