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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]
Viking burial scene, Dublinia Excavation of the Oseberg Ship burial mound in Norway Norse funerals, or the burial customs of Viking Age North Germanic Norsemen (early medieval Scandinavians), are known both from archaeology and from historical accounts such as the Icelandic sagas and Old Norse poetry.
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.
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 ...
Old Norse philosophy was the philosophy of the early Scandinavians. [a] [b] [c]Similar to the patterns of thought of other early Germanic peoples, Old Norse philosophy is best attested in the Poetic Edda, particularly Hávamál, which is a poem attributed to Odin, the leading deity in Norse mythology.
"Freya" (1882) by Carl Emil Doepler. In Norse mythology, Fólkvangr (Old Norse "field of the host" [1] or "people-field" or "army-field" [2]) is a meadow or field ruled over by the goddess Freyja where half of those that die in combat go upon death, whilst the other half go to the god Odin in Valhalla.