Monstropedia > Mythical Monsters
Nordic/Germanic Monsters
Moloch:
I like these little summaries of the Legends behind the Norse Gods, Zak. Keep'em coming.
Raziel:
In ragnarok doesnt fenrir get ripped apart by tyr and the boot of good leather?
And can you do one about garm?
Thundergod:
--- Quote from: Zak Roy Yoballa on December 28, 2006, 06:51:34 PM ---Grendel:
A humongous water monster that was impervious to any weapon. He frequently terrorized the Danish countryside devouring anyone whom he found. One night, in the hall of King Hrothgar, Grendel met him match, the heroic warrior Beowulf. Grendel crept into the hall and ate a sleeping warrior. Beowulf jumped up and seized the beast with his iron grip. The battle was violent and terrible. It was said to make a grown man wet himself to watch! In the end Grendel had to rip off his own arm to get away. Unfortunately for him he bled to death in his lair (leaving a blood trail of Beowulf to follow). When the hero arrived he killed Grendel's mother and brought back Grendel's enormous head as a trophy for the King.
BTW it took 4 men to carry the head !
ZRY
--- End quote ---
one of my favorite stories ever! but a part you left out and probably one added later by Christians as the legend was growing - a giant arcane sword appeared to Beowulf that seemed to be sent from god to help the fearless warrior. it disappeared after he cut off the demons head if memory serves me right.
also later in the Beowulf's life when he was old he died during a battle with a fierce dragon. a magnificent storie as well it should be added here.
Thundergod
Loup Garou:
--- Quote from: Raziel on July 12, 2007, 03:18:19 AM ---In ragnarok doesnt fenrir get ripped apart by tyr and the boot of good leather?
--- End quote ---
It's Vidar (the Silent One), son of Odin, and guardian of primeval forests that kills Fenris, avenging his father. Vidar survives past Ragnarok, and is one of the gods that rebuilds the earth. He kills Fenris with his tremendous strength, which is said to be greater than Thor, even; by lodging his boot on the Wolf's lower jaw, grabbing Fenris' upper jaw, and ripping the poor bugger in two. The boot is magic (obviously), and is said to be made of the leftover scraps of leather from cobblers (shoemakers). It became a custom in Germany, Norway, Iceland, etc. for cobblers and other leather workers to burn or bury their leftover leather scraps as a sacrifice to Vidar, so his boot would be tough enough to withstand the razor sharp teeth of Fenris during The Last Days.
~ Loup
PS: The gods laughed at Tyr's disfigurement because it was his right hand that he put into Fenris' jaws to safeguard their pact. So for the God of Justice (and also a greatly favored God of War) to lose his right hand was actually a bit ironic. This is also where the tradition of placing one's right hand on a bible comes from as well, though, when the custom started, it wasn't a bible, but a large ring. The bible supplanted the Oath-Ring as christianity took hold. As a side note, the Northmen in general laughed at a lot of things: including death and disfigurement (by battle, that is). They had a remarkable sense of humor from the Saga's I've read, and didn't take much to heart - including their own disfigurements. Battle scars were a source of pride, and getting "laughed at" was rarely mocking, but mostly joyous or prideful.
Loup Garou:
Baldur and Hodur
One thing the Northmen didn't laugh about was murder and betrayal. To break an oath was the worst thing a person could do, and usually guaranteed the Oath-Breaker a seat at Hel's table, or worse: a trip through Niflheim. (NOTE: The Northmen saw a disticnt difference between murder and warfare - killing another person in battle was not considered murder, since both parties were armed, and each was trying to kill the other.)
Baldur was a son of Odin, and was a god of warmth and light. Everything was pretty darned nice when Baldur showed up. Baldur also had a brother, Hodur, who was a god of Darkness. In contrast to Baldur, Hodur was often moody, sullen, and melancholy, and generally not well recieved - more tolerated than anything, really. Loki, the penultimate betrayer, had heard about the prophesy of the god Baldur's death. As Odin drank from Mimnir's well, he saw everything that would ever be: from the beginning to the end, and all things in between - including the death of his beloved son, Baldur. So Odin sent the gods to the far reaches of the earth, into every cave, under every rock, to gain the promise from all things that existed (trees, rocks, animals, everything) that they would never harm Baldur. Everything that existed gave their promise one way or another, except one: the mistletoe. The gods didn't really consider the fleshy little parasitic plant much of a threat, though. It's not like mistletoe could crush him like a boulder, or poison him like hemlock - it was just a wimpy little plant. So the gods ignored it, and began to celebrate the cheating of Destiny. They threw stones at Baldur, which bounced harmlessly off, since all the rocks in existence had promised never to hurt Baldur. They hit him with clubs and swords and sticks and anything else they could pick up and hurl at him. The game went on and on, and even Thor couldn't so much as scratch Baldur with anything that existed. Each time an object bounced off, the thrower was cheered, and Baldur was cheered, and everyone was generally quite happy with the situation.
Enter Hodur, The Blind, sitting sullenly in a corner, feeling sorry for himself, and wishing he could jump into the game, too. Loki approached Hodur at length, and offered to help his nephew join in the fun. Hodur naively accepted, and Loki handed him a bow, which Hodur took, and also handed him an arrow which, unknown to Hodur was made of a shaft of magically shape-shifted mistletoe. Hodur took aim with Loki guiding his hand, and released his arrow with a smile, expecting a cheer in response. Instead, his prank was met with horror as Baldur fell dead, with a shaft of misletoe through his heart.
The gods set upon Hodur furiously, and would have killed him on the spot, but it is forbidden to spill blood within the sacred walls of Asgard. Instead, they banished Hodur to live on his own in the world until Ragnarok finally destroyed him along with the rest of the gods.
Baldur was set upon a funeral pyre that the gods themselves had carefully prepared, and just before the pyre was lit, Odin leaned in and whispered a single word into the ear of his dead son. What word he said is known only to Odin who spoke it, and to Baldur, who dines in the gentle but dismal company of Hel herself.
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