Vidar: the Norse God of Vengeance

Sometimes called the “Silent God,” Vidar was the Norse god of vengeance and the second strongest god in all of Norse mythology, second only to Thor, as is stated in his entry in the Prose Edda: “One is called Vidar; he is the silent god. He has a thick shoe and is nearly as strong as Thor. The gods rely on him in all difficulties.”
To be clear, strength here is only physical strength, strength not used as a byword for power, for the most powerful god, when you factor in everything, not just battle prowess, is undoubtedly Odin, who, incidentally, was Vidar’s father, siring him on the giantess Gridr. She at one time lent Thor a number of armaments, including her belt, staff, and iron gloves, which helped him ford a river and defeat the giant Geirrod.
It isn’t known for certain why Vidar was silent, but it has been posited that it is connected to ritual silence and other abstinent behavior in relation to vengeance, those committed to the path of vengeance refraining from speech and other indulgences until their quarry was killed. Another example comes from the god Vali, who stopped washing his hands and combing his hair until the body of the one he vowed to kill blackened on the funeral pyre.
Unsurprisingly, Vidar’s most important contribution to Norse mythology is a heroic act of vengeance, which is exactly what you would expect from the god of vengeance himself. Said most simply, he avenges his father by ripping a giant wolf’s head apart. However, to understand how important this avenging was - that is, how death-defying and world-saving it was, Odin’s honor being the least important aspect of this - a lot of information has to be layered on top, answering questions like: Who was this wolf? How was this wolf possibly powerful enough to kill the king of the Norse pantheon? Why Were Odin and this wolf even fighting? And how did Vidar, though a very powerful god, manage to kill the monster that killed Odin, the most powerful of the Norse gods?
Watch the video for the rest!

[@MythologyExplained]

Thanks for watching! :)

[@TsugaC]

Well done. Vidar is one of the Aesir whose aspects speak most clearly to me.

[@rookhobbes9055]

The greatest Vengeance of all is a life well lived, to survive beyond the point when all those who hate you or have wronged you have perished. The greatest Vengeance is to outlive your foes and thrive in spite of them, and defeat them when they try to take that from you.

[@Spadishking]

*Fast food employee "Damn, that's deep.... but what was it you wanted again?"

[@scottalderson4708]

Viidar is so cool. I hope he makes an appearance in the next God of War game

[@b3rz3rk3r9]

I kinda wished he was the first game's big boss instead of Balder because that'd be poetic in a way. Not only would it be Kratos' mosfortune to fight yet another pantheon, but to also deal with a god who's the physical embodiment of every innocent soul he killed by killing the Gods; a literal haunting reminder of his sins.

[@scottalderson4708]

@@b3rz3rk3r9 oh shit yeah 🤘

[@enriquemedrano5128]

Same, it better be a fucking tough fight. None of that Baldur fight BS. I want to get my ass kicked until I’m able to beat him.

[@scottalderson4708]

@@enriquemedrano5128 yeppers

[@swedprod]

Honored to bear the name Vidar :D

[@unkownperson9250]

thx for posting

[@Spadishking]

Took me awhile to find it but at 0:50 seconds in "Geirrod" is the spelling for the Gaint mentioned. Figured id share to anyone curious or fascinated with the lore and myths of gods/gaints like I am.

[@tbunny6305]

Loki was also the mother of Odin's horse Sleipnir . Nice vid

[@-RONNIE]

Thanks for the video it's good when people acknowledge others instead of the typical favourites of Norse Mythology ⚔️

[@wawwwa9542]

I think so too. Who know who Eir is or Jord?

[@-RONNIE]

@@wawwwa9542 I know right. Even though I'm an Irish Pagan I still have 2 Germanic tribes as well as Cherokee in my heritage. So I learn about all of them equally but I focus more on Irish I'm a dual citizen of the US and Ireland because my family runs very deep over there 🥃 Sláinte 🇮🇪

[@wawwwa9542]

@@-RONNIE I'm swedish. Sometimes (often) sorry to see my religion butchered by other countries. A bit irritated on the focus on the usual gods. And, where are the women? Except for Freja that gets all attention and then as a sex or warrior goddess when she's so much more. Another thing I can miss is the animals. Horses cats wolfs... Again except from Hugin and Munin The often bad translations just build misunderstandings. The names our gods have are words for things. They habe to be kept like they are. Don't change them. Translate them if anything. Not easy at all from the old language. I've stopped watching other channels than this on the subject. Ahhh I'm rambling I'll stut up now. Nice talking to you

[@-RONNIE]

@@wawwwa9542 Trust me I understand exactly what you're saying people do the same thing with The Mórrígan sexualizing her in art it makes me mad. I also can't stand when others take aspects of old religions or cultures and a few new concepts mix it with magic stuff then create a whole new thing while saying it's old or ancient. It's almost embarrassing 😂

[@wawwwa9542]

@@-RONNIE I agree I've seen this too about Morrigan. It kind of rips her of her purity. As you say embarrassing...

[@bobbyrabii6119]

He’s a badass in the show Primal

[@Pantheonslayer]

That show is way underrated, my favorite animated series ever.

[@Terry-sf7gm]

A video on Mastema mythology would be dope

[@davidhall-4640]

Feel very connected to Vidar. In my mind he's the embodiment of a noble son. The norse Gods arent so much "The God of _____" as they are ASSOCIATED with certain nature and psychological aspects. Vidar represents respect for parental guardians, justice by way of vengence, the woods, and really nature itself. His name when translated literally means something like "forest warrior/wide ruler." I feel most connected to: Vidar, Forseti, Tyr, Freya, and Odin.

[@theScrupulousBerserker]

🐾

[@claytonporter7878]

PERHAPS interesting

[@AngelRiverar-yz7kz]

👍🏼💫✨️

[@macwelch8599]

Don’t piss this guy off

[@pyromania1018]

Really ticks me off that he didn't get a major appearance in the GoW games.

[@lemonLord75]

my name is vidar💀

[@johnnycage112]

Don't hear about this guy often. Please do Nidhog.

[@Don-ej1le]

Don't hear about him often? Vidar is the true winner of Ragnarok.

[@cavaliothorson7755]

​@@Don-ej1le But he's right though there's gotta be some reason why he's not talked about more, I just discovered him. He wasn't even mentioned in GoW as far as I know I mean even Forseti was mentioned but I think Vidar's name is only shown as an armor set.

[@billys4683]

Hes sounds like Jesus too Me"The Silent King"Who came After all of them"Untill His Father sent him too tell the world About the All Father!!!

[@JustJimJr]

where is this info found? Just saying!

[@bahamut1169]

In Wikipedia

[@davidhall-4640]

Poetic edda and prose edda. Everything else was destroyed or absorbed by the Catholic church. He is mentioned once, and it basically says he will avenge Odin and that physically he's the 2nd strongest God after Thor.....which is quite odd considering Thor's son Magni is the God of physical strength and lifted a giant Thor himself could not. Unfortunately, people tend to destroy what's different from them, and much of this info is lost forever or locked away in the Vatican somewhere.

[@davidhall-4640]

Oh, it also states that he lives in an overgrown wood among tall grass.

[@Kingsaxxy3872]

@@davidhall-4640 perhaps it meant second strongest OLD gods, Magni is a new God so perhaps it meant that.

[@davidhall-4640]

​@englandrules3872 perhaps, anything is possible 🤷

[@claytonporter7878]

VIGAR