Episode 7 - Blood and Poetry Part I: The Æsir-Vanir War

This episode covers the very first war that ever occurred in the world. But why did it happen and who exactly is fighting who? Did the Aesir kill the goddess Freyja three times over? And who exactly are the Vanir? Are they original to the pagan tradition or did Snorri make them up to fill in some gaps? You might be surprised how hard some of these questions are to answer and you might be surprised at how weird modern scholarship can get sometimes. Sources: “Dictionary of Northern Mythology” by Rudolf Simek, 2010 “Gesta Danorum” Volume I, translated and edited by Karsten Friis-Jensen and Peter Fisher “Heimskringla”, transl. by Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes, 2011 “In Defence of the Vanir” by Clive Tolley, 2011 “Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs” by John Lindow, 2001 “Relative sá and the dating of Eddic and skaldic poetry” by Christopher D. Sapp, 2019 “The Role of Hostages in Roman Diplomacy with Sasanian Persia” by A. D. Lee, 1991 “The Vanir: An Obituary” by Rudolf Simek, 2010 “Vanir and Æsir” by John Lindow in “Pre-Christian Religions of the North” Volume III, 2020. “Verses versus the Vanir: Response to Simek’s ‘Vanir Obituary’” by Frog & Jonathan Roper 2011 “The Poetic Edda”, transl. by Carolyne Larrington, 2014 “The Prose Edda”, transl. by Anthony Faulkes, 1995 Contact: Write in: waelhraefn (at) gmail (dot) com Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/Nvw5hmkRsW Music: Celebration by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com). Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Om Podcasten

What makes Norse mythology "norse"? Why does Thor kill giants? What do the myths tell us about Loki's gender identity? The world of popular media is always happy to provide a modernized re-telling of ancient stories with a heavy scoop of creative license, but on "Norse Mythology: The Unofficial Guide", we'll dive into the original tales directly from the sources and learn together from experts in the field about what these stories really mean and how they would have affected the lives of the ancient people of the pagan north. Contact me any time at waelhraefn (at) gmail (dot) com!