Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

The mythology of the Nordic nations is closely related to the mythology of the other Germanic nations that lived in Northern Europe since stone age. Those nations believed in gods which they called Æsir (pl. form of the word Ás which means God) and their belief is called Ásatrú. Its origin and age is not certain. This pagan religion is often loosely mentioned in Greek and Roman writings. Most important of those is the account of Germanic religion written by Tacitus (ca 54-117 AD). Later, after the onset of the middle ages, this religion is more often mentioned in French, English and German writing, written in Latin after these nations became Christian. Noteworthy of those is the writings by Adam of Bremen (ca 1044-1080). Although some knowledge can be gained from these writings, they don’t give any general idea of the Nordic mythology. Only the Nordic nations have preserved the myths about the ancient Gods. From antiquity some stone carving can be found, mainly in Sweden and Denmark. Many of those is believed to be mythological and picture religious ceremonies. From pagan times in the North, nothing can be found in writing except Runic inscriptions on stones and on some of those the gods are invoked. Written books wer