A fjord, which is sometimes alternatively spelled fiord, is an over-deepened valley that has been carved out by a glacier. The sides of a fjord are extremely steep, and a fjord nordic mythology extends below sea level, which is why it’s filled with salt water. Natural harbors and ports for ship makers all across Scandinavia, fjords figure prominently into the myth and legend of that part of the world.
Vikings
One of the modern myths that can be connected to fjords is the word viking. Often viewed as brutal, savage raiders, the vikings were the men who travelled the seas in longships. Often they were farmers and traders as often as they were warriors, but rare was the occasion that the recorders of history saw that face. The name viking means “men of the bays” in Norwegian. The association is that the vikings were all men that came from fjords, and it was their life and experience on the bays that led them out to explore the oceans and the world.
The Volsungs
One of the great, epic sagas of Scandinavia, The Saga of the Volsungs, has several scenes that take place in fjords. One of the most infamous scenes involves Sigmund, the father of the main character, allowing a ferryman to take his son Sigurd’s body across to another side of a fjord. This is a symbolic passage, as the water in a fjord can be seen as a gateway between two worlds, represented by the steep walls where no passage exists.
Beowulf
In the story of
Beowulf, arguably one of the greatest heroes of Norse myth, the lair of Grendel is nordic mythology gods found beneath a fjord. In a great show of bravery,
Beowulf must swim down into the fjord to find the entrance to the monster’s cave and slay its mother, a wicked troll who intends on finishing the mayhem her son had begun.
Ymir
The creation story of the world in Norse mythology also features the creation of fjords, along with the rest of the world. The All-Father Odin, and his two brothers, slew the first frost giant
Ymir. From
Ymir’s brains they made the clouds, from his skull the dome of the world, from his bones the mountains and rocks, and from cheap NFL jerseys his blood the rivers, seas, and fjords. Since a fjord is formed by a glacier, the modern explanation could show a very apt metaphor in the cheap NFL jerseys myth of creation.
Fafnir
In Germanic versions of Siegfried the Dragonslayer, the dragon
Fafnir was killed as it went to drink from a fjord. Siegfried, or Sigurd in the original, Norse version, dug two pits near the path that led to the fjord. He crouched in one with a spear, and stabbed the ancient dragon
Fafnir as it came by, pouring the corrosive blood from the wound into the second hole. Afterwards, he ate the dragons heart, and supposedly became all but immune to physical harm.