Special Sub-Topic: Germanic Mythology Click Here To Play: Germanic Mythology

In Germanic mythology woman was born from an elm, man from ...?

an ashtree.

Who was the Germanic version of the crippled Greek god Hephaistus (Vulcanus for the Romans)?

Wayland. Wayland was born from a sailor and a mermaid, and became a great maker of swords and mail coats. Like Dedalus, he made himself a pair of wings with which he flew to the Valhalla.- Loki was the god of Fire. A very talented troublemaker, he sometimes was a real help for the Aesir , but in the end his evil tendencies prevail and he will be the leader of the giants in their fight agains the Aesir on the day of 'Gotterdammerung' or Ragnarok. Thor was Odin's son. Odin was the god who admitted the Einherjar, or 'glorious dead' to Valhalla. He was the commander of the Walkyrias. Another spelling of his name is Wotan, an orthography which may be linked to the etymology of the German word Wut (anger). One of his talents was to incite his 'troops' to rage and fury, an emotional state which made them forget pain.

What weapon was used to kill the God of Beauty and Goodness, Balder?

a mistletoe branch. Balder suffered from nightmares in which his death was predicted. Basically he was a gentle 'Christ-like' god. To prevent him from being killed, Frigg, Odin's wife, made everybody swear they would not kill her son. Alas, Frigg overlooked the mistletoe as she believed no harm could come from a mistletoe. Balder did not have a special protection, as Sigurd had from bathing in dragon's blood.

In Valhalla the gods and the bravest among men were waiting for the Great Final War between the forces of Good and Evil, the so-called 'Gotterdammerung'. Who selected the newcomers to the Valhalla?

the Valkyrias. Literally the word Val-kyria means hero-chooser.The heroes were chosen from the battlefields of the humans. The Vanir were a rival group of gods who did not live in Asgard. Their residence was Vanaheim. Best known Vanir are probably Njord,Freyr,Freyja and Kvasir. Freyr and and Freyja are brother and sister. Both are fertility gods. The fate of gods, giants, dwarfs and humans depended on the Norns. They are similar to the Greek Moiras: Clotho (the spinning woman), Lachesis (the decider) and Atropos (the one that cannot be dodged ).

What was the name of Thor's Hammer?

Mjollnir. Andvari(also called Alberich) is the dwarf who stole the Rhinegold and made the famous ring of it. Gungnir was Odin's spear, made of Yggdrasil wood. Fafnir was the son of Hreidmar, a sorcerer. His obsession with material possessions gradually changed him into a (literal) monster. As a dragon he was defeated by Sigurd.

Who actually killed Balder?

the blind god Hodr. Hodr did not intend to kill Balder, but Loki guided the blind god in such a way that when throwing a mistletoe branch he hit Balder.

Odin had two birds as messengers and reporters of the events in the nine worlds.Their names were Hugin (Thought) and Munin (Memory). What kind of birds were they?

ravens. Every day they had nine worlds to 'cover' with their reports. These gossips may have been the first journalists.

Who among the Germanic gods usually hid part of his face with a large-rimmed hat, had a grey beard, only one eye and rode on an eight-legged horse? He was both 'destroyer and redeemer'.

Odin. Some Germanic tribes by far preferred Thor to Odin because Thor was much more straightforward, a much less complicated 'man of courage'; In some stories Njord is not only Nerthus' brother but also her husband. Arthur Cotterell, in his "Encyclopedia of Mythology", suggests Nerthus and Njord may have been the same person, a kind of hermaphroditical deity. Loki is the one who 'upsets' law and order in Asgard, the world of the gods. He is the instigator of the fights that lead to the breaking out of the Ragnarok-chaos.

What was the collective name given to Urd (the Past), Verdandi (the Present)and Skuld (the Future)?

the Norns. The Weird Sisters occur in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'. They are probably inspired by the Norns. The Rhinemaidens were ethereal creatures who in winter populated lakes and rivers. When they got robbed of their Rhinegold the river lost its power to reflect the golden sunlight and became a grim dark river. The Valkyrjas were 'scouts' whose job it was to 'recruit' new warriors for the Army of Glorious Dead.

Magic rings play an important role in Germanic Mythology. One of the most famous rings was made from the (stolen) Rhinegold. Who was its maker ?

the dwarf Alberich. Another famous ring was Draupnir, Odin's ring.