Like most ancient religions and cultures, the Nordic people had a complicated pantheon
of deities.
Before we delve into the list of gods its important to clear up a major misconception.
People tend to think that there s only one pantheon of Norse gods.
But that s not exactly the case.
The Norse worshipped two sets of gods - the aesir or Asgardian gods and the Vanir gods.
The sir was worshipped among all the Norse peoples, from Scandinavia to the Germanic
tribes in central Europe, while the Vanir gods, are believed to have originated in Scandinavia.
They are represented mainly by Freyja and Freyr and were more peaceful compared to the
war-like Asgardians.
In some myths, the Vanir gods joined aesir in Asgard after the great aesir vs. Vanir
war, while in others they remained separate.
These Nordic gods have inspired modern culture, making them highly significant and relevant
even today.
In this video, let s take a look at the most important Norse gods, their origins, and power.
Mimir Mimir was one of the oldest and wisest gods
in Norse mythology.
His wisdom was so well-known that he was also said to have advised the Æsir All-Father
Odin.
Mimir’s name is the origin of the modern English word memory.
Mimir met his end after the Æsir vs. Vanir War.
He was one of the gods sent by Odin to negotiate the truce.
However, because Mimir was so wise and cunning, the Vanir gods suspected him of cheating during
the negotiations, and so cut off his head, and sent it back to Asgard.
According to some myths, Mimir’s body and head lie near the Mímisbrunnr well in the
roots of the World Tree Yggdrasill where Odin sacrificed one of his eyes to gain wisdom.
In other legends, however, Odin preserved Mimir’s head with herbs and charms.
This allowed Mimir’s head to “live” on and whisper wisdom and advice into Odin’s
ear.
Skadi Famous as both an Æsir goddess and a jötunn,
Ska?i was associated with winter, skiing, mountains, and bowhunting.
In some myths, Ska?i married the Vanir god Njord and became the mother of Freyr and Freyja.
Many scholars believe that the goddess’s name is the origin of the term Scandinavia
where many of the Norse myths and legends came from.
Bragi The husband of the goddess of youth and a
god of poetry, Bragi was the “Bard of Asgard”.
His name roughly translates to “Poet” in Old Norse.
Many of Bragi’s traits and myths seem similar to legends of the 9th century bard Bragi Boddason
who served in the courts of Ragnar Lodbrok and Björn at Hauge.
It’s unclear whether the god’s myths were ascribed to the real-life poet or vice versa.
In some legends, the bard went to Valhalla where he received “godhood” for his famed
ballads.
Váli A son of Odin and the giantess Rindr, Vali
was born with the sole purpose of avenging the death of his brother Baldur.
Vali avenges Baldur by killing his other sibling, Baldur’s blind twin Hö?r, who had accidentally
killed Baldur.
After killing Hö?r, Vali also took his vengeance on Loki, the god of mischief who had tricked
Hö?r into killing Baldur.
Vali binds Loki in the entrails of Loki’s son Narfi.
As a god born to exact vengeance, Vali grew to adulthood within a day.
After he fulfilled his destiny he lived on in Asgard with the rest of the Æsir gods.
He was also prophesied to be one of the few to survive Ragnarok together with his other
brother Vidar, also a god of vengeance.
Hel A daughter of the trickster god Loki, Hel
was the ruler of the Norse underworld Helheim or Hel’s kingdom.
Her siblings were the World Serpent Jörmungandr and the giant wolf Fenrir so it’s fair to
say that she comes from a fairly “dysfunctional” family.
Her name later became synonymous with hell in the Christian mythos, but Helheim was very
different to the Christian hell.
In Christianity, hell is said to be full of fire and eternal torment, but Helheim is a
quiet and gloomy place.
The Nordic people went to Helheim after their death not when they were “bad” but when
they died of old age.
Essentially, Helheim was the “boring” afterlife for those who led boring lives while
Valhalla and Fólkvangr were the “exciting” afterlives for those who had lived adventurous
lives.
Idun Idun was the Norse goddess of rejuvenation
and eternal youth.
Her name literally translates to The Rejuvenated One and she was described as having long,
blond hair.
A wife of the poet god Bragi, Idun had “fruits” or epli that bestowed immortality on those
who ate them.
Often described as apples, these epli are said to be what made the Norse gods immortal.
As such, it is Idun who makes the Norse gods a little more “human” as they don’t
owe their immortality to their divine nature but to Idun’s apples.
Heimdallr Heimdallr is one of the more famous of the
Norse gods and yet there is no consensus on who his parents were.
Some legends even describe Heimdall as a Vanir god.
Whatever his origins, Heimdall was best-known as a guardian and protector of Asgard.
He dwelt at the entrance to Asgard, guarding the Bifrost the rainbow bridge.
He wielded the horn Gjallarhorn, , which he used to alert his fellow Asgardian gods about
approaching threats.
He’s described as having extremely sensitive hearing and vision, which allowed him to even
hear wool growing on sheep or to see 100 leagues into the distance.
Freyr Brother of Freyja and son of Njord, Freyr
was a peaceful god of farming and fertility.
Depicted as a large and brawny man, Freyr was often accompanied by his pet boar Gullinborsti.
He was also said to travel the world on a chariot drawn by giant boars.
Freyja The daughter of Njord and a matriarch deity
of the Vanir pantheon, Freyja was a goddess of love, lust, fertility, and war.
In some myths, she’s married to her brother Freyr but in most, she’s the wife of Ó?r,
the frenzied one.
While a peaceful and loving deity, Freyja didn’t hesitate to defend her realm and
her people in battle which is why she was also known as a goddess of war.
it’s said that Freyja took half of all warriors who died heroically in battle into her heavenly
field Fólkvangr while the other half joined Odin in Valhalla, the hall of slain warriors.
Njord Njord was the “All-Father” of the Vanir
gods, standing in contrast to Odin of the Æsir or Asgardian gods.
Njord was the father of Freyja and Freyr, the two most famous Vanir deities, and was
viewed as a god of the sea, as well as wealth and fertility.
After the Æsir vs. Vanir War, Njord went to Asgard for the peace treaty between the
two pantheons and decided to live there with the Æsir.
In Asgard, Njord married the giantess Skadi who gave birth to Freyja and Freyr.
However, in other myths, the siblings were alive during the Æsir vs. Vanir War and were
born from Njord’s relationship with his own sister.
Either way, from then on Njord was known as both a Vanir and an Æsir god.
Vidar Vidar was the Norse god of vengeance.
A son of Odin and the jötunn Grid (or Grí?r), Vidar’s name translates as “wide ruler”.
He was described as a “silent” god as he didn’t speak much, however his actions
more than made up for that.
During Ragnarok, it was Vidar who slew the giant wolf Fenrir and avenged the death of
Odin.
Vidar was also one of the very few Asgardian gods to survive Ragnarok and he lived on the
field of Idavoll after the great battle, awaiting the new cycle of the world.
Forseti The Norse god of justice and reconciliation,
Forseti’s name translates as “the presiding one” or “president” in modern Icelandic
and Faroese.
A son of Baldur and Nanna, Forseti acted as a just judge.
All who visited Forseti for justice or for a ruling were said to leave reconciled.
Forseti’s peaceful justice stands in contrast with Tyr, who also reached “justice” but
through war and conflict, not reasoning.
T?r T?r was a god of war and a favorite among
most Germanic tribes.
Tyr, said to be the bravest of the gods, was associated not just with wars but also with
all the formalities of wars and battles, including signing peace treaties.
Because of that, he was also worshipped as a god of justice and oaths.
Tyr’s most famous myth involves the binding of Fenrir.
The gods, who viewed Fenrir as a threat, wanted to chain the giant wolf up and keep him at
bay.
They tricked Fenrir into being bound.
But Fenrir, who suspected foul play, refused to be bound with the special chains, unless
one of the gods put their hand in his jaws as a sign of good faith.
Tyr volunteered to do this for the sake of all living things, knowing that he would lose
his hand.
When Fenrir discovered that he had been trapped and couldn’t escape the bindings – he
chewed off Tyr’s hand.
In another instance of canine misfortune, Tyr was killed by Garm, the guard dog of Hel
during Ragnarok.
Sif The goddess Sif was the wife of Thor and was
associated with the Earth, just like his mother Jör?.
She was known for her golden hair which Loki once cut as a prank.
Fleeing Thor’s wrath, Loki was tasked with finding a replacement for Sif’s golden hair
and so he went to Svartalfheim, the realm of the dwarves.
There, Loki not only obtained a new set of golden hair for Sif but he also had the dwarves
create Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, Odin’s spear Gungnir, Freyr’s ship Skidblandir, and several
other treasures.
The goddess Sif is associated with the concepts of family and fertility as the Old English
word for “family” sib comes from the Old Norse sif.
Baldur The beloved son of Odin and Frigg, and a younger
half-brother of Thor, Baldur was worshipped as the god of the sun itself.
He was believed to be wise, gracious, and divine, as well as fair and more beautiful
than any flower.
His mother Frigg had taken oaths from everything on earth to ensure that her son wouldn’t
be harmed by anything, but she had missed mistletoe.
Unfortunately, this simple plant was the only thing that could kill Baldur.
One day, Baldur was playing around with his twin brother Hodr, who was blind.
Loki showed up and gave Hodr a dart made of mistletoe.
Hodr, not knowing it was mistletoe, decided to jokingly fling it toward Baldur as a harmless
prank but unfortunately, it struck Baldur and he died.
Loki Loki is widely known as Thor’s brother thanks
to the Marvel movies but in the Nordic mythos, he was actually Thor’s uncle and a brother
to Odin.
A god of mischief, he was also said to be a jötunn.
Loki is a trickster, and his mischievous deeds and accidents eventually lead to Ragnarok.
Loki is also the father to the World Serpent Jörmungandr who kills Thor, the giant wolf
Fenrir who kills Odin, and the goddess of the underworld Hel.
During Ragnarok, Loki fights on the side of the jötnar, giants, and other monsters against
the gods.
Thor Thor was the son of Odin and the Earth goddess
Jör?, although in some Germanic myths, he was the son of the goddess Fjörgyn instead.
Either way, Thor is famous as the god of thunder and strength, as well as for being Asgard’s
most staunch defender.
He was believed to be the strongest of all the gods and other mythical beings and would
ride across the sky on a chariot drawn by two giant goats.
During Ragnarok, Thor manages to kill the World Serpent, Loki’s monstrous child Jörmungandr,
but he also dies moments later from its venom.
Frigg Wife of Odin and matriarch of the Æsir pantheon,
Frigg or Frigga was a goddess of the sky and had the power of foreknowledge.
Frigg could see what would happen to everyone and everything around her.
This didn’t give her the power to stop Ragnarok or save her beloved son Baldur, however, as
events in the Norse mythology are predestined and cannot be changed.
It also didn’t really stop Odin from going behind her back to enjoy the company of many
other goddesses, giantess, and jötnar.
Nevertheless, Frigg was worshipped and beloved by all Norse people.
She was also associated with fertility, marriage, motherhood, and domestic stability.
Odin The All-Father god who stands atop the Æsir
pantheon, Odin is one of the most beloved and well-known of the Nordic gods.
As wise and loving as he was fierce and powerful, Odin looked after the Nine Realms from the
day of their creation until Ragnarok, the End of Days in Norse myths.
In the different Nordic cultures, Odin was also called W?den, Ó?inn, Wuodan, or Woutan.
In fact, the modern English word Wednesday comes from the Old English W?dnesdæg or The
Day of Odin.
Ymir And finally – the last Norse deity on our
list.
While not technically a god, Ymir is at the center of the Norse creation myth and of supreme
importance to Norse mythology.
A cosmic entity that’s essentially a personification of the entire universe, Ymir was the first
giant and ancestor of all giants and gods.
He was slain by Odin and his two brothers, Vé and Vili.
Before his death, Ymir had given birth to the jötnar – primeval beings who came directly
from Ymir’s flesh.
When Odin and his brothers killed Ymir, the jötnar fled on the rivers of their father’s
blood and scattered across the 9 worlds.
As for the worlds themselves – they were formed from Ymir’s dead body.
His body became mountains, his blood became the seas and oceans, his hairs became trees,
and his eyebrows became Midgard or Earth.
The Norse gods were revered and worshipped by the Vikings and other Nordic people, and
thanks to them, these myths continue to live on in modern culture.
Although some characters exist in different versions than the originals, they continue
to enthrall and inspire.
If you’d like to watch similar videos about mythology, please consider subscribing and
hitting the LIKE button.
Don’t forget to click the notification button as well so that we can let you know when new
videos and updates become available.
Thank you for watching!