Seiðr Loom

Myths, retold from the sources

31 stories in the order of the mythic world, from the void before creation to the world that rises after Ragnarök, then the legends of the heroes. Each is retold in plain English, cites the stanza or chapter for every step, and says where the poems and Snorri tell it differently.

  1. The making of the worldBefore anything existed there was only a yawning gap. Fire and ice met in it, the giant Ymir woke out of the melting rime, and Odin and his brothers killed him and built the world from his body.Völuspá 3 · Völuspá 4 · Gylfaginning 5
  2. Ask and Embla: the first humansThree gods walking by the shore find two lifeless pieces of wood, Ask and Embla, and give them breath, mind, warmth and colour. Völuspá and Snorri agree on the gifts but not on who gave them.Völuspá 17 · Völuspá 18 · Gylfaginning 9
  3. Sun, Moon, Night and DayHow the Norse sources explain the sky's clock: Night and Day ride round the world on two horses, the children of Mundilfari drive the sun and moon, and two wolves chase them until the end of the world.Völuspá 5 · Vafþrúðnismál 23 · Vafþrúðnismál 14
  4. The war of the Æsir and the VanirThe first war in the world, fought between the two families of gods. The surviving texts give only fragments — a witch burned three times, Odin's spear, a broken wall, a truce sealed with spittle and hostages — but they add up to the story of how the Vanir came to live among the Æsir.Völuspá 21 · Völuspá 23 · Völuspá 24
  5. The giant builder and the wall of AsgardA stranger offers to wall the gods' stronghold in a single winter, for the price of Freyja, the sun and the moon. When he is about to win, Loki saves the gods by turning himself into a mare — and gives birth to Sleipnir.Gylfaginning 42 · Gylfaginning 42 · Gylfaginning 42
  6. The binding of FenrirThe gods raise Loki's wolf-son Fenrir at home until they fear him, then trick him into a magic fetter made of impossible things. Týr puts his hand in the wolf's mouth as a pledge, and loses it.Gylfaginning 34 · Gylfaginning 34 · Gylfaginning 34
  7. Odin on the tree: how the runes were wonIn Hávamál Odin tells how he hung for nine nights on a windswept tree, wounded with a spear and given to himself, without food or drink, until he seized the runes and fell back. It is the most famous passage in Old Norse poetry, and one of the most mysterious.Hávamál 139 · Hávamál 140 · Hávamál 141
  8. Odin's eye and Mímir's wellOdin gave one of his eyes as a pledge for a drink from the well of wisdom kept by Mímir. The sources tell it in a few lines, and the eye's hiding-place becomes one of the secrets the seeress of Völuspá throws back at the god.Völuspá 28 · Völuspá 29 · Gylfaginning 15
  9. The mead of poetryFrom the spittle of the gods' peace comes Kvasir, wisest of beings; from his blood two dwarfs brew a mead that makes poets. It passes to the giant Suttungr, and Odin wins it by labour, seduction and theft, flying home as an eagle.Skáldskaparmál 1 · Skáldskaparmál 1 · Skáldskaparmál 1
  10. The treasures of the gods: Sif's hair and Brokkr's wagerLoki shaves Sif's head, and to save his own skin sets two families of dwarf-smiths competing. The result is six treasures — golden hair, a folding ship, a spear, a ring, a golden boar and Thor's hammer — and Loki's lips sewn shut.Skáldskaparmál 35 · Skáldskaparmál 35 · Skáldskaparmál 35
  11. The theft of Iðunn and her applesCaught by a giant in eagle's shape, Loki buys his freedom by luring Iðunn and her apples out of Asgard. The gods grow old, and Loki must steal her back as a falcon, with Þjazi beating after him.Skáldskaparmál 1 · Skáldskaparmál 1 · Skáldskaparmál 1
  12. Skaði chooses a husbandÞjazi's daughter Skaði comes armed to Asgard for vengeance and accepts a settlement instead: a husband chosen by his feet, and a laugh. She picks Njörðr, hoping for Baldr, and the marriage of mountain and sea does not last.Skáldskaparmál 1 · Skáldskaparmál 1 · Gylfaginning 23
  13. Freyr and GerðrFreyr sits in Odin's high seat, glimpses the giant's daughter Gerðr and is sick with love. His servant Skírnir rides through fire to woo her, and when gifts fail he wins her with threats and a curse. The price is Freyr's sword.Skírnismál, prose 1 · Skírnismál 6 · Skírnismál 9
  14. Thor's journey to Útgarða-LokiThor travels east with Loki, Þjálfi and Röskva, sleeps in a giant's glove, and loses every contest in the hall of Útgarða-Loki: to fire, to thought, to the sea, to the World Serpent and to old age. Only at parting does he learn he was tricked.Gylfaginning 44 · Gylfaginning 45 · Gylfaginning 46
  15. Thor fishes for the World SerpentSent to fetch a giant's brewing kettle, Thor goes fishing with the giant Hymir, baits his hook with an ox-head and hauls the Midgard Serpent up to the gunwale. The poem Hymiskvíða and Snorri tell it differently, and disagree on how it ended.Hymiskviða 5 · Hymiskviða 23 · Hymiskviða 24
  16. Thrym steals Thor's hammerThor wakes to find Mjölnir gone. The giant Þrymr will return it only for Freyja as his bride, so Thor goes to the wedding himself, in a veil, with Loki as his bridesmaid.Þrymskviða 1 · Þrymskviða 7 · Þrymskviða 12
  17. Thor's duel with HrungnirA horse race with Odin brings the stone-headed giant Hrungnir drunk and boasting into Asgard. Thor challenges him to the first single combat of his life, kills him with Mjölnir, and carries a piece of the giant's whetstone in his skull for ever after.Skáldskaparmál 17 · Skáldskaparmál 17 · Skáldskaparmál 17
  18. Thor in the hall of GeirröðrTo save his own life Loki promises to bring Thor, unarmed, to the giant Geirröðr. A friendly giantess lends Thor a belt, gloves and staff; he survives a flooding river, a rising chair and a red-hot iron bar, and kills Geirröðr and his daughters.Skáldskaparmál 18 · Skáldskaparmál 18 · Skáldskaparmál 18
  19. Odin's contest of wisdom with VafþrúðnirAgainst Frigg's advice, Odin goes in disguise to the wisest of the giants and stakes his head on a contest of questions about the creation, the gods and the end of the world. He wins with a question only he can answer.Vafþrúðnismál 2 · Vafþrúðnismál 19 · Vafþrúðnismál 21
  20. Odin as Grímnir between the firesTo win a wager with Frigg, Odin visits his foster-son King Geirröðr in disguise and is tortured between two fires for eight nights. Given a drink by the king's young son, he pours out a vision of the gods' halls and the world-tree, then reveals himself, and the king falls on his own sword.Grímnismál, prose 2 · Grímnismál, prose 2 · Grímnismál 2
  21. Thor and the dwarf AlvíssA dwarf named Alvíss, 'All-Wise', comes to claim Thor's daughter as his promised bride. Thor agrees, if the dwarf can tell him what everything is called in every world, and keeps him answering until the sun comes up.Alvíssmál 2 · Alvíssmál 3 · Alvíssmál 8
  22. Baldr's dreams and deathBaldr dreams of his own death; Odin rides to Hel to question a dead seeress; and, in Snorri's telling, Loki puts a sprig of mistletoe into blind Höðr's hand. The gods lose their brightest member and the slide toward Ragnarök begins.Baldrs draumar 1 · Baldrs draumar 9 · Völuspá 32
  23. Hermóðr's ride to HelAfter Baldr's death Hermóðr rides Sleipnir nine nights down to Hel to ransom his brother. Hel agrees to let Baldr go if everything in the world weeps for him; one giantess in a cave will not.Gylfaginning 49 · Gylfaginning 49 · Gylfaginning 49
  24. Loki's flyting at Ægir's feastThrown out of the sea-giant Ægir's feast for killing a servant, Loki walks back in and insults every god and goddess in turn, until Thor comes home and threatens him with the hammer.Lokasenna, prose 2 · Lokasenna 3 · Lokasenna 9
  25. The binding of LokiAfter Baldr's death Loki hides as a salmon in a waterfall. The gods catch him in a net, bind him on three stones with his own son's entrails, and hang a serpent over his face. Sigyn catches the venom in a bowl until Ragnarök.Gylfaginning 50 · Gylfaginning 50 · Lokasenna, prose 7
  26. Ragnarök: the doom of the godsThe end of the Norse world as told in Völuspá, Vafþrúðnismál and Snorri's Gylfaginning: winter and war, the wolf and the serpent loose, the gods killed one by one, and Surtr's fire over the earth.Völuspá 45 · Völuspá 46 · Völuspá 53
  27. The world rebornAfter Ragnarök a green earth rises from the sea. Surviving gods meet on Iðavöllr, Baldr returns from Hel, two humans come out of hiding, and a new sun rides the sky. The sources do not agree on who survives.Völuspá 59 · Völuspá 62 · Vafþrúðnismál 45
  28. Ríg walks among menA wandering god called Ríg spends three nights in each of three households and fathers Thrall, Karl and Jarl, the ancestors of slaves, free farmers and nobles. Jarl's youngest son, Kon, becomes the first king.Rígsþula, prose 1 · Rígsþula 2 · Rígsþula 13
  29. Otter's ransom and Andvari's curseLoki kills an otter that turns out to be a farmer's son. To buy their lives the gods must fill and cover its skin with gold, which Loki wrings from the dwarf Andvari, along with a ring Andvari curses. The curse starts working at once.Reginsmál, prose 1 · Reginsmál 5 · Reginsmál, prose 3
  30. Sigurðr slays FáfnirUrged on by his foster-father Reginn, the young Sigurðr digs a trench on the dragon's path and stabs Fáfnir from below. A taste of the dragon's heart-blood lets him understand the birds, who warn him that Reginn means to kill him.Fáfnismál, prose 1 · Fáfnismál 4 · Fáfnismál 20
  31. Völundr the smithAbandoned by his swan-maiden wife, the master smith Völundr is captured and lamed by King Níðuðr. He takes a terrible revenge on the king's sons and daughter, then rises laughing into the air.Völundarkviða 1 · Völundarkviða 8 · Völundarkviða, prose 3