My friend sent me this today and I thought it was very important to share for all my fellow Viking/Norse mythology lovers. Daily reminder: fuck white supremacy.
This is so true, though.
In regard to race:
Njörd, Freyja, and Freyr were Vanir.
Skaði (Njörd’s wife), Járnsaxa (Magni’s mother), Hel, and Loki were Jötnar.
Odin, Thor, Þrúðr, Móði, Magni, and Baldr were mixed-race (Æsir-Jötunn).
Dark Elves were super good friends with the Æsir and made and cared for their weapons, so it’s not unreasonable to assume some might have settled in Asgard.
The Dwarves would presumably be coming and going all the time (the only reason they couldn’t permanently settle there being the whole turns-into-stone-if-touched-by-sunlight thing).
In regard to disabilities:
Odin is one-eyed.
Týr was an amputee.
In regard to sexism:
Frigg could see the future and was highly respected for her abilities.
Freyja was so badass Loki and Thor once spent a good deal of time arguing about which of them was going to ask her for help because neither wanted to be the one she got mad at when she said no.
Hel ruled one of the lands of the dead and during Ragnarök commanded an army of all the dead souls in Helheim.
Idun was charged with one of the most important jobs in all of Asgard: Guarding the golden apples which granted the gods immortality.
Gefjun created the Danish island of Zealand.
The Valkyries were warriors and were charged with taking the souls of the chosen up to Valhalla, one of the underworlds (it’s possible they’d also take the chosen to Gimlí as well, though there’s very little known about the third underworld).
In regard to transphobia & gender roles:
Loki was either intersex or nonbinary. Loki once turned herself into a mare and gave birth to Odin’s eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Her kenning in reference to Sleipnir is “Sleipnir’s dam”, whereas when Loki was the father of a being he was referred to as their “sire” (e.g. The Great Wolf’s sire). He’s also known to both cross-dress as well as turn himself into a woman. And he used seiðr magic (which was considered “unmanly" and was used almost exclusively by women).
Odin also used seiðr magic and dressed as a woman.
Thor has been known to cross-dress convincingly enough to pass as a gorgeous babe (see The Lay of Thrym).
