The Norsemen were the last of the barbaric tribes to terrorize Europe. They spread from their homeland in Scandinavia, striking out by sea, raiding and pillaging territories. They were known for being ruthless and ferocious people.

They eventually took over a large part of the Baltic coast and a part of inland Russia. Apart from their discovery of Iceland and eventual settlement in the 9th century, they also attacked England in the same century effectively ruling it for two years. An attack was also directed at France, who after 2 years of war, finally fought off their assailants, which allowed them to loot western France unimpeded.

The raids died down nearing the end of the 10th century with kings focusing on running their countries more than expanding. The spread of Christianity also weakened the old warrior values entailed by their mythology and in many places, the mythology was absorbed and diluted by local cultures. However, there are still records of the myths of the Norsemen, from sources like Iceland, where great interest was taken in their Scandinavian past after conversion.

Norse mythology was the religion of Norway, Sweden and Denmark before Christianity. Also known as Scandinavian mythology or Viking mythology, it told of conflict between gods, as they maintained order. Myths also told of monsters who posed threats to bringing back the primeval chaos in the world. It reflected the culture of the restless people who were accustomed to war and insecurity, along with internal warfare and harsh weather.

Many days of the days of the week are named after norse gods. Wednesday is named after Woden, the father of the Gods, Thursday after Thor, the god of thunder, and Friday after Freya, the wife of Woden. Works such as JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung are heavily based on this fascinating mythological system. For example, elements such as "Middle Earth" in the Lord of the Rings were borrowed directly from the mythology of the Norse (Middle Earth being a translation of Midgard).

The main sources of Norse Mythology today are from the Poetic Eddas, and the Volsung Saga. However, due to the fact that the Poetic Eddas are more comprehensive, we have decided to focus more on them in this site. One who is interested may go on to find out more about the Volsung Saga from any of the sites in the links page.

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