Vanir

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Vanir

In Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
, the Vanir are one of two groups of gods, the other being the Æsir

Æsir

In Old Norse, ?ss is the term denoting a member of the principal groups of gods of the List of Norse gods of Norse paganism. They include many of the major figures, such as Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr....
. The two groups are described as having waged war against one another in the Æsir-Vanir War?, resulting in the unification of the two into a single tribe of gods.

three clearly identified Vanir include: These are identified only as the Vanir who lived among the Æsir

Æsir

Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends....
; there may have been others.

Since Freyr

Freyr

Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with agriculture, weather and, as a phallus fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"....
is elsewhere listed as having residence Álfheimr (Elven-world), it is possible that the Elves were also considered Vanir.

identification as Vanir of Skaði

Skaði

In Norse mythology, Ska?i or sometimes referred to as ?ndurgu? or ?ndurd?s is a j?tunn, daughter of Thjazi, one-time wife of the god Nj?r?r and stepmother of Freyr and Freyja....
, Lýtir

Lytir

Lytir is considered a deity in Norse mythology and Norse paganism. His name is either related to the Old Norse word hlutr, meaning "lot, share, foretell" or l?ti meaning blemish....
, Gerðr and Óðr

Óðr

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In Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Æsir

In Old Norse, ?ss is the term denoting a member of the principal groups of gods of the List of Norse gods of Norse paganism. They include many of the major figures, such as Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr....
. The two groups are described as having waged war against one another in the Æsir-Vanir War?, resulting in the unification of the two into a single tribe of gods.

Attested Vanir

The three clearly identified Vanir include:

Njord
Njord

Nj?r?r is a Vanir god in Norse mythology. In surviving sources, Nj?r?r is the father of the major deities Freyr and Freyja by his unnamed Van sister, was in an ill-fated marriage with the goddess Ska?i, lives in N?at?n and is associated with sea, seafaring, wind, fishing, wealth, and crop fertility....
the father of the gods of Vanir and god of the sea
Freyr
Freyr

Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with agriculture, weather and, as a phallus fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"....
the god of fertility
Freyja a goddess of fertility, love, beauty, and war

These are identified only as the Vanir who lived among the Æsir

Æsir

Poetic Edda

Freyr

Potential Vanir

The identification as Vanir of Skaði

Skaði

In Norse mythology, Ska?i or sometimes referred to as ?ndurgu? or ?ndurd?s is a j?tunn, daughter of Thjazi, one-time wife of the god Nj?r?r and stepmother of Freyr and Freyja....
, Lýtir

Lytir

Óðr

In Norse mythology, ??r or ??, sometimes angliziced as Odr, is a figure associated with the major goddess Freyja. The Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, both describe ??r as Freyja's husband and father of her two daughters Hnoss and Gersemi....
is debated. Óðr is mentioned in the Eddas very briefly as a husband of Freyja, but nothing more is actually known about him, although Óðr
Óðr

In Norse mythology, ??r or ??, sometimes angliziced as Odr, is a figure associated with the major goddess Freyja. The Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, both describe ??r as Freyja's husband and father of her two daughters Hnoss and Gersemi....
is often listed as one of Odin

Odin

Odin , is considered the chief ?sir in Norse paganism. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxons Woden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wodanaz or *Wodanaz....
's alternate names.

There is a possible connection between Heimdall

Heimdall

Heimdall is one of the ?sir in Norse mythology. Heimdall is the guardian of the gods and of the link between Midgard and Asgard, the Bifrost Bridge....
and the Vanir, noted by the scholar H.R. Ellis Davidson.

The gods Njörd and Freyr

Freyr

Ynglinga saga

The Ynglinga saga was originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. He based it on an earlier Ynglingatal which is attributed to the Norwegian 9th century skald ?j???lfr of Hvinir, and which also appears in Historia Norvegi?....
as human Kings of Sweden. Their human descendants on the Swedish throne may be called Vanir, such as:

Fjölnir
Fjölnir

Fj?lnir, Fj?lner, Fjolner or Fjolne was a Sweden king of the House of Yngling, at Gamla Uppsala. He appears in a semi-Norse mythology context as the son of Freyr and Ger?r....
who was the son of Frey and the giantess Gerðr.
Sveigder
Sveigder

Sveig?ir, Sveigder or Swegde was a Sweden monarch of the House of Yngling in Norse mythology. He was the son of Fj?lner, whom he succeeded as king, and he married Vana of Vanaheim, probably one of the Vanir....
who married Vana of Vanaheimr
Vanaheimr

The name comes from the home of the Vanir, one of the two clans of gods besides the ?sir. The name appears in the Ynglinga saga by Snorri Sturluson....
and had the son Vanlade
Vanlade

Vanlandi or Vanlande was a Sweden king at Gamla Uppsala of the House of Yngling in Norse mythology. He was the son of Sveig?ir whom he succeeded as king....
.
Vanlade
Vanlade

Vanlandi or Vanlande was a Sweden king at Gamla Uppsala of the House of Yngling in Norse mythology. He was the son of Sveig?ir whom he succeeded as king....
whose name connects him to the Vanir, and who married a daughter of the Jotun Snær
Snær

Sn?r Sn?rr, East Norse Snio, Latin Nix, Nivis) 'snow', in Norse mythology seemingly a personification of snow, appearing in extant text as an euhemerized legendary Scandinavian king....
.

Since other figures in the Ynglinga saga

Ynglinga saga

The Ynglinga saga was originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. He based it on an earlier Ynglingatal which is attributed to the Norwegian 9th century skald ?j???lfr of Hvinir, and which also appears in Historia Norvegi?....
have the same names and traits as Norse gods, it possible that these also were the names of gods in other stories.

Because of the connection between the names of Njord and Nerthus

Nerthus

Nerthus is a goddess in Germanic paganism associated with fertility goddess. Nerthus is attested by Tacitus, a 1st Century AD Roman historian, in his work entitled Germania ....
, and since she is referred to by Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
as equivalent to Terra Mater, it is likely that Nerthus could also be considered Vanir.

Vanaheimr

The Vanir live in Vanaheimr

Vanaheimr

The name comes from the home of the Vanir, one of the two clans of gods besides the ?sir. The name appears in the Ynglinga saga by Snorri Sturluson....
, also called Vanaland; Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was two-time elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing....
calls their land Tanakvísl or Vanakvísl (Tanakvísl eða Vanakvísl) etymologizing Vanir as the "Don-people". Vanaheimr, along with Asgard

Asgard

In Norse mythology, Asgard is the country or capital city of the ?sir surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning....
, is the home of the gods in the tree of life Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil

File:The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine.jpgIn Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the world tree. Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson....
.

Hostage exchange

In the Poetic Edda, to end the war between the gods, the two sides exchanged hostages. The Vanir felt that they were tricked. Outraged, they cut off the head of one of the hostages, Mímir

Mímir

M?mir or Mim is a figure in Norse mythology renowned for his knowledge and wisdom who is beheaded during the ?sir-Vanir War. Afterward, the major god Odin carries around M?mir's head and it recites secret knowledge and council to him....
, and sent it to the Æsir. Odin accepted the head and placed it under the tree of life, where, in order to divine knowledge of the future, he had to relinquish one of his eyes.

Relation to Elves

The Eddas possibly identify the Vanir with the elves (Álfar), frequently interchanging "Æsir

Æsir

In Old Norse, ?ss is the term denoting a member of the principal groups of gods of the List of Norse gods of Norse paganism. They include many of the major figures, such as Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr....
and Álfar" to mean "all the gods". As both the Vanir and the Álfar appear to be fertility powers, the interchangeability suggest that the Vanir may have been synonymous with the elves.

It may also be that the two names reflected a difference in status where the elves were minor fertility gods whereas the Vanir were major fertility gods. Freyr

Freyr

Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with agriculture, weather and, as a phallus fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"....
would thus be a natural Vanir ruler of the elves in Álfheim

Álfheim

?lfheimr or Alfheim is the abode of the ?lfar "Elves" in Norse Mythology and appears also in northern English ballads under the forms Elfhame and Elphame, sometimes modernized as Elfland or Elfenland....
.

Parallels

The war between the Vanir and the Æsir, together with their status as gods of agriculture and fertility, have led some scholars to identify them as an earlier pantheon supplanted by the Æsir. This mirrors theories about the Titans

Titan (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Titans ; were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary golden age. Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Twelve Olympians, effected a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks borrowed from the Ancient Near East....
and the Greek and Roman gods, similarly primal gods replaced by newcomers who resided in the sky (or in the latter case Mount Olympus); earth-gods and fertility worship being replaced by sky-gods and martial worship. The replacement of Babylonian primeval beings by the gods in Enûma Eliš is also similar. Other myths of wars between primordial entities and newcoming sky-gods are the fights between Yam

Yam

Yam may refer to:*Yam , common name for members of Dioscorea*Sweet potato, particularly in its yellow- or orange-fleshed cultivars, often colloquially called 'yams'...
and Hadad

Hadad

Haddad ??? ??? was a very important northwest Semitic language storm and rain God , cognate in name and origin with the Akkadian language god Adad....
, and of Vritra

Vritra

In the Historical Vedic religion, Vritra "the enveloper", was an Asura and also a naga or dragon, the personification of drought and enemy of Indra....
with Indra

Indra

Indra is the god of War and Weather, also the King of the gods or Deva and Lord of Heaven or Swarga in Hinduism. Mentioned first as the chief deity in the sacred Hindu text of Rig Veda, Indra is bestowed with a heroic and almost brash and amorous character....
.

Another comparison may be made to the Tuatha Dé Danann

Tuatha Dé Danann

The Tuatha D? Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gab?la ?renn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....
(People of the Goddess Danu/Dana) who invaded Ireland and subsequently defeated the Formorians who are often likened to the Greek Titans

Titan (mythology)

External links

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