Norse mythology powerpoint for the Vikings.

1. INTRODUCTION TO
NORSE MYTHOLOGY
Also called “Big guys smashing things”

2. CREATION: ORIGIN OF THE
WORLD
 In the beginning… there was nothing but 2 places
• North- Nifelheim (land of frost and destruction)
• South- Muspelheim (land of fire and poison)
 Where the 2 met, the giant Ymir was created.
 Ymir had a pet cow, Audulma, who “licked a bunch of ice” and
created the first of the gods.

3. THE AESIR RISE
 Odin, Vili, Ve: The First Gods
• Like all good children, quickly turn on Ymir and the giants, kill them
all.
• Ymir’s blood becomes the oceans and seas, body becomes the land,
bones become mountains, hair becomes trees.
• Skull raised to the heavens, collects the escaping fires of Muspelheim
and that is our sun, starts, moon, cosmos (ooooooooh!)
• Gods called “Aesir” and are the protectors of mankind in Midgard,
“the realm of dudes”
• These Gods build humans, Ask and Embla, from 2 withered trees.
(Adam and Eve?)
• All the lands of the earth (Nifelheim, Muspelheim, Midgard, Asgard)
united by the “tree of life” Yggdrasil.

4. THE WORLD ACCORDING
TO GODS

5. THE MAJOR PLAYERS
Odin: King of the gods, god of war.
Thor: Odin’s son, his mom is some crazy woman,
god of war, strength, thunder and lightening.
Dude’s got a hammer to smash and smash.

6. ODIN AND THOR
That awkward
moment when the
results from the
paternity come
back.

7. PLAY-YAS
 Loki: Trickster god, had 3 kids, keeps
finding ways of harming and tricking rest of
gods. (All religions have a trickster God.)
 The least tough picture of a God -----
 Hel: Loki’s daughter, in charge of
Nifelheim (the underworld, and yes that’s her
name)
 Garm: Hel’s pet and guard dog of
Nifelheim.

8. MAJOR PLAYERS
 Tyr: God of war and courage. Lost a hand in the binding of
Fenrir (knew it was going to happen).
 Fenrir: Super wolf, son of Loki and some animal (you know those
gods)
 Baldur: Major god killed off by his brother Hod.
 Hod: Blind god, tricked into seeing a “false vision” by Loki and he
kills Baldur.

9. THE WORLD WILL END IN
RAGNAROK
 Loki has a son, Fenrir, a giant mutant wolf that loves to eat people and will
never stop growing.
 Foretold that Fenrir will swallow the world, killing Odin in the process.
 Gods capture Loki and Fenrir. Tie Loki to a rock with a serpent guarding him,
forever dripping venom onto his face.
 Fenrir binded with super-duper strength lashes and bites of Tyr’s hand in the
process. Will continue to grow and will one day break free of the shackles. Loki,
Hel, and Garm will escape on that day and the dead will rise and fight the gods. On
that day, Yggdrasil, the tree of life, will be destroyed as well!

10. RAGNAROK, THE END OF
ALL THINGS

11. CHECKING FOR
UNDERSTANDING
 How do the Norse myths suggest that the earth was created?
• What makes the seas and oceans?
• What makes up the land, mountains, trees?
• What are the stars and moons and suns and bright things up there
above us?
 Where do the first humans come from in Norse mythology?
 According to Norse mythology, who is Fenrir and what will
happen on Ragnarok?

12. CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
 We can see a lot about how a culture views the world through their
religion, and especially through their creation stories.
 Given how the Norse suggest the world was created, what can we
say about how the Norse looked at the world?

13. FURTHER READINGS
 Too Human
• Xbox and ps3 game
• Bargain bin at Gamestop
• Aesir as super-powered humans
• Great story, decent gameplay…
• 6 years old.

14. TOO HUMAN