Nordic Discovery
The stories upset readers because of the violence and gore in Norse mythology
Dec
Many of these stories truly test the endurance of lovers of Norse mythology
The stories in Norse mythology all have more or less violent, cruel and sometimes extremely bloody sounds. This is not too difficult to understand, because it partly reflects the life and society of the Vikings.
- Loki was chained to the rock with his son’s intestines
After causing Baldur’s death, Loki was hunted down by the gods. They captured and imprisoned the trickster god in a cave. Then they went to Loki‘s two sons, Vali and Narfi. God Odin turned Vali into a wolf, then let this wolf tear Narfi’s body apart. Next, the god picked up Narfi’s intestines and used magic to turn it into iron chains, to bind Loki in the cave.
But the revenge didn’t stop there. The moon goddess Skadi forced a poisonous snake to hang above Loki. This creature will drip venom into the god. Luckily for Loki, the goddess Sigyn used a saucer to catch all the drops of venom for her husband. Every time Sigyn had to turn around and pour the venom on the plate, Loki was hit with a few drops of venom from the snake and it made the god scream so much that it caused an earthquake.
- Odin gouged out his eyes to gain knowledge
In Norse mythology, there is nothing more sacred than Yggdrasil, the World Tree. It binds the nine realms together and Ragnarok comes only to end its existence. However, it also promises to provide those who sincerely seek limitless knowledge. The god Odin, always seeking knowledge, went to the roots of Yggdrasil to find Mimir, a shadowy figure with insight into the flow of time (akin to the Fates in Greek mythology).
Mimir guarded the Well of Urd or the Well of Fate, and Odin realized that drinking from it would give him knowledge of certain events to come. In some stories, Odin is said to be searching for information about Ragnarok. For some reason, Mimir asked Odin to sacrifice an eye to drink from the well. Odin agreed. Without any help, the god gouged out his eyes and threw them into the well.
- Hadingus watched his lover being torn apart by giants
Hadingus and Harthgrepa have a rather strange relationship: Harthgrepa is the giantess who raised Hadingus – a normal human. When Hadingus grew up, Harthgrepa volunteered to become his lover. At the same time, Harthgrepa revealed that she could change her size and body shape to be with him. They traveled together.
Tragedy struck when Harthgrepa used magic to save his lover from the attack of a mysterious giant hand. She returned to her giant form to wrestle with the hand, cutting it off at the same time. In doing so, Harthgrepa betrayed her kind, so she was torn apart by a group of giants. Hadingus witnessed this entire terrible scene. However, he quickly overcame the pain and started a new adventure.
- The Vanir beheaded Mimir after feeling betrayed during the final negotiations of the conflict with the Aesir
The conflict between the Aesir and Vanir is never-ending and inconclusive. Tired of the war, they called for a truce and, according to tradition, sent hostages to their opponents to force both sides to behave. Vanir receives Hoenir and the prophet Mimir.
Hoenir is capable of giving great advice, but only when Mimir is around. However, the Vanir gods did not know this and became angry when Hoenir suddenly became useless. They decided to behead Mimir and send it back to Odin to show their dissatisfaction. God Odin, knowing that Vanir had mistakenly killed the real prophet, used magic to keep Mimir’s head alive. Thanks to that, the god received a lot of useful advice from Mimir for a long time afterward.
- The wolf Fenrir bit off the hand of the god Tyr
The wolf Fenrir is one of the children of Loki. It is predicted to be the opponent that kills Odin in Ragnarok. Therefore, to guard Fenrir, the gods decided to raise it in Asgard. However, because Fenrir grew too fast, the gods had to chain it.
They tricked it into trying a few chains, but each time they failed because the wolf was too strong. Finally, they decided to ask the dwarf to forge a magical chain to hold Fenrir back. The wolf was suspicious when he saw the chain. It then made a condition that it would only let them test the chain if a god put his hand in its mouth as a hostage. The god Tyr is the only god who has the courage to follow Fenrir’s terms. When the wolf discovered that he had been tricked, he struggled and bit off the god Tyr’s arm.
