THE GODS

Norse Myths at Waldorf

Norse mythology holds a special place in the Waldorf curriculum. It reflects the ancient religion of northern Europe, including Germany. Steiner taught that ancient humans had natural clairvoyance allowing them to directly perceive the “gods.” Anthroposophists believe that Norse myths give particularly accurate accounts of spiritual realities. 

    “No other mythology gives a clearer picture of evolution than Northern mythology. Germanic mythology in its pictures is close to the anthroposophical conception of future evolution.” [1] 

At one level, much of Anthroposophy is merely a reworking of these myths.

Here is a brief primer:

Odin is the highest Norse god. His wife is Frigg. They are real, Steiner said: 

    “Myths and sagas are not just ‘folk-tales’; they are the memories of the visions which people perceived in olden times ... Human beings were aware of the spiritual both by day and by night. At night they were really surrounded by that world of Nordic gods of which the legends tell. Odin, Freya, and all the other figures in Nordic mythology were not inventions; they were experienced in the spiritual world with as much reality as we experience our fellow human beings around us today.” [2] 

Alternate names for Odin are Woden and Wotan; an alternate for Frigg is Frigga. Freya, sometimes identified with Frigg, is more generally a separate goddess, presiding over love, war, and death. 

Odin and Frigg had two sons, Baldur and Thor. 

    “The Mother of the gods, Frigga, put all the beings of the earth on solemn oath that not one of them would ever kill Baldur.” [3] 

Yet Baldur was killed, due to the machinations of Loki. The latter is the trickster god, attractive and even comical, but also destructive. Steiner associates Loki with Lucifer. 

    “Lucifer conceals himself behind the figure of Loki who has a remarkably iridescent form.” [4]

Odin and Frigg’s other son, Thor, is the god of thunder. He has an especially tight relationship with human beings. Even today, he is in our minds and bodies. He could have become a higher god, but in order to help us he remains at the relatively low rank of an Angel: 

    “German-Nordic man has an interest in an Angel-being who is endowed with special power ... And that Being is Thor ... [Thor is] a Being who could have risen to far higher rank had he followed the normal course of evolution, but who renounced advancement comparatively early and remained at the stage of a [sic] Angel ... Thor plays an active part in the implanting of the individual ego [in human beings] ... [T]he pulsation of the blood [in the human body] corresponds to the thunder and lightning ... Germanic-Nordic man sees this clairvoyantly....” [5]

Odin is often referred to as the All-Father and Frigg as the mother of the gods. In some myths, under some names, Frigg is the mother of the German people. (Steiner celebrated Germanic/Nordic culture. Germans and the gods sprang from the same loins.) However, she is also sometimes portrayed as having extremely loose morals. She is the goddess of love, goddess of the night.

There are many more Norse gods, but these are the leading figures. Their activities are enacted around the tree of life, Yggdrasil. 

    “‘Ygg’ is the ancient form [i.e., term] for growth and evolution ... [T]he world-ash [i.e., the world’s central structure] is called ‘Yggdrasil.’” [6] 

In the same passage, Steiner states that Yggdrasil is connected to the formation of the “I” — which, he taught, is the highest of man’s nonphysical bodies. The god who oversees the formation of the I is Odin, who Steiner says is equivalent to Jehovah. 

    “Yggdrasil means, ‘the carrying I’; and the name of the god who is connected with the formation of the I is [Odin]...who is a god of the wind and races around in storms. [In Hebrew] ‘Jach’ (Jahweh) [i.e., Jehovah] is the ‘blower’ [that is, the god of the winds]....” [7] 

Note that, according to Steiner, Jehovah/Odin is not the one and only God, but a god — one of many, a member of a vast polytheistic pantheon. And, according to Steiner, Jehovah/Odin resides on the moon. [8]

Yggdrasil has roots that extend into the various worlds, including those of gods, giants, dwarfs, and men. 

    “Everything that refers to ‘giants’ in legends is absolutely based on a knowledge of the truth. If, therefore, a real memory of these times is preserved in the Germanic [i.e., Norse] myths, we feel it to be absolutely correct, from the spiritual scientific point of view, that the giants are stupid and the dwarfs very clever.” [9] 

“Spiritual science” is Anthroposophy, the religion underlying Waldorf education. In Norse mythology, the giants arose before the gods came into being, and they must be conquered by the gods. Giants and dwarfs have counterparts, in Steiner’s doctrines, in nature spirits — primordial nonphysical beings that lack true spirit or divinity.

Norse cosmology is gruesomely violent. Struggle and warfare are basic conditions of existence, a bitter struggle. There are two opposing bands of gods, the Aesir and Vanir. They have fought one another many times, as the subordinate Vanir (also called Wanes) sought equality with the prepotent Aesir. Consistent with this vision, Steiner describes a universe of conflicting deities: 

    “[W]e are watching the battle waged by the good gods against the evil gods....” [10] 

But in Norse myths, the warfare between bands of gods pales by comparison to clashes between the gods as a whole and their joint enemies, especially the giants. In the future, the united gods will come to ruin at Götterdämmerung — the Twilight of the Gods, otherwise called Ragnarörk — an apocalyptic, world-shattering showdown between gods and giants. The most horrific combat imaginable, this ruinous battle will lead to the death of all the gods, all the giants, and essentially everyone else in existence. Götterdämmerung is reflected in Steiner's forecast of the War of All Against All, which will bring our world to a violent end. All will fight all; only a tiny remnant will escape. 

    “The best of all humanity must be chosen and prepared for survival beyond the time of the great War of All against All, when people will oppose them who bear in their countenances the sign of evil....” [11]

According to Norse mythology, the physical universe began as a magical void, Ginnunagap. Odin and his two brothers brought forth the earth from the primordial sea; ultimately the earth will sink into that sea again. The three gods breathed life into two tree trunks, thus creating the first human couple, Askr and Embla.

The celestial hierarchy periodically shifts as the fortunes of competing gods wax and wane. Odin has sometimes been supplanted by others at the top of the hierarchy. His general preeminence is connected, however, to his occult wisdom — he has drunk from the fountain of wisdom at the base of Yggdrasil. He paid a price — he had to pluck out one of his eyes at the fountain. (In one version of this myth, the sacrifice of Odin's eye is demanded by the gargantuan decapitated head of the god Mimir, which guards the fountain. In another myth, Odin impales himself and hangs for nine day from Yggdrasil, so that he may learn to read mystic runes. In Anthroposophy, such runes are a celestial script, the Akashic Record, from which initiates may obtain all knowledge.)

Odin collects warriors — the souls of dead heroes — whom he will deploy in Ragnarörk, the ultimate battle. Until that battle begins, the warriors rest at Odin's castle, Valhalla. Odin is also the inspirer of poets, for he has drunk a brew derived from the blood of the wise god Kvasir, who was murdered by dwarfs. In his sleep, Odin is able to travel to other spiritual realms and worlds. Steiner attributes a similar ability to human beings, both past and present. Occult wisdom, Odin’s endowment, is the goal of Steiner’s “spiritual science.”

Odin is the god of kings and nobility. A gigantic wolf will devour him at Ragnarörk. Odin's son Thor is the god of commoners. Thor is a warrior, the good gods’ champion, who battles evil gods and giants, smashing their skulls with his mighty hammer Mjölnir. As the god of thunder, Thor is sometimes associated with Jupiter. Thor will die at Ragnarörk when he battles and kills the cosmic serpent Jörmungand. This monster originally arose from the sea and currently encircles the earth. According to Steiner’s telling of the myth, the serpent was “born of selfishness. He lives in the sea that surrounds the earth. From there he blows his poisonous breath onto the land until the day of the twilight of the gods....” [12] By one interpretation, Jörmungand may be equated with the beast foretold in Revelation: 

    “And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.” (Revelation, 13:1.)

The most dangerous god is alluring, duplicitous Loki. [13] He was born of a giant, and at Ragnarörk he will betray the gods by fighting alongside the giants. He is a shape-changer. In some tellings, he is Odin’s foster brother, perhaps even Odin’s dark twin; he is a face of Lucifer, representing the illusory nature of physical reality as well as the snares of false spirituality. When Frigg required all beings and forces to forswear harming her son Baldur, she overlooked mistletoe. Seeing her error, Loki tricked the blind god Höd into impaling Baldur with a shaft of mistletoe, killing him. According to Steiner, 

    “[M]istletoe does not belong to our earth, it is alien ... [F]or this reason [it] can serve the straggler, Loki, who is not related to the earth Gods.” [14] Baldur can be taken as a Christ figure — he is the patient, pure god, the embodiment of the dying spring. As Steiner says, “[H]e is the hope of the gods ... [H]e is killed by the god Loki with a branch of mistletoe. The God of Light is killed.” [15] 

However, Baldur is also sometimes depicted as the god of lust and uncontrolled appetites. He will be reborn after Ragnarörk, when a new world rises from the ashes of the old. Spun this way, the myth of his death can be read as a metaphoric version of Christ's death and resurrection.

To reiterate: In considering Steiner’s doctrines and their effect on Waldorf education, it is essential to realize that Steiner taught that myths are true and the gods they describe literally exist. According to Steiner, Norse myths are the most revealing, but all myths are true. Steiner strove to develop interpretations of myths that are consistent with his gnostic form of Christianity, but at root his doctrines are pagan. Norse myths are nearer the heart of Anthroposophy than is the Bible. These tales are true. 

    “All myths and sagas are handed down from a time when human beings could still perceive the astral world: when they ascended to spiritual vision they encountered Wotan, Baldur, Thor, Loki and other beings who were not physically embodied on earth ... The human being of that ancient epoch descended into his physical body each morning and felt separate and single, but when he returned each night to the world of spirit, he returned also to a unity and wholeness of which he was part, a great company to which he belonged.” [16] 

At night, people rejoined Odin, Loki, and the others in the great polytheistic beyond.

Here is a sampling of Norse myths. These are the sorts of stories that Waldorf students hear and read, sometimes repeatedly. Sit down, children, while we tell you a story...

I have assembled these six myths from a variety of sources, primarily relying on a book I was required to read when I was a Waldorf high-school student: Padraic Colum's MYTHS OF THE WORLD (Grosset & Dunlap, 1959). Guided by these sources, I have attempted to recapture the tone and emphasis I remember from my early Waldorf years, long before I read the myths. With my youthful classmates, I listened to the myths being recited by our teacher. She used the incantatory, reverential tone often employed by Waldorf lower-school teachers. It was in fourth grade, and sitting at my desk, with my head lowered and eyes closed, I listened raptly, enchanted.

For the youngest Waldorf students, the extreme violence of the myths is usually tamped down. But older students are exposed to the full fury of the these tales.

The Creation

In the beginning was Niflheim, the place of fog, and Muspellsheim, the place of fire. Between them was Ginnunagap, and out of Ginnunagap arose Ymir the giant and Audhumla the cow.

Ymir drank the milk of Audhumla, and from his feet grew his sons and daughters, giants all.

Now on a certain day Audhumla licked a wall of ice, and licked, and licked. Ymir watched, and he saw a form emerging from the ice — a beautiful, golden-haired form, the first man. And Ymir hated the man for his beauty.

The man was called Buri, and when he stepped from the wall, Ymir wanted to kill him — but Ymir held back, so that Audhumla would still give him milk.

Buri married a giantess, and they had a son, Bur. And Bur married Bestla, daughter of the giant Bolthorn. Bur and Bestla had three sons, and these were the first gods, the first Aesir.

Odin was the highest and eldest of the Aesir. His brothers were Hönir and Lothur. All was well with them until the children of Bur and the children of Ymir became too many, and there was war between the children of Bur and the children of Ymir, the first of all the wars.

Ymir was killed in the great battle, and from his enormous body poured out a tide of blood so wide and deep that all his sons except one drowned in his blood. All drowned except Bergelmir, who was in a boat with his wife. Bergelmir and his wife floated away on the tide of blood to the land of Jotunheim, where they made many children. And these were the race of giants, and Jotunheim was the land of the giants.

Odin and his brothers took Ymir’s enormous body and threw it into Ginnunagap so that it filled Ginnunagap. Then Odin and his brothers took Ymir’s bones and piled them up, making the mountains. They took Ymir’s teeth, and these became the rocks. They took Ymir’s hair, and these were the grass and the forests. And they took Ymir’s hollow skull, and it became the arching sky.

Then Odin and his brothers put the Sun and Moon and stars in the sky, and from an ash tree and an elm tree they fashioned the first human couple, Askr and Embla. [17]

The Wanes

The most beautiful of bridges, Bifrost the rainbow bridge, links Asgard — the land of the gods — with Mithgard — the land of men. The bridge glows always, for upon it is an undying fire that burns to prevent the giants from crossing. 

One day the giants will come, and the end of all things will be at hand. But that day is not yet. 

Heimdal, who never sleeps, guards the bridge. He is the whitest of all the gods. He sees farther than a hawk, and he can hear the wool grow upon a distant sheep. His teeth are purest gold. 

There is a horn at the base of the world tree, Yggdrasil. It is the Gjaller-horn. When the giants approach in their wrath, Heimdal will sound the Gjaller-horn, and the gods will prepare for battle. 

But that day had not yet come. So for a time, the Aesir — the gods of war and valor — were at peace in Asgard, within their great halls, upon their lofty seats. 

But trouble came to the Aesir from another quarter. The Wanes — the gods of wealth, commerce, and fertility — attacked Asgard. The cunning Wanes burst into Asgard and destroyed the seats of the Aesir.

This was the beginning of the strife between the gods. It would rage long. The Aesir would repulse the Wanes, and the Wanes would retreat; but then the Wanes would return, and the Aesir would be sorely pressed. 

Neither the Aesir nor the Wanes would ever gain victory — neither would prevail. Peace would come among the gods only when Odin gave his brother Hönir as hostage to the Wanes. In exchange, Odin took Njorth — the god of the sea’s riches — as hostage from the Wanes. 

Thus peace was made between the Aesir and the Wanes, and the Aesir rebuilt their halls, and they sat again on their lofty seats. 

And one day far off, when white Heimdal on the rainbow bridge blows the Gjaller-horn, the gods will stand together — Aesir and Wane — awaiting the attack of the giants. [18] 

The Death of Baldur

Beautiful Baldur, best of the gods, was beloved by all the good gods and by mortal men.

Baldur dreamed of his death. He told his dream to his mother, Frigg, and she became afraid for him. So Frigg required every being and every power to swear an oath never to harm beautiful Baldur. But she forgot the lowly mistletoe, a plant so small and frail, it seemed harmless.

Wily Loki heard Frigg, and he saw that she had overlooked the little mistletoe. "Aha!" thought Loki.

Loki traveled into the west, where the mistletoe grew. He returned with a sprig of mistletoe that he fashioned into a dart. He brought the dart Odin's brother, the blind god Höd, and asked him to throw the dart. "Please, Höd," he said, "your arm is stronger than mine."

Höd agreed to throw the dart — and when his arm came forward, Loki steered it toward Baldur, who was standing in the distance. The dart pierced Baldur's heart, and the beautiful god Baldur died.

Odin wailed in grief for his son Baldur. He pleaded with Hel, the goddess of death, to restore Baldur to him. She agreed, on one condition. Every being and every power must weep for Baldur — if everything grieved, Baldur would be restored. But Loki would not weep. He disguised himself as a wicked witch and shed no tears. So beautiful Balder was not restored.

The gods took Baldur's body to his ship. Beside him they laid his wife, who had died of her grief. And near them they put Baldur's horse, and his other dearest animals, and all of his treasures. And they set the ship afire and pushed it out to sea.

And yet Baldur is restored. Every spring, when the beauty of the earth is restored, we may find Baldur again.

Höd paid for his crime with his life. But no one knew of Loki's tricks, so wily Loki was spared. [19]

Odin’s Tribulations

Odin All-Father, first of the gods, wished for wisdom. He would know more than any other god, he vowed — he would always be first among the gods. 

Odin went to Mimir, the god who guarded the well of wisdom, which is hidden among the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. 

Mimir sat at the side of the well, with his head bowed, sipping the water of the well. Odin envied Mimir his great knowledge. 

“I wish to drink from the well,” said Odin. 

“You may not drink unless you pay my price,” answered Mimir. 

“What is your price?” asked Odin. 

“Your eye,” answered Mimir. “You must give me one of your eyes.” 

Odin quailed. To lose an eye! How dreadful! But Odin looked to the south and saw Muspellsheim, the place of fire. A terrible figure loomed there, Surt the fire giant, who hated the gods. And Odin looked to the north and saw Niflheim, the place of fog, which threatened to engulf the world in darkness.

Odin All-Father ripped out one of his eyes, and he was filled with anguish. But he did not cry aloud. He dropped his eye into the well, where it lies still, gazing upward. Then Odin All-Father drank from the well, and he became wise. 

But Odin All-Father was not content. He sought yet more knowledge. He would read the ancient runes to learn their secrets. So Odin climbed up onto Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and he dug his sword into his side, and impaled himself. And for nine days and nine nights Odin All-Father hung from Yggdrasil, his sword in his side, until the runes became clear to him, and he gained the powers of sorcery. 

And still Odin could not rest. He wished for the madness of the poet, the divine frenzy that goes beyond anything. But dwarfs had stolen the mead of poetry and hidden it in Jotunheim, the land of the giants. 

Odin placed a patch over his missing eye, and he wrapped himself in a black cloak, and he stole into Jotunheim. He came upon nine trolls, whom he slew. And he came to the home of Baugi the giant, where he went to work in the giant’s fields. He worked beyond exhaustion, beyond endurance, beyond anything, until Baugi told him where to find the mead of poetry. 

Odin All-Father climbed onto the mountain where the mead was hidden. He transformed himself into a snake, and wriggled inside the mountain, where he found Gunlod, the maiden giant who guarded the mead. Odin beguiled the dreadful maiden, and stayed with her, and for three days he drank each day a barrel of the mead. 

Then Odin All-Father changed himself into an eagle and flew back to the land of the gods, Asgard, where he poured out of his body the mead of poetry, pouring it from the sky into the jars of the gods. [20] 

Ragnarök

There will come a three years’ winter. The first year will be the Winter of Winds, when the sons of men will freeze and die. The second year will be the Winter of the Sword, when those men who still survive will turn on each other, brother will slay brother, and everywhere strife will prevail. The third year will be the Winter of the Wolf, when a great wolf will devour the corpses of men, and the seats of the gods will be splashed with blood.

Then the armies of the realm of the dead, and the armies of Jotunheim — the place of the giants — and the armies of Muspellsheim — the place of fire — will bestir themselves. Loki's spawn, Fenrir the Hell-wolf, will break his bonds, and the gods will become mortal. The hoof beats of the horses of the dark armies will echo, and Loki will laugh, and the white god Heimdal will blow the Gjaller-horn to announce the coming of the end of all things.

The riders of Muspellsheim will reach the rainbow bridge, and they will ride upon it — but it will break beneath them, and Asgard will not be entered.

Jörmungand, the serpent that encircles the world, will rise from the sea, and the world will be flooded, and all will be swept away.

The hosts of the Aesir and the hosts of their enemies will meet upon the field of Vigrith, and in the Dark Wood of Mirkvid the Wanes will stand. And Odin will say, “We will die today and all the worlds will be destroyed, so that we may destroy the powers of evil.”

Then Fenrir the Hell-wolf — Loki's spawn — will fight Odin All-Father, and Odin will wield his spear Gungnir, and Fenrir will devour Odin All-Father.

And then a host of the gods will fall upon Fenrir, and rend him, and Fenrir will be destroyed.

Thor will spring upon the terrible serpent Jörmungand and crush him with his hammer. But the dying serpent will breathe pestilence upon Thor, and Thor will perish.

And Loki will attack Heimdal, and he will slay Heimdal, and Heimdal will slay Loki.

And many will be the gods and giants and heroes and evil ones who will die on this, the last day.

Then the riders of Muspellsheim will race across Vigrith, and fire will follow them, consuming all, consuming even Yggdrasil, the World Tree — it will be consumed. And the fire will also consume the riders of Muspellsheim, and Vigrith will be empty.

And then Hati the wolf will devour the Sun, and Managarm the wolf will devour the Moon, and the stars will fall. And darkness and death will be everywhere.

Afterward, long after the work of destruction is complete, the waters will roll back and a new world will appear.

Four young gods will be then, and they will learn of Gimle, a heaven that is above Asgard.

And deep in a forest, two humans will awake — Lif and Lifthrasir — and they will walk out into the new world, and their children will populate the new world. [21]

 

The Unfinished Wall

Not all Norse myths are violent. 

Here is a tale of Loki’s skullduggery.

There’s no violence — 

and yet the tale is framed by war.

The Norse mythic universe was overshadowed, 

always, by a sense of doom.

In the days of combat between the Aesir and the Wanes, a strange being came to Odin All-Father. “I am the wall builder,” the stranger said. “Allow me to build a wall around Asgard, a wall that can never be broken.” 

Odin All-Father agreed, promising to pay the stranger whatever he demanded if he would finish the wall in one year. 

The next morning, the stranger came back with a great horse named Svathilfari. And the great horse Svathilfari began dragging rocks, and stacking them, and mortaring them. And as the stranger and his horse worked side-by-side, a wall began to rise around Asgard. 

Odin, who was very pleased, approached the stranger. Odin asked the stranger, “What reward will you demand when the wall is finished?” 

The stranger said he would demand the Sun and the Moon and Odin’s wife, Frigg, to be his own. 

Odin All-Father was filled with rage, and the other gods also were enraged when they heard what the stranger had said. They decided to stop the stranger and his horse from building the wall. 

But Loki smiled and said to them, “Let the wall be built. Leave the stranger and his horse to me.” Knowing how clever Loki could be with his many pranks, the gods relented and let the work continue. They only told the stranger that the wall must be finished before the first day of summer or he would have no reward. 

The stranger and his horse redoubled their efforts, and the wall rose quickly. Now the gods realized that the stranger was one of the giants, and they were distressed. But Loki only smiled. 

Three days before the coming of summer, the wall was complete except for a single stone. The gods were gravely troubled, but Loki only smiled. 

That evening the giant lay down to rest, telling his great horse, "Pull a last stone to the wall. I will lift it into place tomorrow morning." 

The giant slept, and the Moon rose, and as the horse Svathilfari dragged the last stone, a beautiful mare appeared in the moonlight. It was Loki, who can change his shape at will. The beautiful mare approached Svathilfari and danced about and taunted him, calling him a slave who always did his master’s bidding. 

Svathilfari forgot the stone he was dragging and chased after the beautiful mare, to show her he was no slave. She ran before him into a cave, with Svathilfari close behind. And as they went deeper and deeper into the cave, the beautiful mare slowed, and she smiled upon Svathilfari, and she told him many strange stories about dwarfs and elves. 

When the giant awoke, he could not find his great horse anywhere. He began searching, but he could not find Svathilfari, and soon the first day of summer arrived. 

So the gods did not pay the giant, and he went away empty-handed. 

When Loki returned, he told them how he had fooled Svathilfari. All the gods were pleased, save one. Thor, champion of the gods and guardian of oaths, was furious with Loki. Now the giants would be the gods’ eternal enemies, Thor said. The giants would come one day, and the unfinished wall would offer no protection, and the final battle would be more terrible than anyone could imagine. 

Loki, whose father was the Wind Giant, only smiled. [22]

Footnotes for the Foregoing Sections
(Scroll Down to Find Further Sections)

[1] Lecture synopsis, THE MISSION OF THE FOLK SOULS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), a collection of lectures by Rudolf Steiner, p. 17.

[2] Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 198.

[3] Rudolf Steiner, THEOSOPHY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1953), p. 109.

The myths vary from region to region — there is no completely coherent narrative. In some accounts, Odin has several sons borne of various mates.

For the general outlines of Norse mythology, I have drawn primarily from a “Germanic religion and mythology.” ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, 13 Feb. 2009.

[4] THE MISSION OF FOLK SOULS, p. 144.

[5] Ibid., pp. 134-135.

[6] Rudolf Steiner, READING THE PICTURES OF THE APOCALYPSE (Anthroposophic Press, 1993), p. 53.

[7] Ibid., p. 53.

[8] E.g.,

    “You know that the Old Testament peoples honored Yahweh. This devotion was aimed at a real being. And this being has a connection with what reveals itself in the physical world as the Moon. Of course it is only an imagistic way of talking, but it does have a reality too, if we say that Yahweh resides on the Moon.” — Rudolf Steiner, SLEEP AND DREAMS (SteinerBooks, 2003), p. 43.

[9] Rudolf Steiner, THE BEING OF MAN AND HIS FUTURE EVOLUTION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1981), p. 117.

[10] Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. 2 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1956), p. 251.

[11] Rudolf Steiner, EVIL, (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1997), p. 194.

[12] Nicanor Perlas, Carol Ann Bärtges, Nick Lyons, EDUCATING AS AN ART (The Rudolf Steiner School, 1979), p. 52. 

[13] My Waldorf classmates and I were told many Norse myths, primarily in fourth grade. We especially enjoyed the stories about Loki, who was always portrayed as a clever prankster. We were largely shielded from knowledge of his malevolence.

[14] Rudolf Steiner, THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN (Anthroposophic Press, 1993), p. 99.

Among the strange characteristics of mistletoe, according to Steiner, is its ability to cure or kill cancer. [See “Steiner’s Quackery”.] That mistletoe is not of this earth ranks among Steiner's odder teachings.

[15] Rudolf Steiner, THE TEMPLE LEGEND AND THE GOLDEN LEGEND (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1997), p. 29.

[16] THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING, p. 294.

Steiner claimed that the human astral body and ego, two of our nonphysical “bodies,” make the same trip every night. 

    “During sleep our astral bodies return to the harmony of the universe again. When we awaken, we bring enough strength with us out of the cosmic harmony into our bodies so that we can go without being in that state for a while. The astral body returns home during sleep and brings renewed forces back into our life when we awaken ... [O]ur astral bodies are part of a world that embraces additional heavenly bodies. During sleep, therefore, we enter a world that encompasses other worlds in addition to our Earth.” — Rudolf Steiner, AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 68.

[17] In Waldorf schools, this myth may acquaint students with numerous Anthroposophical concepts: There are many gods; there are two primary threats to our existence (fire and fog, Ahriman and Lucifer); the world was not created by God — it evolved; aside from a mythical giant and a mythical cow, humans are the first life forms on earth; the archetypal human appears Aryan (blond and beautiful); there are elemental beings (giants, dwarfs — Steiner's "nature spirits"); and so forth. The more general effect of these myths, however, was inducement into a sort of mystic reverie. This first myth is a cascade of names and concepts; the listening child cannot absorb it all. Only a swirl of wonderments is, usually, carried away. But the ground is prepared for later explorations of Steiner's teachings and preachments.

[18] Because Patrick Colum refers to the secondary band of gods as "Wanes," I have done so here as well. More generally, these gods are referred to as the Vanir.

Anthroposophical concepts that may be found in (or in some cases imposed upon) this myth include the existence of good gods and evil/inferior gods; the warfare between these bands or races of gods; the impending doom of an apocalyptic war (gods vs. the race of giants, different from the Bible's predicted Armageddon); the whiteness of the guardian of the spiritual realm, Asgard; the association of inferior gods with commerce and wealth (which can be twisted into anti-Semitic views, which can be found in Steiner's teachings); again, the existence of elemental beings; and so on.

[19] This myth can quite easily be construed as a Christ story — Baldur dies but, as the god of the spring, he will be reborn when spring returns. Children who study the myth may, then, actually be receiving instruction in gnostic Christianity. Still, the differences from the Bible story are at least as important as the similarities — especially the existence of multiple gods. Read as a polytheistic tale, this myth suggests that Baldur is not a Christ figure but a different, equally real god who underwent a similar fate. In fact, Steiner at one point said that Baldur is actually Mithra, the god of Mithraism. [See Rudolf Steiner, THE TEMPLE LEGEND AND THE GOLDEN LEGEND (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1985), p. 312.] Alternatively, Anthroposophists sometimes use the names "Christ," "Mithra," "Baldur", etc., interchangeably, in which case Baldur is indeed Christ: 

    “Christ, the Sun God, who was known by earlier peoples under such names as Ahura Mazda, Hu, or Balder, has now united himself with the earth...." — Margaret Jonas in the introduction to RUDOLF STEINER SPEAKS TO THE BRITISH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), pp. 4-5. 

[20] Odin's three-stage quest charts his progress in acquiring three progressive stages of consciousness. This is the central concept of Anthroposophy, the possibility of rising to higher and higher clairvoyant powers: imagination, inspiration, and intuition. The process is arduous but structured, and it requires the denial of the flesh as well as the flesh's transformation and passionate release. Truth is attainable, but it is hidden and must be gained through the acquisition of mysterious powers. This strain in the myth can be read as paralleling Steiner's gnosticism, including his belief in witchcraft and a mysterious celestial script, the Akashic Record. Likewise, Odin seeks the poet's frenzy, and in Anthroposophy the arts provide a communicative link with celestial states. All of these ideas are inherent in Waldorf schooling as originally conceived by Steiner.

[21] This is another myth that can be seen as a proxy for Biblical teachings, specifically the Apocalypse as described in the Book of Revelation. Taken in this way, studying the myth is, again, the study of a variant of Christianity. But, again, the differences from Scripture are deep and important. We see multiple gods, the existence of various good and evil beings not found in the Bible, and no mention of Christ or a Christ figure. Instead, we see what can be interpreted as a confirmation of Steiner's cosmology in the evolution from one state of being to another, with a previously unknown, higher state of being becoming available, both to gods and men.

[22] Loki is, in some ways, a proxy for Lucifer in Steiner's teachings. But, like the other beings in Steiner's doctrines, Loki really exists as a separate individuality. Loki is half giant, which means he is spiritually incomplete (giants, dwarfs, etc., are "elemental beings," Steiner taught, and despite being immaterial, they have no real spirituality). Hence, Loki is half-descended from a spiritually barren race. He is the tempter, the deceiver, who wishes for the ruin of men and gods. To the degree that an Anthroposophical interpretation of Norse myths reflects Steiner's racial teachings, Loki is a revealing figure — a malign result of race mixing.

In Waldorf classes, Loki is often portrayed as essentially a comic figure, when in fact he is deeply wicked. This may seem perverse, but it is similar to the use of gnome dolls in Waldorf classrooms — the goal is to make Steiner's doctrines seem attractive.

Anthroposophists are sometimes awed that Norse myths seem to confirm Steiner's doctrines. But there is no mystery here. Steiner crafted Anthroposophy so that it would roughly conform to these myths (if the myths are interpreted as Steiner prescribed). It's as if a fan of the Harry Potter books contrived a new religion, Potterosophy, based on the books. And then scholars discover that Potterosophy is — magically! — "confirmed" by the Harry Potter books. Wow.

Image of Odin and his brothers: Lorenz Frølich
Battle of the Aesir and Wanes: Lorenz Frølich
Baldur: Jacques Reich
Odin: Georg von Rosen
Ragnarök: Friedrich Wilhelm Heine
Building the wall: Robert Engels

Here at Waldorf Watch, I include some images 
and passages from non-Anthroposophical sources
 in order to place Steiner's teachings 
in the context of broader esoteric traditions.

From a Waldorf teachers' guide, written by a Waldorf teacher for Waldorf teachers:

    "[T]here is in the Norse stories a great depth of knowledge [1] and, fragmentary as they are, they are probably relics of old Mystery wisdom [2]. They present a picture of evolution [3], of the creation and development of the human being and his connection with higher beings [4]; they show the human being's struggle with adverse powers [5], the fading of the old world conception [6] and the birth of the ego [7], which leads to new powers of perception [8]; they show the loss of spiritual vision [9] and the consequent catastrophe (Götterdämmerung) [10]; but out of the catastrophe comes new hope and new life emerges [11]." — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, THE NORSE STORIES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1999), p. 5.

Footnotes for this Item

[1] That is, these myths are not mere fabulous entertainments; they are deep and wise accounts, conveying important spiritual truths. Remember, "[These] are stories that these wise bards among the Norsemen heard from the angels, from the angel-gods.” — Waldorf teacher Charles Kovacs, NORSE MYTHOLOGY, Waldorf Education Resources (Floris Books, 2009), pp. 7-9. Angel-gods do not lie.

[2] I.e., the myths arise from ancient wisdom about spiritual mysteries, originally key to understanding the cosmos and its gods. [See the entries for "mystery" and "mystery knowledge" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BW/SE).]

[3] The central narrative of Anthroposophy concerns mankind's evolution to higher and higher stages of spiritual consciousness. Evolution is a central Anthroposophical concept, and remember: “No other mythology gives a clearer picture of evolution than Northern mythology." — Lecture synopsis, THE MISSION OF THE FOLK SOULS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), a collection of lectures by Rudolf Steiner, p. 17.

[4] I.e., the good and beneficent gods. [See "gods" in the BW/SE.]

[5] I.e., evil gods and/or demons. [See "Evil Ones".]

[6] I.e., the loss of mankind's primal clairvoyant powers and the understanding they provided. In Waldorf belief, this loss is a historical fact. "The History curriculum...provides a picture of the changing human consciousness from ancient clairvoyance to the loss of spiritual vision...."— Description of Roy Wilkinson's TEACHING HISTORY, Vol. 1 (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2000), posted at the site for the Rudolf Steiner College Book Store (last confirmed 4/6/2019).

[7] I.e., the spiritual ego, the "I". [See "Ego".]

[8] I.e, intellectual, rational perception — useful for life on the physical plane, Steiner taught, but also essentially limited to that plane and thus limiting to the human spirit. [See "intellect" in the BW/SE.]

[9] I.e., again, the loss of old clairvoyant powers.

[10] I.e., the horrific consequences of losing clairvoyant connection to the spirit realm. Götterdämmerung, in Norse mythology, is the apocalyptic final battle between gods and their foes, resulting in the total destruction of all. [See "Götterdämmerung" in the BW/SE.]

[11] Götterdämmerung gave rise to the possibility of a new beginning, arising from the ashes of destruction. In the Waldorf belief system, Anthroposophy, the new beginning and new hope available today are embodied in Anthroposophy itself — including Waldorf education.

This is Frigg or Frigga, the highest Norse goddess. 

    "Frigga was goddess of the atmosphere, or rather of the clouds, and as such was represented as wearing snow-white or dark garments, according to her somewhat variable moods. She was queen of the gods, and she alone had the privilege of sitting on the throne Hlidskialf, beside her august husband [Odin]." — H. A. Guerber, MYTHS OF THE NORSEMEN (Dover Publications, 1992), p. 42. 

[Image: "Frigga Spinning the Clouds", 

by J. C. Dollman; color added.]

Norse warriors wearing boar helmets
meant to evoke the protection of Freya.

[J. C. Cooper's ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA 
OF TRADITIONAL SYMBOLS 
(Thames and Hudson, 1978), p. 23.]

Summary

To wrap up this brief survey of Norse myths and their use in Waldorf schools, I’ll offer thoughts about two special characters in the myths, Loki and Fenrir, and then I’ll recap what we’ve seen.

Loki betrays the gods and fights alongside their enemies in the ultimate battle, Götterdämmerung, Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods. Loki is a traitor to the gods, and indeed he had a hand in aggravating the giants’ enmity toward the gods. Yet Loki is not wholly wicked; he is not the arch-demon. In some myths, he uses his pranks to aid the gods, not to oppose them. He lives among the high gods, the Aesir, and he is accepted by them. He might be considered a sympathetic character, a victim of exogamy (father: a giant; mother: a god), divided and confused.

Loki is, in a sense, the most "human" of the gods — we can relate to him. Like us, he struggles with internal contradictions. Partly for this reason, he has great entertainment value — he gives the myths much of their snap. Among the students at my old Waldorf school, Loki was the most popular of all the mythic figures. Clever little Loki.

To quote the ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA about Loki: 

    "Although his father was the giant Farbauti, he was included among the Aesir (a tribe of gods). Loki was represented as the companion of the great gods Odin and Thor, helping them with his clever plans but sometimes causing embarrassment and difficulty for them and himself. He also appeared as the enemy of the gods, entering their banquet uninvited and demanding their drink; he was the principal cause of the death of the god Balder. Loki was punished by being bound to a rock, thus in many ways resembling the Greek figures Prometheus and Tantalus. Loki created a female, Angerboda (Angrboda: 'Distress Bringer'), and produced three evil progeny: Hel, the goddess of death; Jormungand, the evil serpent surrounding the world; and Fenrir (Fenrisulfr), the wolf." [1]

So, Loki is a dangerous oddball, the author of much evil, yet not himself wholly evil. His progeny are a different story. Hel, goddess of the dead, presides over Niflheim, the land of darkness, from which a Stygian army will emerge to assail the gods. Jörmungand the serpent is the specific foe of Thor, the champion of the gods; as antithesis of Thor, Jörmungand is an unrelieved emblem of evil, enclosing the world in his grip, seeking to sever it from the gods' influence.

Both Hel and Jörmungand are unpardonably evil. But worst of all is Fenrir, the Hell-wolf. He will cause the gods to die at Ragnarök. Fenrir is evil through and through, so much so that the gods bind him to a rock (much as, in some myths, they bind Loki). The gods fear Fenrir. He is enormously powerful and baleful. And, because in at least some of the future is known to the gods, they foresee that Fenrir will eat Odin All-Father, highest of the Aesir, at Ragnarök.

Fenrir’s parentage is portentous. In some versions of the myths, Loki begot Fenrir on his own daughter, Angerboda. Thus, Fenrir is the product of exogamy (Loki’s mixed parentage) and its extreme opposite, incest. But in other tellings, Angerboda is identified simply as a giant. So, if we take Loki as occupying a special racial category of his own (half-god, half-giant), then his union with Angerboda is exogamy, and Fenrir is the product of double exogamy. The meaning a racist might find in this is clear.

Fenrir is the most awful of all the gods’ enemies. To immobilize him, the gods fashion a special chain made of the beard of a woman, the sound of a cat’s footstep, and the breath of a fish. (This is perhaps the single best conceit in all of mythology, and I remember it from the myths our teachers told us at Waldorf. Our teachers didn’t shy away from telling us at least some of the more dreadful myths.) When the End of All Things approaches, Fenrir will break his chain and charge upon the gods. His fury will make the gods mortal; in the face of his fury, the worlds will shatter and fall.

According to some tellings, after devouring Odin All-Father, Fenrir will also devour the Sun. Anthroposophists stretching to find gnostic Christian meaning in the myths may take this to indicate that Fenrir devours both God the Father and God the Son. [2] However, there is no Biblical basis for such a reading, and in the myths themselves Fenrir — like virtually every other being and thing — is destroyed at the Battle at the End of All Things. Also, in Anthroposophy, God the Father (or God as the One True God) can be seen as a distant evolutionary goal, not the Creator as such. [3]

To summarize: Norse myths are given prominence in Waldorf schools because they reflect Anthroposophy in dramatic, entertaining form. A child who is repeatedly exposed to these tales becomes familiarized with concepts central to Steiner’s occult doctrines — s/he is nudged in the direction Anthroposophy and away from such orthodox faiths as orthodox Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

Elements that Norse myths share with Anthroposophy include:

            ◊ polytheism — legions of gods

            ◊ immaterial beings aside from the gods themselves (e.g., dwarfs, giants)

            ◊ contending bands of gods (in a manner of speaking, good gods and bad gods)

            ◊ gods who are imperfect, who may need to evolve or to be replaced

            ◊ a hierarchy of states of consciousness (Odin’s quest)

            ◊ a hierarchy of being (the world of the dwarfs is below the world of men; above the world of men is the world of the old gods; above the world of the old gods is the world of the new gods)

            ◊ evolution or progressive alteration (the old world of men will be replaced by a new world of men; the old gods and their world will be replaced by the new gods and their world)

            ◊ a creation story without a Creator [4]

            ◊ a Christlike god who dies but is reborn (Baldur, god of the dying spring, returns with each new spring; in Anthroposophy, Christ is the Sun God, crucified on Earth)

            ◊ an apocalypse that paves the way not for the Kingdom of God but for a new human realm under a new heaven

            ◊ the primacy of mankind (in the myths, the first man is born before the first gods; in Anthroposophy, humans are the original life form in the succession of incarnations of the solar system)

            ◊ celebration of Aryan qualities (in the myths, the first man is blond and the guardian of the spirit realm is the whitest god; in Anthroposophy, white Aryans are the most advanced race)

            ◊ a central search for gnostic or occult wisdom, e.g., the mystic runes (celestial script, Akashic Record)

            ◊ association of art with spiritual contact

            ◊ derogation of commerce and its gods

            ◊ dead humans who are still active, still able to be contacted

            ◊ a duality of forces hostile to mankind (in the myths, denizens of the land of fire and the land of fog; in Anthroposophy, chiefly, Ahriman and Lucifer, and their demonic hoards)

            ◊ the production of good out of evil

            ◊ magic, sorcery

            ◊ evil souls in animal form (wolf, serpent; in Anthroposophy, the animal forms of the "evil race")

            ◊ divination, knowledge of the future

            ◊ [fill in the blank — I have undoubtedly missed some parallels between the myths and Steiner's doctrines]

Some of the features I've listed can be found in other mythologies and even in orthodox religions. But the point, here, is to understand why Waldorf schools embrace Norse myths so strongly. The answer is that Steiner embraced them, and his doctrines are generally crafted to conform to them. In sum, when Waldorf schools teach kids Norse myths, they are teaching them Anthroposophy-lite.

—Roger Rawlings 

Footnotes for "The Summary"

[1] "Loki." ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, 12 May. 2009.

[2] Steiner associated Odin with God the Father: One version of the Lord's Prayer recognized by Anthroposophists addresses "All-Father of Humanity." — Rudolf Steiner, START NOW! (SteinerBooks, 2004), p. 220. Likewise, as we saw above, in Anthroposophy Christ is the Sun God.

[3] Steiner asserted

    “[W]e shall have gradually achieved the transformation of our own being into what is called in Christianity ‘the Father.’” — Rudolf Steiner, THE LORD’S PRAYER (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2007), p. 17.

Creation arises, directly or indirectly, from the Godhead, which is distinct from the Father. To the extent that Anthroposophy recognizes a Creator, it is a nebulous creating spirit. [See "All".] Thus, Waldorf students are often directed to pray to the "Creator Spirit."

[4] Anthroposophy rejects the Biblical account of Creation. There is no One and Only God who created the universe. However, Anthroposophy recognizes the Godhead — a rather amorphous creative force, and within it the Christ being (the logos, the Word) — the divinity that later became the Sun God — may be deemed the chief creative impulse. [See "God".]

 

For more about the hierarchies of gods as 

described by Rudolf Steiner, see “Polytheism”.

[Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, 1999.]

    "In this fine book, Ernst Uehli explains what lives in these myths and why Rudolf Steiner felt that these tales were so important to the child and the [Waldorf] curriculum." — from the back cover.

Be prepared: The Waldorf take on Norse myths is deeply occult, clinging tightly to Steiner's doctrines. For example,

    "There is a consequence of Loki's bet with the dwarves, as far as Odin's speech treasures are concerned. In post-Atlantean language development [1], sound shifting becomes visible as a phenomenon. [2] The articulated language is the result of an organization of speech through the ego [i.e., our fourth body]. [3] The Luciferic influence [i.e., the influence of the demon Lucifer] awakens the astral body [i.e., our third body] and more. The Ahrimanic influence [i.e., the influence of the demon Ahriman], however, puts the formative body [i.e., the etheric body] slowly to sleep." [4]  — p. 59.

This is the sort of thing Waldorf teachers think lurks below the surface of Norse myths. To most people, it is nonsense. To Anthroposophists, it is revealed truth.

(Note that the book was published not by some obviously wacky cult but by the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America.) 

Footnotes for this Item

[1] i.e., the development of human language after the sinking of Atlantis. Steiner's followers believe in Atlantis. [See "Atlantis and the Aryans".]

[2] In Waldorf belief, language comes to us from the gods; it has spiritually formative powers. [See "Oh My Word".]

[3] In Waldorf belief, human beings incarnate three invisible bodies: the etheric body, the astral body, and the "I" or ego or ego body. [See "Incarnation".]

[4]  In Waldorf belief, the demon Lucifer has a rival/colleague, Ahriman, who is generally deemed more completely evil. [See "Lucifer" and "Ahriman".]

    “Each individual people, yea, even all the smaller subdivisions of peoples have their special task ... [I]t was just to the pre-Christian and post-Christian cultures of Europe that the task, the mission was given to educate the ‘I’ through the different stages of the human being, to form it and gradually to develop it. As we have shown to be the case in the Germanic Scandinavian people, the ‘I’ was in primal ages still clairvoyantly shown to man from the spiritual world. It was shown that this ‘I’ was bestowed upon man by an Angelic Being, who stands between man and the Folk-soul, by Donar or Thor. We have seen that each single individual felt himself to be ‘I’-less, impersonal; to him the ‘I’ was a gift, presented to him from the spiritual world ... [T]he East did not experience the whole process of receiving the ‘I’ as though coming from a higher spiritual world, with the assistance of a divine spiritual individuality such as Thor. This was experienced in Europe, and hence the European felt this gradual ascent to the individual ‘I’ as the emerging from a kind of group-soul ... To this group-soul was given the name Sif. That is the name of the spouse of Thor ... Sif signifies the group-soul of the individual community from which the single individual grows forth. Sif is the being who unites herself with the God of the individual ‘ I ’, with the giver of the individual ‘I’, with Thor. The individual man recognized Sif and Thor as the Beings who gave him his ‘I’. The Northman still felt thus about them, at a time when to the peoples in other parts of Europe other tasks had already been given in the educating of man up to the ‘I’.” 

— Rudolf Steiner, 

THE MISSION OF 

THE FOLK SOULS 

(Anthroposophical Pub. Co., 1929), 

lecture 10, GA 121.