Thor...I have a question for you........

[Spook]

Why do you call yourself Thor when Thor was a male in the Nordic pantheon?

Some good names would be.....

Freya

Old Norse Freyja
Goddess of fertility and war. Originally one of the Vanir. She was the daughter of Njord, and the sister of Frey. Her daughters, by Od, are named Hnoss, who is so beautiful that whatever is valuable and lovely is named "treasure" after her, and Gersemi.

She lived in Folkvang [battlefield] and each day chose half of the slain warriors to split with Odin. She had a husband named Od, whom she somehow lost and cried golden tears for. Many believe Od is Odin.

Her chariot was drawn by male cats (their names are never stated) and she owned the precious Brisings' necklace, which she slept with four dwarves to acquire. She also owned a feather coat which she could use to fly between the worlds.

After she went to live with the Aesir as a hostage, she taught them -- including Odin -- seidr. Some sources say Friday is named after her.


Frigg

Goddess of marriage. She is the wife of Odin, and Friday is named for her (according to some). Her abode was called Fensalir [The Ocean Halls] and she weaved the clouds.
Another name for Frigg was probably Saga [ON Sága]. In the Prose Edda it states that Saga was an Aesir goddess who dwelt in a "big place" called Sokkvabekk. That is the only mention of her. In the Poetic Edda she is also only mentioned once:


Sokkvabekk called is the fourth, which cool waters
ripple round about;
there Odin and Saga all their days drink,
glad from golden cups.

- Grimnismal, Lee Hollander tr.
That is all that is said about her in the Norse mythological sources. As Hollander points out she is probably identical with Frigg since she is said to drink with Odin (Frigg's husband) "all their days" and Fensalir, Frigg's hall, means "Ocean Halls" which is comparable to Sokkvabekk, "Suken Hall".

Some people call Saga a goddess of history or a goddess of poetry, possibly because the word Saga is connected to the word for history, and also refer to her as a daughter of Odin but there is no discernable basis for any of this.


Idun

Old Norse Iðunn
Goddess of youth, her name means "The Rejuvenating One". She is married to Bragi and is the keeper of the apples which keep the gods eternally young. The only myth we have concerning Idun is the story of her kidnapping by the giant Thiazi.

Odin, Loki, and Hoenir, were on one of their travels when they happened upon an ox and, since they were so very hungry, decided to cook it. For some reason however, the meat would not cook.

As they were trying to discern the reason for this travesty a huge eagle perched above them in an oak tree told them he knew why the ox wasn't cooking and would show them how to roast it if they would first let him eat his fill.

No sooner had they agreed than the eagle ate such a great portion of the ox that Loki got angry, took a pole and struck at the eagle. The eagle flew upwards with the pole and Loki stuck to the other end. He told Loki he would only let him down if Loki agreed to kidnap Idun and her age-defying apples.

When the gods arrived in Asgard Loki did as he had promised and lured Idun outside of Asgard to where the eagle was waiting. The eagle, who was none other than the giant Thiazi in his eagle skin cloak, took Idun to his home called Thrymheim in the mountains of Jotunheim.

The gods began to quickly age once the source of their immortality had been stolen so they decided Loki should have to go and fetch her back. After all, he was the one who had caused all the trouble.

Loki borrowed Freya's falcon cloak and flew to Thrymheim where he found Idun alone. He turned her into a nut and flew back to Asgard as fast as he could, holding Idun in his claws.

As soon as Thiazi returned and found Idun gone, he put on his eagle cloak and flew towards Asgard. His wings beat so quickly and with such force that he caused strong storm winds to hamper Loki's escape. The gods could see the eagle coming in pursuit of Loki so as soon as Loki was safe inside the bounds of Asgard they built a bonfire which set fire to Thiazi's wings. Once the giant fell to the gound the Aesir killed him. Afterwards, his daughter Skadi came to avenge his death.

There is debate as to whether or not Idun's apples were a late addition to the mythology, something inspired by Greek or Irish legends. In an early form of the tale in the Haustlong which was composed by Thjodolf of Hvin the court poet of Harold Fairhair who lived ca 860 Idun's absence causes the Aesir to age but there is no mention of apples.


Ran

The wife of Aegir, she was the sea goddess of storms. She collects drowned people in her net.


Skadi

Old Norse Skaði, variant Skade
Frequently referred to as the goddess of skis or snow shoes, she travelled on skis, carried a bow, and hunted. She was the daughter of the giant Thiazi [Old Norse Þjázi, variant Thiassi].

Thiazi was the son of a very rich giant named Alvaldi [Olvaldi]. When Alvaldi died Thiazi and his brothers Idi and Gang divided their inheritance by each taking a large mouthful of gold.

After Thiazi was killed by the Aesir as related in the section on Idun, Skadi took up arms and went to Asgard for vengence. The Aesir offered her compensation for the death of her father - she was allowed to choose a husband from among the gods.

There was only one small catch, she had to pick her new husband based only on the appearance of his feet. She picked Njord by mistake, assuming the best looking feet must have belonged to the god Balder.

As further compensation Skadi demanded that one of the Aesir make her laugh. Hence, Loki tied one end of a rope around the beard of a goat and the other end of the rope around his testicles, he then pulled on the rope making both the goat and himself bellow.

As a final form of appeasement Snorri tells us that Odin threw Thiazi's eyes into the sky turning them into stars. This contradicts a passage in the Poetic Edda in Hárbarzljóð which has Thor claiming to have been the one to kill Thiazi and fling his eyes into the sky.

After their marriage, Njord and Skadi could not agree on where to live so they took turns going to Thrymheim (Skadi's abode after Thiazi's death) in the mountains for nine nights and then Noatun on the shore for nine nights. Skadi didn't like Njord's home, and he didn't like her's, so they split up.

From the Ynglinga Saga we learn that after Skadi left Njord she became involved with Odin and had numerous sons by him, one being Saeming who is also listed in the Prose Edda as a son of Odin. However, in the preface to Heimskringla Snorri writes "Eyvind Skaldaspiller also reckoned up the ancestors of Earl Hakon the Great in a poem called 'Haleygjatal', composed about Hakon; and therein he mentions Saeming, a son of Yngvefrey."

The last thing we know about Skadi is that she was the one who positioned the venomous snake over Loki's head after the Aesir bound him.


Norse Mythology and The Lord of the Rings

Norse mythology, Scandinavian mythology, Viking mythology; all refer to the pre-Christian religion of the Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, and Danish peoples. A few books group Finnish mythology in with the Norse but the old beliefs of Finland form a separate tradition although there are some interesting parallels.
The Norse mythological system as we currently have it comes down to us mainly from the Icelandic Eddas and sagas which were written down a few centuries after the christianization of the north. There has been much research trying to discern the true ancient religion as practiced by the people of the Scandinavian countries as opposed to the representation we are given in the written sources.

Aside from any influence Christianity might have played, Norse mythology presents us with a multilayered, often contradictory, world view with a myriad of parallels in other mythological systems. It is a playground for the comparative mythology researcher, rich with elements from Indo-European, Shamanistic, and other belief systems.

Many people are familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung, but they are not familiar with Norse mythology to which both of these works are heavily indebted.

Tolkien was very well acquainted with Norse mythology, as can be seen by the use of it in his books. The name of one of his main characters, Gandalf, is found in The Poetic Edda. Gandalf is, in some ways, reminiscent of Odin, the leader of the Norse pantheon. Even the name Middle-earth, the setting for Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, comes from Norse mythology.

Wagner also referred to Norse tales. When he composed The Ring of the Nibelung, he combined the Norse The Saga of the Volsungs with the German epic The Nibelungenlied. Wagner relied less heavily on the The Nibelungenlied than some believe, and instead turned to the more pagan Volsung saga with its tale of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer and the valkyrie Brynhild.

There are many ways to spell the names of the Norse mythological figures. I have chosen the most common. In some places I have supplied alternative spellings and the original Old Norse form. I have also supplied some translations which are mainly from Hollander's The Poetic Edda in brackets.

[Tink]

My goodness..you really know your shit!!!

[Spook]

I'm a scatologist. I am supposed to know my shit.

[Spook]

I happen to only look like a Nordic God. I am jealous of Odin for having an 8 legged horse though.

[Tink]

lmao

[thor]

ever since i was a wee one i have been drawn to thor

[Reverend Satan]

Is the member thor a chick? I figured by the name it was a dude but just had the ladies picture for the hell of it. Kind of like how a lot of dudes have pictures of pornstars for their avatars.

[Reverend Satan]

lol@scatologist

[Deacon]

I always loved Norse mythology - I actually knew most of that list you posted - old age aint got me yet!

[Spook]

The 13th Warrior rocked!