r/norsemythology

Hi friends. Despite a lifelong desire to do so, I am finally (at 55) getting round to reading the Icelandic sagas. So far I have read Egil’s, Laxdaela, and a couple of other short ones.

There is a repeating phrase that I am curious about. Whenever a baby is born, even in explicitly pre-Christian circumstances, the child is almost always described as being “sprinkled with water” and then given a name. Obviously this sounds a great deal like Christian infant baptism, but in these contexts that seems unlikely at best. Does anyone know anything more about this practice? Thanks!

I came across Vár in the Þrymskviða poem of Thor dressing up as a bride to get Mjölnir back. I want to learn more about her, but there's not much written about her in any text that I can find. Is there anything outside the Eddas?

Norse Myth is one of those great works that I find profoundly interesting because of how much we have to work with, and how much you can extrapolate from the linguistics, the traditions of the Norse and their habits, and the names of places and epithets of characters. It kind of opens up doors to lesser known characters and deities that people don't necessarily talk about.

To me, it's characters like Ullr or the "Mightest Aesir" mentioned exactly once in a stanza. I find them interesting, the two in different ways, because of how little we know about them. We can only speculate or work with what we know of them.

Do you guys have any favourites like that? Or lesser known details about the gods?

Hello, im trying to make a aircraft squadron logo with the theme of loki, but i can´t really find any logo or something that would look good whille still being authentic to old norse mythology

Any help would be appreciate and i hope i used the right flair. Have a good day :)

Like a god who was just worshipped in some particular kingdom or town.

I tackled the question that's been asking a hundred million times: what does Loki's name mean?
I did it because this kind of stuff is how I learn. And I didn't come to "Loki is fire".
I am wondering if anyone would like to take a peek at it before I put it away again. I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I don't write in a serious tone - I'm a comic book writer ffs - and there's no way a paper of mine is ever going to be dry and 100% academic. But I did set aside being a heathen to do it, because I feel you should never mix your biases with your findings.

I won't link it unless folks are okay with it. I guess?

First off, I'm reading the Elder Edda right now because I don't like how Snorri Sturlson systemized and changed mythology, so if the Prose Edda contradicts something I say...I don't care. Anyways, here's the worst take on the Nine Realms you've ever heard. :)

So, in the middle is Midgard, and Midgard is surrounded by Jotunheim, which is scary, and Jotunheim is surrounded by Utgard, which is scarier, and on the north is Niflheim, which is scary and cold flavor, and on the south is Muspell, which is scary and hot flavor, and crap i have no idea where Asgard is but it's somewhere and same with Vanaheim.

So, you may have noticed, I'm at 7 which is not 9, because I'm a loser and am making ideas about Norse Mythology when my only real studying I've done is a LOT of google, and I've read Voluspa too.

Let's unpack what I've grouped into the same realm, which is Nidavellir and Helheim being put in Niflheim, because I think that Nastrond is the shore that became where Gnipahellir or wherever the dead people come up, which became Helheim when hell began to rule it, and much like Helheim, Nidavellir is said to be underground, and, it's also just a hall, so it fits in a cave in Niflheim. Also, Alfheim is mentioned as Yngvi's (haha look at me making deepcut references I have such a big brain) home, and thus it might be in Asgard.

Thank you for your time, please reply. ^(I would really enjoy that.)

I did it to the first pages anyways, so yeah.

Should I continue?