Giants, demigods, dwarves and elves - all these creatures made the Old Norse mythology so colorful and captivating. Preserved for posterity in the Norse sagas and manuscripts, these myths and legends...
Asgard was the home of the mighty Norse gods, from where they watched over the other eight realms and administered justice. It was also the final resting place of the dead and where Odin, King of the...
One of the most important elements of Norse mythology was the Bifrost. The Bifrost was the legendary shimmering rainbow bridge to Asgard, responsible for connecting the world of the gods with the...
A dark dragon, feathered, with corpses strewn about its body. An ancient evil that nibbles away at the structure of the universe itself. The “curse-striker.” A beast constantly engaged in a battle of...
Jörmungandr, the world serpent, was an integral part of Norse mythology. Throughout history, he has been portrayed as a key villain in Norse mythology and arch nemesis of Thor, the god of thunder...
A group of archaeologists have found a unique Viking age site, 300 meters (984 feet) beyond the entrance of Iceland’s Surtshellir cave, that appears to have been used for Viking rituals. The most...
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...
The god who transcends even Odin’s power, Mimir (or sometimes called Mim) is remembered throughout Norse mythology as the oracular head from which the two races of gods, the Aesir and Vanir, seek...
In Norse mythology, Ragnarok is a series of apocalyptic events that will define the end of the world, where giants of frost and fire will band together to fight against the gods in a final battle...
The trickster god Loki is undoubtedly the most debated figure from Norse mythology to this day. Though he appears to be a scheming, mischievous deity who has no real loyalties, scholars still explore...
Scholars have long been baffled by the coded runic message of the ‘Rök Runestone’ but a new interpretation claims it spells out a chilling Armageddon prophecy. One of the world's most famous Norse...
Much of the modern world is very worried about climate change and it appears that Vikings were also very concerned about changes to the climate. Researchers now argue that one of the world’s most...
One of the three children of Loki by a giantess (jötunn ) named Angrboða, Fenrir plays an imperative, though short, role in Norse mythology. A wolf of remarkable size and strength, Fenrir has one...
Hollywood’s obsession with the End of Times is not over yet – Armageddon, Deep Impact, Doomsday, Legion, Thor: Ragnarok and 28 Days Later, are just a few of the blockbusters, out of hundreds, that...
The ancient Norse were one of the few cultures to create a mythology that did not necessarily promise eternal life of any kind for the souls of the deceased. The world was believed to be heading...
Thor is one of the most important gods in the Norse pantheon. He’s normally depicted as a middle-aged man with a red-beard wielding his famous weapon, a magical hammer known as Mjollnir...
Heimdall is a god in the Norse pantheon, most well-known for his task to announce the coming of Ragnarok by sounding his horn, which will be heard across all worlds. He is one of the better-known...
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök encompasses a series of events that will come to pass. It foretells an epic battle which leads to the death of numerous gods, natural disasters, and the death of the...
According to the Old Norse philologist Rudolf Simek and religious historian Mircea Eliade, Ragnarök marks the end of a cosmic cycle that will repeat ad infinitum. I argue that the Norsemen also...
Before the rise and spread of Christianity in the first millennium of the common era, paganism was the common religion of Europeans. Just as there is not a single Christian faith, but many...
Odin, the high god of Norse mythology, rode his eight-legged horse Sleipnir through the nine worlds dispensing ecstasy to all those who invoked him. Now an image of a man with a horse depicted on a...
Known among the pre-Christian Scandinavians, and the gods themselves, as the "Shining God", Baldr was the image of perfection in the Norse religion, and the pride and joy of the Æsir (members of the...
Stories of epic cosmic battles can be found in many world cultures. In these battles, the lines are often drawn clearly, with the forces of good on one side and the forces of evil on the other. For...
We have already survived numerous ‘end of days’ predictions, with the Mayan prophecy being the most recent, but the predictions of doom and gloom are not over yet. According to Norse mythology and...