The Norse Blog

Welcome to the Norse blog - a place celebrating the Norse legends, the forgotten heroines and the magical storytelling tradition of the ancient North.

The Viking Goddesses

Freya

Often mistaken for a love goddess Freya's primary role is as the ruler of war, the foremost of all Valkyries - the selectors of the fallen. It is she who chooses half of all those who have died an heroic death to serve her, in her hall Sessrumnir, in the afterlife. She is also unmatched in her position as a powerful seeress - a völva.

Frigg

Frigg is described as the Norse goddess associated with foresight and wisdom. Odin is her husband and together they have the son Balder, the most beloved god of all. Frigg dwells in Fensalir, meaning `the wetland halls` in Old Norse and, keeps several loyal maidens by her side.

Gefjun

Gefjun is the Norse goddess associated with foresight and prosperity. Her name means ‘the giving one’ in Old Norse and in 1220 the Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson chose her legend, an ancient story about always being the driving force behind your own destiny, to be the first tale in his famous Prose Edda.

Night

According to Snorri, Night was "black and dark", just as her ancestors and her son Day was "light and fair after his father". The people of ancient Scandinavia did measure time in number of nights, as the word fortnight still reminds us. They also explained the lunar and solar eclipse with the wolves having finally caught up with Sól and Máni and devoured them.

Thrud

The goddess Thrud is attested in several sources, and Thor is sometimes referred to as ‘the tough father of Thrud’ or as in the poem Thorsdrapa, ‘he who longs fiercely for Thrud’. Thrud is also mentiond on the Karlevi stone, located on the island Öland, Sweden. This story about the Norse battle goddess is inspired by the poem Alvíssmál .

The Soldiser illustration of the Goddess Sun

Sun

In order for all creatures to reckon the year the goddesses and gods held council and assigned Sól, ‘Sun’, and her brother Máni, ‘Moon’ to join the goddess Night and her son Day in their travels over the skies. As long as they continue to elude the fearful wolves Sköll and Hati, all realms are safe from the void of nothingness.

Norse Love Stories

The surviving parts of Viking Age poetry feature several love stories with some of the most romantic words ever written on the subject. Here is a list of the top three Old Norse love stories.

Fjölsvinnsmál

This story is based on the Viking poem Fjölsvinnsmál (The sayings of Fjolsvinn) from the Poetic Edda and features the legendary Mengloth and the hero Svipdagr.

Song of Grótti

Long before the world became as it is today, in a time when the sea was not yet salty, lived two mighty maidens. Their names were Fenja and Menja. This is their legend.

Norse Yule

The earliest known written reference to heathen Yule celebrations, written by the a 9th-century Norwegian skald Torbjørn Hornklove, mentions the phrase ‘to drink Yule’. And even if it is uncertain what exactly was celebrated during the Yule drinking we know that there was a Jólablót, a “Yule Sacrifice”.

Norse Halloween

Ancient texts tell us about the Norse tradition of álfablót, the sacrifice to the elves. The álfablót was a celebration held between the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. We know little of the celebration itself since it seems to have been surrounded by a lot of secrecy. But, there are some clues...

Power of Legends

A thousand years ago, when the people in the North gathered around to share their legends, it was more than mere entertainment. Myths and stories were, and are, tools that enable us to share our common values and ideals. To me, it is their principles and their wisdom that make the Norse legends so appealing.