The fact is that there are not so many special books in Russian on this topic. Actually, among the Russian researchers who deal with these issues, the most famous Vladimir Petrukhin, who published the book "Myths of Ancient Scandinavia", in it you will not find an academic study of this issue, but you will get acquainted with the topic. In addition to this book, you can find his scientific publications that shed light on some issues. I often came across his lectures on YouTube. Another Russian book by Kiril Korolev, "Scandinavian Mythology", contains the main points in an encyclopedic way.
If we take the lowest mythology, then I advise the book: In the land of trolls. Who's Who in Norwegian Folklore, ed. Rachinskaya E.
There are also few translated books. There is a book by Varg Vikernes "Scandinavian mythology and worldview". But I warn you right away, the book should be read very skeptically, since the author is not a professional researcher and wrote this book like a pagan, interpreting Scandinavian plots in a rational way. Still, the book contains important information.
Another group of books is made up of studies on the Viking Age, in the context of which questions of mythology are considered. I recommend the following books:
A.A. Svanidze. Vikings - people of the saga: life and customs
Gurevich A. Vikings - Legend and Reality
G. S. Lebedev. Viking Age in Northern Europe
Bayok D. Iceland of the Viking Age
Stringolm A. Viking expeditions.
There is a lot of foreign literature, as this topic is very popular in Europe:
John Lindow. Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
Abram, Christopher. Myths of the Pagan North: the Gods of the Norsemen.
Davidson, H. R. Ellis. Scandinavian Mythology,
Turville-Petre, E O Gabriel. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia.
These are only a select few, there are a lot of them, and based on the links, the number can be multiplied.
There are not so many sources on mythology, and the main ones were named in the previous answer, sometimes there are interesting remarks in the comments and introductory articles to the texts. Regarding the sagas, I will say that they do not particularly reflect mythology, but rather culture, mentality, history, etc. On this occasion, I can advise a lot more literature, but this is another question, if someone is interested in the cultural environment of Scandinavia (sagas, runic inscriptions, skald verses), please contact.
Finally, I want to draw your attention to two sites that contain a lot of interesting texts about Scandinavia:
http://ulfdalir.ru/
http://norse.ulver.com/
If I remember something, I'll add it later.

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Maria Tomareva
Scandinavian myths and legends

© Maria Tomareva, text, 2018

© Janis Schulz, illustrations, 2018

© AST Publishing House LLC, 2018

* * *

world creation

At first, our world did not exist. Instead, there was an abyss called Ginnungagap - no bottom, no end, no edge.

To the north of Ginnungagap lay the ice country of Niflheim, and to the south - Muspelsheim, the kingdom of fire.

And for ages nothing happened.

But one day in cold Niflheim a spring gushed out and rivers flowed from it to the south, carrying blocks of ice with them. Sparks from Muspelsheim melted the ice.

And so the first two creatures emerged from the melted ice.

One of them was a giant named Ymir. And the other was ... no, not a woman, but a cow. Her name was Autumla.

Ymir lay down to sleep - and drops of sweat appeared under his left arm, which turned into a giant and a giantess. Ymir crossed his legs in a dream - and another giant emerged from under his knees, with six heads.

There was enough food for Ymir and all the giants who descended from him - they ate the milk of the Autumla cow.

But how could Ymir have guessed that the cow also needs food. After all, he did not know how to think. And no grass grew in the Ginnungagap.

The patient Autumla understood this, rolled her eyes sadly and began, for lack of anything better, to lick the salt from the stone.

Here is a cow, licking a stone. Licks the first day - hair came out of the stone, licks the second day - his head and shoulders appeared. Well, by the evening of the third day, a handsome man named Buri emerged from the stone.

The handsome Buri married a beautiful giantess, and they had another handsome named Bor.

Bor's sons were named Odin, Vili and Vyo. They became the first gods - aces.

The three young aces in the desert world were bored.

Once, Odin, Vili and Vyo sat on the edge of the glacier. One and says:

- Oh, my brothers! Since we are gods, let's create a new world in the endless, endless and bottomless Ginnungagap.

Only from what to make it?

- And we will make it ... from Ymir! - thought Odin.

- It's not good somehow, - Vili and Vyo doubted, - he is our progenitor.

“First, our progenitor is the Autumla cow,” Odin objected. - After all, it was she who licked our grandfather Storm from the stone. And secondly ... brothers, we all know that Ymir cannot think. He probably won't even notice anything.

And they killed Ymir. And so much blood flowed out of him that almost all the giants drowned in it - and by that time there were already quite a few of them. Only the giant Bergelmir and his wife were saved.

- Hmmm, - said Odin, - something tells me that the descendants of this couple will strongly dislike us, the Aesir ...

And he was not mistaken. From Bergelmir came the very giants-jotuns, who are at enmity with the aces from the beginning to the end of time.

The body of Ymir was thrown into Ginnungagap by the brothers-ases and made earth out of it.

The giant's enormous skull became the vault of heaven. From his blood rivers and seas were made, from bones - mountains and rocks, from teeth - stones and sand, from hair - forests. Ymir's brain (which he still had) was thrown into the sky by the gods - and it became clouds and clouds.

Ymir's skull was square. To give the firmament a rounded shape, the aesir folded the corners in the form of horns. In each of the horns - north, south, west and east - they planted in the wind.

The brothers adorned Ymir's naked skull with sparks from Muspelsheim. Thus, innumerable stars appeared in the sky.

The gods surrounded the earth with an ocean, and a narrow strip of land along it was taken to the giant jotuns - this people had to live somewhere. This is how the harsh land of Jotunheim, the kingdom of giants, appeared.

So a new world was created. But with whom to populate it?

- Let's create people! - suggested Odin.

Wili and Wyo didn't mind, just what would they be made of?

- And we will make them ... from wood! - thought Odin.

No sooner said than done: they found two logs on the seashore and hewn out two figures - a man's and a woman's. And the brothers endowed them with magical powers. One gave them life and breath, Vili gave them the ability to think and move, and Vyo gave them feelings and speech.

The first man was named Ask, and the first woman was named Embla. Soon, people settled all over the land, which the Ases gave the name Midgard.

And everything would be fine ... but only after a while in Midgard it began to smell disgusting.

- Ugh! - Odin winced. - And how did people manage to spoil the earth in such a short time?

“People have nothing to do with it,” Vili stood up for them. “It will take millennia before they learn to pollute the world on their own.

- And the earth itself stinks, brother, - explained Vyo. - After all, it is made of what? From the meat of the giant Ymir. And what does meat do over time? It goes bad.

The brothers looked into the bowels of the earth - all the former Imirov's flesh was teeming with disgusting worms.

And again the aces got down to business. The spoiled meat was enchanted - and it turned into ordinary earth.

But what about the worms?

“Let's turn them into little people, that's what,” suggested Odin. - In the dark gnomes and light elves.

“Well, Odin, you’ll say it,” the brothers doubted. - Okay, more in the gnomes. But in light, beautiful elves? Such disgusting worms?

“And let the light, beautiful elves remember their origin and will not consider themselves equal to us, the aces,” Odin explained.

This is how the dark alves - gnomes and light alves - elves appeared in the world.

Nine Worlds and Ash Ygdrassil

To be precise, the world turned out to be not one, but as many as nine.

First, the human world is Midgard.

Secondly, Asgard is the land of the Aesir in the skies above Midgard.

Third, Vanaheim. The so-called Vans live in it - another clan of gods. The Vanir are deities of nature, so their land Vanaheim is completely overgrown with forests.

At the beginning of time, the Aesir fought with the Vanir. But then they decided that they had nothing to share, got along, became related and now peacefully coexist.

Fourth, Jotunheim, where the Jotun giants live.

Fifth, Svartalfheim, the underworld of the dwarves. Shorty gnomes in their forges create magical weapons and jewelry that every god dreams of. In addition, among the little gnomes there are great clever ones.

Probably, the dark elves would have achieved a better lot than just sitting in holes and fulfilling the orders of the aces. But the trouble is - the poor fellows cannot come to the surface: the very first ray of the sun will turn an unwary gnome into stone.

Sixth, Liesalfheim, the airy palaces of the elves. This world hovers somewhere between Midgard and Asgard.

Bright alves are as blacksmiths as dwarfs. Moreover, they sing divinely and play beautiful music. However, they always remember their undivine origin (from worms in Ymir's rotten meat) and behave modestly.

Seventh, Muspelsheim, the kingdom of fire - it has existed since the time of Ginnungagap. Everything in this world is made of flame.

At the gates of Muspelsheim, its ruler Surt stands guard with a fiery sword at the ready. And no one has ever been there, except for the indigenous inhabitants - the terrible fire giants.

Eighth, the icy land of Niflheim is as ancient as the kingdom of fire.

And there is only snow and ice, frost and haze. Moreover, the ice giants are an evil people, and there is nothing to do when visiting them.

And ninth, Helheim, the kingdom of the dead.

Through all nine worlds grows the mighty ash tree Yggdrasil.

Its crown extends above the heavens. Four deer walk along it, eating fresh leaves.

An eagle sits on top of Yggdrasil. When he flaps his wings, the wind rises in Asgard, Mirgard, Jotunheim and other worlds. And between the eyes of the eagle nestled a hawk.

A squirrel named Ratatoskr is running along the trunk of Yggdrasil.

Ash roots go deep underground.

The first one is located in Jotunheim.

Near him, in a semi-dark grotto, beats a source of wisdom, which is guarded by the giant Mimir - more precisely, not all of Mimir, but only his severed and animated head.

Somehow young Odin came to Mimir.

“Give me a drink from the spring,” he asked the giant.

- Drink, - answered Mimir. “But wisdom cannot be gained without hardship. Why would you deprive you of that? Okay, if you get off small, give your right eye here.

- Eye? - Odin was upset. - Can't, for example, a finger? Well, the ear after all ...

“Don't bargain, young man,” Mimir said.

“Well,” Odin sighed, “becoming wise, I will see more with one eye than now with two.

And now at everyone who gets into the grotto to Mimir and bends over its source, the eyes of Odin, sacrificed for the sake of wisdom, look out from under the water.

The second root of Yggdrasil is in the realm of the dead, Helheim.

The dragon Nidhogg overgrown with feathers sprawled next to him and gnaws at him. This root has a hard time! But the dragon is very sweet. After all, even the dew on the sacred tree is so delicious that the bees - there, in the upper worlds - collect it instead of honey.

In addition to the juice of Yggdrasil, the dragon's menu includes blood, which he sucks from the dead. Every fresh dead person passes by Nidhogg the bloodsucker on his way to the kingdom of the dead. This is why the people of Helheim look so withered.

Through the efforts of Nidhogg, the world tree would also have withered, if not for its third root.

The third root extends to Asgard.

A sacred spring gushes near it and three norns live - the goddesses of fate.

The eldest norn is called Urd, which means past, the middle one is Vernandi, the present, and the youngest is Skuld, the future.

Urd looks like a decrepit old woman, Vernandy looks like a middle-aged woman, and Skuld looks like a young girl.

Norns know the destinies of all worlds and the destiny of every creature - be it yotun or alv, man or as.

At the same time, even the gods cannot change a predetermined fate.

True, unlike humans, the aces can come to the norns and ask what lies ahead. Naturally, they came and asked a long time ago. For example, every ace knows at what hour and how exactly he will die.

However, norns do not always answer questions, do not always give advice.

- No, - the prophetic ones often say to Odin himself, - even you shouldn't know what will come of it.

The sensitive young Skuld, who is in charge of the future, in such cases usually bursts into bitter tears ...

Every fraction of a second in some of the worlds someone is born, and Urd, Vernandi and Skuld must come to his head and endow the baby with fate.

They also take care of Yggdrasil - every day they draw water from the source together with mud and water the ash root with it. This helps the tree survive Nidhogg's gluttony. The spring water is so sacred that the mud in it is white.

At this source (he is called, like the elder norn, Urd - this word also means "fate") the aesir often gather for a council.

Asgard and the Aesir

Asgard, the land of the gods, is located high in the sky.

You can enter it via the bridge called Bivrest. People from their Mirgard can see Bivrest perfectly - this is a familiar rainbow.

But woe to the presumptuous person, giant or alva, who thrust himself onto Bivrest without an accompanying ace! The red stripe on the rainbow is a fire that will immediately burn the insolent impudent person.

The son of Odin, an ace named Heimdal, watches over the gates of Asgard - he has golden teeth, and he was born of nine mothers, all of whom were sisters. But the guards gave birth to a reliable one.

The palaces of the gods and goddesses are located in Asgard. The most famous of these is the Valhalla Palace.

In Valhalla, Odin sits on his throne, Hlidskjavle.

The throne is designed so that, sitting on it, you can see everything that is happening in the nine worlds. Therefore, no one can hide from the only vigilant eye of the supreme ace.

And if anything hides, Odin has quick informants: two crows that fly around the earth from time to time and return with news. The ravens are called Hugin - "thinking" and Munin - "remembering."

At Odin's feet are two wolves - Geri and Freki. Their names mean "greedy" and "voracious". At the feasts, Odin only tastes honey, and throws all the food under the table of Geri and Freka. The wolves' job is to eat up the lord.

In the company of Hugin, Munin, Geri and Freka, Odin often wanders around Midgard.

Turning now into a decrepit old man, now into a dwarf, he knocks on people's houses. If you treat him inhospitable, he will definitely punish you.

One is the wisest of the Aesir.

Valhalla is not just Odin's palace.

It is also a sacred place where warriors who fell in battle with weapons in their hands fall. Every Viking dreams of Valhalla and, dying on the battlefield, asks his comrades to put a sword or battle ax in his weakening hand.

The warriors who inhabit Valhalla are called Einheris.

The Eincherias spend their time like this - for days they delight in chopping each other with swords in the meadow near Valhalla, and they feast all night long. By the night feast, all the wounds have time to heal, and the soldiers are as good as new.

It is dear to watch how, after sunset, the Eincherias come from the battlefield - one carries his own head under his arm, the other an arm, the third jumps merrily on one leg.

Those who cannot walk on their own are helped by the Valkyries - the warrior maidens, the daughter of Odin. With their beautiful hands, they collect the herbs of the warriors cut into pieces with the stained blood - those who have especially distinguished themselves today. And they carry to Valhalla - to heal.

Then - a feast: the Einherians have an excellent appetite.

The goat Heidrun supplies honey for these feasts. She walks along the roof of Valhalla covered with golden shields, nibbles the green leaves of Yggdrasil and gives a sweet intoxicating drink instead of milk.

Einheria is eaten by the meat of a wild boar named Sehrimnir. Every evening he is slaughtered and boiled in a huge cauldron, and every morning he turns out to be alive again.

The same Valkyries serve the grunts at the feasts.

However, not all soldiers who died on the battlefield end up with Odin in Valhalla. Half of them are taken by the goddess of love and beauty Freya to her palace Folkvangr.

In Folkwangra, warriors also fight and have fun, but there is one difference. In Freya's palace, their earthly wives and beloved ones can live next to the fallen soldiers - if they remain faithful to their fallen spouse.

Therefore, many women of the Vikings, having lost their beloved in battle, try to die as heroically as he did, so that later they would be with him with Freya in Folkwangra.

The main protector of Asgard is another son of Odin, the red-bearded Thor, the god of thunder.

Oh, and the giants fear his anger, his strength (which he increases by tightening his magic belt), and especially his hammer Mölnir.

Thor's hammer is so heavy that only he himself can lift it. And if you throw Mölnir, for example, in the forehead of some yotun, the weapon will return to Thor's hand. But the yotong will not return from the battle.

Therefore, somehow neutralizing Thor or stealing Mölnir is an old dream of the giants from Jotunheim.

Another of the notable inhabitants of Asgard is the fire god Loki.

Loki has only a mother of the Aesir. He is cunning, dexterous and smart. The Aesir, watching Loki's tricks, often shake their heads and say:

- Ay, Loki, you will end badly!

But the end is still far away, and while Loki lives for himself in Asgard, bringing the gods either benefit or problems.

Wall around Asgard

When Thor was at home, not a single yotun could have thought of poking his head into Asgard.

The trouble is that Thor has hardly ever been home.

- I need to remind the giants of myself, brothers. I'll go to Jotunheim, I haven't wandered there for a long time, - announced Thor to the Asam, sat down in his chariot pulled by two goats and drove off along Bivrest.

And the aesir in their palaces began to lock themselves tighter at night and shudder at every rustle. At night they dreamed of hordes of Jotuns.

Attention! This is an introductory excerpt from the book.

If you liked the beginning of the book, then the full version can be purchased from our partner - distributor of legal content LLC "Liters".

The Elder and the Younger Edda are two works that were destined to become the main sources of knowledge about Scandinavian mythology for all subsequent generations. True, if the author of The Elder Edda could have assumed such a thing when he collected and wrote down Old Scandinavian poetic legends, the author of The Younger pursued a different goal: he created a textbook of scaldic poetics, explained to future poets (as well as their listeners) the subtleties of skill.

The manuscripts of both Eddas were destined to a long life - and over the centuries they were inspired by such diverse authors as John Ronald Ruel Tolkien, Ezra Pound and Karin Boye, not to mention the numerous "popularizers" of Norse mythology in fantasy. Let's take a closer look at these ancient pages.

Edda, Elder and Younger

Now we should say to young skalds who wished to study the language of poetry and equip their speech with old names or who wished to learn how to interpret dark poetry: let them delve into this book in order to gain wisdom and have fun.

"The Language of Poetry" ("The Younger Edda")

The question immediately arises: why do we generally combine such different works - a prose textbook and a collection of poetic legends, created by different authors and at different times?

Both of these books - and "The Younger Edda" (aka "The Prose Edda", and also, according to the author, "Snorrov Edda"), and "The Elder Edda" (aka "Song Edda" and "Edda Samund", named after her mythical author) - use Old Norse and Old Germanic legends. In both, the influence of Christianity is noticeable (especially in "The Younger"), historical figures and literary heroes are mentioned who were perceived as real (for example, "the supreme king Priam" is a Homeric character from the Iliad). In addition, the "Younger Edda" directly refers to the "Elder" (more precisely, to its constituent legends - the text of the earliest extant manuscript of the "Elder Edda" was written later than the text of the "Younger"). But the fate of these books was different.

The Younger Edda: A Textbook for Poets

This is how the artist Christian Krog imagined Snorri Sturluson. Lifetime portraits have not survived

With "Younger Edda" (originally called simply "Edda"), everything is simple. I wrote it in 1222-1225 (some sources specify: in 1223) Icelandic poet, prose writer, historiographer, lawyer and politician Snorri Sturluson, a representative of the noble and influential Sturlung family.

As a Christian and yet a rational person, Sturluson offers a completely non-religious version of how the Old Norse pantheon originated. According to Snorri, initially the Ases, Vans and other deities were people who became famous for something during their lifetime. Later, popular memory transformed their real merits and attributed non-existent ones, people began to say: "Oh, if we were led by that late commander, there would be no doubt about the outcome of the war" or "Here would be the wisest leader of the past, he would have judged correctly" ... And now King Odin is ready, a descendant of the Trojans!

We know Scandinavian myths in the retelling of a Christian who believed that the gods from the legends were the descendants of the Homeric Trojans.

The Edda, in which the author teaches readers how to enjoy the sophistication of alliterative poetry, untangle whimsical kennings (descriptive notation), and grasp the meaning hidden behind the weaving of words, was popular. In fact, in order to navigate the Scandinavian poetry of antiquity, and even the modern Sturluson of the Middle Ages, special skills were required. Well, if Kenning is simple: you see the phrase "boar of the waves" - it is immediately clear that we are talking about a ship. And what if something like the "Blizzard Kite Thrower Mist of the Swell Beam Month"? Here is what the Younger Edda, for example, has to say about the Torah:

What are the kennings of Thor? He is called “the son of Odin and the Earth”, “the father of Magni, Modi and Trud”, “the husband of Siv”, “Ull's stepfather”, as well as “the sovereign and ruler of the hammer Mjolnir, the Belt of Power and Bilskirnir”, “the protector of Asgard and Midgard”, "The enemy and the exterminator of giants and giantesses", "the killer of Hrungnir, Geirröd and Trivaldi", "the lord of Thialvi and Reskva", "the enemy of the World Serpent", "the educator of Wingnir and Chlora."

With other gods, giants, people - even everyday objects from a sword to a spinning wheel - it was not at all easier. And all this the Skalds and their listeners needed to know! It is not surprising that the Edda was popular - at least seven manuscripts, created in the XIV-XVII centuries, have survived to our times.

But the story of "Elder Edda" is more mysterious.

The Younger Edda, 18th century edition. Everything is clear: the one-eyed Odin with the ravens Huginn and Muninn, and the cow Audumla, and the eight-legged horse Sleipnir ... Unlike many illustrators of modern fantasy, this artist has clearly read the book!

The Elder Edda: A Masterpiece by an Unknown Author

Snorri now and then quotes the songs of an earlier author. The conclusion suggests itself that these texts must be fixed somewhere. However, no one wrote down most of the skaldic poetry - it was passed on only by word of mouth. As long as this tradition was strong, the legends persisted (and if some of them were lost, no one could find out about it anyway). However, with the arrival of Christianity in Scandinavia, and with it the written culture, songs were less and less passed from skald to skald. And, in general, the conclusion suggested itself: write it down! But traditions ...

The portrait of Brinjolfur Sveinsson is dear to every Icelander - it is a thousand crowns

So, over the next few centuries, it was believed that only Sturluson's quotes remained from the same "Divination of the Volva". Right up to the middle of the 17th century - until 1643 Brinjolfur Sveinsson, Bishop Skulholt (a small town and also a large religious and cultural center of Iceland) did not rummage in his attic. Or not at home, or not in the attic, but in the church archives ... history is silent about this. One way or another, Sveinsson stumbled upon an ancient manuscript (as it turned out later, written around the 1270s - although it may be a copy of an even older text). And since Sveinsson was not only a Lutheran priest, but also a philologist and poet, he immediately realized the value of the find.

Analyzing the precious manuscript, Brinjolfur suggested that it belongs to the pen of Samund the Wise, an Icelandic priest, writer and scientist who lived in the 12th century. This belief was held in scientific circles for a long time, but at the moment nothing confirms this version. And we simply do not have any information about the authorship of the songs. When the skalds were composed, there were still ten centuries left until the time of the triumphant copyright ...

Universe in Scandinavian style

Music for the mood: Therion - Schwarzalbenheim

What kind of world appears to us on the pages of the Edd? It must be said that a single epic picture - and even more so a single plot - was not laid in them. We are dealing only with individual songs, however, surprisingly well consistent with each other: in comparison with Christian or Greek mythology, the discrepancies are almost an order of magnitude smaller.

Creation of the universe

In the beginning, as usual, there was a complete mess - that is, the primary chaos and, in combination, the world abyss, also called Ginnungagap. Long or short, but the world of ice and fog Niflheim, as well as the fiery world of Muspelheim, was born there. These worlds were inhabited by ice and fire giants, respectively.

Storms and Audumla

Since there was a source of Hvelgemir in the ice kingdom, whose water constantly froze, but did not stop flowing, after a while the ice blocks approached the fire and began to melt there. This is how the frost giant Ymir and the cow Audumla appeared. The cow licked stone blocks covered with salty Niflheim hoarfrost and fed Ymir with milk (and then - and all the giant jotuns he had spawned from himself). It is not known exactly what the frozen waters of the spring of Hvelgemir contained, but, apparently, they were surprisingly nutritious: from one such pebble Audumla licked - no less - the Storm itself, the progenitor of the Aesir!

Then the ases and giants coexisted peacefully for some time - it is known, for example, that the son of the Storm named Ber took the giantess Bestla as his wife, and they had three sons: Odin, Vili and Ve. The problems began when the boys grew up - it is unclear why and why, but they killed their progenitor Ymir. Moreover, all the frost giants drowned in the streams of blood of the wounded giant (except for Ymir's grandson, whose name was Bergelmir, and his family - thanks to this, the family of frost giants was not completely interrupted).

Our world was created from the corpse of a giant by the children who killed him

However, the brothers who committed the first murder in the world were able to partially turn it into good: with the corpse of Ymir, the ases filled the world's abyss, and the fallen giant eventually became Midgard (that is, the middle world). Incidentally, by the way, the ases and people created.

They took Ymir, threw him into the very depths of the world's abyss and made of him earth, and of his blood - the sea and all the waters. The earth itself was made of his flesh, mountains of bones, boulders and stones from his front and back teeth and fragments of bones ... From the blood that flowed out of his wounds, they made an ocean and enclosed the earth in it. And the ocean surrounded the whole earth with a ring, and it seems to people that that ocean is boundless and it is impossible to swim across it ...

They took his skull and made the firmament. And they strengthened it above the earth, bending its four corners upward ... Then they took the sparkling sparks that flew around, escaping from Muspellsheim, and attached them to the middle of the sky of the world's abyss, so that they illuminate heaven and earth. They gave a place for every spark: some strengthened it in the sky, while others let it fly in the skies, but with this they assigned their place and prepared the way.

Younger Edda

Nine worlds

Worlds on Yggdrasil Ash Branches

As a result, the universe turned out to be quite complex. The human world is exactly in the middle. At one with Midgard level - already mentioned Niflheim and Muspelheim, and Jotunheim(inhabited by surviving and newly breeding frost giants - jotuns) and Vanaheim- the abode of the Vana gods (it is assumed that they are older than the Aesir gods). However, some Vans live with the Aesir, and the Ases - with the Vans: after the war, these two groups of deities concluded a peace treaty with each other and exchanged hostages.

Below Midgard is Svartalfheim- the world of dark alves (dwarfs or, in modern terms, gnomes), which the ases created from the worms that appeared in the corpse of Ymir. And even lower - a cold, dark and foggy world Helheim, the abode of the dead. It is surrounded by the Gyoll River, which cannot be swum, wade, or flown over, and the only bridge across it is guarded by the huge four-eyed dog Garm and the giantess Modgud. In general, a rather unpleasant place where almost everyone living is destined to get - except for especially valiant warriors (they will be taken up to Valhalla).

Above Midgard is located Alfheim, the homeland of the light Alves (which is "more beautiful than the Sun in its appearance"), and even higher - Asgard, the heavenly city, where the ases and the Valkyrie maidens live. And in it, in the hall of fallen warriors, Valhalle, the best of human warriors, who have proven their courage in the last battle, feast.

Apparently, describing Valhalla, the ancient Scandinavians embodied their idea of ​​paradise. The gigantic and beautiful palace is inhabited by the Eincherias - warriors from Midgard who died in the battle, but did not let go of their weapons. Every morning they put on armor and go to fight with each other (they train so as not to lose their qualifications - the Einherjans still have to fight during the last battle, Ragnarok).

After that, during the day, everyone gathers together (whoever needs it - he is resurrected, augments his severed limbs and heals wounds) and sit down at the banquet table. They eat the amazingly tasty meat of Sehrimnir's boar (which is slaughtered every day - but it is no more difficult for him to resurrect than for the warriors), and they drink the intoxicated honey with which the goat Heidrun is milked, nibbling the leaves from Yggdrasil. Who doesn't like honey - those beautiful Valkyries are treated to excellent beer.

Paradise as imagined by the harsh northerners: a friendly party with beautiful girls (artist Emil Doppler)

All this variety of worlds bears a gigantic ash Yggdrasil... It stands on three roots: one stretches to Asgard (or, according to other sources, to Midgard), the second to the world of Jotuns, the third to Niflheim (or Helheim), and a magical source beats at each root. True, the life of the giant ash tree is not easy: one of the great serpents, the dragon Nidhogg, gnaws its roots, a deer (or several deer) gnaws at its branches, and the trunk perishes from rot.

In addition, at the top of Yggdrasil sits the eagle (or hawk) Vedrfelnir, which is at war with Nidhogg. But since one is above, and the other is below, and shouting - given the size of the ash - is useless, then the Ratatosk squirrel runs back and forth as a kind of messenger along the trunk of the Yggdrasil, transferring curses from feathered to scaly and back. I wonder if she adds anything from herself?

Gods and beasts

Then Gangleri asked: "What kind of ases should people believe in?" The tall one replied: "There are twelve divine ases." And the Equal-High said: "But their wives are just as sacred, and no less their strength."

Younger Edda

The main characters of "Edd" were the gods-ases. I must say that in Scandinavian mythology, first of all, there are not many cases "for one god - one destiny" (like the Greek goddess of the family hearth Hestia or the Egyptian sun god Aten). As a rule, each of the ases has several divine functions. At the same time, few of the aces can be unambiguously characterized as "good" or "bad" - apparently, the ancient Scandinavians preferred not to think in such categories.

One

One loves to travel and often appears to people in the guise of a poor wanderer (artist Georg von Rosen). Who Said Gandalf?

The supreme god in Scandinavian mythology was Odin - he was even called "the father of the Aesir". Although not all. Odin had at least six sons by four women, including a wife. His wife is Frigg, the patroness of love, marriage, home and childbirth, as well as a seer who knows the fate of any person (however, Frigg does not share her predictions with anyone).

One lost one eye - which is not surprising given his penchant for extreme. With his eye he paid for the drink - but not a simple one. Under the root of Yggdrasil, which stretches out to the world of frost giants, there is a source of knowledge and wisdom, guarded by the giant Mimir (more precisely, his head - during the war of the Aesir and Vanir, it was separated from the body). And drinking honey from this source will not work for free.

Apparently, Odin is inclined to learn the world at any cost, no matter how painful it may be. So, in order to comprehend the mystery of the runes, the ace pierced his chest with the magic spear Gungnir (striking without a miss and piercing any armor), having nailed himself to the trunk of the world tree. Odin hung there for nine days and nights. After that, the ash tree received the name "Yggdrasil" - in translation "the horse of Odin": "Ygg" ("Terrible") - one of the names of the supreme god.

Odin is the patron saint of wisdom and poetry and a great adventurer

However, there were also more fun adventures. Running away from the gnomes, from whom Odin decided to take away the honey of poetry, the ace turned into an eagle (while the magic drink was in the stomach). Since the bird had to flee from all its wings, part of the liquid flowed out from ... the hole opposite the mouth. Upon arrival in Asgard, Odin poured the remaining honey into a golden vessel, which he gave to the skald god Braga. Since then, Braga has given the true poets a taste of the divine drink. Well, what got lost along the way is the lot of graphomaniacs!

Frigga spinning clouds

Sleipnir and company

Odin's faithful companions are the crows Huginn ("thought") and Muninn ("memory"), the wolves Gehry ("greedy") and Freki ("voracious"), as well as the best of horses - the eight-legged gray stallion Sleipnir ("sliding"). Sleipnir's pedigree is unusual even by the standards of Asgard - for all the aesir's penchant for a wide variety of sexual partners. Sleipnir's mother was Loki, and his father was the stallion Svadilfari, whose owner, a frost giant, built the walls of Asgard.

And the owner tried to keep his faithful Svadilfari, but it did not work out ... (artist Dorothy Harty)

However, the point here was not that the trickster god wanted "strawberries", but that the other divine Asgardians were terribly tight-fisted and categorically did not want to pay the builder for an honest job. Of course, he asked for a lot - Freya as a wife and power over the Sun and the month - but there was “a treaty, sealed by many oaths”! So Loki reincarnated as a mare and in such a simple way drew the attention of the stallion helping the jotun. When the giant flew into a rage, the gods called Thor ...

“Immediately Thor appeared, and at the same moment the hammer of Mjolnir soared into the air. Thor paid the master for the work, but not with the Sun and the stars, to live in the Land of Giants - and that was refused by the master. The first blow smashed his skull, and he went into the depths of Niflheim. "

Well, Svadilfari, apparently, was good at not only carrying stones, - so after a while Loki gave birth to a miracle foal.

Thor and Sif

Thor's battle with the jotun giants. One can only sympathize with them ... (artist Morten Eskil Winge)

Odin's firstborn - from the frosty giantess Jord, who was also the goddess of the earth - was Thor, the god of thunder and rain, storms and fertility. Together with his children and his wife, the beautiful golden-haired Sif, the second beauty of Asgard after Freya, he lives in the largest palace of Asgard - Bilskirnir, which has 540 rooms. He has three children: a daughter Trud from Seth, a son of Magni from a mistress, a giantess Yansaxa, and a son of Modi ... from someone else. As you can see, marital fidelity was not among the virtues revered by the inhabitants of Asgard.

Sif with her original hairstyle. Loki looks at his beautiful hair and plots another dirty trick (artist John Charles Dollman)

Seth did not always have adorable golden hair. Once Loki, envious of Torah, crept at night to the sleeping Seth and shaved her bald. Thor could have become enraged on less serious occasions, so very soon Loki realized that he was about to be killed. To save his life, Loki vowed that he would fix everything - and indeed, he went to the skilled dwarf craftsmen who managed to forge the miracle hair:

"Long and thick, they were thinner than a spider web, and, what is most surprising, as soon as they were applied to the head, they immediately grew to it and began to grow, like real ones, although they were made of pure gold."

The red-bearded Thor is distinguished by his amazing strength even for an ace and, which is not surprising with such a lifestyle, an excellent appetite: for lunch he can easily eat a whole bull. However, obesity clearly does not threaten the hero, because he fights constantly, and this perfectly maintains his shape. Its common enemies are frost giants-jotuns, as well as various monsters. To be in time everywhere, Thor rides in a chariot drawn by two goats - their names are Tangniostr ("Grinding teeth") and Tangrisnir ("Grinding teeth"). I must say that this horse-drawn transport has an extremely useful property: animals can be killed, eaten, and then wave the magic hammer Mjolnir over the scraps - and the goats will revive alive, healthy and ready for further travel!

Amazing goats and a hammer, the blow of which cannot be deflected (and if you throw it, it will return to your hand), Thor's list of artifacts is not exhausted. He also owns the Belt of Strength (the one who wears it doubles in power), as well as iron mittens, without which one cannot hold the hammer. This ammunition load - coupled with a quick-tempered nature and fearlessness - makes Thor one of the most dangerous opponents in all the worlds.

Loki was Odin's brother, not Thor as in Marvel comics

Tyr

For all his undoubted fighting qualities, Thor, however, is not the god of war - this place is occupied by Tyr.

“There is also an ace named Tyr. He is the most courageous and brave, and victory in battle depends on him. It is good to call upon brave men. Brave, as Tyr, is called the one who overcomes everyone and knows no fear. He is also smart, so a wise one, like Tyr, is called the one who is smarter than everyone. "

One about Tyr in the Younger Edda

Tyr did not lose his position even after he lost his hand. This happened - like many other troubles in Asgard - due to deception: the given and broken word. When the gods, considering the gigantic wolf Fenrir (the son of Loki and the giantess Angrboda) too dangerous, tried to tie him up, it turned out that he tore even the strongest bonds without much difficulty.

The bound Fenrir chews off Tyur's hand. But don't break your word! (Artist Jon Bauer)

Then the dwarfs from the world of black alves joined together the noise of cat steps, a woman's beard, the roots of mountains, bear veins, fish breath and bird saliva, and received the fetters, which they called "Gleipnir" - smooth and soft like a silk ribbon, but the strongest of all on light. However, in order to lure Fenrir into a trap and bind him - and Loki's son was by no means stupid and had every reason to distrust the Aesir - Tyr put his hand in his mouth as a pledge. Fenrir was successfully tied, and Tyr has since been left without his right hand.

Balder

Go on the instigation of Loki kills his brother

Speaking about the divine inhabitants of Asgard, one cannot but recall the light Balder, the son of Odin and Frigga, the god of spring and light. Nicknamed "Kind", he lived in the most beautiful palace of Asgard, Breidablik, together with his wife Nanna - and "there has been no villainy on this land for centuries" (the rarest case in the world of the Aesir). However, God suddenly began to have bad dreams. On this occasion, a council of aces gathered - almost everyone loved Balder and wanted to protect him from dangers. His mother, Frigga, decided to take an oath from everything that exists in this world so that nothing would harm Baldr - she bypassed only the mistletoe shoot, deciding that the sprout was too small to harm her son.

Loki was not slow to take advantage of this omission - he persuaded Balder's blind brother, whose name was Höd, to throw a mistletoe escape. Suddenly for everyone, a mistletoe pierced Balder, and he fell down dead. Even the gods tried to rescue Balder from the kingdom of the dead, but the same evil Loki interfered. Nanna did not survive the death of her husband - she threw herself into his funeral pyre.

Ull

The story of the god Ull (aka Ulr and Wulder), the god of hunting, luck and gambling, as well as death and winter, the patron saint of hunters, skiers and shooters, is curious. According to the Eddam, Ull is Thor's stepson, the eldest child of Seth from an unnamed father in the songs.

Ull also patronizes skaters (drawing from a 19th century book)

However, before the Scandinavian mythology was formed in the form known to us, it was Ull who was the supreme god for some peoples. After Odin became "officially" the leader, Ull peacefully gave way to him and faded into the background. That is not so often in world mythologies, but it does happen.

But given what will happen in the future (according to The Elder Edda), Ull's position is perhaps unique. The point is not only that he - unlike Odin - will outlive Ragnarok: there are several such lucky ones among the gods, including those who have already died, who are destined to come to life. Grimnir's Speeches hint: in the bright future of the renewed Scandinavian pantheon, it is Ull who will once again lead the divine company! A really wise tactic: quietly go into the shadows, let the contender for the throne rule as much as he can, then wait for the system to restart and take the reins into your own hands again!

Loki

Loki from an Icelandic manuscript of the 18th century

And of course, there is no way to ignore the already repeatedly mentioned source of almost all troubles in Asgard and the surrounding area - Loki. Loki, of course, is a god (of cunning and deception, as well as fire), but by no means an ace. According to Farbauti's father, he comes from the Jotuns, as for Lauveya's mother, it is not clear who she is - from the Aesir or from the giants. In any case, Loki was tolerated in Asgard for quite a long time, despite all his countless antics, because the aces often resorted to the services of the trickster god - when their own intelligence, cunning or sense of humor was not enough.

Many problems for Asgard were created (and will still be) created by the children of Loki. He had not so few of them. In addition to those already mentioned, from the giantess Angrboda were born the formidable ruler of the world of the dead, the goddess Hel and the monstrous size of the serpent Jormungandr: he grew so much that he girded the whole earth with himself and bit his own tail. Vali and Narvi were born from the wife of Sigyn, who later became victims of the hatred of the Aesir towards their father. In addition, having found the half-burnt heart of an evil woman on the ashes from the funeral pyre and having eaten it, Loki spawned all witches in the world!

Loki loved to transform into different animals. He even had sex and gave birth in a strange guise.

Despite the fact that the Aesir regularly received certain advantages thanks to Loki (for example, with his help Thor acquired the hammer of Mjolnir, Odin - the spear of Gungnir and the Draupnir ring, which allows him to become invulnerable), the moment came when the patience of the inhabitants of Asgard ran out. The reason for this was not the murder of light Balder, but just a drunken squabble.

Sigyn, Loki and the snake - they will be together for a long time ... (artist Martin Eskil Winge)

After the feast, where Loki appeared uninvited and insulted all the aces, the position of the "joker and favorite of the gods" did not save the trickster. Although he tried to hide in the waterfall, turning into a salmon, he was caught. At the same time, they captured his sons Vali and Narvi, who were trying to stand up for their father: Vali was turned into a wolf, and he tore his brother to pieces.

After which the aces tied Loki with the guts of his son ("for these are the bonds that the father cannot break"), and the goddess Skadi, avenging her father Tyatsi - Thor killed him thanks to the cunning suggested by Loki - hung a snake over the god's head, whose poison continuously drips onto the face of the prisoner. More precisely, it would drip - if not for the faithful wife Sigyn, who was not afraid of the anger of the gods and did not leave her husband in trouble. Unable to free Loki, she at least holds the cup over him. When the bowl is full, Sigyn has to empty it out. At this time, poison falls on Loki's face, and he convulses - this is how the Scandinavians explained the cause of the earthquakes.

Ragnarok: Twilight of the Gods

The sun has gone dark
fall from the sky
bright stars
the flame is raging
the feeder of life,
unbearable fever
reaches the sky.

Divination of the Volva (The Elder Edda)

There is nothing infinite in this world - and the gods from Asgard are well aware of this. Because most of them only live until Ragnarok arrives; the same applies to the inhabitants of other worlds - people, elves, dwarfs, giants ... It is impossible to stop Ragnarok: the death of Balder launched the process of destruction of the entire universe.

Last fight. Overall plan

First, the "giant winter" will come - it will last three years, and few will survive it. So, only two of the people will remain: a woman named Liv ("Life") and a man named Livtrasir ("Breathing with life"). They will take refuge in the Hoddmimir grove and feed on the morning dew.

On the day of Ragnarok, the monstrous wolf Fenrir will break its chains and swallow the Sun. True, before this the Sun will give rise to another Sun, which will continue the celestial path of the previous one. However, there is practically no hope that the problems will be limited to an eclipse - there are also stars that will fall from their places ...

In the hour of Ragnarok, Loki will lead an army of giants and monsters to Asgard

The Beginning of Ragnarok: Loki Breaks Free

It won't be any better on earth. The strongest earthquakes will begin - the mountains will fall apart, and the trees will be uprooted from the soil. From the depths of the ocean, the world serpent Jormungandr will emerge - which will force all the seas to overflow their shores. The terrifying ship Naglfar, made from the nails of the dead, will emerge from Helheim along the raging waves of this global flood (as an option, it will ride out on the ice, frozen over three years of winter, in the manner of a giant sleigh). On it will be an innumerable army of frost giants; Loki, freed from his terrible fetters, will lead it.

As a precaution, the ancient Scandinavians cut off the nails of their dead and burned them - of course, it will not work to completely protect themselves from Ragnarok, but you can push back his date at least a little ...

Fire giants from Muspelheim will also not be left out. Led by lord Surt, they will move, "like the south wind", to the rainbow bridge of Bivrest - and after the fiery army passes, the bridge to Asgard will be destroyed. Heimdall will sound his horn Gjallahorn - and this call will be heard in all worlds. All the Aesir, led by Odin and all the warriors from Valhalla, will rise up against the giants. The final battle will begin.

Even Odin's magic spear will not help against the enraged four-legged son of Loki. In the background on the right, Freyr fights with Surt - everything will end badly there too.

Fenrir, hungry for many years of captivity, will not be limited to the sun: Odin himself will fall as his next victim. But the wolf himself will not live long after this - the god of revenge and silence Vidar will kill him. The war god Tyr will fight the four-eyed dog Garm, the guardian of Helheim - both will not survive the duel. The light ace Heimdall will clash with Loki - and this pair of fighters will face a similar outcome.

The battle of Thor with the serpent Jormungandr will also end in the death of both of them: the mighty ace will inflict a fatal blow, but after nine steps he will fall dead from the action of the poison pouring from the monster's mouth.

The god of fertility and summer, Freyr will fight Surt - and die. Moreover, seeing that neither one nor the other side can win, Surt will cut down the world tree Yggdrasil itself with a huge fiery sword - and the whole world will be consumed by fire. Such is the colorful ending in Scandinavian mythology ...

Such is the colorful ending in Scandinavian mythology ...

However, in the end, the universe expects almost a happy ending. The death of the world will be followed by rebirth. “Land will rise from the sea, green and beautiful. Unsown fields will be covered with seedlings. " The surviving Aesir (as well as Balder who returned from the realm of the dead and his blind brother and involuntary killer Höd) will settle in Asgard again and create a new world, even more beautiful than the previous one. And Liv and Livtrasir will give birth to the human race anew. But that will be a completely different story.

It can be safely argued that Scandinavian literature grew out of Old Icelandic literature. The discovery and settlement of Iceland was one of the results of the Viking campaigns. The famous Icelandic scientist Jonas Kristiansson writes: “On their fast and strong ships, the Vikings crossed the seas like lightning, hit the islands and coasts and tried to create new states in the west - in Scotland, Ireland and England, in the south - in France and in the east - in Russia.
But the tribes inhabiting these lands were so powerful that a few groups of foreigners gradually disappeared among the local population, having lost their national features and language. The Vikings could only hold out on those lands that had not been inhabited before their arrival. Iceland remained the only state created during this period by the Vikings.

Arn the Wise (1067-1148), the first Icelandic author to write a short history of Iceland ("The Book of Icelanders"), reports that the first settler settled there "a few years after 870. According to another ancient source, this happened in 874. ". The history of Icelandic literature, like the history of the country itself, is more than a thousand years old. The Scandinavian sagas about gods and heroes that have come down to us thanks to the songs of the "Elder Edda" are known all over the world.

The Elder Edda is a collection of mythological and heroic songs that has survived in a single copy, the Royal Code, found in Iceland in 1643. Until recently, this parchment was kept in Copenhagen, but in April 1971, many Old Icelandic manuscripts, by decision of the Danish parliament, were transferred to Iceland, where the Institute of Icelandic Manuscripts was established in its capital, Reykjavik, with the aim of promoting the dissemination of knowledge about the Icelandic language. people, its literature and history. All Old Icelandic poetry falls into two types of poetic art - Eddic poetry and Skald poetry.

Eddic poetry differs in that its authorship is anonymous, its form is relatively simple, and it tells about gods and heroes, or contains the rules of worldly wisdom. The peculiarities of Eddic songs are their saturation with actions, each song is dedicated to one specific episode from the life of gods or heroes, and their utmost brevity. "Edda" is conventionally divided into 2 parts - songs about gods, which contain information on mythology, and songs about heroes. The most famous song of the "Elder Edda" is considered "The Divination of the Volva", which gives a picture of the world from its creation to the tragic end - "the death of the gods" - and a new rebirth of the world.

Early Icelandic poetry is associated with pagan beliefs. Many of the oldest poems are dedicated to pagan gods, and the very art of versification was considered a gift of the supreme god Odin. There are also songs of common German origin in the "Elder Edda" - for example, songs about Sigurd and Atli. The legend is of southern Germanic origin and is best known from the "Song of the Nibelungs". The rules of poetry and the retelling of Old Norse mythology are contained in the "Younger Edda", which belongs to the skald Snorri Sturluson (1178-1241).

The Elder Edda was translated into Russian three times - the first time by a talented translator and researcher of Old Icelandic literature S. Sviridenko, in Soviet times - by A. Korsun, and more recently - by V. Tikhomirov, who prepared his translation together with the largest modern Scandinavian medievalist O Smirnitskaya. Before the 1917 revolution in Russia, there were a great many transcriptions and retellings of Old Norse myths. After 1917, only one transcription of these myths for children was published, by Yu. Svetlanov.
Recently, however, an excellent book by the modern Danish writer Lars Henrik Olsen, "Eric the Son of Man", has appeared in Russian, which is a fascinating journey through the world of gods and heroes.

Which began to form among the Germanic tribes around the 5th century BC and developed before the adoption of Christianity until the beginning of the second millennium AD. The progenitors of Scandinavian mythology are considered to be the northwestern European tribes: Anglo-Skas (ancestors of the modern English), Danes (ancestors of the Danes), Norgs (modern Norwegians), Sveev (Swedes), Jutes, Germans and others. The population of the island of Iceland retained its pagan beliefs for the longest time due to its later Christianization. Information about the ancient myths of the Germanic tribes is scarce and extremely fragmentary, while Scandinavian mythology, creatures and gods, cosmogony, a model of the world and eschatology are described in detail in medieval literary sources, the so-called Edda - ancient Icelandic texts written in the 13th century.

Model of the world in the northern tradition

Scandinavian mythology is complex and varied. The concept of the Universe is based on nine worlds connected by a world tree called Yggdrasil. The worlds are located in three spheres: in the sky, earth and below, underground. They include countries and areas inhabited not only by people and gods, but also by numerous mythical creatures.

At the center of the Scandinavian picture of the world is Midgard - the middle world, located on earth in the middle of a huge ocean. Around Midgard, in accordance with the cardinal points, there are four worlds:

• the abode of the giants-jotuns Utgard, or Etunheim, in the east;
• Vanheim, inhabited by the Vani fertility gods, in the west;
• the ice world of Niflheim - in the north;
• the sultry world of chaos Muspelheim, inhabited by fire giants, is in the south.

Midgard through the rainbow bridge connects with Asgard - the world of the aesir gods, located in the sky. Between Asgard and Midgard is the world of spirits, beautiful elves and fairies - Lusalfheim.

Under the ground lies the world of the dwarfs Svartalfheim and the underworld, the world of the dead Helhem.

Server myths boast numerous characters: gods, goddesses, spirits, demons, giants, gnomes, Einherias, mythical animals and monsters. Among them there are people - heroes, wizards and various mythical personalities.

Gods

The Pantheon includes two groups of gods: the Aesir and the Vanir. The first are the main male and female deities, headed by the supreme god Odin. The second are the gods and goddesses of fertility, who are considered more ancient than the Aesir, but who ceded their supremacy to them in the course of wars. Some gods passed to the Aesir from the Vanir and vice versa.

In myths, there are about forty divine abodes of Asgard. Among them, there are 12 main male gods and 14 goddesses.

Gods

• One is the head of the Aesir, who gave birth to the family. Odin was once the god of war, but later took the main place among all the gods. Patron saint of wisdom, magic, courage, god of battle and victory.

  

• Thor is the god of thunder, the mighty protector of people and gods, the deity of fertility.

  

• Tyr is the one-armed god of military rule and valor, one of the most ancient and powerful gods of the pantheon.

  

• Bragi - god-poet, patron of wisdom, poetry, eloquence.

  

• Balder is a beautiful god of beauty, light, spring.

  

• Heimdall is the guardian of the Yggdrasil tree and the gods, a seer, a beneficent fire carrier.

  

• Höd is a blind god who accidentally killed the beautiful Balder, the patron saint of winter.

  

• Vidar is the god of the forces of nature, renewal, rebirth.
• Vali is the god of plants.

  

• Ull is the god of hunting and archery, who taught people how to shoot and ski.

  

• Forseti is the wise god of justice, the patron saint of justice.

  

• Loki is an insidious god of deception, descended from a clan of giant Jotuns.

  

Among the other aces are Hönir, who endowed the first person with the consciousness, Kvasir, who descended from the Ases and the Vans and resolved their conflict, and other Ases who do not have clear functions and act as protagonists of myths.

Goddesses

Van

The goddess of love and beauty Freya, who lives among the Aesir and taught them magic, also has Van origins.

Mythical creatures

Tours

Humanoid giants responsible for destructive natural phenomena, the personification of evil forces. There are different turs: fire, sea, mountain, stone, vortex, as well as jotuns and frost giants hrimturs - the first living creatures, from one of which, Ymir, life originated.

Nature spirits, forever young magicians, sorcerers, wizards, blacksmiths. They are divided into light and dark alves, or gnomes (miniatures).

Three goddesses of fate who determine the fate of the world. Their names, Urd, Verdandi and Skuld, in translation mean "destiny", "becoming" and "duty". They represent the past, present and future. Associated with the states of the moon: Urd - a young month, a waxing moon, Verdandi - a full moon, Skuld - a waning moon.

Thirteen warlike maidens accompanying the fallen soldiers to Valhalla. The Valkyries can decide the outcome of the battle, after which they take the souls of the heroes from the battlefields, and in Valhalla they serve them at feasts.

Mythical monsters

In the Scandinavian epics, there are many mythical animals that play an important role. The most famous of them:

People

Scandinavian mythology, and the gods inhabiting the mythical worlds of the northern peoples, did not disappear into oblivion after the Vikings adopted the Christian faith. Ancient beliefs have always lived among the people. And in modern times they were rediscovered for the European cultural community and became the subject of interest of scientists, writers and artists. Today, ancient pagan traditions are experiencing a real revival. The Asatru religion, based on German-Scandinavian mythology, is recognized as official in Iceland and has many followers throughout the rest of the world. Stories about the adventures of the powerful northern gods and goddesses, their extraordinary characters gave rise to a whole literary movement - Nordic fantasy and often serve as plots for TV series, comics and movies.