The God-Gifted Weapons of Norse Mythology
The Vikings were warriors and therefore weaponry was at the forefront of their culture, and this is why the heroes and gods of Norse religion and folklore were armed with a range of awesome weapons that were used to control and alter the natural course of things, including the physical laws of the Norse universe.
Odin, the All-Father of Nordic Gods by Carl Emil Doepler (1824-1905) - Wägner, Wilhelm. 1882. Nordisch-germanische Götter und Helden. (Public Domain)
Norse mythology encompasses the supernatural beliefs of the Northern Germanic pagans around the time of the Viking Age (c. 790 - c. 1100 AD). The Viking world begins with a creation myth about the premier gods slaying a giant and turning its body parts into places in the Norse universe. Various dimensions of existence, known as realms, extended from the World Tree, Yggdrasil at the beginning of creation, yet the Nordic mythological world ended with the battle of Ragnarök. A selection of characters from the rich Nordic pantheon of entities, monsters, deities and heroes mentioned in medieval Nordic sagas, are each associated with a magical, god-gifted weapon.
Odin and the Völva prophetess - Odin holding the spear Gungir, by Lorenz Frølich (1885) Published in Karl Gjellerup’s Den ældre Eddas Gudesange. (Public Domain)
While the Nordic mythological corpus is woven together with gods and all sorts of malevolent energies, underpinning almost every story is the application of a particular, always god-given weapon. Looking closer at these divine tools of war, one can access hitherto hidden dimensions of understanding Norse myths, and the role they played in early Scandinavian societies.
Sigurd And His Sword Gram
Sigurd was a legendary 11th-century hero of Germanic mythology who features on Swedish rune stones and on British stone crosses, as well as in the Volsungs, in the Volsunga Saga. Sigurd used a magic sword called Gram, to slay the great dragon Fafnir. Reflecting descriptions of the Greek hero Hercules, some historians have drawn parallels between the dragon-slayer of myth, Sigurd, and the real life Sigebert I from the Frankish Merovingian dynasty, but most believe Sigurd had purely mythological origins. However, in both Norse and Germanic mythological traditions Sigurd dies in a violent quarrel between his wife Gudrun and his lover Brunhild, after he persuaded her to marry the Burgundian king Gunner/Gunther.
Sigurd slaying the dragon Fafnir in Hylestad Stave Church (12th century) (Jeblad/CC BY-SA 3.0)
In the Volsunga Saga Sigurd receives the sword Gram from a strange old man during the wedding feast of his sister, Signy.
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Ashley Cowie is a Scottish historian, author and documentary filmmaker presenting original perspectives on historical problems, in accessible and exciting ways. His books, articles and television shows explore lost cultures and kingdoms, ancient crafts and artifacts, symbols and architecture, myths and legends telling thought-provoking stories which together offer insights into our shared social history. www.ashleycowie.com.
Top Image: The Wild Hunt of Odin by Peter Nicolai Arbo (1872)(Public Domain)
By Ashley Cowie
Comments
Hello Ashley,
This is awesome thank you for sharing article about The Weapons of Norse Being's.
Happily for me now that I'm a little aware of the weapons that these beings used I can try and match some of them not all with persons and events that took place in Enoch 1 The Book of The Watchers & Enoch 3 The Book of the Giant's.
As I understand a little of Norse Stories not all I'm certainly not a expert with this arena there's supposed to be Nine Realms and A Tree is mentioned that existed from The Beginning of Creation so numerous Time's um this Yggdrasil Tree comes up in repeated conversations.
Okay in Enoch 1 The first time out Enoch gets grand tour of Heaven What I now like to refer too as God's Country.
While touring Heaven Enoch sees two Trees, in Heaven The first Tree is the one that caused Sin to enter The World, and then The Tree of Life.
So what if The Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil that was the Downfall of People possibly be the Tree that the Norse Being's were talking about were Nine Realms extended from that particular Tree.
Of course Why the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil instead of The Tree of Life? Enoch testifies to how chaotic Earth had become because of the Sins of the 200 Watcher Angel's and their Children's behavior on Earth.
They would have seen The Garden of Eden.
I think because of their Fallen Angel Father's the Children might have been able to somehow pass into those Realms or Realms that were Similar to possibly God's Country.
Okay so what I'm discussing could be a bit of a stretch on the other hand I am reminded of The Book of Job Chapters 1 and 2 when God both Tines had a Meeting the Book states That the Son's of God had a Meeting and those that came to the Meeting with God Represented Other Worlds and Universe's were alk familiar by the fact Lucifer Represented Us meaning Earth.
It's important to point out the events discussed in Job happened at The same Time that Abraham Lived so this is Genesis Timeline.
It's this Meeting in Job that now leads me to consider Yggdrasil of The Nine Realms might be apart of those other World's in The Universe. I only made that connection because of The Bible Book's of Enoch.
Alright I've got too go this is fun oh and on a happy Note I now know that Thor was the Son of the Fallen Angel Shemyaza He slayed that big Snake his name was Oy Ha in other translations Og.
Oy Ha would be the Father of the Rephalims.
Oy Ha's snake that he fought was the Leviathan God sent the Leviathan to eat the offspring of the Fallen Angel's while they swam during the Great Flood Noah and his Family were safely secured in The Ark. God just had the Fallen Angel's all 200 of them Bound and thrown in to Tartarus which is Hell.
Surprisingly Hell is The Heavens Not of Earth.
Oy Ha did triumph over the Leviathan but God angered by the killing of His Servant the Leviathan He then orders the Arch Angel Raphael to bind Oy Ha and throw Him into Tartarus with His Father Shemyaza.
Oy Ha's his last living relative is none other than King Shion and King Og if one looked closer at the name I think I now know where the word Ogres come from He must have been quite the Ogre that King Of.
Thank you Ashley this was exciting to say the least this article.
That's basically what I think of when reading about The Norse Being's and their Special Weapons and now I know that Oy Ha's weapon was the Hammer though in Killing the Leviathan aka Big Snake Oy Ha strangled the Creature to death.