Vikings – Lesson 5 Who were the Norse Gods?

Subject Knowledge Notes

In the world of , we find gods and goddesses, giants, strange and powerful creatures, , dwarves and land spirits. It is difficult for a 21st century person to conceive of the worldview of the , brimming as it was with such a variety of spiritual beings.

Yggdrasil and the Nine Worlds The center of the Vikings’ cosmos is the ash tree , growing out of the Well of Urd. Yggdrasil holds the Nine Worlds, home of gods, man and all spiritual beings. The gods live in and Vanaheim and humans inhabit . Giants live in Jotunheim, elves in Alfheim and dwarves in Svartalfheim. Another is the primordial world of ice, , while is the world of fire. The last world comprises , the land of the dead, ruled by the goddess Hel.

Gods and Goddesses The gods and goddesses venerated by the Vikings are , , , Baldur, , Freya, and Njoror. There are many other gods and goddesses in the Norse pantheon but these received the primary attention in the and eddas:  Odin, the allfather, the one‐eyed seeker of wisdom, god of magic, war and , hung himself on Yggdrasil for nine days and nights to find wisdom, brought the runes to mankind  Thor, with his magic hammer Mjolnir, protects mankind and his realm of Midgard, god of warriors  Loki, a dangerous half‐god, half‐giant trickster always wreaking havoc among the gods  Baldur, son of Odin and Frigg, a beautiful and gracious god, beloved of all, killed by Loki’s trickery  Frigg, wife of Odin, practitioner of magic, goddess of the home, mother of Baldur  Freya, feather‐cloaked goddess of love and fertility but also of war and death  Freyr, her brother, god of farming, agriculture, fertility and prosperity  Njoror, powerful god of the sea

Giants, Elves, Dwarves and Land Spirits Giant is not a good name for these spiritual beings; think of them as devourers, out to destroy order and return the world to primeval chaos. They are the enemies of gods, but also their relatives. Giants are dangerous to mankind, which is why Thor often hunts them. Elves and dwarves appear in the sagas, but are different from what we might picture them to be. Dwarves are miners and smiths and live underground. They are invisible, powerful spiritual beings, not short humans. Elves are also spiritual beings, demi‐gods who can mate with mankind and have children with them. Land spirits inhabit everything on the land—trees, herbs, stones and bodies of water. The land spirits (landvaettir in ) hold considerable power over the well being of the land and those who live on it. People took care to honor and placate the landvaettir. In the first law of Iceland, Vikings were told to remove the dragon heads from their ships when approaching land so they wouldn’t frighten the land spirits.

Norse mythology is intricate and complex and we’ve presented just the barest bones here.

Taken from: https://www.historyonthenet.com/vikings‐and‐norse‐mythology

Resources: https://norse‐mythology.org/ https://norse‐mythology.net/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oxzmJPoRu8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyU54gV_PWM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WbGEXzZgbY

Lesson Five: Who were the Norse Gods? • Display the question for today’s lesson (slide 2) • Ask pupils to complete the review from last lesson (slide 3) in silence. • Circulate to spot which misconceptions or difficulties are apparent

5 minutes • Display answers for the quiz (slide 4) and ask pupils to self‐ or peer‐mark.

Vikings – Lesson 5 Who were the Norse Gods?

• Read Viking Gods stressing that there were many Viking Gods (slide 5) • Ask pupils to answer the retrieval questions. • Note that the notion of only entering by dying a warrior’s death on the battlefield would have influenced Vikings ferocity in battle. • Display answers (slide 6) and ask pupils to mark their own answers, or correct them. 10 minutes • Ask pupils to complete matching exercise to ensure they can see the similarities between Anglo Saxon Gods and Norse Gods. • They should note the similarity between the names. • Explain that there are often versions of the same Gods in different religions, especially pagan religions. 5 mins • Remind pupils that Angles, Saxons and Jutes came from near .

• Read The of Odin’s eye (slide 7) • Pupils should answer question 5 noting why Odin gave his eye to Mimir. Note the comparable Bible story about Adam and Eve. • Ask pupils if they would drink from the well of knowledge, and what they would sacrifice for a drink. • You may like to have the children retell the story in partners, with one playing Odin and one playing 10 minutes Mimir.

• Read the Saga of Baldur’s Death, another famous Norse myth. • Ask how Loki tricked Hod into killing Baldur • You may like to have the children retell the story in threes, with one playing Loki, one playing Hod and

10 minutes one playing Baldur.

• Ask pupils to think again about the Saga of Baldur (slide 8) • They should choose on God who they think is responsible. • Pupils should write down their choice first, then be ready to read and debate. 5 minutes • Ask pupils to complete their learning review on page 3. • They might like to write about the most important Gods, or their favourite story. • Share what pupils have chosen to include in their review. 5 minutes