Mythology the world over originated by people in various areas trying to explain the world around them. They discuss natural forces and try to make it easier to understand human nature: Love, war, friendship, and chance. These stories were created from a need to understand, but also sometimes for entertainment. They mixed Gods with humans and some are based upon actual people. This was the case for Norse Mythology as well.

Many people think that the Norse Mythology only came from Norway, but it actually from the Viking People which included Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. Because this area was never a consolidated region with a unified religion, the characters often change nature and being based upon who was telling the story. As with other cultures, these legends were used to pass on things considered important such as strength and wisdom. Because of the long cold winters, they were also more for entertainment and thus passed on by bards rather than priests. Wodin (or Odin) was always considered wise, but he could be tricked. Loki switched between being evil and good depending on the views and choices of the storyteller. Also, every Viking leader had personnel likes and dislikes, so often names were changed to suit the situation; a bard did not want to be evicted into the cold! This lack of unity or association with any major civilization makes tracing the origins of Norse Mythology difficult.

These “Collective Myths” came from all over the Scandinavian Region and are best represented in the Eddas from Iceland. They are in poetry form as they were designed to be sung by bards mainly during the long winters when travel was difficult. They were condensed to a certain extent in the Germanic Region of Europe, but had been around for eons before that.

There are numerous sources for learning about these myths and many opinions as to their value, researchers of Norse Mythology disagree just like everybody else. If you would like to read most of the Eddas, there is a great website at www.angelfire.com/on/Wodensharrow/texts with most of them listed and they are even categorized for you. There are The Poetic Eddas (Smund’s Edda), The Prose Eddas (Snorri’s Edda), other Norse Poems and they even give you different translations and sources if you want to further explore the differences.

Check out the Norse Mythology, it is as entertaining and fascinating today as when it first came into being. It can tell you how things use to be looked at and how the world changes (or has remained the same). Just realize that there is no one source!