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The belief in entering into hills, such as Þorisbjorg and Melifell, upon death is referenced elsewhere in Landnámabók. A similar belief among Sámi continued into the modern period. It has been suggested that belief in the dead living in howes and mountains are connected, with both being presented as halls on the inside. [38]
The angel of death looped a rope around her neck and while two men pulled the rope, the old woman stabbed the girl between her ribs with a knife. [ 32 ] [ 21 ] Thereafter, the closest male relative of the dead chieftain walked backwards, naked, covering his anus with one hand and a piece of burning wood with the other, and set the ship aflame ...
Old Norse religion was polytheistic, entailing a belief in various gods and goddesses. These deities in Norse mythology were divided into two groups, the Æsir and the Vanir, who in some sources were said to have engaged in an ancient war until realizing that they were equally powerful. Among the most widespread deities were the gods Odin and Thor.
Norse religion was at no time homogeneous, but was a conglomerate of related customs and beliefs. These could be inherited or borrowed, [ 2 ] and although the great geographical distances of Scandinavia led to a variety of cultural differences, people understood each other's customs, poetic traditions and myths. [ 3 ]
The horse is associated with death in many ways: it announces it, gives it and protects the deceased. This symbolism should be seen in the broader context of the Nordic pagan vision of death as part of a whole and a cycle, [79] in association with hippomancy, divination using horses. [80] Many horses were servants or harbingers of death.
The Viking cult site hof in Hov on Suðuroy The two menhirs of Havgrímur and Leivur Øssurson in Hov. The one from Havgrímur stands upright because it fell in battle. It is not known whether there were sacrificial sites in places like Tórshavn and Hósvík. The Faroese saga does not reveal any details about the Norse beliefs practiced at ...
Seiðr is interpreted differently by different groups and practitioners, but usually taken to indicate altered consciousness or even total loss of physical control. [24] Diana L. Paxson and her group Hrafnar have attempted reconstructions of seiðr (particularly the oracular form) from historical material. [ 25 ]
Sonatorrek ("the irreparable loss of sons") is a skaldic poem in 25 stanzas, that appears in Egil's Saga (written c.a. 1220–1240), an Icelandic saga focusing on the life of skald and viking, Egill Skallagrímsson (ca. 910–990). The work laments the death of two of the poet's sons, Gunnar, who died of a fever, and Böðvarr, who drowned ...