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WINTER VACATION HOMEWORK: LEAVE IN HW BIN CHOOSE YOUR OWN TEAM: Odin

Loki

Thor Mutant Wolfbaby (Fenrir)

Aesir-Vanir Wars About the Vikings

Misconception: The Vikings were a nation The Vikings were not one nation but different groups of warriors, explorers and merchants led by a chieftain. During the Viking age, Scandinavia was not separated into Denmark, Norway and Sweden as it is today, instead each chieftain ruled over a small area. The word Viking does not refer to any location, but is the Old Norse word for a person participating in an expedition to sea. Misconception: The Vikings were all big and blond The Vikings are often shown as big, bulging guys with long blond hair, but historical records show that the average Viking man was about 170 cm (5’7”) tall which was not especially tall for the time. Blond hair was seen as ideal in the Viking culture, and many Nordic men bleached their hair with a special soap. But the Vikings were great at absorbing people, and many people who had been kidnapped as slaves, became part of the Viking population in time. So, in Viking groups, you would probably find Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, French, and Russians — a very diverse group built around a core of Vikings from a particular region, say, southern Denmark or an Oslo fjord. Misconception: The Vikings lived only in Scandinavia

The Vikings did originate from the Scandinavian countries, but over time they started settlements in many places, reaching as far as North Africa, Russia, Constantinople, and even North America. There are different theories about the motives driving the Viking expansion, the most common of which is that the Scandinavian population had outgrown the agricultural potential of their homeland. Another theory is that the old trade routes of western Europe and Eurasia experienced a decline in profitability when the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century, forcing the Vikings to open new trading routes in order to profit from international trade. How does the author organize this article? a. Listing effects and then identifying their causes b. Providing a chronological history of the Vikings c. Describing different Viking societies d. Identifying false claims and then correcting them What is the central idea of this article? a. Vikings were a diverse and international people b. Vikings often engaged in battle with foreign countries c. Vikings were judged on the basis of their appearance d. Vikings were seafaring people Why did the Vikings expand into other countries? a. Because they were interested in conquering new territories. b. Because they wanted to attract new people to their culture. c. Because they needed to find new land for planting food. d. Because they needed more space for their growing population.

Aesirs and Vanirs and Jotunn, Oh My! Let’s talk Yggdrasil for a moment. In the middle of Asgard, where the gods lived, was Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil was the tree of life, an eternal green Ash tree; its branches stretched out over all the nine worlds, and extended up and above the heavens. Yggdrasil was carried by three enormous roots. The first root from Yggdrasil went to Asgard, the home of the gods. By this root was a well named Urd’s well. This was where the gods held daily meetings. The second root from Yggdrasil went down to Jotunheim, the land of the giants, by this root was Mimir’s well. The third root from Yggdrasil went down to Niflheim, close to the well Hvergelmir. It was here the dragon Nidhug gnawed on one of Yggdrasil’s roots. Nidhug was also known to suck the blood out of dead bodies.

(If you’re seeing light elves and dark elves and dwarfs and thinking, “This sounds like something out of a Tolkien fantasy novel,” you’re on the right track. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga was heavily influenced by Norse mythology.) Think about what we read earlier today about Viking culture. Why does the idea of Yggdrasil make sense in their religion? What was the central idea of the article “About the Vikings”?

Why does the idea of Yggdrasil make sense in their religion? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And now let’s talk about the Bifrost . . . Bifrost is the rainbow bridge that connects Asgard, the world of the Aesir tribe of gods, with Midgard, the world of humanity. Bifrost is guarded by the ever-vigilant god Heimdall. During Ragnarok, the giants breach Heimdall’s defenses and cross the bridge to storm Asgard and slay the gods. The etymology of the word is uncertain. The original form of the name seems to be Bilröst, which suggests a meaning along the lines of “the fleetingly glimpsed rainbow.” If Bifröst is correct, however, the meaning would be something akin to “the shaking or trembling rainbow.” In either case, the word points to the ephemeral and fragile nature of the bridge. The mythological image of Bifrost expresses the meaning that the rainbow carries in this perspective, and, accordingly, Bifrost lies behind and within any and every visible rainbow, each of which is a transitory and quaking bridge between the sky and the earth, between Asgard and Midgard. Who lives in Asgard? ________________________________________________________ Who lives in Midgard? ______________________________________________________ Re-read the following sentence from the text. The etymology of the word is uncertain. The word “etymology” most closely means . . . a. Origin b. Definition c. Charge d. Pronunciation Underline your text evidence. Does “ephemeral” have a positive or negative charge?

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Underline your text evidence.

So there are lots of different realms in Norse mythology. However, relationships between the realms are far from peaceful. The relationship between the Aesir and the Jotunns (the giants of Jotunheim) was perceived as being especially tense. From an article on Aesir god, Thor: Thor, the brawny thunder god, is the archetype of a loyal and honorable warrior, the ideal toward which the average human warrior aspired. He’s the defender of the Aesir gods and their fortress, Asgard, from the invasions of the giants, who are usually the enemies of the gods.

Yet, despite this tension, there were a few Jotunns who lived primarily in Asgard. These included the following: 

Aegir: Aegir was the giant god of the ocean in Norse mythology. Along with siblings Logi (the fire giant) and Kári (the wind god), Aegir was an ancient nature deity. Aegir was well-liked by the Aesir and often hosted their feasts. (The feast in the Lokasenna is being hosted by Aegir.)

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Brides (Gerd, Skadi): The large majority of Jotunn characters in Asgard are giant brides that were married to the gods – or were their concubines, their unmarried lovers. These include Gerd, the unbelievably beautiful giantess, who married the Vanir Freyr (more about the Vanir later) and Skadi, the giant known for skiing, who married the Vanir Njord. Odin has many giantess lovers, including Gunnlod; Thor even produces a child with the giantess Járnsaxa. While the giants, in general, were loathed for their hideous physical features, many giants in Norse mythology are known for their outstanding beauty. (Even Loki gets a special shout-out in the Prose Edda for being beautiful.)

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Loki: Who knows why Loki’s allowed to live in Asgard? Unlike Aegir, no one really likes him; we definitely saw why in the Lokasenna. He’s the go-to god for solving problems – admittedly though, he’s usually the one who created the problem in the first place. He’s not brought to Asgard as a bride for anyone (although he does get pregnant with Octopony Sleipnir while he’s living in Asgard). So why do they keep him around? That’s our research question for today: Why keep Loki in Asgard?

MY INITIAL THOUGHTS (OF AWESOMENESS): Why keep Loki in Asgard? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Aesir-Vanir Wars Annotation Task: See if you can figure out why the Jotunn Loki was allowed to stay in Asgard. In Norse mythology, gods and goddesses usually belong to one of two tribes: the Aesir and the Vanir. (As previously mentioned, not many Jotunns are allowed to live in Asgard.) Throughout most of the Norse tales, the gods from the two tribes get along fairly well, and it’s hard to even tell which gods are Vanirs and which gods are Aesirs. But there was a time when that wasn’t the case. The War of the Gods The Vanir goddess Freya was always the best practitioner of the art of seidr, a form of magic that sought to see and change the future. Like historical seidr practitioners, she wandered from town to town telling the future in exchange for money. Under the name Heidr (“Bright”), she eventually came to Asgard, the home of the Aesir. The Aesir were quite taken by her powers and sought her services. But soon they realized that their values of honor, loyalty to family, and obedience to the law were being pushed aside by the selfish desires that they tried to fulfill with the witch’s magic. Blaming Freyja for their own faults, the Aesir called her “Gullveig” (“Gold-greed”) and attempted to murder her. Three times they tried to burn her, and three times was she reborn from the ashes.1 Because of this, the Aesir and the Vanir came to hate and fear one another and eventually started a war. The Aesir fought by the rules of plain combat, with weapons and brute force, while the Vanir used magic. The war went on for some time, with both sides winning at times. Eventually, the two tribes became weary of fighting and decided to call a truce. As was customary among the ancient Norse and other Germanic peoples, the two sides agreed to pay tribute to each other by sending hostages to live among the other tribe. Freyja, Freyr, and Njord of the Vanir went to the Aesir, and Hoenir and Mimir went to the Vanir. Njord and his children seem to have lived more or less in peace in Asgard. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Hoenir and Mimir in Vanaheim. The Vanir immediately saw that Hoenir was seemingly able to deliver wise advice on any problem, but they failed to notice that this was only when he had Mimir in his company. Hoenir was actually an idiot who was at a loss for words when Mimir wasn’t available to help him. After Hoenir responded to the Vanir’s questions with the unhelpful “let others decide” one too many times, the Vanir thought they had been cheated in the hostage exchange. They beheaded Mimir and sent the severed head back to Asgard, where the distraught Odin chanted magic poems over the head and kept it. Mimir’s head continued to give great advice to Odin in times of need.

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There are many different versions of this story. In one version, instead of Freyja being burned alive, a Vanir guest in the hall of Odin is murdered for no reason. This begins the Aesir-Vanir War.

The two tribes were still weary of fighting a war that was so evenly-matched, however. Rather than renewing their fighting over this tragic misunderstanding, each of the Aesir and Vanir came together and spat into a cauldron. From their spit, they created Kvasir, the wisest of all beings, as a way of pledging their peace forever. Name three Vanir that were allowed to stay in Asgard: 

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Why were they allowed to stay there? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Think about the Aesir-Vanir War and the Aesir-Jotunn relationship as well. Why do you think Loki was allowed to stay in Asgard? Include TWO pieces of evidence from either the Aesir-Vanir War or Lokasenna. MY FINAL THOUGHTS (OF AWESOMENESS): Why keep Loki in Asgard? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________