THE GODS AND GODDESSES
The Old Norse gods have often been regarded as roaring war deities in the literature, which they undoubtedly were in many cases. Still, they possessed many other qualities and special functions.
Odinn was a warrior god, but he was also the creator of the universe and of mankind (Vsp 4-5, 17). Above all, he appeared as the great magician, obsessively seeking out wisdom. He was the powerful ruler of Valhall, but was also deceitful towards those who trusted him (Ls 22). Odinn is depicted as a handsome man and a womanizer, but was also deceived by his wife Frigg on more than one occasion. He ruled over the gods and was called the almighty god (Gif ch. 4). Odinn was also considered to be the ancestor of a number of royal dynasties, from the Ynglings to the Anglo-Saxon royal house (Turville-Petre 1964: 70).Odinn was also the god of poetry according to the myth of the skaldic mead. This narrative relates how the giant Suttungr hid this liquid in a cave inside a mountain. Odinn used his shape-shifting ability and entered into the cave in the Alvissmàl (a poem incorporated into Snorri’s Edda), and in one myth he creates a star from Aurvandil’s toe (Skskm ch. 18). He also consecrates the written runes in the formula “may Porr bless these runes”. Rituals devoted to him are attested in many sources which tell us about temples and statues of Porr but also state that his picture brought luck and was carved in the stem of ships. Porr’s hammer was a popular necklace pendant and probably constituted a reaction to the Christian crucifix (Turville-Petre 1964: 75-85).
Human sacrifices are sometimes recorded in the literature. Still, such accounts need to be corroborated by further evidence, especially as they were used as Christian propaganda. Probably, Porr received goats in sacrifice, as told in the myth of his visit to Ùtgaròaloki (Gif chs 45-6). Porr was a popular god and unlike his father Oòinn his name appears as the first element of many compound personal names such as borolfr, Porstein and Porir. Many place-names in Scandinavia and Iceland are based on Porr; examples include Swedish Torshàlla ((Weiser-Aall 1963).
One of the great sacrifices was the disabldt held at springtime and in the autumn. The disir were female fertility deities, whose existence is reflected in place-names such as Norwegian Disin and Swedish Disevid. These sacrifices are described in several Icelandic sagas and were usually accompanied by the drinking of beer (Egils saga ch. 44). There were also sacrifices to the dlfar (see above), a popular ritual among the peasantry, which seems to have survived Christianization (Olafs saga Helga ch. 91).