ÆSIR GODS

The next few post will be devoted to gods and creatures which are presented widely in the norse mythology (yes another post about Vikings...I think that my blog should be named differently, oh well).

As I wrote in my previous posts, there are two tribes of gods in norse mythology - Æsir and Vanir. The first one live in the Asgard which is located in the sunnies branches of the world-tree Yggdrasil and this tribe include the best-known gods Thor, Loki, Frigg, Baldur, Tyr, Heimdall, Idun, Bragi and of course Odin the 'Allfather". Here is the a description of them in the nutshell. 

ODIN (Old Norse: Óðinn, Old English: Woden)

Scrolling through Internet we can see a great number of different pictures of Odin which are far from of how ancient Norse tribes have seen him. In modern popular culture, Odin is often portrayed as muscular, honorable ruler and battlefield commander. Taking into consideration norse mythology, I would say that he is more similar to Gandalf - he is a wise, solitary wanderer.

Odin, the wanderer portrait by Georf von Rosen.

Odin in "Thor: Ragnarok" directed by Taika Waititi. 

Odin riding Sleipnir, an Icelandic manuscript from 18th century. 

In every picture you may notice that Odin has only one eye. According to the mythology, Odin sacrificed his eye in order to obtain a great wisdom. In fact, not only the eye... Odin's quests for wisdom is never-ending and he is willing to pay for it any price. He hanged himself, wounded himself with his spear, and fasted from food and drink to discover the runes (ancient Germanic alphabet).

Another quite interesting trait of Odin is the way he speaks. As he stole the mead of poetry, he obtained the ability to speak only in poems.  

THOR (Old Norse: Þórr, Old English: Đunor)

This one I'm sure you know. The great thunder warrior well-known because of his gigantic hammer (Mjöllnir - "Lightening") and physical strength (even doubly formidable with his belt of strength). He is the son of Odin. The archetype of a loyal and honorable warrior. 

Thor's fight with the Giants (1872) by Mårten Eskil Winge. 

:)

LOKI 

The trickster god of the Norse mythology. In the tales, Loki is portrayed as a coward who cares only for shallow pleasures and self-preservation. He is by turns playful, malicious, and helpful, but he's always irreverent and nihilistic. He gave birth to the greatest monsters (yes, he gave birth due to his transition to woman for 8 years) - the great wolf of Fenrir, the snake of Jormungand and the goddess of death - Hel. He accompanied Thor on many expeditions and he gave to Odin an eight-legged very fast horse - Sleipnir. 

The punishment of Loki by Louis Huard.  

Another Icelandic manuscript

FRIGG (Old Norse: "Beloved")

The Queen of Asgard and beloved norse goddess. The English weekday name "Friday" comes from Old English Frīġedæġ, meaning "day of Frigg"! She is the goddess of love, mariage and motherhood and wife of Odin. What is interesting about her is the fact that not only we owe her the name of the best day of the week but also the custom of kissing under the mistletoe! In the story, Frigg casts a powerful magic to make sure that no plant grown on earth could be used as a weapon against her son Baldur. The only plant that grow out of a tree's branches is mistletoe, so Loki, the famous trickster, make the spear that eventually kills Baldur. After her son's death, Frigg declares the mistletoe to be a symbol of love and promises to kiss anyone who passed underneath it. 

"Frigg Spinning the Clouds' by John Charles Dollman (1909)