Æsir gathered around the body of Baldr. Painting by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg 1817.
In Old Norse, ǫ́ss (or áss, ás, plural æsir; feminine ásynja, plural ásynjur) is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in the indigenous Germanic religion known as Norse paganism. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Týr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir.
In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage the Æsir-Vanir War, which results in a unified pantheon. After the Æsir–Vanir War, the Vanir became a subgroup of the Æsir. Subsequently, members of the Vanir are sometimes also referred to as members of the Æsir.
The interaction between the Æsir and the Vanir has provoked an amount of scholarly theory and speculation. While other cultures have had “elder” and “younger” families of gods, as with the Titans versus the Olympians of ancient Greece, the Æsir and Vanir were portrayed as contemporaries.
The two clans of gods fought battles, concluded treaties, and exchanged hostages. The god Njord and his children, Freyr and Freyja, are the most prominent Vanir gods who join the Æsir as hostages after a war between Æsir and Vanir. The Vanir appear to have mainly been connected with cultivation and fertility and the Æsir were connected with power and war. The Æsir and Vanir may correspond to the Indo-Iranian and vedic Asuras and Devas.
Given the difference between their roles and emphases, some scholars have speculated that the interactions between the Æsir and the Vanir reflect the types of interaction that were occurring between social classes (or clans) within Norse society at the time.
According to another theory, the Vanir (and the fertility cult associated with them) may be more archaic than that of the more warlike Æsir, such that the mythical war may mirror a half-remembered religious conflict. Another historical theory is that the inter-pantheon interaction may be an apotheosization of the conflict between the Romans and the Sabines.
Finally, the noted comparative religion scholar Mircea Eliade speculated that this conflict is actually a later version of an Indo-European myth concerning the conflict between and eventual integration of a pantheon of sky/warrior/ruler gods and a pantheon of earth/economics/fertility gods, with no strict historical antecedents.
Æsir
The names of the first three Æsir in Norse mythology, Vili, Vé and Odin all refer to spiritual or mental state, vili to conscious will or desire, vé to the sacred or numinous and óðr to the manic or ecstatic.
An áss like Ullr is almost unknown in the myths, but his name is seen in a lot of geographical names, especially in Sweden, and may also appear on the 3rd century Thorsberg chape, suggesting that his cult was widespread in prehistoric times.
In the Eddas, however, the word Æsir is used for gods in general, while Asynjur is used for the goddesses in general. For example, in the poem Skírnismál, Freyr was called “Prince of the Æsir”. In the Prose Edda, Njord was introduced as “the third among the Æsir”, and among the Asynjur, Freyja is always listed second only to Frigg.
In surviving tales, the origins of many of the Æsir are unexplained. Originally, there are just three: Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé. Odin’s sons by giantesses are naturally counted as Æsir. Heimdall and Ullr’s connection with the Æsir is not clearly mentioned. Loki is a jötunn with no evidence of being worshipped, and Njord is a Vanir hostage, but they are often ranked among the Æsir.
Etymology
In Old Norse, ǫ́ss (or áss, ás, plural æsir; feminine ásynja, plural ásynjur) is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in the indigenous Germanic religion known as Norse paganism. The cognate term in Old English is ōs (plural ēse) denoting a deity in Anglo-Saxon paganism. The Old High German is ans, plural ensî.
The Gothic language had ans- (based only on Jordanes who glossed anses with uncertain meaning, possibly ‘demi-god’ and presumably a Latinized form of actual plural *anseis). The reconstructed Proto-Germanic form is *ansuz (plural *ansiwiz). The a-rune ᚫ was named after the æsir.
Unlike the Old English word god (and Old Norse goð), the term ōs (áss) was never adopted into Christian use and survived only in a secularized meaning of “pole, beam, stave, hill” or “yoke”.
Æsir is the plural of áss, óss “god” (gen. āsir) which is attested in other Germanic languages, e.g., Old English ōs (gen. pl. ēsa) and Gothic (as reported by Jordanes) anses “half-gods”. These all stem from Proto-Germanic *ansis ~ ansuz, which itself comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énsus (gen. h₂n̥sóus) “life force” (cf. Avestan aŋhū “lord; lifetime”, ahura “godhood”, Sanskrit ásu “life force”, ásura “god” (< *h₂n̥suró)). It is widely accepted that this word is further related to *h₂ens- “to engender” (cf. Hittite hass- “to procreate, give birth”, Tocharian B ās- “to produce”).
Old Norse áss has the genitive áss or ásar, the accusative æsi and ásu. In genitival compounds, it takes the form ása-, e.g. in Ása-Þórr “Thor of the Aesir”, besides ás- found in ás-brú “gods’ bridge” (the rainbow), ás-garðr, ás-kunnigr “gods’ kin”, ás-liðar “gods’ leader”, ás-mogin “gods’ might” (especially of Thor), ás-móðr “divine wrath” etc. Landâs “national god” (patrium numen) is a title of Thor, as is allmáttki ás “almighty god”, while it is Odin who is “the” ás.
The feminine’s -ynja suffix is known from a few other nouns denoting female animals, such as apynja “female monkey”, vargynja “she-wolf”. The word for “goddess” is not attested outside of Old Norse. The latinization of Danish Aslak as Ansleicus indicates that the nasalization in the first syllable persisted into the 9th century.
The cognate Old English form to áss is ōs, preserved only as a prefix Ōs- in personal names (e.g. Oscar, Osborne, Oswald) and some place names, and as the genitive plural ēsa (ēsa gescot and ylfa gescot, “the shots of anses and of elves”, jaculum divorum et geniorum). In Old High German and Old Saxon the word is only attested in personal and place names, e.g. Ansebert, Anselm, Ansfrid, Vihans. Jordanes has anses for the gods of the Goths.
Rune: Ansuz
Ansuz is the conventional name given to the a-rune of the Elder Futhark, ᚨ. The name is based on Common Germanic *ansuz “a god, one of the main deities in Germanic paganism”.
The name of a in the Gothic alphabet is ahsa. The common Germanic name of the rune may thus have either been ansuz “God, one of the Æsir”, or ahsam “ear (of corn)”. The shape of the rune is likely from Neo-Etruscan a, like Latin A ultimately from Phoenician aleph.
The Younger Futhark corresponding to the Elder Futhark Ansuz rune is ᚬ, called óss. It is transliterated as ą. The Anglo-Saxon futhorc split the Elder Futhark a rune into three independent runes due to the development of the vowel system in Anglo-Frisian. These three runes are ōs ᚩ (transliterated o), æsc ᚫ “ash” (transliterated æ) and ac “oak” ᚪ (transliterated a).
In the Norwegian rune poem, óss is given a meaning of “estuary” while in the Anglo-Saxon one, ōs ᚩ takes the Latin meaning of “mouth”. The Younger Futhark rune is transliterated as ą to distinguish it from the new ár rune (ᛅ), which continues the jēran rune after loss of prevocalic *j- in Proto-Norse *jár (Old Saxon jār).
Since the name of a is attested in the Gothic alphabet as ahsa or aza, the common Germanic name of the rune may thus either have been *ansuz “god”, or *ahsam “ear (of wheat)”.
The a-rune ᚫ, Younger Futhark ᚬ was probably named after the Æsir. The name in this sense survives only in the Icelandic rune poem as Óss, referring to Odin in particular, identified with Jupiter.
Vanir
A second clan of gods, the Vanir, is also mentioned in Norse mythology. The Vanir are the namesake of the location Vanaheimr (Old Norse “Home of the Vanir”). In Norse mythology, the Vanir (singular Vanr) are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, nature, magic, and the ability to see the future.
The Vanir are attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, both written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson; and in the poetry of skalds. The Vanir are only attested in these Old Norse sources. Vanir is sometimes anglicized to Wanes (singular Wane).
All sources describe the deities Njörðr, Freyr and Freyja as members of the Vanir. A euhemerized prose account in Heimskringla adds that Njörðr’s sister—whose name is not provided – and Kvasir were Vanir. In addition, Heimskringla reports a tale involving king Sveigðir’s visit to Vanaheimr, where he meets a woman by the name of Vana and the two produce a child named Vanlandi (whose name means “Man from the Land of the Vanir”).
While not attested as Vanir, the gods Heimdallr and Ullr have been theorized as potential members of the group. In the Prose Edda, a name listed for boars is “Van-child”.
Scholars have theorized that the Vanir may be connected to small pieces of gold foil found in Scandinavia at some building sites from the Migration Period to the Viking Age and occasionally in graves. They have speculated whether the Vanir originally represented pre-Indo-European deities or Indo-European fertility gods, and have theorized a form of the gods as venerated by the pagan Anglo-Saxons.
Numerous theories have been proposed for the etymology of Vanir. Scholar R. I. Page says that, while there are no shortages of etymologies for the word, it is tempting to link the word with “Old Norse vinr, ‘friend’, and Latin Venus, ‘goddess of physical love.’”
In Hinduism, the asuras are a group of power-seeking deities different from the benign deities known as devas (which are also known as suras). They are sometimes considered naturalists, or nature-beings, in constant battle with their equally powerful counterparts, devas, their half brothers.
While it is likely that the daevas were once the “national” gods of pre-Zoroastrian Iran (or more probably Indo-Aryans, which included ancient Vedic India), “no known Iranian dialect attests clearly and certainly the survival of a positive sense for [Old Iranian] *daiva-.”
This “fundamental fact of Iranian linguistics” is “impossible” to reconcile with the testimony of the Gathas, where the daevas, though rejected, were still evidently gods that continued to have a following.
This essential contradiction has yet to be conclusively explained. Given the fragmentary and discontiguous information in the sources, it is an extremely difficult issue.
In general, “rejection of the [daevas] is linked to Zoroaster’s reform” and Gershevitch and others following Lommel consider the progression from “national” gods to daemons to be attributable to the “genius of Zoroaster.”
Zoroastrians generally consider Daevas to be demon like and possess negative and destructive characteristics. This is in stark contrast to Hindu Devas who are considered positive forces and benevolent. Similarly, the name of the Zoroastrian god is ‘Ahura’ Mazda, whereas ‘Asuras’ (Middle Persian renders ‘S’ as ‘H’.) are considered to be negative forces in Hindu tradition.
This switching of roles in the two cultures is thought to stem from rivalry between Indian and Persian empires in ancient times. This constant conflict led to the Hindu religion being demonized in Persia and the same happening to the Persian religion in India, leading to Hindu gods (Devas) being portrayed negatively in Persia and Persian deities (Asuras) being depicted in a bad light by ancient Indians.
Etymology: Deva
Deva is the Sanskrit word for deity. Its related feminine term is Devi. In modern Hinduism it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural being. Devas are also the maintainers of the realms as ordained by the Trimurti.
Old Avestan Daeva (daēuua, daāua, daēva) derives from Old Iranian *daiva, which in turn derives from Indo-Iranian *devá- “god,” reflecting Proto-Indo-European *deiu̯ó with the same meaning. The Vedic Sanskrit cognate of Avestan daēuua is devá-, continuing in later Indo-Aryan languages as dəv.
Daeva in Avestan language meaning a spirit, or “a being of shining light”, is a term for a particular sort of supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. Equivalents in Iranian languages include Pashto dêw (Uber ghost, demon, giant), Baluchi dêw (giant, monster), Persian dīv (a daemon, genius, an ogre, a giant), Kurdish dêw (giant, monster). The Iranian word was borrowed into Old Armenian as dew, Georgian as devi and Urdu as deo.
In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the daevas are powers of nature like Agni (fire), Surya (the Sun), Pavan (air), etc. This meaning is—subject to interpretation—perhaps also evident in the Old Persian ‘daiva inscription’ of the 5th century BCE. In the Younger Avesta, the daevas are noxious creatures that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the dēws (Zoroastrian Middle Persian; New Persian divs) are personifications of every imaginable evil.
The Sanskrit deva- derives from Indo-Iranian *dev- which in turn descends from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) word, *deiwos, originally an adjective meaning “celestial” or “shining”, which is a PIE (not synchronic Sanskrit) vrddhi derivative from the root *diw meaning “to shine”, especially as the day-lit sky. The feminine form of PIE *deiwos is PIE *deiwih2, which descends into Indic languages as devi, in that context meaning “female deity”.
Also deriving from PIE *deiwos, and thus cognates of deva, are Lithuanian Dievas (Latvian Dievs, Prussian Deiwas), Germanic Tiwaz (seen in English “Tuesday”) and the related Old Norse Tivar (gods), and Latin deus “god” and divus “divine”, from which the English words “divine”, “deity”, French “dieu”, Portuguese “deus”, Spanish “dios” and Italian “dio”, also “Zeys/Ζεύς” – “Dias/Δίας”, the Greek father of the gods, are derived.
Related, but distinct, is the PIE proper name *Dyeus, which while from the same root may originally have referred to the “heavenly shining father”, and hence to “Father Sky”, the chief God of the Indo-European pantheon, continued in Sanskrit Dyaus. The bode of the Devas is Dyuloka.
The war between suras and asuras
In early Vedic texts, both suras and asuras were deities who constantly competed with each other, some bearing both designations at the same time. In late-Vedic and post-Vedic literature the Vedic asuras became lesser beings while in the Avesta, the Persian counterpart of the Vedas, the Devas began to be considered lesser beings.
Later, in the Puranas, Kashyap is portrayed as the father of both, devas and asuras. In the Puranas, Kashyap is said to have married 60 daughters of Prajapati and fathered all beings on earth including devas, asuras, manavas and the entire animal world.
According to the Vishnu Purana, during the Samudra manthan or “churning of the ocean”, the daityas came to be known as asuras because they rejected Varuni, the goddess of sura “wine”, while the devas accepted her and came to be known as suras.
Alain Daniélou says: It is significant that it was not for their sins that the anti-gods had to be destroyed but because of their power, their virtue, their knowledge, which threatened that of the gods—that is, the gods of the Aryas. The antigods are often depicted as good brahmanas (Bali, Prahlada). Defeated, they serve the gods faithfully (Siva Purana).
In order to explain the demonization of asuras, mythology was created to show that though the asuras were originally just, good, virtuous, their nature had gradually changed. The asuras (anti-gods) were depicted to have become proud, vain, to have stopped performing sacrifices, to violate sacred laws, not visit holy places, not cleanse themselves from sin, to be envious of devas, torturous of living beings, creating confusion in everything and to challenge the devas.
Alain Daniélou explains the nature of social division between the devas and asuras; and the subsequent assimilation thus: With new political alignments and alliances, as well as with changes in moral conceptions and ritual, some of the gods changed side. The teachings of the wise asuras came to be incorporated into those of the Vedic sages and often, more or less openly replaced by them.
On the other hand, the asuras gradually assimilated the demons, spirits, and ghosts worshipped by the aboriginal tribes and also most of the gods of the other non-Vedic populations of India. In the later epics the term asura becomes a common name for all the opponents of the Aryan gods and includes all the genii, the daityas, and danavas and other descendants of the seer Vision (KaSyapa), although not usually the demons (rakshasa) said to be descended from Smooth Hair (Pulastya).
Some of the ancient heroes, later recognized as incarnations of Visnu or connected with their legend, came down from the background of pre-Vedic culture and have carried with them the tales of the great asuras whose names and wisdom had remained untarnished.
Tales referring to the peoples and the aboriginal tribes with whom the Aryas were first in conflict when they settled in northern India came to be incorporated in the myths of the asuras and the rakshasa. The allusions to the disastrous wars between the asuras and the suras, found everywhere in the Puranas and the epics, seem to include many episodes of the struggle of the Aryan tribes against earlier inhabitants of India.
The rakshasa appear as guerrillas who disturb the sacrifices. A rakshasa carries off Bhrgu’s wife, who was originally betrothed to the rakshasa Puloman. Many Aryas contracted alliances with asuras. Arjuna married King Vasuki’s sister.
Matali’s daughter married the naga Sumukha (Mahabharata 5.3627). The naga Taksaka is an intimate friend of Indra (ibid. 1.18089). Ghatotkaca is a son of Bhima by the rakshasi woman Hidimba. Rakshasas and yaksas are named occasionally as being in the army of the Devas.
In the war described in the Mahabharata, some asuras support the Kurus in battle (ibid. 7.4412). The asuras are often grouped with different Hindu tribes such as the Kalinga, the Magadha, the Nagas. There are still today Naga tribes in Assam, and the Asur are a primitive tribe of ironsmiths in central India.
In general, in the earliest text, the Rigveda, the asuras preside over moral and social phenomena. Among the asuras are Varuna, the guardian of Rta, and Aryaman, the patron of marriages. Conversely, the Sura preside over natural phenomena. Among the devas are the Ushas, whose name means “dawn”, and Indra, the leader of the Devas. However, by the time that the Brahmana texts were written, the character of the Asuras had become negative.
In later texts, such as the Puranas and the Itihasas, the devas are the good beings, and the asuras are the bad ones. According to the Bhagavad Gita (16.6), all beings in the universe assume either the divine qualities (daivi sampad) or the material qualities (asuri sampad). The sixteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita describes the divine qualities briefly and the materialistic qualities at length. In summary, the Gita (16.4) says that the asuric qualities are pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness, and ignorance.
The term asura is linguistically related to the ahuras of Zoroastrianism, but has, in that religion, a different meaning. The term applies to three deities–(Ahura Mazda, Mithra, and Apam Napat).
Furthermore, there is no direct opposition between the ahuras and the daevas: The fundamental opposition in Zoroastrianism is between asha (truth) and druj (falsehood). The relationship between the ahuras and daevas is an expression of that opposition: on the one hand, the ahuras, like all of the other yazatas, are defenders of asha. On the other hand, the daevas are, in the earliest texts, deities that are to be rejected because they are misled by “the lie”.
The dichotomy is evident in the earliest texts of either culture, though neither the Rigveda’s asuras nor the Gathas’ daevas are ‘demons’. However, sometimes the deities cooperate. Nevertheless, the demonisation of the asuras in post-Rigvedic India and the demonisation of the daevas in Zoroastrian Iran took place “so late that the associated terms cannot be considered a feature of Indo-Iranian religious dialectology”.
Originally presented in the 19th century but popularized in the mid-20th century, the idea of a prehistoric opposition between the asurás and the devás had already been largely rejected by Avesta scholars when a landmark publication (Hale, 1986) attracted considerable attention among Vedic scholars.
Kuiper, and then Hale, discussed, the attestations of ásura and its derivatives in chronological order within the Vedic texts, leading to new insights into how the asuras came to be the evil beings that they are today and why the venerated Varuna, Mitra, Agni, Aryaman, Pusan and Parjanya are all asuras without being demonic.
Hale’s work has raised further questions—such as how the later poets could have overlooked the idea that the RigVeda’s asuras are all exalted gods.
Following Hale’s discoveries, Thieme’s earlier proposal of a single Indo-Iranian asura began to gain widespread support. In general (particulars may vary), the idea is as follows:
- Indo-Iranian asura became Varuna in India and Ahura Mazda in Iran.
- Those deities are the most closely related to that “Asura [who] rules over the Gods” (AV 1.10.1, cf. RV II.27.10) and inherit the epithet, Deva Asura (V 42.11).
Pre-Zoroastrian Aryan Religions & Religious Wars
Pre-Zoroastrian Aryan Religions
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