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Sources of Norse mythology

Non-written Scandinavian sources

Rock carvings

Archeological record

Theophoric place-names

The main interest of theophoric place-names – i.e. places named after a god – is to provide information on the location, extent and expansion of the cult of a god. Toponymy as a source of Norse mythology was first widely used at the beginning of the 20th century by the Norwegian scholar Magnus Olsen. Places named after Thor are more frequent in Norway and Iceland (though there are few theophoric toponyms in this country), after Odin in Denmark (for instance Odense, which originally meant "Odin’s sanctuary", Óðins-vé), after Freyr in Sweden. Such toponyms often combine the name of a god with the name of a holy-place (hof, "temple"; vé, "sanctuary", "temple"; hörgt, "altar of stone", "cairn"; lundr, "grove"). It is interesting to notice that some gods seldom mentioned in written sources are quite often found in place-names (for instance Ullr / Ullin), and conversely (Odin has few places named after him). Nevertheless the interpretation of place-names is difficult. For instance, it may be hard to determine whether a place whose name contains Thor was named after the god or after a man whose first name was based on the name of the god.

Non-Scandinavian sources

Antiquity

The most valuable ancient source is Tacitus' Germania, written around 98, which mentions the gods worshiped by the Germanic tribes (the first god Tuisto and his son Mannus, whose three sons are the ancestors of the first three Germanic tribes ; the triad Mercurius, Hercules, Mars ; the Earth Goddess Nerthus ; Castor and Pollux, whom they call the Alcis), their cult places (sacred woods and groves, but no temples), the existence of human sacrifices, their strong belief in auspices.

Other ancient historians who gave (generally scarce) information on Germanic mythology or religion include Julius Caesar, Strabo, Livy, Marcus Velleius Paterculus, Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, Suetonius and Procopius.

Middle Ages

Another source is the life of the saints (vitae) who were involved in the conversion of the Germans : Columbanus, Boniface, Willibald, Ansgar, "the apostle of the North". Adam of Bremen's Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum can be compared to these works. It tells the story of the archbishopric of Bremen-Hamburg and of its incumbents, who were in charge of the conversion of Scandinavia. As far as Norse mythology is concerned, the most famous passage of the book is the description of the temple at Uppsala. Inside the temple were the statues of three gods - Thor, Wotan (Odin) and Fricco (Freyr). Sacrifices (including human ones) were performed every nine year in the sacred wood and well that surrounded the temple. But Adam was no eyewitness of what he described, and the accuracy of his testimony has been questioned.

Eventually, there are also a few non-European testimonies. Ibn Rustah and Ibn Fadlan, two Muslim travellers, gave an account of the religious customs of the Rus'. Ibn Fadlan description of the funeral of a Varangian chieftain – a ship burial involving the sacrifice of a female slave – is particularly well-known.

Written Scandinavian sources

Skaldic poetry

Skaldic poetry – from the Old Norse word for "poet", skáld – is a much valuable source. Many skaldic poems date back to the pagan period, and some deal with mythological subjects. The oldest recorded one, Bragi Boddason's Ragnarsdrápa, for instance describes three mythological scenes depicted on a shield given to him by Ragnarr Loðbrók.

Skaldic poetry is often difficult to understand but a prose equivalent can sometimes be found, especially in Snorri Sturluson’s work. Thor’s killing of the giant Geirröd and his daughters, recounted in Eilífr Goðrúnarson's Þórsdrápa, is thus also related (with discrepancies) in the Skáldskaparmál.

Even when they do not directly deal with mythological themes, skaldic poems still rely on mythology, especially due to the use of kennings, periphrases that often have to do with mythology. Some of them suggest the existence of myths that were not recorded. For instance, the giant Hrungnir is called "thief of Þrúðr" in Ragnarsdrápa, which leads to think that there may have been a myth relating the abduction of Thor’s daughter.

Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum

Snorri Sturluson’s work

Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) was an Icelandic skald, historian, mythographer and politician. He wrote two of the most important sources of Norse mythology: the Ynglinga saga and the Prose Edda.

The Ynglinga saga

The Ynglinga saga is the first part of the Heimskringla, a history of the kings of Norway from the mythological and legendary kings of the Yngling dynasty to Magnus Erlingsson.

The Edda

Probably written from 1220, the Edda, known also as Snorri's Edda (Snorra Edda in Old Norse), the Prose Edda or the Younger Edda, was intended as a handbook for skalds, but it is also a thorough presentation of Norse mythology.

Content

Snorri's Edda consists of four parts: a prologue, the Gylfaginning, the Skáldskaparmál and the Háttatal. As far as Norse mythology is concerned, the more interesting parts are the Gylfaginning and the Skáldskaparmál.

The prologue tells how the Æsir, described not as gods but as men, migrated from Asia to Scandinavia, and how the dynasties that reigned over Scandinavia were founded.

The Gylfaginning ("Tricking of Gylfi") is a dialogue between king Gylfi and the three rulers of Ásgarðr, which is the frame of a global and coherent presentation of Norse myths, from the creation of the world to Ragnarök. It includes a presentation of Norse gods and mythological creatures.

The Skáldskaparmál ("Language of poetry") is another dialogue, between Bragi, the god of poetry, and Ægir, who has been invited to a banquet by the Æsir. Many heiti and kennings are listed, and the stories behind them are told, many of which are mythological.

The Háttatal is a poem composed in the honour of king Hákon and jarl Skúli Bárðarson.

Interest

When he wrote his Edda, Snorri probably wanted to preserve a poetic tradition that was vanishing and, since the knowledge of mythology was necessary to the skalds, to preserve Norse mythology as well.

The value of Snorri’s Edda as a reliable source of Norse mythology was questioned as soon as the end of the 19th century. But the sharper criticism came from the German scholar Eugen Mogk in the beginning of the 20th century. According to Mogk, Snorri’s accounts were no more than "mythological tales" (mythologischen Novellen). He argued that Snorri, writing more than two centuries after the conversion of Iceland, in a country that had been very open to foreign influences, and where a great deal of the had already disappeared, could hardly understand Norse paganism, which led to many misinterpretations and inventions.

But it is today acknowledged that Snorri was on the whole true to his sources, even if there are distortions due to his Christian faith and his writer's work. His Christian culture is indeed obvious (his description of the realm Hel for instance owes more to Christian representations of Hell than to traditional Germanic conceptions ) and, as H. R. Ellis Davidson states it, "he was primarily a literary artist, not an anthropologist or religious historian". But she adds that "there is little doubt that on the whole Snorri has given us a faithful picture of heathen mythology as he found it in the poets", an opinion widely shared today.

"Snorri’s rehabilitation" owes much to Georges Dumézil, who tried to demonstrate that Snorri was not the forger whom Mogk and the proponents of an hypercritical method denounced. His comparative approach indeed permitted to establish the authenticity of many of the myths told in the Edda, whose equivalents he found in other Indo-European religions.