110 Fun Facts About Norse Mythology

What is the name of the immense tree at the center of the Norse cosmos?

The Norns water it daily from the well of Urðr, and the gods hold their assemblies beneath it.

According to the surviving Norse sources, how many worlds are there?

The sources never actually give a full list of the nine, so scholars have to reconstruct it from scattered mentions.

Which realm do the gods inhabit, and which do humans?

Midgard sits at the center of the cosmos, encircled by the ocean where the world serpent lies.

Which Icelandic scholar wrote the Prose Edda in the 13th century?

Snorri was a lawspeaker and politician as well as an author, and was assassinated in his cellar in 1241 on the orders of Norway's king.

Which god hung himself upside-down on the world tree for nine days and nights to learn the runes?

He is also missing an eye, which he left in Mímir's well as the price of a drink of wisdom.

Which god was the most popular among Scandinavians during the Viking Age?

Around a thousand miniature hammer pendants have been dug up across the Nordic world, worn much as Christians wore crosses.

Frigg, Odin's wife, has which power that she keeps to herself?

Her foreknowledge did not save her son Baldr, whose death she tried to prevent by extracting oaths from every thing in the world.

The first human couple, Ask and Embla, were made by three gods from what?

Their names are usually read as "ash" and "elm," and each of the three gods gave them a gift: breath, wit and warmth.

The world was created from the flesh of which primordial being?

Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé killed him; his blood became the sea, his bones the hills and his skull the sky.

Which two humans hide in a wood and survive Ragnarök to repopulate the earth?

The earth rises green from the sea after the fire, and Baldr and Höðr return from Hel to rule alongside Thor's sons.

Besides Valhalla and Hel, the dead may be chosen by Freyja to dwell in her field, called what?

Freyja takes half of those who die in battle, and Odin gets the other half, a detail that surprises people who assume Valhalla was the only destination.

Odin's ravens Huginn and Muninn fly out over the world each day. What do their names mean?

They report back what they have seen and heard, and Odin admits in one poem that he fears Muninn will not return.

Odin gives all the food on his table to which two animals?

Odin himself lives on wine alone, according to the Prose Edda.

Which English weekday is named after Odin (Woden)?

Tuesday belongs to Týr, Thursday to Thor, and Friday to Frigg.

Who avenges Odin after the wolf Fenrir swallows him at Ragnarök?

Víðarr wears a shoe made of all the leather scraps ever discarded, plants it on the wolf's lower jaw and tears its mouth apart.

Thor's chariot is pulled by two of which animal?

He can eat them at night and resurrect them in the morning with his hammer, provided the bones are unbroken.

Besides Mjölnir, which two items complete Thor's kit?

The belt Megingjörð doubles his strength and the gloves Járngreipr let him grip the hammer's short handle.

Thor's wife Sif is famous for what physical feature?

Loki cut it off as a prank and had dwarves forge a replacement of real gold, the same commission that produced Mjölnir.

After killing the world serpent at Ragnarök, how many steps does Thor take before the venom kills him?

Nine is the sacred number throughout Norse myth: nine worlds, nine nights on the tree, nine mothers of Heimdall.

In the poem Þrymskviða, how does Thor get his stolen hammer back from the giant Þrymr?

Thor eats an entire ox and eight salmon at the wedding feast, and Loki, as bridesmaid, explains that the bride has fasted for eight days from longing.

Loki is the father of which three monstrous children by the giantess Angrboða?

Odin dealt with them by throwing the serpent into the sea, casting Hel down to rule the dead, and having the wolf bound.

Which eight-legged horse did Loki give birth to after turning into a mare?

The stallion Svaðilfari belonged to the giant building Asgard's wall, and Loki distracted it to make the builder miss his deadline.

While Loki is bound beneath a venom-dripping serpent, who holds a bowl to catch the poison?

When she leaves to empty the bowl, the venom hits his face and his writhing causes earthquakes.

What is the only thing that did not swear an oath to Frigg never to harm Baldr?

It was thought too young and harmless to bother with, which is exactly the loophole Loki exploited.

Which blind god was tricked into killing his brother Baldr?

He and Baldr are reconciled after Ragnarök and rule the renewed world together.

Hel agreed to release Baldr if every thing in the world wept for him. Who refused?

Baldr had been burned on his ship Hringhorni, the largest of all ships, with his wife Nanna, who died of grief.

Gleipnir, the fetter binding Fenrir, was made from six impossible things, including which of these?

The others were the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish and the spittle of a bird, which is why none of them exist anymore.

Which god lost his right hand in Fenrir's jaws when the wolf realised he had been tricked?

He had placed it in the wolf's mouth as a pledge that the ribbon-like fetter was harmless.

Fenrir's two sons, Sköll and Hati, are destined to devour what?

They chase the two across the sky every day, and at Ragnarök they finally catch them.

Freyja rides a chariot pulled by which animals?

She also has a boar named Hildisvíni and a cloak of falcon feathers that lets the wearer fly.

What is the name of Freyja's famous necklace?

In one late story she pays four dwarves for it by spending a night with each, and it is later stolen from her.

Freyja and her twin brother Freyr belong to which family of gods?

They came to live among the Æsir as hostages after the war between the two tribes of gods, along with their father Njörðr.

Freyr's ship Skíðblaðnir has what remarkable property?

It also always has a favouring wind, and Freyr's boar Gullinbursti has bristles that glow to light his way.

Why is Freyr doomed to lose to the fire giant Surtr at Ragnarök?

He sent his servant Skírnir to woo Gerðr and handed over the sword as payment, leaving him to fight with an antler.

The gods gave Freyr which realm as a teething present?

He was also the chief god worshipped at the great temple of Uppsala in Sweden.

Which god guards the rainbow bridge Bifröst and will blow the Gjallarhorn to announce Ragnarök?

He has gold teeth, needs less sleep than a bird, can hear grass grow, and was born of nine mothers.

The watchman of the gods and which other figure are fated to kill each other at Ragnarök?

Their feud is old: the watchman once fought his rival in seal form to recover Freyja's stolen necklace.

What is the Fimbulwinter that precedes Ragnarök?

During it, brothers kill brothers and all bonds of kinship collapse, according to the Völuspá.

The ship Naglfar, which carries the enemies of the gods to Ragnarök, is made of what?

Which is why, the Prose Edda says, you should trim the nails of the dead, so as not to speed the ship's completion.

Which fire giant leads the sons of Múspell and burns the world at Ragnarök?

His sword shines brighter than the sun, and the Icelandic volcanic island Surtsey, born in 1963, is named after him.

Which god is killed by the hound Garmr at Ragnarök?

Garmr, chained at the mouth of Hel, is sometimes read as another name for Fenrir.

What kind of tree is the world tree at the center of the Norse cosmos?

An eagle sits in its top, the dragon Níðhöggr gnaws its roots, and four stags eat its leaves.

Which creature carries insults up and down the world tree between eagle and dragon?

Its name is usually translated as "drill-tooth" or "bore-tooth."

What does the word valkyrie mean?

They carry the chosen dead to Valhalla, where the warriors, called einherjar, fight all day and feast all night.

According to the Prose Edda, the roof of Valhalla is thatched with what?

Spear-shafts serve as rafters, and the hall has 540 doors, each wide enough for 800 warriors to march out abreast.

What do the einherjar eat every night in Valhalla?

Their mead comes from the goat Heiðrún, whose udder never runs dry.

Which primeval cow nourished Ymir with her milk in the beginning?

Licking the salty rime-stones, she uncovered Búri, grandfather of Odin.

Why is Mjölnir's handle so short?

The fly was Loki, trying to sabotage a bet with the dwarves Brokkr and Eitri, and it cost him his head, or nearly: the dwarves sewed his lips shut instead.

Which section of the Prose Edda has King Gylfi questioning three mysterious figures about the gods?

The title means "the tricking of Gylfi," and it is the fullest single account of Norse myth that survives.

What bait did Thor use to fish for Jörmungandr from the giant Hymir's boat?

He hooked the serpent and would have killed it, but the terrified Hymir cut the line.

At the hall of Útgarða-Loki, Thor failed to lift a grey cat off the floor. What was the cat really?

In the same contest he lost a drinking match because the horn was connected to the sea, and lost a wrestling match to Elli, who was old age itself.

Which god rode Odin's eight-legged horse to Hel to plead for Baldr's release?

Hel agreed on the condition that all things weep for Baldr, a condition that failed thanks to one uncooperative giantess.

The goddess Gefjon is credited with forming which modern Danish island?

She is one of the lesser-told deities, alongside the skaldic god Bragi and the gold-toothed Heimdallr, born of nine mothers.

The goddess Iðunn, wife of Bragi, is associated with bearing which fruit?

Her husband Bragi is the god of poets, and she is one of the deities the surviving sources mention only briefly.

Skaði, the ill-matched wife of a sea god, is the goddess of which pursuits?

The marriage failed because she could not bear to leave her mountains and her husband could not leave the seashore.

What is the name of Freyja's missing husband, for whom she weeps and searches far away?

She also wears a feathered cloak, practises seiðr and claims half of the battle-slain for her own hall.

Which hawk perches between the eyes of the eagle at the top of the world tree?

The eagle itself is said to have much knowledge, and a squirrel runs messages between it and the dragon gnawing the roots.

The Prose Edda was composed as a prose manual for producing what?

Skaldic verse leans heavily on kennings and alliteration; the Poetic Edda's Eddic poetry is comparatively plain.

In Norse cosmology, the Moon is personified as which god?

The Sun is a goddess, Sól, while day and night are personified as the god Dagr and the jötunn Nótt.

Which god, strongly tied to ships and seafaring, is the father of Freyja and Freyr?

The twins' mother is his unnamed sister; the sources say nothing more about her.

What did Odin give up in exchange for a single drink from the well of wisdom kept by Mímir?

An eye was the price of that drink, which is why Odin, chief of the Norse gods, is described as having only one, the other sacrificed for wisdom.

In Norse myth, which natural events happen when the bound Loki writhes in pain under dripping venom?

Earthquakes were the myth's answer to Loki's thrashing, which is so violent that the whole earth shakes each time the poison touches him.

The sea serpent Jörmungandr grew so vast that it circles the whole world gripping what in its jaws?

Its own tail stays clamped in Jörmungandr's mouth for now, and the serpent letting go of it is one of the signs that Ragnarök has begun.

Choosing a husband among the Norse gods, the giantess Skaði could see only which part of each?

Their feet were all Skaði could go by, and she picked the most handsome pair expecting them to be Baldr's, only to find they belonged to another god.

Thor and his companions once sheltered overnight in a strange hall that turned out to be what?

A giant's glove was the 'hall', and its owner Skrýmir lay nearby snoring so heavily that the travellers felt the ground shake all night.

In Norse myth, four dwarves named North, South, East and West each stand under a corner of what?

The sky rests on Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri in the Prose Edda, a job much like the one the Titan Atlas does in Greek myth.

Which character's name did J. R. R. Tolkien borrow from a catalogue of dwarf names in the Poetic Edda?

Gandalf is Gandálfr in the Old Norse list, a name meaning staff-elf, and nearly every dwarf in The Hobbit takes his name from the same catalogue.

In the poem Lokasenna, Loki reminds Odin that the two of them long ago became what?

Blood brothers is what the pair became by mixing their blood, a bond that has been taken as the reason the gods put up with Loki at all.

In the Norse creation story, the gods flung a slain giant's brains upward to make what?

Clouds came from the dead giant's brains in the Prose Edda, while his blood filled the seas and his bones were heaped up as mountains.

In Valhalla, which drink flows from the udders of the goat Heiðrún for the feasting warriors?

Mead pours from Heiðrún in place of milk, and each day she fills a cauldron so big that every warrior in the hall can drink his fill.

Thor was forced to one knee when he wrestled Elli, a giant's nurse who was really what in disguise?

Old age was the wrestler, and her master admitted afterwards that it was a marvel Thor fell no further than one knee, since she brings everyone down in the end.

Loki's byname Laufeyson comes from Laufey, who is which of his relatives in the Norse sources?

His mother is Laufey, which makes Laufeyson a rare matronymic in a mythology that usually reckons kinship through the father, here the giant Fárbauti.

Which weapon of Odin's, forged by dwarves, was said never to miss its mark?

A spear named Gungnir is Odin's weapon, made by the dwarves called the Sons of Ivaldi, and he carries it at the head of the gods when he rides out against the wolf Fenrir at Ragnarök.

The feathered cloak that the goddess Freyja lends to other gods lets its wearer fly as which bird?

A falcon is the shape the cloak gives, and Loki borrowed it to fly north to the land of the giants and bring home the kidnapped goddess Iðunn.

After insulting the gods at a feast, Loki hid from them in a waterfall in the shape of which fish?

A salmon was Loki's disguise in the waterfall called Franangrsfors, but the gods caught him there all the same and bound him as punishment.

Which female beings of Norse myth, often pictured as a trio beside a well, spin the threads of fate?

The Norns, usually named as Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld, also tend the world tree itself, keeping it alive at the centre of the cosmos.

Which metallic element did a Swedish chemist name after a byname of the Norse goddess Freyja?

Vanadium honours Vanadís, another name for Freyja, and Nils Gabriel Sefström chose it because the metal's compounds come in so many beautiful colours.

In the Prose Edda, the dwarves of Norse myth first took shape as what before the gods gave them wits?

Maggots is the Prose Edda's unflattering answer: the dwarves bred in the earth until the gods decided to give them intelligence and the shape of men.

The Norse sea goddess Rán, wife of the giant Ægir, uses which tool to drag sailors down to her?

A net is Rán's tool for catching seafarers, and in one telling Loki borrowed it from her to capture a dwarf who was hiding in the shape of a pike.

The god Heimdall has hearing so sharp that he can hear grass sprout and what else?

Wool growing on sheep is the other sound he can pick out, and he is also said to need less sleep than a bird and to see a hundred leagues by night or day.

Which family of Norse gods, counting Odin and Thor among its members, once went to war with the Vanir?

The Æsir fought what the sources call the first war in the world, then ended it by trading hostages with their rivals and merging into a single pantheon.

Which realm of Norse myth, set to the north or east in the sources, is the homeland of the giants?

Jötunheimr lies behind barriers that ordinary travellers cannot cross, yet the old poems tend to picture it as a prosperous land, not a wasteland.

What happens to the dwarf Alvíss when Thor keeps him answering questions all night until daybreak?

He turns to stone in the first light, which was Thor's plan all along: the dwarf had come to claim Thor's daughter as his bride, and the quiz was a way to stall him.

In Norse myth, what is created when the giant Hræsvelgr, who has the form of an eagle, beats his wings?

The wind is his doing: Hræsvelgr sits at the northern edge of the heavens, and every gust in the world is said to start under his wings.

Whenever her wandering husband is away, the Norse goddess Freyja is said to weep tears of what?

Red gold is what Freyja weeps, which is why Norse poets could call the metal itself 'Freyja's tears' or 'Freyja's weeping'.

To carry the kidnapped goddess Iðunn home from a giant's hall, Loki first turned her into what?

A nut small enough to grip in his claws was Loki's answer, and he flew off with the giant Þjazi chasing him in the shape of an eagle.

The wise Kvasir was made when two families of Norse gods sealed a truce by all doing what into a vat?

Spitting into a shared vat sealed the peace, and the gods shaped Kvasir from the result; he was so wise that he could answer any question put to him.

In Norse myth Búri, grandfather of Odin, emerged over three days as a primeval cow licked what?

Salty ice was what the cow licked: his hair showed on the first evening, his head on the second, and the whole of Búri stood free on the third day.

Which object, hurled by the giant Hrungnir in a duel, left a fragment lodged in Thor's head?

A whetstone was Hrungnir's weapon, and it broke in two against Thor's hammer in mid-air; the half that fell to earth is said to be the origin of all whetstone rock.

Thor made a star by throwing which frozen body part of Aurvandill, a man he was carrying in a basket?

A toe had poked out of the basket and frozen solid while Thor waded across icy rivers, so he snapped it off and tossed it up to shine as the star Aurvandill's Toe.

Which fantasy author retold the old tales in his book Norse Mythology, later adapted as a comic series?

Neil Gaiman gives most of the book to three gods, Odin, Thor and Loki, and Dark Horse later turned it into an eighteen-issue comic.

Which composer drew on Norse sagas for a four-opera cycle that includes the Ride of the Valkyries?

Richard Wagner called the cycle The Ring of the Nibelung; a full performance fills four nights at the opera and runs to about 15 hours.

Which English weekday honours the Germanic thunder god, the day Romance languages give to Jupiter?

Thursday began as the day of Thunor, the Old English name for the god the Norse called Thor, matching the Roman habit of naming it for Jupiter.

Which planet's retrograde outer moons are named after figures from Norse myth, mostly giants?

Saturn's backward-orbiting moons form what astronomers call the Norse group, with one odd one out: Phoebe, named from Greek myth long before the rule was set.

How do the einherjar, the slain warriors of Odin's hall, spend each day before riding home to drink?

Fighting one another for sport is the daily routine, and it doubles as training for Ragnarök, when the einherjar will march out to the final battle.

In Norse sagas and folklore, a draugr is which kind of creature, often found guarding buried treasure?

An undead corpse is the idea behind the draugr, a malevolent revenant that lives on in its grave and today is often portrayed as a kind of Norse zombie.

Which treasure of Odin's, named Draupnir, drips eight copies of itself every ninth night?

A gold ring is what Draupnir is, and Odin laid it on the funeral pyre of his son Baldr, though it was later fetched back to him.

After Loki lost a wager with the dwarf smith Brokkr, what did the dwarf sew shut as payment?

His lips were stitched together because the stake had been Loki's head, and Loki argued that the bet gave the dwarf no right to touch his neck.

In the Norse creation account, what lay between the realms of ice and fire before the world was made?

Ginnungagap, the yawning void, grew heavy with rime on its northern side, while its southern side was lit by sparks flying out of the fiery realm.

Which poem of the Poetic Edda has a seeress tell Odin how the world began and how it will end?

Völuspá dates back to the tenth century and does not stop at the world's destruction: the seeress goes on to describe its rebirth afterwards.

At which Swedish site did Adam of Bremen describe a temple with statues of Thor, Odin and Freyr?

Uppsala's temple, in Adam's account, set the three gods on a triple throne, with Thor, whom he calls the mightiest, in the middle seat and Odin to one side.

From which high seat can the god Odin look out over every realm?

Hliðskjálf also tempted Freyr, who sneaked onto it, looked into the land of the giants and fell in love at first sight with a maiden he saw there.

On which vast field are the Norse gods foretold to meet their enemies in the last battle of Ragnarök?

Vígríðr means 'battle-surge' in Old Norse, and the Prose Edda foretells that several gods and their foes will die there before the world burns and is reborn.

Which son of Odin was born to avenge Baldr and grew to full adulthood within a single day?

Váli took that revenge when only one night old, the poems say, before he had washed his hands or combed his hair, and he is prophesied to be one of the gods who survive Ragnarök.

Which two brothers of Odin, sons of Borr and Bestla, helped him make the world from a giant's body?

Vili and Vé governed in Odin's place while he travelled, and one saga says that when he seemed gone for good they began dividing up his inheritance.

Which Norse goddess, the wife of Baldr, died of grief at his funeral and was burned beside him?

Nanna collapsed as Baldr's body was placed on his ship, and from the realm of the dead she later sent back gifts, including a linen robe for Frigg.

Which medieval historian wove Norse gods and giants into his sixteen-book Gesta Danorum?

Saxo Grammaticus did not always flatter the old gods: his Odin teaches one legendary Danish king the ways of warfare, then betrays and kills him.

From which giant did Odin steal the drink of poets, slipping into his mountain in the form of a snake?

Suttungr gave chase in the shape of an eagle after Odin, who had drained all three vessels in three draughts, flew for home as an eagle himself.

Which son of Thor, still a small child, heaved a dead giant's foot off his pinned father's neck?

Magni freed Thor when none of the other gods could shift the weight, and his father rewarded him with the dead giant's horse, to Odin's annoyance.

Which Norse god of justice, a son of Baldr, settles every dispute so that all parties leave reconciled?

Forseti means 'the presiding one' in Old Norse, and the same word is the title of the president in modern Icelandic and Faroese.