...Is it because there's no agonizing eternal punishment for disbelievers in Norse mythology? And no idyllic paradise for the faithful, other than Valhalla (and that's only for Odin's chosen warriors)?
Now I get why Christianity's so popular...it's got the whole threat/bribery thing going on...
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071114192919AAvfh3z&r=w
2007-11-14 15:17:17 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Frederick: I don't think there are many females in Valhalla, but I'm trying my best to get in anyway. Maybe I can be a Valkyrie.
2007-11-14 15:24:49 · update #1
lajen...: No, nothing like that. I think all races are equally silly, although I do understand that some people who are actually into the Nordic religion have a reputation for that, deserved or not.
An I'm neither male nor a lesbian, so I'll leave the valkyries for somebody else...
2007-11-14 15:26:11 · update #2
Hestia: Haha, nice try, but ODIN not Zeus is the creator and ruler of the world! I know this because it says so in the Voluspa and Havamal! Anyone who doesn't believe this just needs to open their hearts to the Aesir. The Truth will be shown to them!
2007-11-14 15:29:21 · update #3
Moo (that's weird; my Mom's nickname for me is Moo): I'm sure Odin has plenty of Valkyries on hand for all of his warriors! Odin is benevolent (if fickel), and far be it from him to skimp on providing carnal pleasure for his chosen warriors!
Unless you're female like me...then we're out of luck.
I don't know if punching little kids counts. They would have to be little kids that Odin was pissed at for some reason. Better to pick on somebody your own size, though...prefferably somebody who had a lot of treasure you could plunder after smiting him.
2007-11-14 15:35:34 · update #4
J V: Ah, you've got me at the giant beerhall thing. But they got to go out and kill each other during the day before all the drinking started at night! If that's not paradise, I don't know what it.
And, sadly, yes, Thor was the most popular...but stupid lug that he was. The elite warrior, however, knew to give his allegiance to One-Eye.
I sort of doubt your theory about the viking raids stemming from any sort of lofty moral imperative like you state. I think most scholars on the subject agree that overpopulation at home and lack of arable farmland drove Norsemen abroad...
2007-11-14 16:41:26 · update #5
*chuckle*
Polytheistic indigenous folk faiths such as Germanic heathenry rarely have a problem with other cultures and their god(s). To each his own. We aren't insecure about our beliefs and don't need others to agree with us.
It's monotheist fear and intolerance of anyone who doesn't bend the knee to Yahweh/Jehovah/Allah that causes most of the problems.
* * *
Cattle die, kindred die,
Every man is mortal:
But the good name never dies
Of one who has done well
Hávamál: 76
2007-11-17 02:51:32 · answer #1 · answered by Mike H. 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well, I can believe that Odin exists. I don't worship him but that's not to say that others don't and that others don't hear his voice. I've never personally encountered Odin, at least to my knowledge, but then again, I have yet to encounter Yahweh on a major tangible level either. Mainly spiritual as far as he goes. But then you already know this about me. ;-) -- Hey what am I? Chopped liver? ;-) --
2016-04-04 02:00:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey there are females! Valkyrie baby!
There are those that believed the wives of warriors could go with the to Valhalla if they were burned with them. I can't remember where I read that...shoot.
I have tried to explain this to them too. After all if I am right and they are wrong, we live among our ancestors and the gods! If they are right and I am wrong, well then I have lost nothing right.
Go Odin's Wager!!!
Thor had a quick temper and was impilsive but not stupid. He outsmarted the dwarf that was after her daughter, turning him to stone.
2007-11-17 04:03:47 · answer #3 · answered by ~Heathen Princess~ 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I'm afraid you're not going to have much luck.
Thor seems to have been just as popular if not more so than Odin.
I have recently been wondering if the increase in Viking raids in the "dark " ages was partly caused by Norse and Germanic cultists promoting some 5th century Ad version of a jihad.
Lo we the true warriors must smite the evil decadent Romans!
I think it says something about the "popular" appeal of the Odinic cult that people flocked to convert to a religion whose afterlife was a bit more diverse than being a giant beerhall?
2007-11-14 16:07:02 · answer #4 · answered by J V 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
What about Zeus? Why don't they believe in Zeus, King of the Gods, wielder of the thunderbolt?
Is it because the Elysian Fields are boring for them because they can't jeer at sinners?
And of COURSE Odin and Zeus are not kosher.... neither of them are the God of Israel. They are Gods of the Norse and the Greeks respectively
2007-11-14 15:22:38 · answer #5 · answered by Anne Hatzakis 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Odin, Thor, Zeus, Loki
Mercury, Hercules, Achilles.
Why not?
2007-11-14 15:21:12 · answer #6 · answered by Steve B 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm an atheist; so you won't convince me, but if it makes you feel any better, i would be more willing to believe in Odin than Jesus. At least the Norse religion is legitimate. Christianity isn't even a real religion.
2007-11-14 15:56:31 · answer #7 · answered by Crimson King 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Lol, my Norwegian boyfriend would love you. Although, he isn't a believer in Norse mythology, it does have lots of good meanings over there.
2007-11-17 04:14:01 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If I start punching little kids starting now, does it make me a chosen warrior?
But the male/female ratio is going to SUCK even if I do get to Valhalla. Damn it!
2007-11-14 15:29:22 · answer #9 · answered by Moo 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
So, after you save Thor's hammer from falling to the ground with your head, are you claiming Loki as your next of kin?
2007-11-14 15:22:15 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋