Aesir

In Old Norse, the Æsir (singular Ás, feminine Ásynja, feminine plural Ásynjur, Anglo-Saxon Ós, from Proto-Germanic *Ansuz) are the principal gods of the Norse pantheon. They include many of the major figures, such as Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. A second clan of gods, the Vanir, are also mentioned in the Norse mythos: the god Njord and his children, Freyr and Freyja, are the most prominent Vanir gods who join the Æsir as hostages after a war between Æsir and Vanir. The Vanir appear to have mainly been connected with cultivation and fertility and the Æsir were connected with power and war. Despite this differentiation, the term "Aesir" is also occasionally used as a general collective noun for all Norse gods (both Aesir and Vanir).

Etymology

The word áss, Proto-Germanic *ansuz is believed to be derived from Proto-Indo-European *ansu- 'breath, god' related to Sanskrit asura and Avestan ahura with the same meaning; though in Sanskrit asura came to mean 'demon'. The cognate Old English form to áss is os 'god, deity', as in the still-current surname Osgood, or the first names Oswin, Osbert, Oswald, Osborn, Osmund (but Oscar is an unrelated Gaelic name). As occurs in many Scandinavian names: Asbjørn, Asgeir (Asger, Asker), Asmund, Astrid, Åse etc.

Snorri Sturluson's Euhemeristic in the 13th century connected the Æsir with Asia, an explanation repeated as late as in the 17th century by Schefferus, who held that Æsir referred to "Asian emperors", that is, a shamanistic hereditary leadership, emanating out from the Eurasian steppes into Europe in ancient times (compare Thraco-Cimmerians).

Ása is the genitive form of Áss. The, form appears as a prefix to indicate membership in the Æsir in "Ása-Þórr", and also in the compound Ásatrú, a sect of Germanic Neopaganism.

Norse mythology

The interaction between the Æsir and the Vanir is an interesting aspect of Norse mythology. While other cultures have had "elder" and "younger" families of gods, as with the Titans versus the Olympians of ancient Greece, the Æsir and Vanir were portrayed as contemporary. The two clans of gods fought battles, concluded treaties, and exchanged hostages (Freyr and Freyja are mentioned as such hostages). It is tempting to speculate that the interactions; descriibed as occurring between Æsir and Vanir reflect the types of interaction common to various Norse clans at the time. According to another theory, the cult of the Vanir (who are mainly connected with fertility and are relatively peaceful) may be of an older date, and that of the more warlike Æsir of later origin, so the mythical war may perhaps mirror a religious conflict. On the other hand this may be a parallel to the historicized conflict between the Romans and the Sabines. The noted comparative religion scholar Mircea Eliade speculated that both conflicts are actually different versions of an older Indo-European myth of conflict and integration between deities of sky and rulership versus deities of earth and fertility, with no strict historical antecedents.

The chronology of the cults would in that case not be pictured in the myths. However, only Odin and Thor were important in both myth and cult; an áss like Ullr is almost unknown in the myths, but his name is seen in a lot of geographical names, especially in Sweden, so his cult was probably quite widespread.

The Æsir stayed forever young by eating the apples of Iðunn, although they could be slain, as it was predicted that nearly all will die at Ragnarök.

Ethnological theory

As the Edda portrays the conflict between Aesir and Vanir as resulting in the creation of the Germanic pantheon or people, some ethnologists and religious scholars such as Marija Gimbutas have likened it to the Roman myth of The Rape of the Sabine Women and have speculized that the Aesir-Vanir conflict is in fact a mythologized portrayal of the Indo-Europeanization of ancient Europe with the Aesir taking the part of the conquering Indo-Europeans as according to the ethnological Kurgan hypothesis. According to this theory also backed up by linguistics on Indo-Germanic and Germanic languages as well as pertaining religious vocabulary relating to the Aesir as opposed to the Vanir, the Aesir were the Indo-European invaders that introduced Indo-Germanic languages to Europe, of which one cultural and linguistic branch later evolved into the Germanic languages and culture. See Indo-European religion for more aspects of the Aesir's relationship to this group.

The a-rune

The a-rune 10px, Younger Futhark ᚬ was probably named after the Æsir. The name in this sense survives only in the Icelandic rune poem as Óss, referring to Odin in particular, identified with Jupiter.

The name of 15px a in the Gothic alphabet is ahsa. The common Germanic name of the rune may thus have either been ansuz "God, one of the Æsir", or ahsam "ear (of corn)".

List of Æsir

• Baldr — (Balder) god of innocence and beauty
• Bragi — (Brage) the bard (skald)
• Forseti — god of justice
• Frigg — chief goddess
• Heimdallr — (Heimdall) the watchman and guardian
• Höðr — blind god of darkness and winter
• Hœnir — the indecisive god
• Iðunn —(Idun) goddess of youth, fertility and death
• Loki — the trickster, foster-brother of Odin
• Meili — the mile-stepper
• Nanna — wife of Baldr
• Óðinn — (Odin) chief god, of wisdom and war
• Sif — golden-haired wife of Thor
• Þórr — (Thor) god of thunder and battle
• Týr — (Tyr) one-handed, self sacrificing god of law and justice.
• Ullr — the hunter, tracker and archer
• Váli — the avenger
• Vé — brother of Odin, who gave men speech
• Viðarr — (Vidar) god of silence, stealth, and revenge
• Vili — brother of Odin, who gave men feeling and thought

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Davis, Kenneth C. Don't Know Much About Mythology. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 006019460X.
• DuBois, Thomas A. Nordic Religions in the Viking Age. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8122-1714-4.
• Dumézil, Georges. Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Edited by Einar Haugen; Introduction by C. Scott Littleton and Udo Strutynski. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. ISBN 0-520-02044-8.
• Grammaticus, Saxo. The Danish History (Volumes I-IX). Translated by Oliver Elton (Norroena Society, New York, 1905). Accessed online at The Online Medieval & Classical Library.
• Lindow, John. Handbook of Norse mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001. ISBN 1-57607-217-7.
• Munch, P. A. Norse Mythology: Legends of Gods and Heroes. In the revision of Magnus Olsen; translated from the Norwegian by Sigurd Bernhard Hustvedt. New York: The American-Scandinavian foundation; London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1926.
• Orchard, Andy. Cassell's Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. London: Cassell; New York: Distributed in the United States by Sterling Pub. Co., 2002. ISBN 0-304-36385-5.
• The Poetic Edda. Translated and with notes by Henry Adams Bellows. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1936. Accessed online at sacred-texts.com.
• Sturluson, Snorri. The Prose Edda. Translated from the Icelandic and with an introduction by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. New York: American-Scandinavian foundation, 1916. Available online at http://www.northvegr.org/lore/prose/index.php.
• Turville-Petre, Gabriel. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964. ISBN 0837174201.

External link

• Viktor Rydberg's "Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland" e-book
• W. Wagner's "Asgard and the Home of the Gods" e-book
• "Myths of Northern Lands" e-book by H. A. Guerber
• Peter Andreas Munch's "Norse Mythology: Legends of Gods and Heroes" e-book
• Bartleby: American Heritage Dictionary: Indo-European roots: ansu

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