The Vikings believed in giant gods and goddesses who ordered the world around them. Warriors who died gloriously in battle could expect to feast with the gods in Valhalla, the mighty hall of the slain. The Valkyries, warrior maidens, would fill their drinking horns with mead.
The greatest Viking god was Odin, god of war, poetry and wisdom. He was also known as:
One of Odin’s sons was Thor, god of thunder, storms and winds - vital to Viking crews who prayed to him before their voyages, even after becoming Christians. Thor’s battle chariot was drawn by two goats. He battled the giants with his great hammer Mjollnir.
Odin’s wife was Frigga, goddess of married love and the family hearth. Freya was goddess of beauty and the night; her brother Frey was god of fertility.
Vikings sometimes wore symbols of their gods and goddesses. A bone pin in the shape of Odin’s axe was found at the site of the Norse settlement at Jarlshof in Shetland.
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Listen to the horsehair-strung kantele, an ancient Finnish stringed instrument, being strummed.
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