What is it about?
This chapter sketches out the key roles of water in the creation, destruction and structuring of the Norse cosmos, looking at how this maps onto a medieval understanding of the elements. It examines the various deities associated with water and what these can tell us about the Norse relationship with the sea, and reassesses Thor's role controlling water in its most destructive forms.
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Why is it important?
This overview is important in singling out water as an element which lies outside the dynamic of 'chaos vs civilization' through which much of the surviving mythology can be understood; it often seems to serve as a primordial force beyond containment, and as a source of potential and rebirth as well as destruction.
Perspectives
It is impossible to cover all the roles of water across such an extensive body of mythological narratives, but it is hoped that this chapter focused on key aspects - including where Norse myth diverges from medieval theory on the elements and on Thor's largely antagonistic relationship with water - will serve as an encouragement to further research on the elements as they are represented in the literature of the north.
Tom Birkett
University College Cork National University of Ireland
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: ‘Where Mighty Rivers Sprayed Poison’: Aspects of Water in Old Norse Myth, August 2024, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004696501_015.
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