Online Class: Norse Mythology 101

Thor, Odin, Valhalla--all names you've probably heard of before, but names you might not know represent one of the most unique religions ever conceived. The Norse, the Vikings, the Scandinavians--whatever you prefer to call them, they were one of the most dominant and different civilizations to ever grace our planet. The combination of their civilization and belief systems is something that has puzzled outsiders for ages. The religious tenants lasted over a thousand years, despite never being written down. The gods are still well known today, even though they haven't been worshipped in a thousand more--that is, by most.

Dive into the world of the Norse, where adventure and honor take the place of morality and proper behavior--where fire-breathing wolves bluster about only to be slain by just a common person and life is death, war is peace, and gods are mortal in this ancient, gripping belief-system. You will learn about the roots of the Norse and Viking beliefs, and read about everything from dangerous sea explorations to human sacrifice. Walk the streets of the holy city of Uppsala and feel the wrath of Thor's hammer. Learn what the inside of Valhalla looks like, and what Vikings believed they had to do to get there!

Have you ever wondered how the greatest explorers saw the world through their own eyes? Find out today!

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

Reiki 1st and 2nd Degree

Greek Mythology

Ancient Civilizations 101

Course Motivation

You approach the temple, and within it you see three grand statues. In the middle, an imposing male figure stands holding what appears to be an upside-down cross and on either side of him, two other deities. You have come upon the Temple of Uppsala, one of the most spiritual sites of the Norse empire, and are standing before the image of Thor, flanked by the gods Odin and Freyr. Turning around to look out the door, you see people gathering, pulling livestock into the grove and building pyres. This evening the community will celebrate by slaying the animals and even hanging their fellow men from the trees outside by their necks. It has been nine years since the last Walpurgis festival, which paid homage to Odin's nine days of torment hanging from the Yggdrasil, the World Tree (or the tree of life).

Names within this ancient story, Odin, Thor, Freyr, even the Yggdrasil, are in popular use today. The Yggdrasil tree is, for example, a central plot point many of the games that compose the Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest video game series that has sold nearly 60 million games with 26 total games in the series, making it the third best-selling role-playing game (RPG) series of all time. A film based on the comic book character, Thor, who himself is based on the Norse god, raked in nearly $450 million worldwide in 2011. Odin is also a comic book character today, and a common character in the Final Fantasy RPG video game series, the best-selling series of all time. Odin is said to be the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings character, Gandalf.  

While we still pay homage to the Norse deities and places of worship in popular culture, we also still follow many of the traditions that originated with the Norse people. Christmas, for example, is celebrated during the same time as the Norse festival of Jul (Yul), the Norse New Year; the exchanging of gifts on Christmas morning, a Jul tradition; the lighting of the Yule log, a Jul tradition; the hanging of mistletoe, a Jul tradition. Jul was celebrated between December 20 and December 31 -- 12 days, just like the 12 days of Christmas (though we now finish on the 25^th). The holiday season is called Christmas today, because the god Freyr was replaced by Jesus Christ during the conversion of the Norse people to Christianity. 

The festival started with the children of Norse towns leaving their shoes outside of their doors filled with oats and other feed for Odin's great horse, Sleipnir (which had eight (8) legs, to feed from as he rode throughout the land on the evening of December 20^th, an event called the Wild Ride. In exchange, the children would each receive a treat, a celebration that continues today with the leaving of cookies for our modern Santa Claus, in order to receive stocking stuffers; or, in a more direct homage, carrots for Santa's reindeer in the slippers of children in Northern Europe.