The Religions Book

86

A

sense of doom runs through

the Norse mythology of the

Vikings, for everything

in it leads up to one calamitous

moment, in which two gods—Odin,

the all-father, and the trickster,

Loki—bring an age-old conflict

between the gods and the giants

to its terrifying conclusion. This is

Ragnarok, the final battle, in which

gods will die and the world will be

utterly destroyed.

As punishment for having

duped Odin’s blind son, Hoder,

into slaying his brother, Baldr,

the shining prince of goodness,

Loki was chained to three rocks

for eternity. As he struggles to

IN CONTEXT

KEY BELIEVERS

Vikings

WHEN AND WHERE

8th–12th century CE,

Scandinavia

BEFORE

From prehistory Preserved

bog bodies such as Tollund

Man, found in modern

Denmark, suggest ritualized

human sacrifice. A pantheon

of Norse gods—the Aesir, led

by Odin—develops and is

widely worshipped across

northern Europe.

AFTER

13th century As Christianity

spreads across Nordic regions,

Viking beliefs begin to pass

into legend. To preserve them,

the Eddas, poetic compilations

of Norse myth, are compiled.

From 19th century In

Scandinavia and across

northern Europe, Germanic

neopagan movements that

venerate the Aesir are formed.

Catastrophe and violence will signal the beginning of the end.

The barrier between the worlds of the living

and the dead will be breached.

In a mighty conflict, the gods themselves will die.

But a new world will arise, with new hope for humanity.

In the twilight of the gods, the whole world will be destroyed.

THE GODS

WILL DIE

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT