Sacred Texts: Legends and Sagas

Teutonic Myth and Legend: Chapter VIII. Fall of Asgard

Summary only - full text stays on its own separately-gated source. Read the full text at the source »

This is a chapter from Donald A. Mackenzie's 1912 retelling of Norse/Germanic mythology, drawn from the Eddic tradition and presenting the mythological "first great war in the world" — the conflict between the Aesir gods (Odin's clan) and the Vanir gods. The central narrative follows two interlocking conflicts: the burning of Aurboda-Gulveig, a disguised witch whose triple death and resurrection causes a schism between the divine clans, and the subsequent war in which the Vanir, led by Njord, defeat and expel the Aesir from Asgard through a bold infiltration strategy. Mackenzie weaves in the story of the mortal hero Hadding — son of the slain king Halfdan — who is rescued, empowered, and then imperiled by Odin and Loke respectively, linking divine politics to earthly tribal warfare. The work is distinctive for its euhemeristic, saga-like treatment: it presents the gods as powerful but fallible figures locked in dynastic struggles, with the mythological war serving as an origin story for human conflict. Written as popular mythology for a general Edwardian audience, it synthesizes Scandinavian and Germanic sources with a narrative confidence that sometimes papers over scholarly uncertainty about the original myths. Readers interested in Norse mythology, the Aesir-Vanir war, or early 20th-century comparative mythology will find this accessible but interpretively opinionated.

Teutonic Myth and Legend: Chapter VIII. Fall of Asgard

Related pages View as graph →