![]() For example, four dwarves were believed to hold aloft the very sky in four cardinal directions. Here it is mentioned how these beings were (possibly) created from the blood and bones of Ymir – the primeval giant who was sustained by Audhumla the Cow.Īnd since we are talking about the dwarves of Norse mythology, it should be noted that early Germanic lore never explicitly attested to the perceived short stature of dwarves. One of the first known origin stories of the dwarves is found in Völuspá, the first poem of the Poetic Edda. Dwarvesĭwarves ( dvergr in Old Norse) are represented as magical beings who were inherently skilled at smithing and crafting. In other instances, a pair of scissors were kept on the chest as a symbolic gesture of precaution. ![]() For example, the toes of the dead were tied so that the body couldn’t move. Some draugar, like Þráinn (Thrain), were portrayed as having large claws, while others were noted to have the power to shape-shift, look into the future, and even swim through solid rock.Īs for history, the Vikings were known to have taken ritualistic precautions during funerary rites to prevent the deceased from becoming a draugr who could wreak havoc on the living. Pertaining to the latter, the Draugr of Thorolf in the Eyrbyggja saga was said to have skin that was black as death, reeking of decaying bodies, while his size was swollen to that of a huge ox. In any case, most folkloric traditions attest to the draugar (plural form of draugr), as undead creatures, having the sickly complexion of ‘corpse pale’ or even necrotic black. However, in Norse folklore and myths, the definition of a draugr is pretty vague, with some characters like Kárr inn gamli (‘Kar the Old’) being specifically called a draugr, while others like Glámr called a troll (or a vampiric creature of a cairn). So unlike a ghost, the draugr had a corporeal body of a reanimated corpse, which made it akin to a revenant (or even similar to a barrow wight from the works of J.R.R. However, unlike the zombies presented in typical popular culture, the Draugr were often depicted as hideous yet magically powerful creatures of Norse mythology who often possessed superhuman strength and size. The Draugr (or Draug) is simply a Norse version of an undead creature. In terms of history, such cow-oriented deities are also found in other mythologies, like Hathor in Egyptian mythology and Hera (‘the cow-eyed’) in Greek mythology. ![]() As for Audhumla, she was only mentioned once in another subsection of Prose Edda ( Nafnaþulur), in reference to cows. His name was Buri, and he was tall, strong, and handsome.”īuri was the grandfather of Odin – the chief among all the Aesir gods and goddesses. On the third day, the whole man was there. After one day of licking, she freed a man’s hair from the ice. As abstracted from the Prose Edda – “The cow licked salty ice blocks. She did so by licking away the salty rime rocks. Ymir, in turn, gave birth to a host of mythical creatures and divinities, including the first male, female, and six-headed monster.Īudhumla, the Cow, also played an essential part in Norse creation myth by revealing Buri – the ancestor of all Aesir Norse gods. As mentioned in Gylfaginning (the first part of Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda), she was responsible for sustaining the primordial frost giant Ymir – who is fed with the milk from Audhumla. To that end, let us take a gander at 20 such fascinating creatures and monsters from Norse mythology through both the cultural and historical lens.Īudhumla (or Auðumbla) was the primeval cow in Norse mythology. The Codex Regius in itself is considered one of the most important extant sources for both Norse mythology and Germanic legends. Most of the collections contain text from the Codex Regius (Royal Book), an Icelandic medieval manuscript dating from circa 1270 CE. The other crucial literary work composed in Old Norse relates to the Poetic Edda.Īs its name suggests, the compilation consists of poems dating from circa 1000 – 1300 CE. Most of these myths are accessible to us through the works of literature like the Prose Edda, assumed to be written by the Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, circa 1220 CE. Interestingly, most of these creatures have their own versions (and even origins) in Norse mythology – from a patchwork of oral traditions and local tales that were conceived in both pre-Christian ancient Germania and early medieval Scandinavia. In popular culture and fantasy genre, we are accustomed to depictions of undead, dragons, elves, and dwarves.
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