Its not only oral before 9th century. There's runes that date to 200/500 ad.

I find it interesting how Norse religion is called "Myth" when there are many many other religions which are not called myth. The norse gods have just as much proof of existence as any other god(s) so why is it classed as myth ? If only christianity wasnt so destructive we would have more knowledge of the Gods.

I believe the picture used is the story of the Aesir god Baldr, the norse god of male beauty, who was protected from all harm by his mother against all harmful things except for misteltoe. That is why people are shooting arrows at him and laughing, they saw this as a sport, since they knew he would take no harm from it. In case anyone was interested to know :)

The speculations of odin hanging himself by the throat comes from how enemy soldiers were choked and stabbed as a gift to the Allfather.

Don't care what religion you worship, there is still great wisdom to be fund in Norse mythology. Stories of honor and humanity fighting the very elements of nature and for their own existence, when my mother read this for me as a kid I felt enpowered and understood.

Really great discussion. A lot of interesting ideas touched upon that I would have loved to hear more about and had further expounded upon. Thank you for posting.

I have a strong belief in the Norse Gods. It made me so happy to find this video, the world needs to know more about the greatness of the Gods! Praise the Aesir, and the Vanir!

I'm Roman Catholic and I love Norse Mythology probably because of J.R.R. Tolkien, and he was devoted a Catholic as well so it's like a circular cycle of some what, but yeah I love it. :)

An excellent discussion. Thanks for the upload.

I enjoyed reading Greek and Norse mythology when I was in grade school and when I was in college I liked reading the myths of the Sumerians, and the rest of the near East, but to actually believe (or trust) in the gods of mythology never occurred to me. I recommend reading Joseph Campbell if you want to better understand mythology. To place my hope and trust in them is amazing to me. Understanding Greek mythology literally still remains when Christianity begins to spread, but the Greek intellectuals had pretty much abandoned the crass mythology. This is not documented in pagan Europe, but it probably would have gone the same way. Christianity didn't just replace paganism, it filled the vacuum.

Heathen Veteran here too man! 2 Tours in Afghanistan, Canadian Forces! I salute you sir, see you in Asgard

That was my old acount :) this is my new one and yes I do beleave in all of the Gods :)

What a beautiful channel!

Don't forget that language is not solely about words, but the transmission of ideas. I am a speaker of Standard American English, there are nuances in my language that might not be understood to the British English speaker, but if I can make an allegorical connection the other speaker understands, then we have communicated. Whereas "es" is a root, is that found at the beginning as in ASH kenaz, or at the end as in ashken az? Do you understand that the placement changes entire meanings?

The religion of my forefathers. Amazing to hear more about it. :)

The greatest "problem" so to speak is that the vikings never really wrote much down, a lot of their faith and stories went from mouth to mouth. As such a lot of what we know about the Norse mythology, was written down by early Christians and ALOT of those texts have been lost over time. So its really hard to say what is "real" Norse mythology and what is North Mythology colored by early Christianity. Still its an interesting subject none the less.

Ansur is associated with the eartth, Assur is associated with the sky. Two different Assyrian gods. But the point I am trying to make is the connectedness of the ancient peoples who travelled from original places with original stories. In Hebrew, the middle candle of the menorah is called the shamash, and the Akkadian god Shamash is also the sun. I am pointing out the closeness of Hebrew and Assyrian. There was a time when the Hebrews were in Assyria.

I don't know if I can agree about the self sacrifice of Odin as being a Christianization of the texts. Self sacrifice was a dominant part of many mytho's long before Christianity spread across the world. I'd say this is worth watching for those of you who know very little about the Norse God's but for anyone who knows more than what you may have learned in school you won't learn anything new. Good podcast though.

I am My own God, I believe in me & I think The earth for what it has provided me, to live is the ultimate gift & it would bother me that people waste their time fighting over such things & not using that energy to do something positive... fighting over your version or what you believe in just says a lot about who you are as a person.. brainwashed in some form or another.. I think we become enlightened & then we find the true path & understanding of our soul & purpose.. the future is now, don't blindfold yourself with the past.

I agree with that about giants. It is a recurring theme in ancient religions.

Thank you !

its a fact that odin is one of the younger gods, the vens are probably oldest, frigg,frej,freja etc and then comes the new gods and the war started, the made peace and then we got the combination. but odin is probably the youngest of em all.

from what i have learned and read it was Odin that hung him self not by his throat but rather by his foot for 12 days and 13 nights in order to learn more about him self and about his life thus there for his troubles he was bestowed the runes which i gave to his sons and daughter

Hi, Where did the norse gods usually meet and what is the meeting called? This question I got for homework from school and I can't find the answer. Hope you can help me. Best Regards Aya.

Hail to the Gods!

the myths seem the same all over northern europe showing some pre semblance, but of course once all sources are enjoyed then turn inward for further insight.

That's because some Christians aren't able to separate faith from an objective view of historical religions. This video is not about evangelizing Norse religion, but merely a look at the belief system of the Norse. I am a Christian but also keen about history. Studying comparative religions requires an objective view.

Offering up the dogs dinner is her recounting the Sumerian flood myth and recasting Brothers Enki and Enlil (He ordained its destruction for being noisey, not a mother fish) as a fat trout called Goddess. Experts are dangerous if they're given free reign and go unchecked.

Well said.

So why is it difficult to grasp that traces of language and thought would be transmitted wherever people went to? English is a prime example of that, while we use etymology to trace words, we forget nuances of words. Nuance means not only just the word, but the allegorical meanings as well. There are hidden meanings in words, but understood only if one knows the nuances. Here is where you make assumption..".possibly indicating a relation to aškuz and PIE" There is no certainty in you theory.

I went to a seminar about Christian influence on vikings some years back, the gist of that was the stories existed but many changed by Christian influence. Baldur for instance is a "pure" character that ends up dead from workings of evil influences, in a way a very Christian subject. Remember Norse mythology went through changes it's a vocal tradition back up by some stone carvings, not a written dogma like Christianity

The gods of Norse mythology are all members of the same royal line and are thought to have lived at different times. So Ty lived before Odin and Balder. Thor lived before Odin, and so it seems, did Balder. They were kings of the Norse and their stories are part of the written legends that belong to the clan. It is the same clan as that of the Earl of Møre who is the grandfather of William the conqueror. All the Earls in Norway were members of the clan that the Norse Gods also had been in.

I found out I have a viking family lastname so I thought I'd brush up on some old norse mythology, pretty cool stuff.

KZfaq Soundwaves and the big bang in the Prose Edda for a deeper understanding of the Norse creation story.

In many mythologies, the gods and the giants seem to be the same race (more or less -- monstrous offspring wasn't that unusual). Some are just called gods because they're in charge.

Jormungandr (midgard serpent) was a snake so large that it circled the earth and was able to bite its own tail. The story is talking about the Ice Wall. This super Being we call God is not just in the Mid East. There are Holy Writing all over the Earth.

Take another look at Egypt-- very organized state religion long before Christianity got going. There were a number of other religions through the Middle East that were pretty organized as well.

Thanks! I think that would be a great name for the UC branch. Berkeley didn't make the step to the infinity of monads, and in this he missed the mark.

If we went solely on the premise you propose that Kenaz is hunter, then placing Ash before that, it becomes...fire hunter. This has led also to astrologists who could allegorically say it relates to Orion. And the Askenazi being Scythians is also a theory. Why don't you say where that theory comes from? We all know from where.

The "Giants" are Jotun not Vanir. Freya is Vanir.

Im growing a viking beard, checks dig it :P

yeh, i was under the impression that odin is killed by fenrir at the ragnarok

Just deleted at least 40 comments and blocked a few users. Please do not post racist or hateful comments about religions. I don't want to turn comments off for this video.

Wow...the discussion on here went downhill fast. Deleted a bunch of hateful comments. If you're a Christian and have some grudge against Norse mythology, please keep it to yourself and don't post hateful comments on here. I will delete them!

You believe in Tor and Odin and Frøya etc?

This is true. The brain allows use to see what we want to see to help us to feel better about dying it seems.

they got BBC in the UK?

Comparing Hebrew with Elder Futhark, in Hebrew Kenaz means bright and in Elder Futhark Kenaz means torch. There seems to be an allegorical comparison. And Ashkenaz is the Hebrew word for what is known as Germany. As most Hebrew words are compounds, it would Ash Kenaz, also Kenaz was a grandson of Noah. It makes sense then the table of nations would include the Germanic peoples. Ash Kenaz means "spread like fire", In runestone meaning, Kenaz represents fire. It's too intriguing to not look at.

Your talking about a related lingual type , it's well known the IndoEuropean language is the proto language of everything from Urdu Sanskrit through to Germanic Slavic & Celtic! It can be traced from the area of the Black sea & spreads out from there Semitic languages are not part of this but Askenazim yiddish is born out of a mix of Hebrew with Germanic & Slavic! They get their language from us not us from them!

How do you know if its wrong? What if its right? No one really knows until they die now do they?

I did not use the words negative or evil, did I?

I love the norse gods.

What I heard and can be very difficult to take it - (we should know actual facts in 300 to 400 years in to the future) is that we had an interstellar war around 12300 years ago. In that we had good groups that includes human like Odin groups and several others that provided the war effort. It was a big war with serious weapons that are still 1000 years to the future and some were about ten million years to the future. At the end, we had a peace structure set up such that the enemies would not come back. That is why you see a lot of UFOs checking around for Planet Earth. At the time, our people were in simple science and technology and hence all the Mythology based on what happened. The war did happen. People like our Government, who have contact with UFOs will know those details. 32:00 The gods were originally from planet Earth and hence more war may come for Earth People...in the future....

I think they are looking at the religion of Odin in the wrong way. I think the stories were to inspire the virtues of humanity and also the evil that can be attached to even the greatest virtue. Indeed it also teaches that we will all die but it's how you die that determines if you are remembered. That's my opinion.

Its seems that people who worshipped many gods were more tolerant of people worshipping gods they hardly knew. Since there were so many gods then your gods must be one of those meny gods who existed. There are some similarities between Greek, Norse and even Hindu gods.

Anšur (or Anšar) is the mesopotamian deity associated with the sky, Kišar with the earth. Aššur is a local Assyrian deity which later took the position of Anšur. Aramaic and Assyrian are both Semitic languages, so it's no wonder that they share the same words and meanings. That does still not affirm your shoddy and faulty etymologies, nor does it even remotely indicate any connection between Germanic and Semitic.

i was thats so cool!!!

No since Odin gave his eye for knowledge the bonded Aesir and Vanir became the Gods and the name Jotun no longer applied to them. Since that time the Jotun represent the dangerous elemental. Before that time (before humanity) they were brethren of the Giants that's true but enlightenment followed. There might be a part which you misunderstood the scriptures. You should read the story of High, Just-As-High, and Third (Gylfaginning) again. Loki follows his roots in Ragnarokr as well.

There are no sources for Odin before Snorri Sturluson's "Edda", and he lived from 1179 to 1241. There is mention of Wotan in some earlier writings, but with no details as to his personality or history. So all you can say, is that Odin probably was well established in the North before Christianity became the religion of the Vikings some 1000 years ago. As for the Horus myth and Christ...no serious scholar agrees with that anywhere. It's only in Zeitgeist and Religulous that make those claims.

I follow Odin. I follow the (what I like to call) Family of Gods. We are from them and this earth. That is what needs to be known.

The root of ashkenaz is aškūz, not eš - ASHK-ENAZ, not ash-kenaz. Ancient Ashkenazi were Scythians, the name was only later adopted by Aramaic tribes living with or near to Scythians.

Kenaz is a Hebrew name, it means bright. I didn't make that up. I see you are capable of showing compound words, which is exactly what I did. So let's discuss compound words in Hebrew as Hebrew is indeed a language. The Hebrew word ASH does indeed mean to burn or fire. That still implies a brightness and as such ASH (burn) KENAZ (bright). Ash also is the root for the Assyrian god Ashur and is associated with the SUN. While Kenaz and Ashurbanapal were both hunters, their roots are the same.

Mythology, legends, sacred writings and texts, even some religious texts are much more important then people think. These are coded stories, cloaked. These myths have been changed and tempered with by those in power in order to gain more control and power and Benefit their cause. From everything I've learned in the past 2 years, I've realized that both religion and conventional science are very misleading about human origins, and we should not be satisfied with their explanations of reality and the inner workings of universe, or our origins. I think we should keep searching, cause we've been mislead about everything. Most authentic, untouched myths hold the answers.

I have ancestors from both the west coast and the east coast of Scania. They have gotten terrible press over the last 1,000 years. My Gothenburg ancestors may have helped with the sacking of Lindisfarne. The IN OUR TIME episode of THE VOLGA VIKINGS has the chilling discussion by an Arab scholar of a Viking King's burial. I'm no christian but some Viking practices of human sacrifice I'm not completely on board with (Donald Trump voters are the exception to my rule).

Really don't understand the whole 'Late Pagan' term. I mean thoughts about trees and whatever have always been in every culture.

Are you trying to use one of those baby names sites as an etymological source? Bright is bāhīr (PS. *bVhar-) and fire is "eš" (PS. *ʔišs-). Ashkenazi comes from Ass. aškuz from PIE. *(s)keud-, and literally means "people of Scythia". The etymology of Aššur is unknown, and should not be confused with Anšur who is associated with the sky and sun, while Aššur is associated with archery, possibly indicating a relation to aškuz and PIE. *(s)keud-. Once again, unrelated etymologies.

There was an indigenous people there. I forgot the name but they were like an Inuit people. I feel like the giants were the "cave men" the gods or modern man went to to take the knowledge of their survival from them. Imo

You said that you think that the death of Odin hanging from a tree and a spear in his side was taken from the Christian story of Jesus. The Christ was stolen from Horus the Egyptian Sun God and the Odin story was well established before the advent of Christianity

the Norse God's aren't mythological God's as they've always been with us in there spirit form

The soul or spirits in this body created by Loki familia and must life in Norse society ! To have good life

Odin hangs himself as the form of ultimate sacrifice, he sacrifices himself to himself. Odin is ate by the wolf Fenrir at ragnarok. Odin Vili and Ve kill ymir to make the earth. The Gods who rule after ragnarok are the sons of Thor and the revived Baldr and Hoor. A very cyclical format. The "Giants" were the Vanir. Very very shitty summation they gave here.

The BIRTHS of Horus and Jesus are similar. I don't know a myth of Horus that parallels the crucifixion of Jesus. Point me?

Thor, Loki, Odin, Frost Giants ? Smells Marvel...

Funny how none of you claiming to have such faith and knowledge of the norse gods, and clearly are not from Norway, (or scandinavia) have failed to mention the significance of the gods in daily life and routines. That in itself shows little actual comprehension and understanding of the significance and influence of the gods on the people. That is the core of the belief, not the stories themselves about the gods.

And Godesses

She said Thors friend Loki... she is a little off.

Myth lol I always find it funny when they say that. Its our only true native religeon. Asatru is making a come back, The christians tried to wipe it out with the other religeous competitors but it didnt work. If its a myth why did christianity copy so many things off it when it came here.

The people talking in this podcast dont seem to know much about the Norse Gods...

lol truth

Don't say such a thing. It may be the case that most members of the Christian religion appear to be (and are) idiots. But this is not the case for all. Some will say to look at Thomas Aquinas, but aside from him (or more importantly) look at Descartes, myself, Duns Scotus, Francisco Suárez, Schleiermacher, Anselm, Lessing, Robert M. Adams (perhaps my favorite contemporary writer), Hegel, Malebranche, Newton, Clarke, Locke, Ockham, Bonaventure, Kant, Grotius, Berkeley, Arnauld, and others.

The origin of the R haplogroup is still disputed. It could be in India, but it could also be in Western Europe. I think it was in Western Europe because the highest frequencies of R haplogroup are found there. The R1b developed in France and Spain, and R1a in the North Sea region. The direction of migration is from Europe, not the other way around. The R2 developed when they spread to India. So France/Britain/Spain is then the origin of the R haplogroup and IndoEuropeans. That's my opinion.

kinda funny becouse Odin not dead yet ...

Listen people...some of us arent rascist biggots whose brain is well and truly stuck in are arses...if your that strongly attatched to your rascist/biggoted views...go and discuss it with those you dislike...to their faces...dont hid behind youtube...coz some of us are here to learn things were interested in...

It is interesting to listen to English 'Experts' who think that they understand anything about the Vikings. First off, Snorri Sturlason was a christian munk whose main purpose was to put the Norse and the other Vikings in a bad light. His main purpose to spread lies and confusion. None of his stories should be trusted. The mythical Fimbul-Winter in the Norse sagas is the short period of Ice Age from 12000 to 11000 years ago. The historical scope of the Norse culture is about 18500 years.

You should be pround. Hail Odin!

Judaism has always been very organized. Even Zoroastrianism was organized.

You may be right, but I choose to trust the BBC. Until at least I study enough to form an opinion proper. Cheers though.

Neither. The root of askenaz is aškūz and the suffix is -enaz (possibly related to Proto-Germanic *-īnaz), completely unrelated to the root eš. Just because two words LOOK similar does not mean that they are related. Your ignorance of linguistics is absolutely appalling for someone trying to argue words and etymologies.

Its a lie that it was the Romans chrestenise the vikings that was Irich munks,but the roman kilt them,and the vikings hate the romans,cores it was them hu destroy solomons tempel,and the vikings was also hebros from the trype of dan.danmark the mark of dan,and when we congert england we have faunt a new homeland to the hebrotrypes,and we build rusia to a great power to,and the Normandiet and william the conger was also from danich viking desent,and later on the korstog in danich but your no the badel to conger Jerusalem,was also control by normans,but we came only close to conger byzantium a noth to the impire thordt it whut be a god eide to hier them as he´s privet gards and soldier in the impire,and then we made the big mestake to conger the kazar so they had to pay some shakels guld ore silver the vikings was really in to silver,but to day we are yest a small wonderful country,there before we became the best country to live in whit aut a daut,and I no I say that becores im danich and love my country.And thaat we start whit Lindfeild monester was a messid to Rom reading in blod,and wy ned a monister all that guld for,isent they surpose to live in like a pur man,so have much is there to plunder in a monister aut of land and citesens,cores they yousely come in many ships when they saild to plunder.A nother thing both all men was frie men accept the slaves,but they was noth treadet bad but all frie men cut say they word when the city was gardert to plan the next travel and they had a lot of buisnes and they where god to it to,but it is alvays the bad things like we was babaren even to day we cut lean something of vikings,and that is kip the politisien close,but they all where cores they where all depented of hethoter.

chauvinist*

Wow wait there , You obviously never studied the ancient Britons!!!! If you did you'd see Ancient Norse Germanic & Celtic cultures are pretty much related! Our art work ,Genetics , & cultures where all from the same ancient migrations of the European peoples from our locus around the Black sea 35,000 years ago right through to later IndoEuropean bronze age migrations! Only a self hating idiot would try to divide what is a related ethnicity,(Northern & western Europeans)

"Interesting" to say the least that it was Catholicism which demonized and destroyed Norse mythology...

there are times when Lord Bragg can be a pedantic over bearing a**hole. "where did they get their gods?" from the Iceland, like we do...2 for 10.99

Go ask a real expert. you'll be amazed by his/her answer. Sir Dawkins is a good candidate to ask and be washed away my dear morosoph. Good luck on your journey

Um i i think um this this is um a a um waste of uh uh um um time.

Ye can travel from asygarth to Midgard from Yorkshire Samson is name of one giant who threw those giant boulders they were all born from normal size people look for Samson stones