#bolthorn

[dianthus-babbles]

She fights like an army of demons, strength igniting her limbs and filling all the cracks of time and battle with unrelenting force, body eaten like a tree burning from within. He watches, bewitched, sword in a hand that knots ropes and spins the helm of his ship. He knows how to swing, but prefers to raise his shield and take the hit, vibrating at its force. He is hard wood, she is cutting steel. She spits and huffs her disdain at the countless noble’s display of bravado, face sharp lines and bared teeth. He stills her, hand on her shoulder, cold pauldron flaring at the gesture and yet she complies, never obeys, eyes darting to his as he shakes his head and offers to deal with the problem in a less harsh way. She is thunder, he is ground.

[babylon-crashing]

I know I hung on the gust-beat gallows/ nine full nights,/ gashed with a stake and given to fire-see,/ myself to myself,/ on that ash-tree of which none know/ from where the roots rise. ~ Odin’s Shaman Song.

Here is what Barbara Walker has to say about the Hanged Man:

A man dressed like the Fool hangs from a beam between two trees by one leg, the other leg bent in the Hermetic figure-4 position. His hands are bound behind his back, but his facial expression is peaceful. Bunches of grapes hang with him, suggesting sacraments of Dionysus. Two towers appear in a landscape like that of the Moon card. Hanging by one leg was the medieval custom of “baffling,” a nonlethal punishment bringing disgrace, like a sojourn in the stocks. Like the ritual humiliation in many types of initiation, this may have been a symbolic death-andrebirth, designed to make the novice hear his own heartbeat, which Far Eastern mystics called “the sound of power.” The basis of all rhythm, it is heard even by fetal ears in the womb. The heart’s inner “dance” was the dancing god in Chidambaram, the Cave of the Heart. In ancient Egypt, a figure with one leg bent like the Hanged Man’s was the hieroglyphic sign of dancing and of the Mother-given heart soul (ab). The Hanged Man’s gallows dance is therefore a mock martyrdom, interpreted as a sacrifice for a good purpose, patient as a sacrifice for a good purpose, patient endurance, silent suffering, and life at low ebb.

What I find interesting about this card is the idea that through suffering one can find Aufklärung (your own Age of Enlightenment.) Because basically everything in Christianity has been plagiarized from much better source material, the Codex Regius describes how Odin hung himself on the Yggdrasil (World Tree) in his quest for enlightenment, giving up an eye in order to be able to read the Runes. One of the titles given to Odin is, “Yggr the Terrible,” from which we get the word Ogre.

They did not comfort me with bread nor with a drinking horn: I looked down, I took up the runes, shrieking their names I fell back from there.

I got nine mighty songs from the famous son of Bolthorn, Bestla's father, and I got a drink of precious mead sprinkled as from the heart.

Then I began to thrive and bear wisdom I grew and prospered; Each word drew another word from me, each deed drew another deed from me.

For me what is important about this card is the concept of surrendering every notion of how you think the universe work in order to learn something new. Sacrificial pain cuts through the mundane dogma of all you’ve been taught in school or books (ie., other people’s wisdom that you try to claim as your own) to reveal whatever light your higher self is trying to show you.

[jeffreystewart]

Norsery Rhymes from A to Z Bolthron, the Thorn of Misfortune (Odin’s Grandfather) Well here we are another Thor’s Day and another 20 min sketch of a Norse (and Germanic, sometimes Celtic) mythological characters. This week it’s Bolborn / Bolbjorn / Bolþorn / Boelthor / Bolthorn / Bolthorn . One of the primeval Frost Jotnar (Jotun/Giants) who lived in Jotonheim.  His name means "evil thorn", or “The Thorn of Misfortune”.

He is the grandfather of Odin, Ve and Vili, by his daughter Bestla. He also is possibly the father of Mimir as well.

For my sketch of Bestla: https://jeffreystewart.tumblr.com/post/179653978129/norsery-rhymes-northern-mythology-from-a-to-z

For some sketches of Mimir: https://jeffreystewart.tumblr.com/post/143562400679/happy-thorsday-mimir-well-here-we-are-another

https://jeffreystewart.tumblr.com/post/143913962158/happy-thorsday-mimir-v2-well-here-we-are-another https://jeffreystewart.tumblr.com/post/150797302474/wodensday-on-a-thorsday-ive-missed-a-few

https://jeffreystewart.tumblr.com/post/144250536748/happy-thorsday-mimir-v3-4-well-here-we-are

For Odin there are a bunch: https://jeffreystewart.tumblr.com/search/odin

[gideonaweaponachild]

I worked way too hard on this, from top to bottom: Bolthorn of Jotunheim, Mimir of Jotunheim, Bestla Bolthornsdottir, i made me mimir purple in jotun form but y’know what idc. Also Mimir is a gender swapped version of Dua Lipa

[anastasiaoftheironwood]

Draw for April 17, 2017 Active Influence: Thrym/King of Swords Rune: Ansuz/Signals (reversed) Hidden Influence: Bolthorn/Two of Wands

You feel antsy, like you need to do *something*, even if you’re not sure what. Stop, breathe, think. [more]

[grsriflestocks]

Beautiful picture of a GRS Bolthorn stock on the 338Lapua rifle of Knut Erik Rognes. #bolthorn #grsriflestocks #338Lapua

[amaliadillin]

okay, I CANNOT BELIEVE I never thought to share my HONOR AMONG ORCS character art of Bolthorn and Arianna over here. Like of all the places to not post, good gravy.

ANYWAY. I love how her dress came out and I have never been prouder of any hands I have drawn than I am of Bolthorn’s, tbh. Also Arianna’s hair!!!!

Yes, I am tooting my own horn. Sorry/Not Sorry, I LOVE THEM.

also if you love A Court of Thorns and Roses by SJM, you will love my Orc Saga. So! pls buy my books.

[moravincitomnia]

The Origin Of The Cosmos

The first myth I will write out in as short as I possibly can is of course the origin of the cosmos.

 Before there was anything there was only the gaping abyss of Ginnungagap (a bottomless abyss). The chaos of perfect silence and darkness laid between Muspelheim and Niflheim the homelands of fire and ice. Frost from Niflheim and fire from Muspelheim met in the Ginnungagap where the fire melted the ice and the drops formed themselves into Ymir the first godlike but destructive giant. Ymir was a hermaphrodite and could reproduce asexually so when he slept more giants would be born from his legs and sweat of his armpits. 

As the frost continued to melt a cow called Audhumla emerged from it and she nourished Ymir with her milk and she was nourished by salt-licks in the ice. Her licks slowly uncovered Buri who was the first of the Aesir tribe of Gods. Buri had a son named Bor who married Bestla the daughter of the giant Bolthorn. The half-god and half-giant children of Bor and Bestla were Odin who became the chief of the Aesir Gods and his two brothers Vili and Ve. Odin and his brothers eventually ganged up on Ymir and killed him, constructing the world from his corpse. They fashioned the oceans from his blood, the soil from his skin and muscles, vegetation from his hair, clouds from his brains and the sky from his skull. Four dwarves corresponding to the four cardinal points held Ymir’s skull aloft above the sky. 

The gods eventually formed the first man and woman, Ask and Embla from two tree trunks and built a fence around their dwelling place Midgard to protect them from the giants.

And there you go! That’s the very beginning of Norse Mythology apparently and I’m looking into when Yggdrasill happened since there was nothing but abyss’s in the beginning and I’m pretty sure it’s formed after the nine realms become a thing. Please correct me if I’m wrong (since apparently it had branches connecting to Midgard, Jotunheim and Hel from one source and it’s talked a lot about with Odin).

[gifts-of-heimdall-runes]

On The Windswept Tree

Hung was I on the windswept tree;

Nine full nights I hung,

Pierced by a spear, a pledge to the god,

To Odin, myself to myself,

On that tree which none can know the source

From whence its root has run.

None gave me bread, none brought a horn.

Then low to earth I looked.

I caught up the runes, roaring, I took them,

And fainting, back I fell.

Nine mighty lays I learned from the son

Of Bolthorn, Bestla’s father,

And a draught I had of the holy mead

Poured out of Odrerir.

Then fruitful I grew, and greatly to thrive,

In wisdom began to wax.

A single word to a second word led,

A single poem a second found.

Runes will you find, and fateful staves,

Very potent staves, very powerful staves,

Staves the great gods made, stained by the mighty sage,

And graven by the speaker of gods.

The Poetic Edda. Hávamál, stanzas 138-142

© F.T. McKinstry 2015.

Source:

https://ftmckinstry.com/2015/02/01/on-the-windswept-tree/?epik=dj0yJnU9X3RXWGx5T1RzLXc3dWpOQ1FYQVd5emZyUDF1Nl9IRWQmbj1fMUZGTFJxdWlRUzlfenhFWWEycDRRJm09MyZ0PUFBQUFBRjFvMkFR

[ravenousnightwind]

Havamal: The Counsel of Odin the One-Eyed verse 140

Poetic Edda-- Translated by Jackson Crawford

I learned nine spells

from the famous son of Bolthorn,

the father of Bestla,

and I won a drink

of that precious mead,

poured from Othrerir.

[jeffreystewart]

Norsery Rhymes, Northern Mythology from A to Z Bestla, Protector of Odin’s family tree Well here we are another Thor’s Day and another 20 min sketch of a Norse (and Germanic, sometimes Celtic) mythological characters.  This week it’s Bestla. The Mother and The Wife.  A Frost Jotun (Jotnar/ Giant/ Giantess).  Daughter of the Frost Giant Bolthorn.  Her Brother (Possibly Mimir) teaches Odin 9 magic songs. Married to Borr, descendant of Buri.  She is Mother to Vili, Ve and Odin. Possibly related to the Norns. Protector of the bark of the tree of Odin’s kinship. Bestla of the Birtch trees, the tall and White. The Mother of the Gods, or at least the Aesir. 

Her name means either ‘Bark’ or ‘Bridle’ or possibly both. For Bark, from the rune Berkano and it’s association with Birch bark, and her role as Mother guardian of the Family tree is likely where it comes from.  Bridle, from ‘besil’ could be arrived at from the the word or the theme. Possibly because the bridle was seen as symbol for guiding. Interestingly her brother is likely Mimir, and his name means to Bind as well.  Possibly indicating they’re both involved in tying and leading their family through their fates.  Because of her function, her name would come to mean ‘Wife’ as well.

[ingml]

La creación del Mundo

Cuando aún no existía ni la tierra ni el mar ni el aire, cuando sólo existía la oscuridad, ya estaba allí el Allfather.

Al empezar la creación,en el mismo centro del espacio se abría Ginnungap, el terrible abismo sin fondo y sin luz; a su norte estaba la tierra de Nifflheim, un mundo de agua y oscuridad que se abría alrededor de la eterna fuente de Hvergelmir, fuente en la que nacían los doce ríos del Elivagar, las doce corrientes que corrían hasta el borde de su mundo, antes de encontrarse con el muro de frío que helaba sus aguas, haciéndose caer también en el abismo central con un estrépito ensordecedor.

Al sur de este caos estaba la dulce tierra de Muspell, el cálido hogar del fuego elemental, cuya custodia estaba encomendada al gigante Sutr.

Este gigante era quien lanzaba nubes de centellas al blandir su espada llameante, llenando de su fuego el cielo, pero este fuego a duras penas conseguía fundir los hielos del abismo, y el frío volvía a vencer de nuevo, haciendo que se elevase una columna de vapor que tampoco podía escapar del abismo, puesto que al volver a encontrarse con el mundo del hielo, se condensaban las grandes columnas de humedad, llenando de nubes el espacio central.

De este lugar surgió el gigante Ymir, la personificación del océano helado, y nació con hambre voraz, que sólo pudo saciar con otra criatura nacida al mismo tiempo que él, la vaca gigante Audhumla, de cuyas ubres brotaban cuatro chorros de leche. Audhumla, buscando ávidamente su alimento, lamió un bloque de hielo y, fundiéndolo, con su lengua, hizo aparecer el buen dios Buri, enterrado desde tiempo inmemorial en los hielos perpetuos. Pero mientras, Ymir, dormido plácidamente alumbró sin darse cuenta, con el sudor de su axila, a Thrudgelmir, el gigante de las seis cabezas y éste hizo nacer después a su compañero Bergelmir, y de los dos salió la estirpe de todos los gigantes malvados del hielo.

Y los gigantes del mar vieron al dios Buri, que acababa de engendrar a su hijo y aliado Börr. Comprendieron que entonces era el único momento en el que podía ser factible tratar de vencer al bien. Inmediatamente, los gigantes comenzaron la guerra.Pero las fuerzas estaban demasiado igualadas y el combate duraba ya eras, cuando Börr desposó a Bestia, la gigante hija del gigante Bolthorn, y de esa unión tuvieron tres hijos, tres aliados inmediatos para su causa: Odín, Vili y Ve (representando el espíritu, la voluntad y lo sagrado, respectivamente). 

Con esta formidable ayuda el nuevo ejército del bien hizo retroceder a los malvados espíritus del hieloen retirada, hasta dar muerte al gigante Ymir (también llamado Hrim, el gigante de hielo, y Orgelmir), de cuyas tremendas heridas brotabantales chorros de sangre que ahogaron a todos los de su raza, salvo a Bergelmir y su esposa, quienes pudieron ponerse a salvo a tiempo,huyendo en una barca hacia el límite del mundo.

Logrado el éxito, Odín, Vili y Ve se llevaron el cadáver de Ymir al abismo, para con sus inmensos restos mortales poder comenzar a trabajar en la construcción de un mundo habitable. Con su piel construyeron la región de Midgard, o jardín central; con los huesos se hicieron las montañas; con su vello, la vegetación; con sus dientes, los acantilados, sobre los que colocaron las cejas del gigante, para fortificar la frontera con el mar, que lo rodeaba en otro círculo a su alrededor, construido con la

sangre y el sudor de Ymir. Pero, a mucha distancia de ellos, Bergelmir y su mujer alcanzaron una inhóspita tierra que poco afectaba a esas criaturas del frío, estableciéndose en un lugar al que llamaron Jotun, la casa de los gigantes, en donde empezaron a dar vida a otra raza de gigantes del hielo con los que continuar la renovada lucha de las fuerzas opuestas. Asi nacio la Tierra.

Ya sólo faltaba cerrar este nuevo mundo, y se creyó conveniente hacerlo, colocando sobre Midgard la bóveda craneana del derrotado gigante, y así se hizo, encargando a los enanos Nordri, Sudri, Austri y Westri su sujeción en cada uno de los cuatro puntos cardinales que llevaban sus nombres. Con el cráneo puesto en su lugar se dio nacimiento al cielo, pero al colocarlo los sesos se esparcieron

por el aire y con sus restos se crearon las nubes. Sólo faltaba la iluminación de ese espacio y los dioses acudieron a Muspells, a hacerse con fuego de la espada de Surtr, fabricando con sus centellas las luces del firmamento. 

Con las dos mayores, los dioses realizaron el Sol y la Luna, colocándolas sobre dos carros que girarían sin parar sobre Midgard, turnándose incesantemente en el cielo, carrozas guiadas por los dos hijos del gigante Mundilfari, su hija Sol y su hijo Mani. Ambas carrozas, para mantener viva la pugna constante entre el bien y el mal, serían eterna e inútilmente perseguidas por los dos lobos Skoll y Hatri, encarnaciones vivientes de la repulsión y del odio, que trataban de alcanzarlos, sin conseguirlo más que en alguna rara ocasión, cuando desde la Tierra se podía ver un eclipse de Sol, o uno de Luna, para lograr su malvado objetivo de devorar al Sol y a la Luna y hacer que la oscuridad perpetua cayera de nuevo sobre el Universo.

Para hacer el día y la noche, se encargó al hermoso Dag, hijo de la diosa de la noche, Naglfari, llevar la carroza del día, tirada por Skin, el brioso caballo blanco que producía con sus cascos la brillante luz del día, mientras que Note, la hija del gigante Norvi, se encargaba de conducir la carroza negra de la noche, que estaba tirada por su negro caballo Hrim, el que lanzaba a la tierra el rocío y la escarcha producido en su trotar. Más tarde, al cortejo celeste se le fueron añadiendo las seis horas, y las dos grandes estaciones, el invierno y el verano. Ya estaba la Tierra lista para ser ocupada por los primeros seres creados por los dioses.

[anastasiaoftheironwood]

Draw for April 19, 2017 Active Influence: Skadi/Justice Rune: Berkana/Rebirth (reversed) Hidden Influence: Bolthorn/Two of Wands

Bolthorn returns in the same position as Monday. You are still feeling the itch of unresolved issues, unfinished business. [more]

[fuckhellimgoingtovallhalla]

The Norse creation myth or cosmogony (an account of the origins of the cosmos) is perhaps one of the richest in all of world literature. First, let’s look at this exceptionally colorful story itself, then consider how the Vikings may have interpreted it and found meaning in it.

The Origin of the Cosmos

Before there was soil, or sky, or any green thing, there was only the gaping abyss of Ginnungagap. This chaos of perfect silence and darkness lay between the homeland of elemental fire, Muspelheim, and the homeland of elemental ice, Niflheim.

Frost from Niflheim and billowing flames from Muspelheim crept toward each other until they met in Ginnungagap. Amid the hissing and sputtering, the fire melted the ice, and the drops formed themselves into Ymir (“Screamer”), the first of the godlike but destructive giants. Ymir was a hermaphrodite and could reproduce asexually; when he slept, more giants leapt forth from his legs and from the sweat of his armpits.

As the frost continued to melt, a cow, Audhumla (“Abundance of Humming”), emerged from it. She nourished Ymir with her milk, and she, in turn, was nourished by salt-licks in the ice. Her licks slowly uncovered Buri (“Progenitor”), the first of the Aesir tribe of gods. Buri had a son named Bor (“Son”), who married Bestla (perhaps “Wife”), the daughter of the giant Bolthorn (“Baleful Thorn”). The half-god, half-giant children of Bor and Bestla were Odin, who became the chief of the Aesir gods, and his two brothers, Vili and Ve.

Odin and his brothers slew Ymir and set about constructing the world from his corpse. They fashioned the oceans from his blood, the soil from his skin and muscles, vegetation from his hair, clouds from his brains, and the sky from his skull. Four dwarves, corresponding to the four cardinal points, held Ymir’s skull aloft above the earth.

The gods eventually formed the first man and woman, Ask and Embla, from two tree trunks, and built a fence around their dwelling-place, Midgard, to protect them from the giants.

Order from Chaos

Thematically, Ymir is the personification of the chaos before creation, which is also depicted as the impersonal void of Ginnungagap. Both Ymir and Ginnungagap are ways of talking about limitless potential that isn’t actualized, that hasn’t yet become the particular things that we find in the world around us. This is why the Vikings described it as a void (as have countless other peoples; consider the “darkness upon the face of the deep” of the first chapter of Genesis, for example). It is no-thing-ness. But it nevertheless contains the basic stuff out of which the gods can make true things – in this case, the primal matter is Ymir’s body, which the gods tear apart to craft the elements.

It’s extremely fitting for Ymir to be the progenitor of the giants, for this is the general role the giants occupy in Norse myth. They are the forces of formless chaos, who are always threatening to corrupt and ultimately overturn the gods’ created order (and at Ragnarok, they succeed). But the giants are more than just forces of destruction. In the words of medievalist Margaret Clunies Ross:

Characteristically […] the gods covet important natural resources which the giants own, then steal them and turn them to their own advantage by utilising them to create culture, that is, they put the giants’ raw materials to work for themselves. These raw materials are of diverse kinds and include intellectual capital such as the ability to brew ale as well as the cauldron in which it is made, and abstractions made concrete like the mead of poetry and the runes of wisdom.

Not only does Ymir fit this pattern; mythologically speaking, his death and dismemberment is the paradigmatic model for this pattern.

This also explains why Ymir is depicted as a hermaphrodite who can reproduce on his own asexually. Differentiation, including sexual differentiation, didn’t exist yet. The gods had to create that as part of their task of giving differentiated forms to what had previously been formless and undifferentiated. Various other creation myths from other peoples have used a hermaphroditic being to illustrate this same concept, so we can be confident that this is also what the Norse meant here – despite the superficial counterexample of Audhumla and her udder. (After all, Norse mythology was never an airtight system.)

Ymir’s name provides an additional – and rather poetic – instantiation of this role as the personification of primordial chaos. Recall that Ymir’s name means “Screamer” (from the Old Norse verb ymja, “to scream”). The scream, the wordless voice, is the raw material from which words are made. By taking formless matter – represented by Ymir’s body – and giving it form, the gods were, metaphorically speaking, making words out of a scream.

The metaphor is completed by the description of the act of creation in the Old Norse poem Völuspá. There, the verb used for the action by which the gods create the world is yppa, which has a range of meanings: “lift, raise, bring up, come into being, proclaim, reveal.” The primary sense in which yppa should be understood here is “to come into being,” but note the additional shade of “to proclaim.” Given the poetic symmetry with Ymir’s name, this is surely not coincidental. The gods proclaim the world into being as they sculpt it out of the Screamer’s corpse.

The Centrality of Conflict

The Vikings, like the other ancient Germanic peoples, were and are notorious for their eagerness for battle. It should come as little surprise, therefore, that conflict is such a central theme in their creation myth – and that conflict is itself a generative force.

Ymir is born from the strife between fire and ice – and we can surmise that that particular opposition would have had a special poignancy for people living what was more or less a subsistence lifestyle in the cold lands of Scandinavia and the North Atlantic.

In order for the gods to fashion the world, they must first slay Ymir. This is the first intentional taking of a life in the universe, and it’s performed by the gods themselves. It isn’t presented as a crime or a sin, as in the Biblical myth of Cain and Abel. Rather, it’s a good and even sacred task. This isn’t to say that the Norse valorized killing as such; clearly, they distinguished between lawful and appropriate killing and unlawful and inappropriate killing. But they embraced what they saw as the necessity of having a warlike approach to life, for the sake of accomplishing great deeds that brought honor and renown to one’s name.

Of course, gods forming the world from the corpse of a being of chaos is a fairly common element in myth. But the precise set of meanings contained in such an act varies from culture to culture. Surely this glorification of honorable aggression, and its status as the defining act that makes the world what it is, were central components of the meaning the Vikings found in their particular myth.

Both Giants and Gods Define the World

The Norse saw their gods as the “pillars” and “vital forces” that held the cosmos together. When the gods created the world, they imparted both order and sanctity to it. And since the Norse gods are frequently portrayed intervening in the world’s affairs, their gifts to the world weren’t thought to end with creation. Their defining role in the cosmos was thought to continue as long as the cosmos itself continued – that is, until Ragnarok.

And yet, since the world was formed from the corpse of a giant, it would seem that the world is what it is largely due to the influence of the giants as well. Aspects of Ymir – his might, his uncouthness, his tendency toward entropy, the ambivalence of his character – remained present in the world, even after the gods had shaped it in accordance with a different set of traits and aims. The giants, too, were thought to intervene in the world; the slaying of their ancestor by no means vanquished them.

In the Norse view, the world is a battleground between the gods and the giants, whose power is more or less evenly matched. Mankind is in the middle, torn between the opposing claims of holiness, order, and goodness on the one hand, and profaneness, chaos, and wickedness on the other. This tension is ceaseless because it’s been a feature of the world itself since its very beginning. The strife will only be alleviated by Ragnarok, when the world will be destroyed altogether, and nothing will remain but the stillness and darkness of a new Ginnungagap.

Source:https://norse-mythology.org/tales/norse-creation-myth/

[hoffdogg]

THE CREATION OF THE COSMOS Ymir being slain by Odin and his brothers (Lorenz Frølich) The Norse creation myth or cosmogony (an account of the origins of the cosmos) is perhaps one of the richest in all of world literature. First, let’s look at this exceptionally colorful story itself, then consider how the Vikings may have interpreted it and found meaning in it. The Origin of the Cosmos Before there was soil, or sky, or any green thing, there was only the gaping abyss of Ginnungagap. This chaos of perfect silence and darkness lay between the homeland of elemental fire, Muspelheim, and the homeland of elemental ice, Niflheim. Frost from Niflheim and billowing flames from Muspelheim crept toward each other until they met in Ginnungagap. Amid the hissing and sputtering, the fire melted the ice, and the drops formed themselves into Ymir (“Screamer”[1]), the first of the godlike but destructive giants. Ymir was a hermaphrodite and could reproduce asexually; when he slept, more giants leapt forth from his legs and from the sweat of his armpits. As the frost continued to melt, a cow, Audhumla (“Abundance of Humming”[2]), emerged from it. She nourished Ymir with her milk, and she, in turn, was nourished by salt-licks in the ice. Her licks slowly uncovered Buri (“Progenitor”[3]), the first of the Aesir tribe of gods. Buri had a son named Bor (“Son”[4]), who married Bestla (perhaps “Wife”[5]), the daughter of the giant Bolthorn (“Baleful Thorn”[6]). The half-god, half-giant children of Bor and Bestla were Odin, who became the chief of the Aesir gods, and his two brothers, Vili and Ve. Odin and his brothers slew Ymir and set about constructing the world from his corpse. They fashioned the oceans from his blood, the soil from his skin and muscles, vegetation from his hair, clouds from his brains, and the sky from his skull. Four dwarves, corresponding to the four cardinal points, held Ymir’s skull aloft above the earth. The gods eventually formed the first man and woman, Ask and Embla, from two tree trunks, and built a fence around their dwelling-place, Midgard, to protect them from the giants.[7][8][9][10] Order from Chaos Thematically, Ymir is the personification of the chaos before creation, which is also depicted as the impersonal void of Ginnungagap. Both Ymir and Ginnungagap are ways of talking about limitless potential that isn’t actualized, that hasn’t yet become the particular things that we find in the world around us. This is why the Vikings described it as a void (as have countless other peoples; consider the “darkness upon the face of the deep” of the first chapter of Genesis, for example). It is no-thing-ness. But it nevertheless contains the basic stuff out of which the gods can make true things – in this case, the primal matter is Ymir’s body, which the gods tear apart to craft the elements. It’s extremely fitting for Ymir to be the progenitor of the giants, for this is the general role the giants occupy in Norse myth. They are the forces of formless chaos, who are always threatening to corrupt and ultimately overturn the gods’ created order (and at Ragnarok, they succeed). But the giants are more than just forces of destruction. In the words of medievalist Margaret Clunies Ross: Characteristically […] the gods covet important natural resources which the giants own, then steal them and turn them to their own advantage by utilising them to create culture, that is, they put the giants’ raw materials to work for themselves. These raw materials are of diverse kinds and include intellectual capital such as the ability to brew ale as well as the cauldron in which it is made, and abstractions made concrete like the mead of poetry and the runes of wisdom.[11] Not only does Ymir fit this pattern; mythologically speaking, his death and dismemberment is the paradigmatic model for this pattern. This also explains why Ymir is depicted as a hermaphrodite who can reproduce on his own asexually. Differentiation, including sexual differentiation, didn’t exist yet. The gods had to create that as part of their task of giving differentiated forms to what had previously been formless and undifferentiated. Various other creation myths from other peoples have used a hermaphroditic being to illustrate this same concept,[12] so we can be confident that this is also what the Norse meant here – despite the superficial counterexample of Audhumla and her udder. (After all, Norse mythology was never an airtight system.) Ymir’s name provides an additional – and rather poetic – instantiation of this role as the personification of primordial chaos. Recall that Ymir’s name means “Screamer” (from the Old Norse verb ymja, “to scream”[13]). The scream, the wordless voice, is the raw material from which words are made. By taking formless matter – represented by Ymir’s body – and giving it form, the gods were, metaphorically speaking, making words out of a scream. The metaphor is completed by the description of the act of creation in the Old Norse poem Völuspá. There, the verb used for the action by which the gods create the world is yppa, which has a range of meanings: “lift, raise, bring up, come into being, proclaim, reveal.”[14] The primary sense in which yppa should be understood here is “to come into being,” but note the additional shade of “to proclaim.” Given the poetic symmetry with Ymir’s name, this is surely not coincidental. The gods proclaim the world into being as they sculpt it out of the Screamer’s corpse.[15] The Centrality of Conflict The Vikings, like the other ancient Germanic peoples, were and are notorious for their eagerness for battle. It should come as little surprise, therefore, that conflict is such a central theme in their creation myth – and that conflict is itself a generative force. Ymir is born from the strife between fire and ice – and we can surmise that that particular opposition would have had a special poignancy for people living what was more or less a subsistence lifestyle in the cold lands of Scandinavia and the North Atlantic. In order for the gods to fashion the world, they must first slay Ymir. This is the first intentional taking of a life in the universe, and it’s performed by the gods themselves. It isn’t presented as a crime or a sin, as in the Biblical myth of Cain and Abel. Rather, it’s a good and even sacred task. This isn’t to say that the Norse valorized killing as such; clearly, they distinguished between lawful and appropriate killing and unlawful and inappropriate killing. But they embraced what they saw as the necessity of having a warlike approach to life, for the sake of accomplishing great deeds that brought honor and renown to one’s name. Of course, gods forming the world from the corpse of a being of chaos is a fairly common element in myth. But the precise set of meanings contained in such an act varies from culture to culture. Surely this glorification of honorable aggression, and its status as the defining act that makes the world what it is, were central components of the meaning the Vikings found in their particular myth. Both Giants and Gods Define the World The Norse saw their gods as the “pillars” and “vital forces” that held the cosmos together. When the gods created the world, they imparted both order and sanctity to it. And since the Norse gods are frequently portrayed intervening in the world’s affairs, their gifts to the world weren’t thought to end with creation. Their defining role in the cosmos was thought to continue as long as the cosmos itself continued – that is, until Ragnarok. And yet, since the world was formed from the corpse of a giant, it would seem that the world is what it is largely due to the influence of the giants as well. Aspects of Ymir – his might, his uncouthness, his tendency toward entropy, the ambivalence of his character – remained present in the world, even after the gods had shaped it in accordance with a different set of traits and aims. The giants, too, were thought to intervene in the world; the slaying of their ancestor by no means vanquished them. In the Norse view, the world is a battleground between the gods and the giants, whose power is more or less evenly matched. Mankind is in the middle, torn between the opposing claims of holiness, order, and goodness on the one hand, and profaneness, chaos, and wickedness on the other. This tension is ceaseless because it’s been a feature of the world itself since its very beginning. The strife will only be alleviated by Ragnarok, when the world will be destroyed altogether, and nothing will remain but the stillness and darkness of a new Ginnungagap. https://norse-mythology.org/tales/norse-creation-myth/

[honestsycrets]

Eddic [Mythology of All Races Vol. 2] Chp IV: Odin

A few personal notes for me to keep in mind. This is all from the book, Eddic: Mythology of All Races by Matthew MacCollogh. Nothing is outside of this. Furthermore I’m sure there is content in here that can be debated.

Other names:

Wodan wōd: mad

OHG woutan

OS wodan

AS Woden

ON O penn ON: poetic frenzy

Furious Host (?)

Other Norse Names:

Vafud

Vegtam (Wanderer)

Gangler (Traveler)

Ómi (Noist one)

Vidforull (Fartraveler).

Viator Indefessus (Unwearied traveler) by Saxo.

Heimskringla (The far have travelled) by Snorri.

Galga Valdyr (Lord of the Gallows)

Hanga-tyr (God of the hanged).

Hnikar (Thruster).

Karl af berge (The man of the mountain).

Rostarus.

Drauga Drottim (Lord of Ghosts).

Valgautr (God of the Slain).

Val-Fadir because ‘all that fall in battle are sons of his adoption. Oski Synir (Snorri)

Valkjosandi (Chooser of the Slain) in (Kormaks-saga).

Hropt.

Fjolnir (The many shaped).

Bolverk.

Sigfadir (Father of Victory)

Sigtyr (God of Victory).

Hertyr (God of hosts).

Heryan (Leader of hosts).

Herfadir (Father of hosts).

Valfadir (Father of the slain).

Hnikarr (Spear-lord).

Biflindi (Spear Brandisher).

Gautatyr (God of the Gauts).

Saxagod (God of the Saxons).

Aldafadie (father of men).

Grimnir (the hooded one).

Hrafna-god (Raven god).

All Father and patron of aristocracy, warriors and skalds.

Hyndlujod, Freyja says he gives hold, Hermod helm and coat of mail, to Sigmund a sword, and triumph to some.

Oaths were sworn by Sigtyr’s Mountain, his city was Sigtun.

Odin drinks wine.

The first drink is to Odin ‘for victory and power.’

The other gods are Odin’s people as he rules all things.

Grants men their wishes.

War god

Weapons and armour to heroes.

Dog was given his spear.

Heroes valour, triumph and treasure.Women and giantesses made victims by his runes.

Caused the first war between the Aesir and Vanir.

‘He hurled his spear on the host, and war then came first into the world.’ (Voluspa).

Also pisses off princes, kings and causes strife.

Provoked battle of Harald and Ring.

Pisses off easily when victory is given to the wrong places such as Brynhild and Agnar (Svefnthorn).

Joins in battle and has favourites, so people favour him.

Great warrior.

Weapons reference Odin and his Valkyries.

More prominent than Thor.

Likewise his spear is of better 'culture’ than Thor’s hammer.

Ravens haunting the battlefield equate to him.

Spear Gungnir made by dwarfs and given to him by Loki.

All other weapons were useless against it.

God of poetry, master of magic, knowledge.

Odin gives poets their words by taking poetic mead from the giants.

Gave Starkad the art of poetry and composition of spell.

Appears in dreams before great battles to give some victory and invite others to him. (Snorri)

Spoke magic and charms to the Volva but did not know Balder’s fate-- had to seek knowledge from her.

Struck Rinda with a bark of runes and drew her into a frenzy.

Loki accuses him of dressing as a witch and working charms in Samsey.

Obtained a magic wand gambantein and learned a language from the dead in Hlebard in Harbardsljod.

Cures a lame horse with charm or rune.

Knows magic songs bringing sickness, sorrow, stop arrows, produce fetters and blunt weapons, neutralizer dangerous roots where runes are written and reflect the danger, remove hatred, calm wind, aid friends in a fight, make the hanged speak, quench fire, give knowledge of the gods and elves and win love.

Takes form of a ferryman, a servant or peasant, snake, eagle.

Woke the dead and sat under hanged men for knowledge. (Ynglinga-saga)

Could control fire, sea and wind by his words.

Knew of buried treasure, runes to open earth, mountains, rocks and mounds. Could also bind these.

May understand the language of birds.

Runes

May have created runes in Havamal.

Coloured them perhaps with blood.

Could have obtained the wounds by hanging on Yggdrasil and wounding himself by his spear as an offering to himself. The runes may have fallen down from the tree.

Consults Mimir.

Made runes of draught from head of Heithdraupnir and horn of Hoddrofnir.

Mimir may be a waterspirit with his well beneath a root of Yggdrasil.

Wisdom and understanding are stored under Yggrasil

Loss of his eye! Mimir withheld a drink from the well until he was given.

Odin’s eye is hidden in the well where Mimir drinks of the pledge each day.

Could perhaps be Odin’s uncle, son of Bolthorn who is the father of Bestla who is Odin’s mother.

More Wisdom

Drinks daily from the cool waves of Sokkvabekk with gold cups with the Goddess Saga (Frigg?)

Saga is a female water elf.

Love affair (?).

Sought to match his knowledge with the giant Vafthrudnir. Proved himself wiser.

“What did Odin speak into Balder’s ear before he was burned on the pyre?” A riddle used with both th giant and King Heidrik during Yule.

Initially a spirit of god of wind or dead as the past wandered in the wind. Brings wind with his wagon.

Gives fair winds to sailors as said by Freyja in Hyndluljod.

The storm stills when Odin boards Sigurd’s ship.

May have first been worshipped in Gotland.

Is a traveler.

Rides a white or black horse with a wide brimmed hat, staff and hounds.

Snorri: rides with helmet, birnie and speak Gungnir at Ragnarok.

Also known to ride Sleipnir. The eight legged grey mare of Loki’s lineage with Svadilfari.

Rides her to Urd’s well daily.

To consult Volva in Niflhel about Balder’s dreams.

To offer random for Hel after his death.

Names stemming from appearance:

Sidhottr (with broad hat).

Harbard (grey beard).

Skidskegg (long beard).

Misc about appearance

A man of amazing height (Saxo).

Draupnir, the ring made by Sindri the dwarf was given to Odin by his brother.

Burned with Balder’s pyre and Balder sent it back to him from Hel.

Animals of Odin.

Munnin (Memory) and Huginn (Thought) are sent at day break around the world and return at evening to bring news to him.

Whisper what they have heard.

All Ravens are birds of Odin.

Wolves are also his: Geri ‘The Ravener’ and Freki ‘The Glutton’

Shares food and wind with him.

Sleipnir is taken to Hel, Jotunheim, etc.

Challenged Hrungnir that his was better than Gullfaxi.

Hrungnir chased him into Asgard where Thor dealt with him.

Yggdrasil

‘Ygg’s Horse’ Ygg being “The terrible”.

Askr Yggdrasils (the ash of Yggdrasil or of Odin’s steed).

Odin hung for nine nights in Havamal.

Stabbed himself with his own spear as well.

King Vikar needed to sacrifice himself so that his fleet might pass through great storms.

Starkad (Odin’s foster son) created a death akin to Odins for Vikar.

Harbard

Appears as a ferryman of the dead.

Valhalla

“Souls of those slain by violence go in the Furious Host, and souls of heroes go to Odin in Valhall.” (MacCulloch, 44).

Chosen warriors are einherjar.

Mightiest of warriors are taken to Valhalla as he wants them by their side when Fenrir comes to the seat of the god.

Valhalla lies in Gladsheim, the world of joy.

Valhall is the ‘Hall of the Slain’.

Vingolf is the ‘friendly floor.’

Valkyries

 ‘Chooser of the Slain,’

However shares the slain with Freyja.

Determine a man’s feyness and awarded victory and took the slain.

Wish-Maidens becausee they carried out Odin’s will.

Corselets sprinkled with blood and sparks fly from their spears.

Sacrifice

Prisoners sacrificed more common in Denmark and Sweden. ‘Odin has you all!’

In response Odin gives some gifts at times.

Descent

The cow Audhumla gave birth to Buri.

His son was Borr who married Bestla.

Bestla was daughter of Bolthorn.

Bestla and Borr had Odin, Vili and Ve.

Children and Love

Frigg.

Wife of Odin, although she was at one point shared with Vili and Ve when they believed Odin would not return.

Frigg offending Odin may have been why he left.

Or perhaps thrown out into exile after the incident with Rinda.

Took her back as his wife when he came back.

Son was Balder

 Jord

Son was Thor.

Rinda.

After Balder died, Odin desired revenge. So he spoke to prophets on this and one of these told him a son must be born to him by Rinda. As a soldier, he gained her father’s favour but not Rinda. As a smith he made Rinda made many things but she still refused him. Eventually, he used the bark of runes and claimed to cure her as a maiden skilled in Leecraft.

Has Vali by her (Bous in Eddas).

Seven sisters in Harbardsljod. Allures witches from their husbands.

Linen-White Maid.

Grid

Has Vidarr by her.

Billings Daughter

“Dear to him as life.”

Tried to visit her at night on her request only to find a band of warriors at her home.

Visited her in the morning and found a dog tied to her bed.

“Many maids are fickle.”

Gunnlod, daughter of the giant Suttung.

Penetrated rock with the snout of Rati.

Mead given to him by Gunnlod and he won her over.

‘fettered with the feathers of the bird of forgetfulness (heron) in Gunnlod’s abode, very drunk in the house of wise Suttung.’

Gains knowledge from the mead.

As Bolverk, he slept with her for three nights and received three draughts of mead. He gave the first to Odrorir, second to Bodn and third Son to gain all the mead.

Then turned into an eagle and flew away beck to Asgard.

Gave the mead to the Aesir, who have the ability of composition. Poetic Mead.

Other Children

Heimdall

Bragi

Hod

Skjold

Kings and chiefs (Skjoldings from his son Skjold)

Losses

After killing Otter he had to pay wergild when overcome by Hreidmar.

“In Lokasenna, Odin shows himself frightened for Loki, and it is Thor, not Odin, who silences him.” (MacCullogh, 49)

Source Credit

MacCulloch, John Arnott. The Mythology of All Races: Eddic. Vol. 2, Cooper Square Publ., 1964.