The Viking Age is generally dated from 790 to 1066. This was an era in which the sea-faring Norse raided throughout Europe. Since the Norse raiders often attacked the lightly defended and relatively wealthy Christian monasteries, and the later histories were written by clerics from these monasteries, history has often characterized the Vikings as ruthless, vile, pagans.
First, a note about terminology: “Viking” comes from the Norse work “vik” which refers to a cove or small fjord. This was a place where the Norse pirates in their versatile longboats could lurk and prey upon merchant ships. The term “Viking” therefore originally referred to pirates, but as the Norse expanded their sea-based kingdoms, the term came to be applied to the Scandinavians in their overseas kingdoms.
With regard to religion, there was no word for “religion” in the Old Norse language, an indication that religious activities were integrated into daily life. The Vikings were polytheistic and worshiped the ancient Germanic gods. These Germanic gods were closely associated with ancestor veneration. The gods protected and rewarded those who performed the ancient rites. Worship of these gods united the Scandinavians, divided them from their Christian neighbors, and inspired the martial ethos and daring of the Viking Age. In addition to the gods and goddesses (aesir and vanir), there were mythic giants who struggled with the gods and dwarves who worked as craftsmen. The Norse called their religion Ásatrú (belief in aesir). In this essay, we are going to look at some of the gods in the Viking pantheon.
Odin:
Odin was the aristocratic god, worshipped by the dedicated warriors and poets. Odin’s work was to inspire poets, wage war, and give fighting men courage in battle. It was Odin who inspired the heroes of legend and the sea kings of the Viking Age. Odin is also associated with wisdom, magic, and prophecy.
Odin is closely connected with a horse called Sleipnir and spear called Gungnir. Sleipnir, whose name might be translated as “slippy” or “the slipper”, is generally described as having eight legs. Gungnir, whose name can be translated as “the swaying one”, was fashioned by dwarves (the sons of Ivaldi) under the mastery of the blacksmith dwarf Dvalin. The spear has the ability to always pierce its target cleanly. It also never stops during its thrust.
Odin is associated with transformation: the ability to shape shift into animal shapes.
Some of the different images of Odin are shown above.
Both animals and humans were sacrificed to Odin. At the sacred grove in Uppsala, Sweden, the sacrifices were hung upon the sacred trees. Sir James Frazier in his classic work entitled The Golden Bough writes:
“The human victims dedicated to Odin were regularly put to death by hanging or a combination of hanging and stabbing, the man being strung up a tree or a gallows and then wounded with a spear. Hence Odin was called the Lord of the Gallows or the God of the Hanged, and he is represented sitting under a gallows tree.”
Odin is linguistically associated with the Anglo-Saxon god Woden and the Old High German god Wotan. The modern English Wednesday is named for him.
Thor:
Thor rules the sky and was responsible for natural phenomena such as wind, rain, thunder and lightning. He is also associated with oak trees, strength, healing, and fertility. Thor was the god of the farmer and the common man. Thor was popular in Iceland, Norway, and Denmark. Many centuries after Norway was “officially” Christianized, the people still called upon Thor to help them.
Whenever there were plagues or famines, then the people turned to Thor and the priests offered sacrifices to him.
Thor is often portrayed as having red hair and carrying a hammer, Mjölnir, whose name can be translated as “crusher”. In Norse mythology, this hammer is described as a fearsome weapon, capable of leveling mountains. In the Prose Edda it is reported that with Mjölnir, Thor—
... would be able to strike as firmly as he wanted, whatever his aim, and the hammer would never fail, and if he threw it at something, it would never miss and never fly so far from his hand that it would not find its way back, and when he wanted, it would be so small that it could be carried inside his tunic.
Mjölnir is shown above.
Thor is shown above.
According to some of the traditions, Thor is the son of Odin. In the Icelandic stories, Thor is the husband of Sif and the lover of the jötunn (a race of giants) Járnsaxa.
Thursday is named for Thor.
Freyja and Frey:
Freyja (also spelled Freya, Freja, Freyia, Frøya, Freia) was skilled in sorcery and was the embodiment of female sexual power. Her brother Freyr (also spelled Frey) was the god of male potency, good weather, good harvests, and fertile beasts.
Freyja is the goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, war, and death. She is often described as the most lovely and lascivious of the goddesses. She owns the necklace Brisingamen, rides a chariot driven by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvíni, and has a cloak of falcon feathers. According to Norse mythology, Fölkvangr (“field of the host” or “people field”) is a meadow ruled by Freyja where she receives half of those who die in battle (the other half go to Odin’s hall, Valhalla).
Images of Freyja are shown above.
During the Christianization of Scandinavia, the places which were named for Freyja were renamed for the Virgin Mary.
Freyr is associated with farming and weather and is portrayed as a phallic fertility god. The eleventh century writer Adam of Bremen reported that the wooden image of Freyr at the great temple at Uppsala had a gigantic penis, symbolizing his power of fertility. The Swedes would make sacrifices to him at weddings.
Freyr is shown above.
Loki:
Loki is one of the most intriguing figures in the Norse pantheon. Loki is sometimes viewed as a god and sometimes as a jötunn (giant; a race of nature spirits with superhuman strength). Loki is sometimes seen as an assistant to the gods, and sometimes he is seen as someone who causes trouble for them. He had no direction relationship with the Vikings themselves, he was not worshipped, and the myths about him are inconsistent. Snorri Sturluson, an early Christian writer, says of Loki:
“There is yet another to be counted among the Aesir, whom some call the slander-bearer of the gods, the father of lies, and the disgrace of all gods and men. He is called Loki or Lopt, the son of the giant Fárbauti.”
An image of Loki is shown above.
The Snaptun Stone, shown above, was carved about 1000 CE, and features a depiction of Loki.
There is a dualism in Loki that is similar to the trickster figures found in the Native American mythologies: he is both a friend and a foe; he is treacherous and dangerous, but at the same time useful; he is a fool, but manages to extricate himself from difficult situations with his wiles. Later Christian writings tend to emphasize his “satanic” traits.