Norse / Scandinavian

Norse mythology, preserved in the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda compiled in 13th-century Iceland, describes a cosmos organized around the World Tree Yggdrasil, which connects nine realms — from Asgard (home of the gods) to Hel (realm of the dead). The gods — Odin the Allfather, Thor the thunderer, Freya of love and war, Loki the trickster — are engaged in a doomed struggle against the forces of chaos. Unlike many traditions, Norse mythology has a definitive ending: Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods, when the world is destroyed and reborn. The Viking Age (793-1066 CE) spread Norse culture from Scandinavia across the North Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and briefly North America. Sacred sites include temple complexes, assembly places, and the dramatic volcanic landscapes of Iceland that made eschatological myths viscerally real.