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Chapter 6. The Sky 160
The poems in the Elder Edda describe many exploits of the Gods but very few of
these have anything to do with individuals. Óðínn, the chief of the Æsir, does interfere
with the lives of individuals but mostly as warriors, and He was not generally
trusted to act on the behalf of the individual so much as to gain worthy, well-tested
warriors and battle-chiefs for his band of Einherjar in preparation for the Battle at
the End of Time. The Viking Age was a turbulent time and it must often been seen
what unlikely chances swayed the outcome of battle. The unpredictable in war was
attributed to Óðínn, the fickle God who had his favorites but did not keep them
forever: He was openly regarded as One whose oath could not be trusted. Poets and
thinkers in the tenth century found an answer presented by Óðínn’s unpredictability.
There was one event that Óðínn could foresee but not prevent: the destined threat
to the order of Yggdrasil maintained by the Gods, like the destined death of every
individual, was bound to come. The monsters kept at bay were only biding their
time and their attack was in real prospect. In the poem called the “Eiríksmál,”
composed sometime after 950 CE, Óðínn in Valhalla
“is asked why he deprived King Eirík of victory, seeing He thought him
valiant: ’Because it is hard to know for certain,’ said Óðínn–’the gray wolf
looks at the home of the Gods.’ So Óðínn gathers dead warriors and the
cream of men–bitter and unjust their defeat–because He must collect His
host for battle.” 26
Foote and Wilson obviously consider the above statement to be an excuse created
by the “thinkers of the tenth century” for the impersonal actions of Óðínn taken
towards individuals in battle apparently basing their opinion on the age of the
poem the “Eiríksmál.” However, it is not so improbable that the belief existed long
before the 10th century and did not only pertain to Óðínn.
The nature of worship of the Gods in pre-Christian times appears to have been
primarily communal although there probably were certain rites conducted by families
to bring favor and fertility to the land-holding. Families were more likely to
invoke the aid of more localized deities rather than of the Æsir and Vanir, however
(see Chap. 3 for the relationship between the Vanir and the álfar). There is no clear
evidence in any of the eddaic or sagaic literature that any of the Gods were ever
viewed as being “personal saviors” in the sense that Jesus is thought to be. Certain
members within a community were considered both by themselves and by the other
members of the community to be “the friend” of a particular God as mentioned
earlier, but this relationship between a man or a woman and a God appears to
have been more like that between a king and a royal representative to a region of
26 Foote, P. G. and D. M. Wilson The Viking Achievement, ( Sidgwick & Jackson, Great
Civilization Series; London, UK) 1970, p. 391.