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The Vanir (likely from the Proto-Indo-European root *wen, which is related etymologically "to words in other [Indo-European] languages meaning 'pleasure' or 'desire.'")^[1] are one of the two groups of gods in Norse mythology, the other being the comparatively better-known Æsir. However, while "Aesir" is occasionally used as a blanket term to describe all Norse deities, "Vanir" is not.^[2] It refers to an explicitly separate sub-section of the pantheon, with ties to fertility, sexuality, and worldly prosperity (which, in turn, is a dramatic divergence from the general Norse mythological obsession with raiding, battle, and physical prowess). The best known members of the Vanir are Njord, Freyr, and Freya.

Norse context

As Norse deities, the Vanir belonged to a complex religious, mythological and cosmological belief system shared by the Scandinavian and Germanic peoples. This mythological tradition, of which the Scandinavian (and particularly Icelandic) sub-groups are best preserved, 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..^[3] The tales recorded within this mythological corpus tend to exemplify a unified cultural focus on physical prowess and military might.

The Vanir in Norse Mythology

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, which the Aesir had finally won. In fact, the most significant 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.^[4] 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. The Æsir, though immortal, were somewhat more "perishable" than their Indo-European brethren. Not only was their eternal youth maintained artificially (through the consumption of Iðunn's golden apples), they could also be slain (as many were preordained to be at the cataclysm of Ragnarök).

This interaction between the Æsir and the Vanir is one of the interesting aspects of Norse mythology. Unlike other polytheistic cultures, where families of gods were typically understood as "elder" or "younger" (as with the Titans and the Olympians of ancient Greece), the Æsir and Vanir were portrayed as contemporary. As described above, the two clans fought battles, concluded treaties, and exchanged hostages (discussed below. It is tempting to speculate that the interactions described as occurring between Æsir and Vanir reflect the types of interaction between social classes (or clans) within Norse society at the time.^[5] According to another theory, the cult of the Vanir (who are mainly connected with fertility and are relatively peaceful) may be more archaic than that of the more warlike Æsir, such that the mythical war may mirror a half-remembered religious conflict.^[6] On the other hand, this may be a parallel to the historicized conflict between the Romans and the Sabines.^[7] 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.^[8]

Aesir/Vanir War

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The Vanir and the Elves

The Eddas possibly identify the Vanir with the elves (Alfar), frequently interchanging "Æsir and Vanir" and "Æsir and Alfar" to mean "all the gods". As both the Vanir and the Alfar were fertility powers, the interchangeability suggest that the Vanir may have been synonymous with the elves. It may also be that the two names reflected a difference in status where the elves were minor fertility gods whereas the Vanir were major fertility gods. Freyr would thus be a natural Van ruler of the elves in Álfheim.

The Vanir in Norse Cosmology

The Vanir live in Vanaheimr, also called Vanaland; Snorri Sturluson calls their land Tanakvísl or Vanakvísl (Tanakvísl eða Vanakvísl) etymologizing Vanir as the "Don-people". Vanaheimr, along with Asgard, is the home of the gods in the tree of life Yggdrasil.

Characteristics

They are gods of fertility, the sea, and prosperity. While the Æsir were war gods, the Vanir were understood to be rich, the givers of riches, the patrons of fecundity, pleasure, and peace, and with the Æsir, the bringers of unity. They have a deep knowledge of magical arts, so that they also know the future. It is said that it was Freyja who taught magic to the Æsir. They also practiced endogamy and even incest, both forbidden among the Æsir; as an example Freyr and Freyja were children of Njǫrðr and his sister (see Nerthus). Later conflicts with Christians attempting to convert the pagan Norse were especially hard due to cults favoring the Vanir. Early pagan Norse either chose between cults of the Vanir, Æsir, or both. Areas where fishing and boating were prominent tended to have greater Vanir cults.

Members

They include Njord the father of the gods of Vanir and god of the sea, Freyr, the god of fertility, and Freyja, goddess of love and sexuality, who lived among the Æsir at Yggdrasil directly below the Æsir. The poem Skirnismol, from the Icelandic Poetic Edda, tells the story of Freyr finding love. Freyr, sitting on top of Odin's throne above the worlds spied the Jotun-giantess Gerðr, with whom he fell in love. He traded a horse and his enchanted sword to Skirnir, his companion, if he would go to Gerðr and express Freyr's love for her. Skirnir did so, and after threatening Gerðr with curses, she agreed to marry Freyr. Because of this incident, Freyr will have no sword at Ragnarok.

To end the war between the gods, the two sides exchanged hostages. The Vanir were, however, tricked. Outraged they cut off the head of one of the hostages, Mímir, and sent it to the Æsir. Odin accepted the head and placed it under the tree of life, where, in order to divine knowledge of the future, he had to relinquish one of his eyes. The origins as Vanir of Skaði, Lýtir, Gerðr and Óðr may be debated. Óðr is mentioned in the Eddas very shortly as the husband of Freyja, but nothing more is actually known about him (although it is often remarked that it was one of Odin's names). The gods Njörd and Freyr appear in Snorri's Ynglinga saga as Kings of Sweden. Their descendants on the Swedish throne can be called Vanir, such as:

Fjölnir who was the son of Frey and the giantess Gerðr.
Sveigder who married Vana of Vanaheimr and had the son Vanlade.
Vanlade whose name connects him to the Vanir, and who married a daughter of the Jotun Snær.

The Vanir and their Guests

Freyja
Freyr
Gerðr
Gullveig, when the Æsir treated her badly, it caused the war of the gods
Hœnir, an Æsir hostage
Mímir, an Æsir hostage
Kvasir
Lýtir
Njǫrðr
Skaði

There is a possible connection between Heimdall and the Vanir, noted by H.R. Ellis Davidson.

Cult of the Vanir

The Vanir are associated with bringing an understanding of celestial bodies to the Norse. Njord, god of the sea, brought understanding of the stars, sun, and moon which is evident in carvings, cave paintings, and runes throughout Scandinavia. Although debatable, this understanding of celestial bodies was what allowed boaters, and later Vikings, the ability to cross vast stretches of ocean, though it was not the primary source of navigation. It is also understood that the Vanir were responsible for sexual practices and healing.

Contemporary reconstruction of Norse religion focusing on the Vanir is sometimes known as Vanatrú.

Inter-religious Parallels

The war between the Vanir and the Æsir, together with their status as gods of agiculture and fertility, have led some scholars to identify them as an earlier pantheon supplanted by the Æsir. This mirrors theories about the Titans and the Greek and Roman gods, similarly primal gods replaced by newcomers who resided in the sky (or in the latter case Mount Olympus); earth-gods and fertility worship being replaced by sky-gods and martial worship. Another comparison may be made between the Irish— and other Indo-Europeans —invading, and subsequently conquering Milesians, and their fertility goddesses, and gods, the Tuatha De Danaan ("People of the Goddess Danu/Dana; the Tuatha had already done the same to the even older Fir Bolg.

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 links

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↑ Lindow, 311.
↑ Turville-Petre, 156.
↑ 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.
↑ Dumézil, 3-4, 18; Turville-Petre, 159-162.
↑ This argument was first suggested by Wilhelm Mannhardt in 1877 (as described in Dumézil, xxiii). On a similar note, Marija Gimbutas argues that the Aesir and the Vanir represent the displacement of an indigenous Indo-European group by a tribe of warlike invaders (in following her Kurgan hypothesis). See her case in The Living Goddess for more details.
↑ Turville-Petre, 161. See especially ff. 37.
↑ See this pattern discussed in Eliade's Patterns in Comparative Religion - Section II (30) - The Supplanting of Sky Gods by Fecundators. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1958.

[1] Lindow, 311.

[2] Turville-Petre, 156.

[3] 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).

[4] 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.

[5] Dumézil, 3-4, 18; Turville-Petre, 159-162.

[6] This argument was first suggested by Wilhelm Mannhardt in 1877 (as described in Dumézil, xxiii). On a similar note, Marija Gimbutas argues that the Aesir and the Vanir represent the displacement of an indigenous Indo-European group by a tribe of warlike invaders (in following her Kurgan hypothesis). See her case in The Living Goddess for more details.

[7] Turville-Petre, 161. See especially ff. 37.

[8] See this pattern discussed in Eliade's Patterns in Comparative Religion - Section II (30) - The Supplanting of Sky Gods by Fecundators. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1958.

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-'''Vanir''' is the name of one of the two groups of gods in [[Norse mythology]], the other and more well known being the [[Æsir]]. The name is perhaps from the [[Proto-Indo-European]] root *''wen''- "to strive, win", cognate to [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] (compare [[Vanadis]]), [[Wynn]] ([[Proto-Germanic]] ''*Wanizaz''), archaic Greek [[Wanax]]. <expand>
+The '''Vanir''' (likely from the [[Proto-Indo-European]] root *''wen'', which is related etymologically "to words in other [Indo-European] languages meaning 'pleasure' or 'desire.'")<ref>Lindow, 311.</ref> are one of the two groups of gods in [[Norse mythology]], the other being the comparatively better-known [[Æsir]]. However, while "Aesir" is occasionally used as a blanket term to describe all Norse deities, "Vanir" is not.<ref>Turville-Petre, 156.</ref> It refers to an explicitly separate sub-section of the pantheon, with ties to fertility, sexuality, and worldly prosperity (which, in turn, is a dramatic divergence from the general Norse mythological obsession with raiding, battle, and physical prowess). The best known members of the Vanir are [[Njord]], [[Freyr]], and [[Freya]].
 ==Norse context==