Asgard

This article is about the realm of Norse Mythology. For other uses of the names Asgard, Asgaard and Asgård, see Asgard (disambiguation).

In Norse religion and Norse mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: Ásgarðr) is the realm of the Gods, the Æsir, the realm of the mortals being called Mannheim(not related to the city).

Asgard in a Norse Context

As an important mythic locale, Asgard belonged to a complex religious, mythological and cosmological belief system shared by the Scandinavian and Germanic peoples. This mythological tradition developed in the period from the first manifestations of religious and material culture in approximately 1000 B.C.E. until the Christianization of the area, a process that occurred primarily from 900-1200 C.E..^[1]

Within this framework, Norse cosmology postulates three separate "clans" of deities: the Aesir, the Vanir, and the Jotun. The distinction between Aesir and Vanir is relative, for the two are said to have made peace, exchanged hostages, intermarried and reigned together after a prolonged war. In fact, the greatest divergence between the two groups is in their respective areas of influence, with the Aesir representing war and conquest, and the Vanir representing exploration, fertility and wealth.^[2] The Jotun, on the other hand, are seen as a generally malefic (though wise) race of giants who represented the primary adversaries of the Aesir and Vanir.

Further, their cosmological system postulated a universe divided into nine interrelated realms, some of which attracted considerably greater mythological attention. Of primary importance was the threefold separation of the universe into the realms of the gods (Asgard and Vanaheim, homes of the Aesir and Vanir, respectively), the realm of mortals (Midgard) and the frigid underworld (Niflheim), the realm of the dead. These three realms were supported by an enormous tree (Yggdrasil), with the realm of the gods ensconced among the upper branches, the realm of mortals approximately halfway up the tree (and surrounded by an impassable sea), and the underworld nestled among its roots.

Though Asgard was understood as the realm of the gods, it should not be conflated with the Judeo-Christian notion of Heaven. Instead, it, like the Grecian Mount Olympus, was the home of the Aesir and, resultantly, was the locus for many tales of the gods and their doings.

Mythic Description(s)

Specific Mythic Accounts

The walls surrounding Asgard, designed to protect the Gods from the Giants, were built by a Hrimthurs, a Frost Giant, in disguise, in return for which he was to receive in payment the hand of Freya in marriage and the sun and the moon. This was agreed, provided that the work be completed within six months, and that he do it with no help. But Loki convinced the Æsir to allow the builder to let his stallion help in the building.

As the construction neared completion, the Gods regretted their contract and the solemn vows with which they had concluded it, and they threatened Loki with horrid punishment. So, in order to avoid the payment, Loki transformed himself into a mare and lured away the Giant's magic horse, Svadilfari, (the result of which was the foaling of Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged steed, best of all horses). After chasing his horse all night, the builder could see that the job could not be completed on time. He fell into such a rage that his identification as a Giant could no longer be concealed. The Æsir therefore felt their vows were void, and they called upon Thor, who had been absent fighting Trolls. Thor promptly smashed the Giant's skull with his hammer, Mjöllnir, and sent him straight to Niflhel. (Prose Edda, Gylfaginning, Paragraph XLII).

The plain of Idavoll is the centre of Asgard. The Æsir meet there for discussions on important issues: the Gods meet in a hall called Gladsheim, and the Goddesses in a hall called Vingólf. They also meet daily at the Well of Urd, beneath Yggdrasill.

Other spellings

Alternatives Anglicisations: Ásgard, Ásegard, Ásgardr, Asgardr, Ásgarthr, Ásgarth, Asgarth, Esageard, Ásgardhr
Common Swedish and Danish form: Asgård
Norwegian: Åsgard (also Åsgård, Asgaard, Aasgaard)
Icelandic, Faroese: Ásgarður

External links

The Prose Edda, translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, at sacred-texts.com

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

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.
Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. New York: Harper and Row, 1961. Translated by Willard R. Trask. ISBN 015679201X.
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.

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↑ Lindow, 6-8. Though some scholars have argued against the homogenizing effect of grouping these various traditions together under the rubric of “Norse Mythology,” the profoundly exploratory/nomadic nature of Viking society tends to overrule such objections. As Thomas DuBois cogently argues, “[w]hatever else we may say about the various peoples of the North during the Viking Age, then, we cannot claim that they were isolated from or ignorant of their neighbors…. As religion expresses the concerns and experiences of its human adherents, so it changes continually in response to cultural, economic, and environmental factors. Ideas and ideals passed between communities with frequency and regularity, leading to and interdependent and intercultural region with broad commonalities of religion and worldview.” (27-28).
↑ More specifically, Georges Dumézil, one of the foremost authorities on the Norse tradition and a noted comparitivist, argues quite persuasively that the Aesir / Vanir distinction is a component of a larger triadic division (between ruler gods, warrior gods, and gods of agriculture and commerce) that is echoed among the Indo-European cosmologies (from Vedic India, through Rome and into the Germanic North). Further, he notes that this distinction conforms to patterns of social organization found in all of these societies. See Georges Dumézil's Gods of the Ancient Northmen (especially pgs. xi-xiii, 3-25) for more details.

[1] Lindow, 6-8. Though some scholars have argued against the homogenizing effect of grouping these various traditions together under the rubric of “Norse Mythology,” the profoundly exploratory/nomadic nature of Viking society tends to overrule such objections. As Thomas DuBois cogently argues, “[w]hatever else we may say about the various peoples of the North during the Viking Age, then, we cannot claim that they were isolated from or ignorant of their neighbors…. As religion expresses the concerns and experiences of its human adherents, so it changes continually in response to cultural, economic, and environmental factors. Ideas and ideals passed between communities with frequency and regularity, leading to and interdependent and intercultural region with broad commonalities of religion and worldview.” (27-28).

[2] More specifically, Georges Dumézil, one of the foremost authorities on the Norse tradition and a noted comparitivist, argues quite persuasively that the Aesir / Vanir distinction is a component of a larger triadic division (between ruler gods, warrior gods, and gods of agriculture and commerce) that is echoed among the Indo-European cosmologies (from Vedic India, through Rome and into the Germanic North). Further, he notes that this distinction conforms to patterns of social organization found in all of these societies. See Georges Dumézil's Gods of the Ancient Northmen (especially pgs. xi-xiii, 3-25) for more details.

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