Submitted by: Luca Panaro
Description:
Æsir ("gods, divine beings," singular form áss) are a group of deities in Norse mythology. They are the subjects of most of the myths contained in the mythological treatise called the Prose Edda and the collection of mythological and heroic poetry known as the Poetic Edda. Æsir refers to the male gods, while the goddesses are called the Ásynjur (singular form ásynja). The Æsir are distinct from other groups or tribes of divine beings, namely the Vanir (LINK), with whom they fought a war before being reconciled and integrated, the alfar (elves (LINK)), dvergar (dwarfs (LINK)), jötnar ("giants," although this is a mistranslation (LINK)), and others.
The Æsir dwell in Ásgarðr (LINK), the "enclosure of the gods," with each deity having their own regions and halls within it. In Gylfaginning, Ásgarðr is built in the middle of the world, but later it is also said to be in the heavens, among other places like Alfheimr (LINK), the world of the elves, and Himinbjörg (LINK), "heaven-mountain," where Heimdallr (LINK) lives and keeps watch for the gods and where Bifröst (LINK) reaches the edge of heaven. Ásgarðr is also equated with the city of Troy, which falls in line with Snorri's euhemerism (or humanization) of the gods into magically-gifted and skilled, but mortal, rulers from Troy, and making æsir and Ásgarðr etymologically linked to Asia. See Prologue to the Prose Edda (LINK) entry for more details. Either way, the precise location of Ásgarðr is not able to be discerned, but it clearly resides in a divine otherworld, whether this be heaven or another realm.
The two Eddas largely have a bias favoring the Æsir and humankind, pitting them against mainly the jötnar, who are also called þursar and rísar variously, categories that are not clearly separate to us. The narratives and plots of Norse mythology are mainly driven by the conflicts between Æsir and Vanir on the one hand, and the jötnar and monstrous beings on the other, with Loki (LINK) jumping in to cause mischief and drive events as well. Ragnarök (LINK), the apocalypse of Norse mythology, comprises a series of catastrophes and a final war between the gods (and their human champions, the Einherjar) and an alliance of jötnar and Loki's monstrous children, the Miðgarðsormr and the wolf Fenrir (LINKS).
The Æsir and Ásynjur together make up what is considered the main Norse mythological pantheon, although the truthfulness of a notion of a Nordic pantheon during the Scandinavian Iron Age and Viking Age has been drawn into doubt by scholars over the past few decades. This is due to a greater understanding of the amount of source manipulation, editing, conflation, and smoothing-over carried out by the compilers of the Prose Edda (attributed to Snorri Sturluson (LINK)), which describes a hierarchical "pantheon" to go with its presentation of a coherent mythology.
| Medieval Sources | Description | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| Prose Edda/Younger Edda | The Prose or Younger Edda, also called Snorri's Edda, is a treatise on mythology and skaldic poetry compiled in the early 13th century. It is the sour... | none |
| Poetic Edda/Elder Edda | The core of poems that make up what is referred to as eddic poetry, glossing over the different metres and subjects, is contained in a small, unass... |
none |
| Heimskringla | Heimskringla ("Circle of the World") is a compilation of konungasögur, or kings' sagas, dated to the first half of the 13th centu... |
none |
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