The Archnemesis Banner Space
The Ten Greatest Norse Gods
published October 12, 2009
Norse Gods of Asgard

I find mythology of all types to be exceptionally interesting. It really is a great peek into ancient cultures, and gives huge insight into religion today. Especially interesting is the stories of the Norse Gods. Most people do not even realize that 4 days of the week are named after Norse Gods. Tuesday (Tyr's Day), Wednesday (Odin's day), Thursday (Thors Day), and Friday (Freya's Day). The stories of the Norse gods are usually not pretty. There is usually a lot of murder, vomit, decapitations, infidelity, deception, war, and even some heterosexual transvestitism. Norse mythology is where the world of the dwarves, elves, giants came from, and J.R.R Tolkien himself borrowed many elements from Norse myth to his stories. Some Norse gods were more revered more than the others. Here are 10 of the greatest and most famous of the Norse gods.

Baldur
10 - Baldur - Baldur was the Norse god of joy, light, innocence, beauty, spring, forgiveness and basically anything else positive. He was the second son of Odin, and his overprotective mother, Frigg, received the promises from everything in nature that Baldur would not be harmed. The result was that Baldur was immune to any type of injury. Beloved by all, especially the women, even the mighty hammer of Thor could not harm him. His only weakness - mistletoe. The vile Loki created an arrow tipped with mistletoe, and convinced Baldur's poor blind brother Hod, to fire it at Baldur. It went right through the heart of Baldur, and he was instantly killed. Apparently mistletoe is still a representation of Baldur's springtime resurrection. Another interesting thing about Baldur, is despite how beloved he was, he would not go to Valhalla. Since he was not a warrior, he would go to the domain of Hel, but be resurrected after Ragnarok.

 

Loki
9 - Loki - Originally, the gods tolerated Loki and even liked him. He was also a shape shifter, and even a gender shifter, giving birth to Odin's 8 legged horse Sleipnir, and the horrible Fenrir Wolf (the wolf responsible for killing Odin himself in Ragnarok). He even helped the gods on occasion and palled around with Thor once in a while. As Ragnarok drew nearer, Loki became increasingly more evil. He would publically insult the gods, steal precious items, and eventually murder. After the death of Baldur, he felt the wrath of Gods, being bound in a cave with venom dropping on his face until Ragnarok. In Ragnarok, Loki essentially led the 'forces of evil' but finally met his doom againt a god that had hated him from the start.

 

Hel
8 - Hel - Hel was one of Loki's own daughters, and was sent to overlook the realm of the dead by Odin. Like Hades of Greek mythology, she not is not inherently evil, merely overseeing a domain that no other would want to do. Her gloomy nature and half dead/healf alive in appearance did not do much to dispel that though. Also like Hades, no one ever left Hel's domain once they got in, not even the beloved Baldur.

 

Frigg
7 - Frigg - Frigg is the wife of Odin and the Matriarch of the Norse pantheon. She is the only one allowed to sit in Odin's throne. She is the epitomy of motherhood and fertility, and the goddess that mothers turned to. The attempts to prevent from Baldur from ever being hurt and failing could've explained the winter as she was mourning. There are many parallels to famous Greek stories, like the death of the almost impervious Achilles, and also the Demeter's mourning of Persephone. In some stories she is portrayed with loose morals, sometimes sleeping around with Odin's brothers. Even further yet, she is sometimes viewed as the same woman as Freya, though that is in dispute.

 

Freyr
6 - Freyr - Freyr was one of the most beloved of the gods, and was the overseer of the realm of elves. He was a god of weather, peace, and male fertility. It was he that was responsible for bringing peace and pleasure to mortals, and as such was revered. He wielded a magical sword, though had to give it up for his marriage with the giantess Gerd. As he did not have his sword in Ragnarok, he was slain by the malicious fire giant Surtr.

 

Heimdall
5 - Heimdall - Heimdall was essentially the watchman and guardian of the gods. He stood watch over the Bifrost Bridge, the rainbow bridge which linked Asgard to Migard. In ancient times, a rainbow was seen as a gateway that mortals could take to the gods, but some scholars see that the bridge was actually the Milky Way. Heimdall, the white-god, stood watch over the bridge and held his horn, which was destined to be blown on Ragnarok to warn the gods. Heimdall was also a god who despised Loki from very early on, while others like Odin trusted him. In Ragnarok, it was Heimdall that killed Loki, though he died in the fight as well.

 

Freya
4 - Freya - Freja was the Aphrodite of Norse mythology. She was the fairest of them all, and the goddess of beauty and love. Don't let that fool you, she was also one of the fiercest of warriors and leader of the Valkyries. It was believed that she and her warriors caused the Aurora Boerealis. Apparently her sexual appetite was insatiable and put even Aphrodite's to shame. Despite many lovers, she deeply loved a strange god named Od, who had eventually become a serpant. Freya's wondrous necklace was once stolen by (who else) Loki. It was Heimdall that had a legendary fight with Loki and eventually got it back, thereby sealing the hatred that Heimdall and Freya had for Loki.

 

Tyr
3 - Tyr - Tyr was the god of glory, war and single combat. When the Fenrir Wolf was deemed to be locked away, it was Tyr was sent to do it. However in doing so, he had his hand bit off, so he is always depicted as the one-handed god of war. He was also eventually killed in Ragnarok, and his opponent was the Garm the guard dog of Hel - the Cerberus of Norse mythology.

 

Odin
2 - Odin - Odin was the king of all the Norse gods. He was the god of everything, ranging from victory, hunting, war and death to knowledge, magic, poetry and prophecy. His appearance was similar to that of a classic wizard, flowing robes and a large beard. He only had one eye and is often called Odin One-Eye. He had an 8 legged horse named Sleipnir, which was a gift (and son) from Loki. Some sources claim that Loki and Odin were one of the same, or even brothers, which would explain why Odin gave Loki so much slack when the others would have him hanged. Despite being the leader and king of the gods, Odin was not the most revered.

 

Thor
1 - Thor - Thor is the Norse god of thunder and lightning, and the most fearsome and powerful of the gods. He often killed giants by the bushels with his legendary hammer Mjollnir. The hammer itself became a pagan symbol in direct opposition to Christianity, as it had the appearance of an upside down cross. One of the funnier stories regarding Thor was when his hammer was stolen by the vicious giant Thrym. He would refuse to give it back unless Freya married him. Well Freya of course refused, so Thor, with much hesitation, decided to dress like a bride. Once the hammer was presented, Thor revealed himself and promptly killed Thrym and every other giant there, all while dressed as a bride. His death in Ragnarok was while killing the mightiest monster of them all, the World Serpant. After he slaid the serpant, he died shortly afterwards from his wounds. Thor continues to be the most remembered and greatest of the Norse gods to date.

 

* * * * *

About Us | Submit | Donate | | ©2009 The Archnemesis