A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology.In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings.. In later Scandinavian folklore, trolls became beings in their own right, where they live far from human habitation, are not Christianized, and …

The Norse mythology, preserved in such ancient Icelandic texts as the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and other lays and sagas, was little known outside Scandinavia until the 19th century. With the widespread publication of Norse myths and legends at this time, references to the Norse gods and heroes spread into European literary culture, especially in Scandinavia, Germany, …

Norse cosmology is the study of the cosmos as perceived by the ancient North Germanic peoples.The topic encompasses concepts from Norse mythology, such as notions of time and space, cosmogony, personifications, anthropogeny, and eschatology.Like other aspects of Norse mythology, these concepts are primarily recorded in the Poetic Edda, a collection of poems …

The term Nibelung or Niflungr is a personal or clan name with several competing and contradictory uses in Germanic heroic legend.It has an unclear etymology, but is often connected to the root nebel, meaning mist.The term in its various meanings gives its name to the Middle High German heroic epic the Nibelungenlied.. The most widespread use of Nibelung is used …

Norse Mythology for Smart People provides an accessible, entertaining, and reliable introduction to the Vikings’ mythology and religion, with scholarly sources cited for everything. Come on in to learn all you’ve ever wanted to know about the Norse gods, stories, beliefs, way of life, and more!

In Norse mythology, Dökkálfar ("Dark Elves") and Ljósálfar ("Light Elves") are two contrasting types of elves; the dark elves dwell within the earth and have a dark complexion, while the light elves live in Álfheimr, and are "fairer than the sun to look at". The Ljósálfar and the Dökkálfar are attested in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the late ...

In Norse mythology, Sköll (Old Norse: Skǫll, "Treachery" or "Mockery") is a wolf that, according to Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, chases the Sun (personified as a goddess, Sól). Hati Hróðvitnisson chases the Moon (personified, see Máni).. According to Rudolf Simek, it is possible that Sköll is another name for Fenrir, and, if so, "there could be a nature-mythological …

Welsh mythology (Welsh: Mytholeg Cymru) consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Celtic mythology and history were recorded orally by specialists such as druids (Welsh: derwyddon).This oral record has been lost or altered as a …

The mythology of the Stargate franchise is the historical backstory of the Stargate premise, which centers around xeno-mythology as experienced by humans during episodic contact. In the fictional universe of the franchise, the people of Earth have encountered numerous extraterrestrial races on their travels through the Stargate.. In addition to a diversity of alien life, there is also …

Old Norse poetry has many metrical forms (Old Norse: hættir).They range from the ancient and relatively simple fornyrðislag ('air of ancient utterings'), closely related to the Old English meter, to the innovative and complex dróttkvætt (Old Norse: dróttkvæðr háttr 'court-spoken meter').. Eddaic poetry. In Eddaic poetry, the metric structures are generally simple, and are almost ...