Okay, can anyone tell me all they know about ancient Norse/Viking religion?

Question

And possibly how it relates to politics, war and economy?

Even a good website would be awesome.

Ancient times.

Answer 1

Okay, Old Stray has a bunch of inaccuracies. I'm going to try to help. First off, the Greeks and the Romans did not worship the same gods. They merely shared the same myths. The Romans and Norse did not have any gods or myths in common at all.

Odin is the father god, often called the Allfather. He, along with his brothers, is responsible for creating Midgard (the world we live in, one of the nine) and creating humanity. He is also the god of sorcery, wisdom, and death. He has only one eye, having sacrificed the other for wisdom.

Thor is the son of Odin. He wields the hammer Mjolnir and frequently slays giants and trolls that trouble Midgard and Asgard (Asgard is the world the gods live in). He creates thunder and lightning, brings rain, and ripens grain.

Loki is the brother of Odin. Some say he is a "blood brother," but all of the texts simply say brother. He is not actually a god, per se, but a giant that befriended Odin, and frequently journeys with Thor, and others.

Tyr is the god of law and order. He has only one hand, due to the wolf Fenris biting off the other one. This was done so that the wolf could be chained to keep it from wreaking havoc and destruction all over the nine worlds.

Heimdall is the guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, the entrance to Asgard. He has a great horn, Gjallarhorn, that he will sound when Ragnarok arrives.

Ragnarok is the battle between the forces of the gods and forces of the giants, who will be lead by Surt. In it, the nine worlds will be destroyed, and many gods will die.

Surt is a fire giant who will destroy the worlds with his fires at Ragnarok.

This is not all. This is a very simple overview of Viking mythology. As for how it relates to politics and economy I'm not sure. As far as war goes, the Viking raids started at the end of the eighth century and lasted for several hundred years. During this time Xian missionaries and rulers were going into Northern Europe to try to convert the tribes of the North, with varying degrees of success. Oftentimes people who would not convert were killed. Villages were destroyed, family lines were erased from the land. One such instance has the king Charlemagne beheading several hundred people (including women and children) because they would not convert.

Websites:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asatru
http://www.religioustolerance.org/asatru.htm
http://www.thetroth.org/

Good luck on your search.

Answer 2

This is some of what I have in my archives. If you're interested in any e-mail me.

072096.ZIP 1 week of an Asatru mailing list
072596.ZIP 1 week of an Asatru mailing list
ANIMAL_SACRIFICE.ZIP An Asatru writing on animal sacrifices.
AS_YULE.ZIP Yule customs, comments, and cermonies.
ASATRU.ZIP RAVENBOK: THE RAVEN KINDRED RITUAL BOOK.
ASATRU1.ZIP Information on Asatru, the Norse Paganism.
ASATRUFAQ.ZIP The 1995 Asatru FAQ
ASBASICS.ZIP The basics and background of Asatru
ASGAME.ZIP Hneftafl - a game for Vikings.
ASMEAD.ZIP Asatru recipes for Mead
ASRUNES.ZIP A series of files on the making and use of Runes.
BLOODSAC.ZIP A discussion of "Blood sacrifices."
BOOKS.ZIP A list of Asatru reading material.
HAMMER_RITE.ZIP Hammer Rite Ritual
HEIMS-16.ZIP Sturlason's work, the "Heimskringla"
KINSTART.ZIP Raven Kindred's Guide to Starting a Kindred
MORE_RUNES.ZIP More on Runes
NORSE_GODS.ZIP Names and descriptions of many Norse Gods.
ODIN_CAL.ZIP The Odinist ceremonial year.
OLDNORSE.ZIP An old Norse to English word list.
RAVENBOK2.ZIP RAVENBOK: The Raven Kindred Ritual Book (reissue)
RUNESAA.ZIP Runes using ascii.
SUMBLE.ZIP The "Sumble" and you.
TROTHHOF.ZIP The Troth by Prudence O. Priest, Elder.
VALUES.ZIP The Values of Asatru
VITKI.ZIP The announcement of a "new" zine--the Mountain Thunder--in 1993.
WICATRU.ZIP A contrast & comparison of Wicca & Asatru

Answer 3

"All I know" about the ancient Norse religion involves five years of intensive scholarly study, dozens of websites and .pdf files, and a personal library of over 50 books . . . not one of them with the Llewellyn crescent moon on the spine.

But . . . as a start, since you ask specifically about politics, war, and economy, start by putting down the Thor comic book and look for these titles at your local library:

"A History of the Vikings" by Gwyn Jones, ISBN 0 19 215882 1
"The Norsemen in the Viking Age" by Eric Christiansen, ISBN 0 631 21677 4

For the religion(s) themselves, look no farther than:

"Gods & Myths of the Viking Age," H.R. Ellis Davidson, ISBN 0 7607 0035 4

For cultural/historical surveys that include religion and archeaological findings:

"Vikings!" by Magnus Magnusson, ISBN 0 525 22892 6
"Hammer of the North," also by Magnusson, ISBN 0 85613 301 9
"Scandinavian Mythology" by H.R. Ellis Davidson, ISBN 0 600 03637 5

Answer 4

Freya Aswynn & Eldred Thorsson have books about Norse mythology you may be interested in. "Viking" is acting a term based on the raiding/pillaging that was done not an actual tribal group although it does seem to have been applied to the Norse.

Answer 5

I know very little about Asatru, however it does recognize the Norse mythology relating to Thor and Odin etc. Like most Pagan religions, the practitioners tend to be solitary or in very small groups and fairly uninvolved in any large organized church type thing.

wikipedia has a section about Asatru and politics in this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asatru

Answer 6

I strongly suggest you visit the websites offered by the others but here is a very quick crash course to help you look in the right places.

Historically it was discovered by the people of ancient rome that they shared gods with two other societies. They were the Greeks and the Norse. That said they did not carry the same names but rather held the same offices and duties. Now this is not too say that their entire mythologies were the same but rather that there was enough in common that it became acceptable to worship your god in another gods temple as it was understood they meant the same diety. (A rose by any other name is still a rose.)

That said here is the very little I can recall......

Odin (The all father, King of the gods and ruler of their land known as Asgard)

Thor (god of thunder and son of Odin)

Frey & Freya (twin brother and sister god of the hunt and goddess of beauty and fertility)

Loki (god of mischeif and half brother of Thor)

Surtur (king of the fire giants essentially the equivalent to christian Satan though less about cunning and more about brute force)

Tyr (gaurdian of the Rainbow Bridge that leads to the gates of Asgard)

Valkyries (goddesses that spirited over battlefields to gather the souls of those who fought well and carry them to Valhalla)

Ragnarock (the batlle that will end the world, fought between the forces of Asgard and the armies of Surtur)

Valhalla (pretty much heaven but by viking warrior standards, good hunting, good ale and good friends with the occaisional good old fashion brawl thrown in for entertainment. Looser buys the next round kind of stuff)

As for politics I will assume you mean present effects. The original Czars of Russia were Viking invaders that decided to stay and enslave the locals.

Answer 7

The oldest religion is hinduism, same is what Greeks used to believe.....goes back to 6000 years back, and there are archeological eveidence during the Indus Valley civilization during 2500BC according to the study from Harvard University in US. They are real and their scriputre are more powerful, thats why so many western people go to Country like India to understand its implication and reaches the highest stage of happiness through Trance Yoga, and enchantments which create live effect even today.

Answer 8

Try looking for "stave churches". These buildings were originally erected for pagan worship but were soon used for christian (Roman Catholic) worship. While not ancient, most were built during medieval times. Not too many still stand, but there are a few still in use today. Roots of these churches are in pagan folklore.

Answer 9

That is an awful lot to expect in such a small thing as a Yahoo answer.

I started to right some of it down, but this is where you should be reading instead.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology

Answer 10

The viking have been around for a long time and their perspectives on their gods have often changes with the times and the introduction of new god... In order to answer your question correctly I need a specific time period in their history............................................................................