Culture / tradition
Old Norse
Narratives preserved principally in medieval Icelandic manuscripts, with important differences between poetic and prose witnesses.
Jörmungandr
Jörmungandr is the immense serpent placed in the sea around the world in Old Norse myth. Snorri’s Edda links the serpent to Thor through the fishing episode and to their fatal encounter during Ragnarök.
Read the entry →Yggdrasil
Snorri’s Edda describes Yggdrasil as the greatest of trees, a cosmic meeting place whose roots, wells, creatures, and daily damage bind multiple realms together.
Read the entry →The Binding of Fenrir
The gods restrain the wolf Fenrir with the impossible fetter Gleipnir, but only after Týr pledges his hand as security and loses it when the deception is revealed.
Read the entry →The Death of Baldr
After Baldr dreams of danger, the gods make objects swear not to harm him; Loki discovers the exception, mistletoe, and engineers the fatal throw by Höðr.
Read the entry →Ragnarök
Snorri’s Edda gathers signs, battles, and cosmic destruction into Ragnarök, where gods and monsters meet their fates before a renewed earth rises from the sea.
Read the entry →Place records are discovery aids. Traditions can span regions, languages, migrations, and modern political borders.