Norse Mythology

“Wisdom flooded into him. He saw farther and more clearly with one eye than he ever saw with two.”

The loss of Odin’s eye is one of the most famous myths in this collection. His eye is a metaphor for knowledge itself. Wisdom can provide greater sight than the corporeal sense of sight ever can.

“‘Because,’ said Thor, ‘when something goes wrong the first thing I always think is, it is Loki’s fault. It saves a lot of time.’”

Thor is not wrong; Loki is, in some way, responsible for most of the negative events in Norse mythology, including Ragnarok—the end of time. This is also indicative of Thor’s simple nature. While he is the most powerful god in Asgard, he is not the most intelligent.

“So now you know: that is how the gods got their greatest treasures. It was Loki’s fault. Even Thor’s hammer was Loki’s fault. That was the thing about Loki. You resented him even when you were at your most grateful, and you wee grateful to him even when you hated him most.”

Loki is contradictory in nature. Because he is the trickster god, he represents wisdom gained through hardship. The treasures the gods receive, including Mjolnir—which keeps all of Asgard safe—are due to Loki’s folly, indicating good can come from evil.

“‘I am a mountain giant,’ he said. ‘And you gods are cheats and oath-breakers. If I still had my horse, I would be finishing your wall now. I would be taking the lovely Freya and the sun and the moon for my wages. And I would be leaving you here in the darkness and the cold, without even beauty to cheer you on.’”

This passage emphasizes the themes of oaths, disguise, and treachery prevalent in Norse Mythology. Loki’s underhanded schemes yet again work in favor of the other gods. In addition, this is the first instance of the gods using Freya as a bargaining chip.

“Those on the right of the third child saw a beautiful young girl, while those on the left tried not to look at her, for they saw a dead girl, her skin and flesh rotted black, walking in their midst.”

Of Loki’s children, Hel is the most benign; however, those in her dominion—the dead who died through means other than battle—include those who died shamefully. These form the bulk of Loki’s army during Ragnarok. The juxtaposition between Hel’s beauty and decay emphasizes the inevitability of death and the fading of beauty.

“Thor said, ‘Careful. It can spit burning black venom. It spat its poison at me, but it missed. That’s why we tied its head to the tree like that.’”

This is the first encounter between Thor and Jormungundr, the Midgard serpent that grows so large it encircles the world and swallows its own tail. This introduction to the serpent foreshadows their final encounter during Ragnarok. Thor kills the serpent, but it spits its venom on him and kills him.

“Odin watched it with his one eye until it was lost on the horizon, and he wondered if he had done the right thing. He did not know. He had done as his dreams had told him, but dreams know more than they reveal, even to the wisest of the gods.”

Odin’s wisdom is limited to a personal understanding of what is revealed to him. The gods could have averted danger by being kind to Fenrir. Instead, Odin fulfills his own prophesy by making Fenrir into his enemy.

“Odin watched the wolf-child grow with foreboding, for in his dreams the wolf had been there at the end of everything, and the last things Odin had seen in any of his dreams of the future were the topaz eyes and the sharp white teeth of Fenris Wolf.”

Odin’s power of prophesy is wide-ranging, but limited to his own interpretation. Like Thor’s first interaction with the Midgard serpent, Odin’s decision to bind Fenrir prefigures their final interaction at Ragnarok. Fenrir will grow large enough to eat the sun and the moon, and he will be the end of the all-father.

“‘Treacherous Odin!’ called the wolf. ‘If you had not lied to me, I would have been a friend to the gods. But your fear has betrayed you. I will kill you, Father of the Gods. I will wait until the end of all things, and I will eat the sun and I will eat the moon. But I will take the most pleasure in killing you.’”

Making an enemy of Fenrir turns Odin’s dream into a self-fulfilling prophesy. Norse mythology has a dual consciousness about the past and the future. Even as the gods’ great feats are described, the narrative reminds the reader of their inevitable demise.

“It is a long story, and it does no credit to anyone: there is murder in it, and trickery, lies and foolishness, seduction and pursuit. Listen.”

The voice of the narrator is reestablished in the opening to this story. The tone of the preceding passage invites the audience into the narrative; the passage above commands attention. Each story in Norse Mythology can be seen as standalone tales, told in the style of oral tradition, contributing to an overarching narrative uniting them all—from creation to Ragnarok—through the narrator’s voice.

“And with that he slashed Kvasir’s throat, and they hung Kvasir by his feet above the vats until the last drop of his blood was drained. They warmed the blood and the honey in the kettle called Odrerir and did other things to it of their own devising. They put berries in it and stirred it with a stick. It bubbled, and then ceased bubbling, and both of them sipped it and laughed, and each of the brothers found the verse and the poetry inside himself that he had never let out.”

Many of the innovations in the world of Norse mythology involve a degree of sacrifice. Because Kvasir represents a balance between the head and the heart, poetry is an amalgam of the two aspects of humanity, coupled with the freeing effects of alcohol. Because he is a god, Kvasir later comes back to life.

“No one, then or now, wanted to drink the mead that came out of Odin’s ass. But whenever you hear bad poets declaiming their bad poetry, filled with foolish similes and ugly rhymes, you will know which of the meads they have tasted.”

This passage showcases the comical and frequently vulgar aspects of many of the tales in Norse Mythology. The origin of bad poetry also shows how many creations in Norse tales are an unintended side-effect of a more major creation.

“Beyond their farm were monsters and giants and wolves, and many times Thialfi walked into trouble and had to outrun it. He could run faster than anyone or anything. Living at the edge of the wild country meant that Thialfi and Roskva were used to miracles and strange things happening in the world.”

Thor and Loki’s visit to the Thialfi and Roskva’s farm is a rare insight into the lives of the mortals of Midgard, who have to deal with problems caused by gods and monsters. Thialfi is also a rare example of a mortal whose prowess matches that of the gods: His ability to run almost as fast as thought itself is a feat that rivals Thor’s strength or Loki’s appetite.

“‘You know,’ said the giant, ‘you are not nobodies. And you are not nothing. Honestly, if I knew last night what I know now, I would never have invited you into my home, and I am going to make very certain that you are never invited in again. You see, I tricked you, all of you, with illusions.’”

Loki, Odin, and now Utgardaloki all use illusions to trick their friends and foes alike. While under illusion, Thor, Loki, and Thialfi perform some of the most legendary feats in this collection. Thor, in particular, shows his might by holding his own against old age itself and creating the tides by partially draining the oceans of the world.

“She carried a box with her, made of ash wood, which contained golden apples. When the gods felt age beginning to touch them, to frost their hair or ache their joints, then they would go to Idunn. She would open her box and allow the god or goddess to eat a single apple. As they ate it, their youth and power would return to them. Without Idunn’s apples, the gods would scarcely be gods.”

While the gods are intrinsically powerful, magical items, such as Thor’s belt that doubles his strength, enhance their divine nature. The golden apples are a vital object; they emphasize the fact that the gods are not immortal in the normal sense of the word. As Thor’s wrestling match in Utgard shows, even the gods are affected by old age.

“The gods let her choose a husband from their number, but they had one condition: they told her that she could not choose her husband by seeing his face.”

Skadi’s reaction to her father’s death is another instance of the importance of revenge in Norse mythology, as well as the system of values placed on gifts and marriage. Assuaging her anger by giving her a husband is the first time that a male god has been ransomed in this way; usually it is Freya who is promised in marriage.

“Ragnarok is coming. When the sky splits asunder and the dark powers of Muspell march out on their war journey, Frey will wish he still had his sword.”

Giving away his sword, which fights by itself, creating both a supreme offense and defense, is a bad decision on par with Odin deciding to chain Fenrir. During Ragnarok, the sword would have saved Frey’s life. However, Frey was blinded by love, and gave away what would turn out to be his most valuable possession.

“He dreamed of worlds ending, and of the sun and the moon being eaten by a wolf. He dreamed of pain and death without end […] In his dreams, a new age would come upon the world, an age of storm and of murder.”

Balder’s dream of Ragnarok emphasizes the inevitability of fate and the limits of wisdom. Though he can see his own death, he is unable to prevent it due to his inability to interpret his own dreams. Ironically, Balder is one of the only gods who returns after Ragnarok.

“Nothing was too insignificant for Frigg to ask, save only the mistletoe, a creeping plant that lives on other trees. It seemed too small, too young, too insignificant, and she passed it by. And when everything had sworn its oath not to harm her son, Frigg returned to Asgard. ‘Balder is safe,’ she told the Aesir. ‘Nothing will hurt him.’”

Neglecting to get the mistletoe to swear an oath that it meant Balder no harm is an example of Frigg’s—and the other god’s—hubris. Because of this, Balder is left with a mortal weakness, which Loki exploits to trick Hod into killing Balder. In this way, Balder plays a key role that precipitates into Ragnarok.

“This all happened long, long ago, in time out of mind, in the days when the gods still walked the earth. So long ago that the mountains of those days have worn away and the deepest lakes have become dry land. Sigyn still waits beside Loki’s head as she did then, staring at his beautiful, twisted face.”

This story marks the transition between the ancient, legendary stories of the gods into the “modern” day. Ragnarok is always on the horizon. One day Loki will escape his bonds and get revenge on Asgard and Midgard.

“I shall tell you how it will end, and then how it will begin once more. These are dark days I will tell you of, dark days and hidden things, concerning the ends of the earth and the death of the gods. Listen and you will learn.”

This story indicates a shift in narrative tense: While the events recounted in the rest of the book happened in the distant past, Ragnarok is always yet to come. This passage also highlights the narrative style. Gaiman writes in the vein of oral tradition, with the narrator directly addressing the reader, conscious of the story they tell.

“Odin will battle Fenrir, but the wolf is more vast and more dangerous than anything could possibly be. It is bigger than the sun, bigger than the moon. Odin thrusts into its mouth with his spear, but one snap of Fenrir’s jaws, and the spear is gone. Another bite and a crunch and a swallow, and Odin, the all-father, greatest and wisest of all the gods, is gone as well, never to be seen again.”

Odin’s death is long foreshadowed in his own dreams, prophesies, and actions. By killing Odin, Fenrir has avenged himself upon the gods of Asgard who betrayed him. Though Odin is the wisest of the Aesir, he is still subject to fate: He cannot save himself from being consumed.

“If you want to help the Aesir in the final battle, you should throw away your leather scraps. All thrown-out scraps and trimmings from shoes will become part of Vidar’s shoe.”

When Norse mythology (or mythology in general) is discussed, it is often forgotten that it was once an active religious practice. The exploits of the gods are the story, not the praxis, of the religion. In including this aside, Gaiman’s narrator helps bring Ragnarok to life by giving his audience a way to actively participate in Vidar’s revenge.