Myths of the Pagan North: The Gods of the Norsemen

As the Vikings began to migrate overseas as raiders or settlers in the late eighth century, there is evidence that this new way of life, centred on warfare, commerce and exploration, brought with it a warrior ethos that gradually became codified in the Viking myths, notably in the cult of Odin, the god of war, magic and poetry, and chief god in the Norse pantheon.

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when most of Scandinavia had long since been converted to Christianity, form perhaps the m...