The Norse Gods and Goddesses (Intro.)

An introduction to the Norse gods and goddesses, according to our medieval sources (the Poetic/Elder Edda and the Prose/Younger Edda). See below for timestamps and links to more material, and see the pinned comment for further thoughts.
4:13 Óðinn (Odin; more: • Video )
8:01 Þórr (Thor; more: • Who is Thor? )
9:05 Týr (more: • Who is Týr? )
10:05 Loki (more: • Video )
15:26 About the Poetic Edda and Snorri's Prose Edda (more: • Norse Myth: Our Sources )
Dr. Jackson Crawford is Instructor of Nordic Studies and Nordic Program Coordinator at the University of Colorado Boulder (formerly UC Berkeley and UCLA). He is a historical linguist and an experienced teacher of Old Norse, Modern Icelandic, and Norwegian.
FAQs: • Video
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda: www.amazon.com...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Saga of the Volsungs with The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok: www.amazon.com...
Jackson Crawford's Patreon page: / norsebysw

[@lw3235]

Best comment RE: Thor's hammer, "It can even shrink down to the size of an amulet so he can disguise himself as a regular metalhead."

[@mythicmars4848]

Lmao as a metal head who just got his mjolnir today that’s funny af

[@ZeroGravityFuneral]

⁠@@mythicmars4848nobody cares

[@kaitlynstaley8483]

Jackson: Odin is very wise and dresses in gray with a wide brimmed hat Me: *Takes a good look at Jackson* Wait a minute...

[@Atyrius]

Haha I made a comment on another video about the same thing.

[@Rultog]

I have thought the same thing!

[@willmosse3684]

Are they both Gandalf? 🤔

[@marcopolo2418]

lol Unfortunately that is not a wide brimmed hat and he is missing an eye patch and a spear or staff.

[@marcopolo2418]

@@willmosse3684 J. R. R. Tolkien took alot of inspiration from Norse mythology. He also straight up just copied and pasted alot of things. Lol Like the Dwarves names or gandalfs name an many many other things.

[@onewish6944]

This man seems so intelligent, and accomplished. It’s impressive

[@the_bread_wolf]

I appreciate the emphasis that they are not blue. That drives me up a wall when I see it taken as fact or used in religiously themed artwork.

[@willmosse3684]

I’ve never even heard that giants are blue. Where does that come from?

[@the_bread_wolf]

@@willmosse3684 Marvel movies

[@willmosse3684]

@@the_bread_wolf Okay, cheers

[@noidontwantmynametoappear]

@@willmosse3684 Frost Giants in Dungeons & Dragons were blue from its first edition which came out in the 1970s. That may have played into the perception.

[@paulmccoun7697]

🤣 "just a regular metal-head." This is a great video. Thank you!

[@bw3775]

Paul McCoun 🤘🏼🤣

[@siksjonas1]

Here in Sweden we have a saying when winter starts " Här kommer Kung Bore" (here comes King Bore)

[@rzaba1152]

I'm gonna binge watch your videos today :D

[@jenniferrapier-milne1923]

That's me today :)

[@KungKras]

I can't get enough of these videos. They're so incredibly interesting.

[@ratatoskri6020]

Thank you for putting these videos on KZbin. I have learned a lot from you.

[@dominomasked]

If you worry that people are going to get tired of that metal-head joke...we are not. :)

[@TalymoMakes]

Just bought your version of the Poetic Edda from Amazon! I can't wait to read it! Thank you for making these videos. It's helping me understand my ancestor's culture much more.

[@eeljn]

Excellent video. My regular THURSDAY morning head rinse. Nice touch with the brief glimpse of the Winchester.

[@DoneBrokeDatBack]

I'm not sure if you will ever see this, but THANK YOU! Your videos are an absolute revelation. :D

[@punkinlou1573]

waiting on a third book!! cant wait haha and thank you greatly for the uploads and vast amount of knowledge shared here on your channel. Skol!

[@gepifano]

I’m having so much fun learning from you, thank you for posting these wonderful videos!

[@jayjeep6746]

Love your videos. I picked up your copy of Poetic Edda. Let me tell you I have read it daily the last week. The reviews on Amazon for your book are amazing! I picked your version because of your back ground in old norse.

[@daveh3997]

Sweet Yellowboy ya got there. That the 30-30? Oh, and Thanks for keeping the Thor metal head line in your remake.

[@logand504]

Just ordered a copy of your translation of The Poetic Edda. This is definitely the most excited I’ve been for a book in a long time! Until then, I’ll be binging your Norse Mythology playlist on my 60 hour work weeks. Thank you.

[@AlbertusSalvatierra]

So Loki had two wives and a horse mate. He had five children- a giant, a goddess, a wolf, a serpent, and the last being a horse

[@ranchrods1]

i do enjoy your videos :)

[@randycuevasfeliz6193]

thank you for this exquisite lesson.

[@kevinsmith9013]

Turning invisible before you hunt is a pretty cool trick.

[@laotasurfs1110]

I love that everyone who studies Norse myths has to have a laugh about how Odin's cunning "old man disguise" looks exactly like his usual outfit but nobody ever figures it out.

[@corymoon2439]

He is the equivalent of Clark Kent in disguise. Sure they look somewhat alike but this is just some old guy.

[@rudde7918]

That shotgun sound at the end.

[@stevemackelprang8472]

That was the sound of a lever action rifle.

[@dragatus]

I will now forever have the image of Thor trying to blend in with metalheads stuck in my mind.

[@garychynne1377]

hahaha. thank yew jackson. this is a great video in that it ties it all together, and then at the end it was a great finish leavin me laughin out loud. just a glimps. probably 30-30 winchester. thank u again great yarns. take care gare

[@primordialpouch1139]

He can disguise himself as a regular metalhead

[@wulaeofthetengu8336]

Hymir might be Tyr's foster father as he's called the son of Odin.

[@TheRAZSOR]

"Odin is very wise and dresses in gray with a wide brimmed hat." In another sentence: "Odin tosses the whetstone and the 9 men kill each other." Hence, Gandalf = Sauron

[@sunshinesilverarrow5292]

Thank you! Hugs & sunshine 🌞 N

[@jodieschafer2705]

Thank you for making theses videos please make morev

[@VasiliosBakagias]

Hail the Aesir and the Vanir!

[@hadilbouderbala208]

Thanks

[@karennorris7880]

I'm wondering if any anthropologists have speculated about their religious rites and rituals based on objects found at excavation sites.

[@meanie330]

So jealous of your surroundings! I need to move out of the city!!

[@swinhelm389]

Can you talk about that story where Asgard is rebuilt after the Æsir-Vanir war? In the version I read the guy they hired was a Jötun in disguise, and after Loki distracted his horse he changed back to his 'true form' to work faster, but Thor, seeing that he was a giant, killed him. Of course, that means that the Jötun was an actual giant, and not the same species as the Æsir as you say. Is that just the interpretation of the translator of that version, or is that how it goes in Snorri's Edda? If so, did Snorri see Jötnar as actual giants?

[@swinhelm389]

The translation of Gylfaginning on Wikisource says, "When the builder saw that his work was not going to be completed, he resumed his giant form. When the asas thus became sure that it was really a mountain-giant that had come among them, they did not heed their oaths, but called on Thor." Was Snorri trying to portray the Jötnar more like the giants of the Bible?

[@kellybraille]

Man, he definitely did a video on the building of the wall, but for the life of me I can not find it. Maybe search through his old playlists. For now, here is a short video about the "same species" question (p.s.- he has a Patreon for questions like this I believe): kzbin.info/www/bejne/joSpiWyGltOhpqc

[@andersf5464]

Ja, killen verkar veta en del om nordisk mytologi. Yes, the bloke/guy seeme to know a bit about the nordish mythology. Hell dig.

[@Mathayus1977]

Takk fra Norge !

[@mr1337viking]

Excellent video!

[@legionitalia309]

I’ve always wondered if “giants” hasn’t just been mistranslated throughout the ages, that it may be an allusion not to a different species but a different race of people, like perhaps the “Jutes” or some archaic predecessor long forgotten. “Frost Giants” being the northern variety of those people. That rationalizes some of the discrepancies of marriage and children in the stories. Just my personal theory based on my observations. I ain’t nobody special, and probably not the first to think of it.

[@lajakl]

If we look at Middle Icelandic sources only a few centuries after all those words clearly mean 'giant'. Also other words used to describe the Jötnar like 'risi' are very transparent words that clearly mean 'giant' so the translation is at the very least justifiable.

[@jhowell1321]

I'm new to Norse myth but am having the same thoughts! I appreciate you giving voice to them.

[@jonathancaudwell7171]

How do you pronounce Idunn and how come she wasn’t mentioned?

[@Forndrome]

I believed "Magni" was related to "Magnus", popular king's name in Norway, and taken from Latin/Rome, where it meant "the great" via Charlemagne?

[@ronmcqueen5975]

I red that a certain Scott was from Sweyn or Swane

[@Billiej9]

Tak

[@moshecallen]

Is Snorri's wanting to make a list of 12 a desire on Snorri's part to parallel the Greek and Roman pantheons?

[@nneichan9353]

I wonder if the fertility gods, the Vanir, were the older gods.

[@LarsPallesen]

I think they were. They seem to be the gods of the losing part in some real world battle between two peoples or tribes in ancient times.

[@willmosse3684]

Do we know if the pagan Norse believed these stories literally, or where they allegorical tales for understanding gods that were understood to really be forces of nature etc., as I have heard elsewhere?

[@Dystisis]

to speculate, it could be both. think of how santa claus is believed literally by children (or at least used to be, these days i wonder if even kids believe in him), but grown ups don't believe don't take him literally but like to use the imagery, pretend he's real with children (partially for a moral reason, "he only gives you gifts if you've been good") and preserve the associated traditions. they could have been tales told to children and associated with elaborate rituals in a similar way.

[@Dice_roller]

Both.

[@ronmcqueen5975]

Thank you for you knowledge It very good Hope you can help

[@serbianpan1622]

класс

[@fredmcelroy2839]

Did Norse Mythology influence Viking culture in any way?

[@BryanRobertAugustThul-ONELOVE]

Thank Y'all for the Medicines May our Journey Be Better BLESSED... Up LOVE ☝️🌎🌍🌏🫶 B🌞 B.R.A.T.😇 Bryan Robert August Thul👻 ONELOVE The Trinity∆ SOURCE🫶EVERMORE

[@colinp2238]

The word val suggest fallen to me as in fallen in battle and I wonder if it is a root of the word fall? Sleipnir the 8 legged stallion poetic kenning for pall bearers carrying a coffin/ dead body?

[@NickCorreia9]

why do you say whetstone like "hwet"stone?

[@ronmcqueen5975]

D Are the Scottish from Norse?

[@CliffReeds]

Is his hat on backwards? It looks like it is.