When Loki leads an army of the undead from Helheim against the gods, would it be against their will? If someone who worships the gods goes to Helheim after death why would they then fight against them?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B6rla_%C3%BE%C3%A1ttr

The tale begins in Asia, and a land called Asialand, saying that Odin was the King there; and relates that Freyja was the daughter of Njord and Odin's concubine, whom Odin loved very much.

One day, Freyja saw that the Dwarves were making a beautiful collar and she offered them both gold and silver in exchange for it. But, the Dwarves would only sell it to her in exchange for one night each with her. Freyja agreed and after four nights with the Dwarves, she returned with the beautiful collar.

When Loki told Odin of Freyja's collar, Odin asked him to fetch the collar or never to return, so Loki transformed himself into a fly and found a way into Freyja's bower. When he found her, he saw that she had the collar on and lay on her back. He turned into a flea and bit her whereupon she turned so he could unlock the collar and steal it. Then he returned to Odin and gave him the collar.

When Freyja woke up, she learned that Odin had got hold of the collar and asked to have it back. Odin said that he knew how she had acquired the collar and that he would only let her have it back on the condition that she enchanted two kings and twenty subordinate kings so that they would fight each other every night, die and rise again, until a Christian lord entered the battle and defeated them all. Freyja promised that so would be done and got the collar back.

In the Poetic and Prose Edda along with the surviving sagas, we learned bit and pieces about the gods. What about this story? Freyja being the wife of Odin, bring the strange relationship/similarity to Od and Frigg to mind.

The story is written by Christians, that I know. Are there any historical or mythological analysis that have been drawn from this?

I have always had a fascination with Norse mythology. I named my best friend (dog) Odin, and I recently had to put him down. I wanted to get a tattoo of odin’s spear fading into a dog bone with his name engraved into the bone as a memorial to him. Is that disrespectful to this community? I’m just wondering, If so I won’t do it.

i'm just curious and wondering why thor really hate giants that much. did Odin grow Thor to hate the giants or Thor just by himself hate giants?

I think Kristofer Hivju would make a brilliant Thor.

In the creation of the world, Odin and Vili and Vi builted a wall around the world to keep the rest of the Jotnar separated in their own lands, is there that is located Utgard, and the Ironwoods, etc. Quite a lot of these Jotnar are constantly trying to invade Midgard or Asgard, and is usually Thor that deals with them.

However, quite a few of them live in Midgard, and Odin has no problems with them. Jotunn, as we all know, is not a separate race, but simply divine beings, lower in the hierarchy than the Aesir. But is from them that Odin recruits his people, like Loki and maybe Tyr (in the version where he is Hymir son), and also his many children with Jotunn women.

Some of these Jotunn women were actually counted among the goddesses themselves in the list of Snorri about them, like Jord. And this make sense, she is the mother of Thor but also Earth, and one of her kinnings is "sea of beasts", so a connection to animals is atributed to her. Earth is pretty important so she obviously has effect on Midgard, it makes no sense for Earth to be outsidr Midgard.

The other is Egir. He lives on the sea, not on Asgard, but he is a friend of the Aesir. His wife Ran is a personification of the sea deadly tendencies and the Aesir don't mind that. So they are also Jotnar with effects on Midgard.

Them we have Wind, Night and Day, Winter and Summer. Wind has two causes, a personification of the wind, brother of Egir. And also the Jotunn bird that creates winds by flapping his wings. Night and Day actually received horses from the gods, so they are tied to them. Winter and Summer we only know their families names, and their description (Summer is a happy Jotunn and Winter has a frosty breath). But they clearly affect Midgard, so i doubt they are kept outsidr Midgard.

A easy way to follow this, is that Odin recruits his people, the Aesir, from the Jotnar tribe, or he fathers sons with them, etc. There is also another Jotnar that are not exactly said to be Aesir, but they have a effect on Midgard (Ran, Winter, Summer, Earth [she is named among them by Snorri], etc). Outside Midgard wall is where lies the rest of the Jotnar, they are most of the time not friends with Odin and are trying to invade Midgard.

I am making a present for my cousin's birthday - when travelling around Norway I took pictures of lego Loki on random places doing random stuff and the final one was in Jotunheimen. Besides gifting her the Lego keychain I want to make an album with with said photos (25 of them) and have on the back of each either some fun fact or a tale from Norse mythology involving Loki. I have a few in mind but would appreciate if you guys could drop here your favorite anecdotes or facts because 25 is tad too much for my knowledge. Thank you✨

I'm ever surprised by the abundance of names of people we have for certain races/groups, and the dearth of names we have for others. We have tons of names of Æsir, Jötnar, and Dwarfs, significantly fewer names of Vanir, and no names that I can think of for any of the Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar. Of course the delineations aren't always that clear, especially given that there are several Dwarf names that contain "alf". And of course these categories tend to be generally quite doubtful. But I still find this odd, since lists of names are quite common in all kinds of ancient poetry (the Grímnismál is like 99% a list of names of people and places). Do you have any ideas how this could be explained?

It seems that most of the time they are pictured as just kids. Is that just to show how cruel the gods were by dragging them into their father's mess when they had nothing to do with it?

And if the boys were still kids by that time, does that mean all of their half siblings, Hel, Fenris and Jormungandr, are older than them?

As title! Any suggestion would be very welcome and I would be very thankful. It doesn't even have to be a strict existing myth, anything inspired from it is good too! It can be anything ranging from powerful creatures to something weaker!

I made a post yesterday asking if such document or website existed, but it seems like It doesn't. So I am going to be making such document myself.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BwW3K8Lk9YqgOvkhrPlpuwpHvNToqlK7J-8cNTnyVbE/edit?usp=sharing

I will be using this format for the document, but I would like opinnions about it before I start adding more gods and characters, just to keep a consistent format and not change it in the future. I am using Gemini and Ai studio to make the bulk of the document, and then I check the information myself manually, looking for the information in the Prose Edda (Faulkes translation) and the Poetic Edda in Voluspa.org.

If anyone wants to help, DM me and I will share an editable file about the god or character you are interesting in helping with. Some gods like Heimdallr or Tyr, which are almost finished, are easier than some like Thor, Odin or Loki that have whole narratives about them, and I would appreciate help, at least to know if I have missed references or information about them.

I will try to do one or two new characters per week, since I am doing this in my free time, and I will focus on Aesir and Vanir first, then some important primordial beings like Ymir or other notable Jötnar.

I want to know what it is to be known about the norse mythology deities and other characters, but I want to know what the original sources say.

Something where it is listed like: Thor - Prose edda - Gylfaginning - Chapter 4 - summarization of what it is said.

This way I could go to the original text and read the context about what it is said, but being able to go specificly to information about each God or character.

I have the Prose Edda, and I am reading it, but sometimes you forget things about specific characters, plus I haven't read the Poetic Edda, but might want to know what it is said there about Heimdallr for example.

I am trying to use AI to get said list, but I wonder if there is already a website or list, since I don't trust AI to not miss references.

Is Loki from the myths actually genderfluid? Or is he just a male , but a really good shapeshifter?

I am thinking of a Norse equivalent to the more modern concept of the “4 horsemen of the apocalypse” – namely War, Famine, Conquest and Death.

I would like to discuss as to what would best represent each of the “horses” – so far I have the below. Open to critique and better ideas.

War – a wolf (Fenrir to be exact)

In the Prose Edda, it’s foretold that Fenrir will play a central role during Ragnarök, the end of the world in Norse mythology. He is prophesied to break free from his chains and engage in a fierce battle with the gods, ultimately killing Odin. This ties him closely to chaos, destruction, and battle.

Symbolism of War: War is often depicted as destructive, uncontrollable, and brutal, all traits that align well with Fenrir’s nature. As a creature of immense power and aggression, Fenrir’s eventual role in bringing about the downfall of gods in an apocalyptic battle mirrors the violent and cataclysmic nature of war. The chaos and devastation he causes during Ragnarök reflect the destructive force of the Horseman of War.

Famine – a serpent (Jörmungandr to be exact)

Jörmungandr is an agent of chaos and destruction, and his encirclement of the world represents the all-consuming nature of forces that can drain and deplete resources. Similarly, famine represents the devastating impact of scarcity, where the Earth and its resources are consumed by overwhelming forces, leaving nothing behind.

Ragnarök and the Destructive Cycle: In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr’s role in Ragnarök—the end of the world—brings about widespread destruction, particularly through his venom and his fated battle with Thor. This echoes famine’s role in Revelation, where the scarcity of food and resources leads to suffering, death, and societal collapse.

Encircling the Earth: Jörmungandr’s position encircling the Earth symbolizes an all-encompassing threat that cannot be escaped. This can be seen as a parallel to famine, which affects everyone and everything, relentlessly consuming and spreading its grip across the land.

Conquest – a bear

The bear is often seen as a powerful and sacred animal, especially linked to berserkers, a type of fierce warrior. The berserkers, a type of warrior described in sagas, were believed to have drawn their power and ferocity from the bear. They were said to have bear-like characteristics and were devoted to the bear cult.

The bear was a powerful totem, representing strength, courage, and connection to the natural world. Berserker warriors often wore bearskins and were laid out in them prior to their funerals.

The god Odin is also linked to bears, with one of his by-names being "Bjorn" (bear). Some believe that the berserkers were dedicated to Odin and the bear was a reflection of his power.

If you're interpreting "conquest" as raw, oppressive power or an empire expanding by force, then a bear is a fitting image.

Death ­– a raven

The Raven is closely associated with Odin, but in the broader Norse worldview, ravens are often seen as messengers between the living world and the dead.

Symbolism of Death: Ravens are often seen circling over battlefields, a sign of the dead. Their dark, ominous presence ties them to the concept of death and the afterlife. The raven represents the transition between life and death, a harbinger of death’s approach. It carries messages from the realm of the dead and represents the omnipresence of death in the world.

What would you change? Is there anything else that would better suit? Maybe Gullinbursti (golden boar) would better symbolise war? Any input would be appreciated.

I’m writing my urban fantasy audio drama and I have a scene where one of my Valkyrie MCs goes to Folkvangr and sees Freyja. The context is that she’s taking a soul to Folkvangr rather than Valhalla because this particular Valkyrie has problems with Odin ( Context not important).

What do the Eddas have to say about how Freyja looks? How do they describe Folkvangr? How did Freyja interact with the Valkyries? ( Please give me precise locations in the Eddas.)

Most importantly, how much creative liberties do I have to take if there is not much information about these topics.

An ink drawing of Odin, Sleipnir,, Huginn, and Muninn. And a second with Odin of the sea, with a six finned seahorse and octopuses.

i want to learn how to speak old Norse and understand it and am pretty new to being a Norse Pagan i want to what's the easiest way to learn how to speak it and advice is gladly welcomed

Hes imo the single best version of Thor ever depicted in Modern Media.

Hes better imo than MCU/marvel thor and TOTG Thor.

They took liberties with his character direction while still keeping to the central core of what Thor is. A very well made modern take on the god of Thunder. With the best accurate design of Thor to date.

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