The Vanir

A look at the evidence for and against the traditional idea that the Vanir were considered a truly separate group of gods from the Æsir in pre-Christian Scandinavia.

Logos by Elizabeth Porter (snowbringer at gmail).

[JacksonCrawford]

This video from 2018 references a Discord channel connected to my Patreon community. This was a short-lived experiment in 2018 that did not last.

[DonV-]

"She chose her husband by his feet alone"
I'm sure that excites some corners of the internet"

Broooo that was just so abrupt and nonchalant it totally caught me off guard 😂😂😂

[sashapetrenko]

Though ripe with rich commentary, my favorite part of the video is "I'll eat my hat if you can make me think otherwise, " followed closely by "by his feet alone, which surely excites some corners of the internet."

[kokofan]

This reminds me of European royal families. The families are so intermixed that you can talk about them as on big family, but you can also talk about them as different entities with different statues.

[SatyaVenugopal]

Tiny correction re: pronunciation - The 's' in the Sanskrit 'asura' is a regular s, as an Aesir, not an 'sh' sound (so it would be transliterated asura rather than aśura).

PS: You're certainly correct that asura is nowadays seen as meaning a class of demonic beings. This association comes from later (i.e. Epic and Puranik) Hindu mythology. In the Rigveda where the term first appears, the term seems more ambiguous, as some divine and some demonic beings are both called asuras.

[Isaiah-tpnc]

I'm so glad to have came across this youtube channel, Dr. Crawford is a reliable source of information regarding Norse history, language, and culture without being spoiled by any sorta political agenda, I've been a fan for only two months but I'm already excited for his translated book of the Volsung Sagas, keep up the good work Dr. Crawford, I'm excited to learn more.

[traditionaltaekwondoramblings]

My favourite part of this video? When he casually says that he will have more works published soon :-D I just finished the Volsung and Ragnar sagas (which I read just after finishing his Poetic Edda translation). I LOVE this mans work!

As a Norwegian I have in my possession quite a few translations of the Poetic Edda as well as a few sagas, but they’re all translated into a very archaic form of Norwegian which makes it difficult to read. It was a whole new experience reading through his translations :-) I can not recommend people checking out his books enough.

[gweiloxiu]

"Rudy's a great guy". Hearing Crawford talk about Simek is like listening to Iron Man talk about Wolverine. Glad to be alive and so heavily invested in this field in a time of such titans.

[nikhiljoshiPi]

Hello Professor! Former CU graduate student here. I absolutely loved this video. Just wanted to give some Vedic parallels to the Norse story. The Vanirs are called Panis in vedas and they bargain with the messenger of the king of Gods. The messenger isn't flying as she is a female dog. But there is a hint of exchange just like the Norse story. The aesirs are called asuras in Vedic form and they are not necessarily demons in old versions. Even the king of gods, Indra is called an asura. I think the word means powerful. Secondly, the asuras do follow non incest rule. In 10th Mandala of Rgveda, there is a Yama-Yami Samvad which outlines what practice is to be abhorred and incest is listed as one.


All in all, a great video. Just wanted to add my 2 cents.

[TheDreamSyndicateArts]

I enjoyed the video and the Colorado landscape.

[patrickmcdonald]

Great post. I am writing a story involving entities named after these respective tribes or groups of gods and I'm glad to know this new information.

[luise.j]

Simek is my professor at university, he is amazing. We actually talked about this exact controversy. Meaning whether there are different families of gods or not. I really enjoy watching your videos, and I think it's great to get a second, also well-educated opinion on matters like these. Thank you.

[gizmogoose.]

"The Sun, the Moon, the Earth, ...Beer.
Nordic Priorities!

[colinp]

You have explained to us, in the past, that the Jotunn should be regarded, not as typical giants but as a separate tribe or clan similar to the Aesir, so why not regard the Vanir in the same way?

[ArithHärger]

I enjoyed the video, it's the first time I come across this channel and I've subscribed! The landscape is beautiful btw :p

[EudaemonicGirl]

Any good sources on place-names around Uppsala being more Vanir-focused while places further out are less so?

My home region in Sweden seems to have a pretty even mix of Vanir and Aesir place-names, but also a couple which just have Ås- as elements and no specific gods mentioned. I'd be interested to read how these places compare to the the rest of the Swedish onomasticon.

[ProjectThunderclaw]

Could the naming confusion not be the result of kennings? For example, we know that in Old Norse poetry, a bird's name can be substituted with the name of any other bird to make the meter work, but that does not lead us to believe they did not recognize the difference between a raven and an eagle. It seems entirely within reason that in such a tradition, it would be acceptable to use the terms "aesir" and "vanir" to refer to the gods as a whole as a poetic device, even if the terms weren't normally interchangeable.

[LooniJoose]

Dt. Crawford is a national treasure and we must protect him with our lives. 👑

[EmpireFanatic]

I have a friend whos studied archeology. According to him the origins forVanir and the Æsir can be traced back to a warlike people migrating into Scandinavia back in the stoneage. Those people had war axes made of stone, and made war on the people living in Scandinavia and settled there. The theory is that the merging of these cultures and their religions (gods of fertility and harvest and gods of war), are the basis for alot of Norse Mythology and the war between the Æsir and Vanir. I.e a possible reason for the two different families in Norse mythology, is that early migration and conflict between two distinct cultures. With Frøy and Frøya being remnants and developed representations of the peaceful original inhabitants, whilst the victorious Æsir gods (Odin, Thor Tyr etc) are developed representations of the "Stoneaxe" people. That would also explain why there are more Æsir than Vanir. Whilst this cannot be proven it is an interesting theory with some merit. And it would make sense that tales from this conflict and the people in it would be retold and the people in them and their deeds be developed into mythology through many centuries.

[davidoran]

Having so much fun with your videos, just bought your book, too. Learning about my heritage of Danish descent.