Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [147]
Ragnarok is somewhat unique in mythology, as it gives a complete account of the end of the world—a great battle fought between the gods and goddesses of Asgard and the giants who wait to avenge the attack of Odin on their ancestors during the Creation. When Ragnarok comes, most of the gods, goddesses, and giants are killed, and the earth is destroyed by fire. After the battle, the god Balder and his wife are reborn and with several sons of dead gods they form a new race of deities. During Ragnarok, a man and a woman also take refuge in the World Tree, Yggdrasil, and sleep through the battle. After the earth again becomes fertile, the couple awakens and begins a new race of humanity.
WHO’S WHO OF THE NORSE GODS
Balder Known as “the good” or “the beautiful,” Balder is the favorite son of the supreme god Odin and is famed for his good looks and wisdom. Eloquent and full of grace, he is otherwise an ineffectual god, whose death is the most important feature of his story. When Balder has troubling dreams, his mother, Frigg, sees he is fated to die and asks that every living thing and all other objects swear an oath not to harm her fair son. Knowing he is invulnerable, the other gods amuse themselves by hurling stones and other things at Balder, but he is unharmed. Envious of Balder’s invincibility, the Trickster Loki discovers that mistletoe—considered the “all-heal” by the Celtic Druids—has not sworn the oath to Frigg. So, Loki forms a dart from a sprig of the plant and gives it to Balder’s blind brother, Hod. As Loki guides Hod’s aim, the mistletoe dart hits Balder, killing him instantly. As the gods mourn Balder’s death, his wife, Nanna, instantly dies of grief and is burned with Balder on his funeral pyre. Hel, the goddess of the underworld, agrees to release Balder from death if every person and thing in the world weeps for him. But the malevolent Loki—now in the guise of an old giantess—refuses to cry and Balder remains in the underworld. It is said that when the world is made new after the Battle of Ragnarok, Balder—who fits the dying-and-reborn-god archetype—and Nanna will return to begin another golden age of the gods.
Bragi God of poetry and eloquence, Bragi is called the “braggart” by Loki, and the word “brag” is derived from his name. He is married to Idun.
Freyr (Frey) The god of agriculture, fertility, and plenty, Freyr (“lord”) and his twin sister and consort, Freyja (“lady”), the goddess of love and fertility, are Vanir—or deities of earth and water rather than sky gods (Aesir). But they are significant enough to have a place among the other gods in Asgard. The twin children of Njord, the sea god, and Skadi, the goddess of mountains and forests, Frey ensures the success of a harvest, while Freyja blesses marriages.
As fertility gods, Freyr is associated with rites that may have involved orgies, while his sister, Freyja, is linked with sexual freedom in the pre-Christian world of Europe. A sexual free spirit in the mode of Inanna and other Near Eastern fertility and love goddesses, Freyja sleeps with four dwarves on successive nights in return for her prized possession, a “flaming necklace,” the symbol of her fertility. In some accounts, Freyja is counted as the leader of the Valkyries, the women sent to choose who will die in battle, and bring them to Valhalla, where they become heavenly cocktail waitresses. Freyja also selects from among the dead warriors who will live with her in her palace at Asgard.
Frigg The mother goddess, Frigg is the principal wife of Odin, father of the gods. Ruler of sky and clouds, Frigg also protects the household and marriage and is the bestower of children. Choosing not to live with Odin, she resides in a modest home