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Home » mythology

5 Weirdest Norse Myths

February 12, 2016 By Toby Isaacson Leave a Comment

With so much history to back us up, there are bound to be numerous tales and information scattered around the world. Humanity has always been creative, really. But if you think that a little bit of good, ol’ Harry Potter sounds ridiculous, then that means you don’t know what we used to come up with in the more ancient times. In more recent years, the world of Asgard and the various characters attached to it, have seen a boom in exposure thanks to the popularity of Marvel’s adaptations for Thor. But before there was Chris Hemsworth, there was the real thing. Well, maybe that’s not the wisest word choice. After you read about these 5 Weirdest Norse Myths, you’ll probably be genuinely glad that they’re not actually the real thing.

1. A World Of Body Parts

Weirdest Norse Myths - Genesis Of The World

According to Nordic beliefs, before the world was created, all we had was a vast nothingness called Ginnungagap, described to having been the host of masses of ice and oceans of fire. When these two collided, they gave birth to Ymir, a being who eventually created the first giant. Together with the latter born Buri, the first born Aesir, and Odin, they founded the New World by sacrificing Ymir. They tore him apart and from each of his limbs, they crafted an element of the world: Earth was made out of his skin, the sky was molded out of his skull, his brains were transformed into clouds, his life-juice – read, blood; the sea and his teeth and bones the pebbles and rocks.

2. Loki’s Mouth Was Sewed

Loki Was Often The Source Of Many Of The Weirdest Norse Myths

In a very typical Loki fashion, the Trickster God got one day bored enough to think that it’d be hilarious to shave the head of Thor’s betrothed, Sif, while she was still asleep. As it was to be expected, Thor was furious when he found out, yet Loki managed to bargain his way out by promising he’d get Sif new hair tailored from the hands of dwarves. And it wasn’t just any kind of hair. Loki told them to make it from gold, along with other various gifts meant to appease to other gods. But because he has nothing better to do than self destruct, he made a bet with the dwarves that they couldn’t create something better than those gifts, with the loser having to sever their head and serve it on a tray. Since one of the things that the dwarves created that day as Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer itself, needless to say that Loki lost. Fortunately, he yet again managed to talk his way out by having the dwarves give in to the proposal of a compromise. With Thor’s help, they knocked him out cold, then silenced him by sewing his mouth with leather.

3. Cross Dressing Thor

Thor's Wedding Was One Of The Most Hilarious And Weirdest Norse Myths

Once upon a time, Thor woke up to find that his beloved Mjolnir hammer was nowhere to be found. After some insightful investigations, he found it in the hands of a giant named Thrymr. He said he’d only return the hammer if Thor could convince Freya to marry him, which is something that didn’t really work out, since she vehemently refused. What did Thor do next? He dressed up in his finest gown then, with Loki shapeshifted into a handmaiden trotting alongside him, he married Thrymr while posing as Freya. And since no one noticed, he eventually got his hammer back and, still dressed in his wedding dress, murdered everyone at the feast.

4. Loki’s Apocalyptic Children

Weirdest Norse Myths Can Also Be Very Cool

Yes, Loki actually had offspring. But don’t get too excited, his parenthood experience wasn’t exactly a conventional one. His first child was Sleipnir, an 8-legged horse that emerged from Loki sabotaging a deal Odin struck with a giant. With the same giantess, he had three more children: Hel, a humanlike being that eventually came to rule the underworld, Fenrir, the legendary wolf whose breaking from his chains was to mark the end of the world, and Jormungandr, a huge snake who was the bearer of the world by keeping his tail in his mouth. He had a total of five children, with the last one remaining unnamed in the myths. All of them had important parts to play in the Ragnarok, which is the Norse apocalypse, as Odin faced it while riding Sleipnir onto the battlefield, and Hel led an army alongside Loki. Odin’s destiny was to lose his life at Fenrir’s claws, and Thor with Jormungandr were meant to lose their lives in a clash against each other. As for the anonymous son, he was unfortunately killed, and his intestines were shifted into chains from iron that tied Loki after he murdered Baldur.

5. Mistletoe, A Murder Weapon

Weirdest Norse Myths - Baldur's Cause Of Death

We ended the last paragraph on a name: Baldur. Who was he? Well, meet Thor’s other sibling, the true star of Asgard, beloved by all and favored by the other gods. He had such a fantastic life, that the shock of finding out that he’s been dreaming of his death was even bigger. Odin visited the underworld to find answers, and returned with the grim confirmation that Baldur’s dreams were indeed meant to become real and, even worse, that his eventual death would serve as an omen for the start of the Ragnarok. In order to protect her son, Frigg made it her mission to ensure every little thing would give its word they wouldn’t harm him, although she made the big mistake of omitting mistletoe from her list. And who was the first to find this out and take advantage of it? Everyone’s favorite trickster, Loki, of course. He showed up during a game where the other gods would throw things at Baldur, as a means to solidify his invincibility, with mistletoe the size of a shaft. He handed it to Hodr, a first time participant to the games, and it’s said that when he threw it, the mistletoe pierced right through Baldur, and had him dead on the spot.

To anyone who’s ever had their fair share of general mythology, all of these stories might seem like they fit the perfect recipe. After all, who’s to say the events described above aren’t less insane than the myth of how Zeus gave birth through his forehead? Either way, we have to appreciate the creativity of the people who left all these stories for us to read centuries and millenniums later. These were 5 Weirdest Norse Myths, but there is more where they came from, trust me.

Image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Filed Under: fun Tagged With: history, mythology, myths, norse mythology, norse myths

5 Supremely Awesome Mythological Objects

June 4, 2014 By Fred Mitchell Leave a Comment

When I was younger I loved Indiana Jones and stories about ancient civilizations and heroes. It seemed that one mythological object could make all the troubles of the world vanish, or somehow imbue the user with inhuman strength. Have you bought yourself a fedora and hoped to find supernatural treasures such as these? You have probably already heard about Excalibur, Arthur’s sword or the Mjolnir hammer, but we want to present to you 5 supremely awesome mythological objects that you have probably not heard about.

1.     The Ring of Gyges

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There are probably many among you who have already read the Lord of the Ring Books, or seen the movies. This means that you also know about the one ring, to rule all the others. Sauron’s ring is very similar to the Ring of Gyges, in that it makes its wearer invisible. The only difference between them is that the ring from LOTR also has soul-blackening effects on the wearer. The ring of Gyges isn’t very well known. It was first described in a story told by the philosopher Plato.

According to him, a shepherd finds the ring after an earthquake unravels a cave near his flock. He takes it from the corpse of an unworldly creature, and soon finds out that it can make him invisible. With it, he seduces the king’s wife, kills the king and becomes ruler of Lydia.

2.     The Book of Thoth

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Witches use Grimoars to practice their magic. The Egyptian god of wisdom and magic, Toth, used the Book of Tooth. It is believed that this book contains two vital spells. One was designed to help the user better understand animals, while the others is used to understand the mind of the Gods. According to an old tale a prince finds the book.

As punishment his family is murdered and he commits suicide. A couple of years later, another prince finds the book but is warned not to take it by the spirit of the previous owner. Because he doesn’t listen to the advice he is forced to kill his own children. Or so he thinks, because everything is an illusion orchestrated by the ghost to convince him. He finally understands the word of the fallen prince and puts the book back where he found it.

3.     The Argo

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If you are passionate about classic mythology you have probably already heard about the Argonautica, by Apollonius of Rhodes. This book tells the tale of Jason and his crew of Heroes (the Argonauts). They sail on the Argo, a ship that was imbued with magical powers by the goddess Hera. The Argo is made from timber harvested from the forests of Dodona (it has the power of prophecy). When they completed the quest, the Argo was placed on the Zenith, and became a constellation.

4.     The Spear of Destiny

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The Christian faith speaks about many artifacts with special powers but the most well-known ones is without a doubt the Spear of Destiny. According to historians, it is the weapon with which Christ’s side was pierced. Therefore, it was imbued with incredible powers. Apparently, the owner of this weapon can control the world. It is also believed that the crazy leaders of the world managed to put their hands on it. For example, Hitler was believed to use it when dabbling with the occult, to conquer most of Europe. Conspiracy theorists also say that General Patton took the spear of destiny from Hitler upon his arrival in Nuremburg.

5.     Dragon’s Teeth

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Think about a mythological creature. The dragon is the first one that comes to mind, is it not? That’s because dragons are quintessential to all the cultures on the planet. These giant, wise, fire-breathing lizards that hold all the magic in the world have helped countless of heroes and magicians. There is even a Greek legend of Cadmus which talks about the Ares’s dragon. Cadmus was advised by Athena, Ares’s sister, to plant the dragon teeth to grow a fresh crop of soldiers. Out of all the soldiers, five survived and were sent to found the city of Thebes. There is also a saying (“to sow dragon’s teeth”) which means to create something that leads to dispute.

Filed Under: art Tagged With: mythological objects, mythology, rare objects

Zeus’ 5 Most Bizarre Conquests

December 3, 2011 By Vernon Gadson 1 Comment

In Ancient Greek mythology Zeus was king of the gods and, by and large, did a pretty good job of it. Referred to as father even by those gods he didn’t have a hand in conceiving, he overthrew his baby-eating father Cronus and shared the world with his elder brothers Poseidon (who got the world’s waters) and Hades (who was put in charge of the dead and thus the Underworld). However, for all his godliness he had one fatal flaw: women. This, perhaps understandably, pissed off his wife Hera no end, especially considering the irony of her presiding over marriage and the union of the marriage bed. But what were Zeus’s more unusual dalliances? He was a god, after all, and a few dirty weekends disguised as business trips weren’t exactly going to cut it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: fun Tagged With: ancient greece, god, godess, gods, greek mythology, mythology, strange, weird, zeus

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