Why does Thor's hammer Mjolnir have a famously short handle?

A fly bit the dwarf working the bellows

It was cut down so it could be hidden

Which creature does Thor hook on a fishing trip, only for his companion to cut the line?

Jormungandr, the serpent that circles the world

Where do almost all surviving Norse myths come from?

Icelandic manuscripts of the thirteenth century

Roman accounts of the Germanic tribes

Anglo-Saxon monastic chronicles

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Mythology & Folklore Hard ⚡ 10 Questions ⏱️ ~8 Mins +100 XP

Norse Myths and the End of the World

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Norse myth is unusual in knowing how it ends. These ten questions cover the gods, the beasts they are fated to fight, and where the stories actually come from.

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About this topic

Almost everything we know about Norse myth reaches us through two Icelandic books written around the thirteenth century, well after Iceland had converted to Christianity. One is a collection of older poems, the other a handbook by Snorri Sturluson explaining the imagery that poets needed in order to work. That means the myths arrive already edited, arranged and occasionally rationalised. What survives is a set of stories in which the gods are powerful but not safe. They lose hands, eyes and sons, they get out of trouble by cheating, and they know the names of the creatures that will kill them at the end. This quiz is on the harder side, so expect the questions to turn on a detail rather than a name.

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Norse Myths and the End of the World: all 10 questions and answers

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1Which god lost a hand while the gods were binding the wolf Fenrir?
- A Njord
- B Tyr Correct
- C Heimdall
- D Bragi
Answer: B. Tyr

Why: Tyr laid his hand in the wolf's mouth as a pledge of good faith while the others fastened the fetter, and lost it when Fenrir found he could not break free. The fetter, Gleipnir, was said to be made from impossible things, including the sound of a cat's footfall and the beard of a woman.
2In the most common version, what was thrown at Baldr to kill him?
- A A sprig of mistletoe Correct
- B A shaft of ash
- C A spear of yew
- D A stone from the shore
Answer: A. A sprig of mistletoe

Why: Baldr's mother Frigg had made everything swear not to harm him but passed over the mistletoe as too young to take an oath, and Loki put it into the hands of the blind god Hod. In Snorri's account his death is the first move towards Ragnarok.
3What is the name of Odin's eight-legged horse?
- A Grani
- B Gullfaxi
- C Hofvarpnir
- D Sleipnir Correct
Answer: D. Sleipnir

Why: Sleipnir is described as the best of all horses and carries Odin between the worlds. His mother was Loki, who had taken the shape of a mare to lure away a giant's stallion and lost track of the disguise.
4What did Odin give up for a drink from Mimir's well?
- A His voice
- B His youth
- C One of his eyes Correct
- D One of his hands
Answer: C. One of his eyes

Why: The well sat beneath one of the roots of Yggdrasil and held wisdom, and Odin left an eye in it as the price. He paid for knowledge more than once: in the poem Havamal he hangs on a windswept tree for nine nights to win the runes.
5Half of those killed in battle go to Odin's hall. In the Poetic Edda, who receives the other half?
- A Idunn
- B Freyja Correct
- C Frigg
- D Skadi
Answer: B. Freyja

Why: The poem Grimnismal says Freyja chooses half the slain each day for her own hall, Folkvangr, and Odin takes the rest to Valhalla. Freyja also owns a cloak of falcon feathers that the other gods keep borrowing.
6Why does Thor's hammer Mjolnir have a famously short handle?
- A A fly bit the dwarf working the bellows Correct
- B The forge ran out of iron
- C A giant broke it in a fight
- D It was cut down so it could be hidden
Answer: A. A fly bit the dwarf working the bellows

Why: In Snorri's account Loki turned himself into a fly and bit the eyelid of the dwarf Brokk while he worked the bellows, so the metal was spoiled and the handle came out too short. The same pair of dwarves made Odin's ring Draupnir and Freyr's golden boar.
7Which creature does Thor hook on a fishing trip, only for his companion to cut the line?
- A Fenrir, the bound wolf
- B Nidhogg, the gnawer of roots
- C Ratatoskr, the messenger
- D Jormungandr, the serpent that circles the world Correct
Answer: D. Jormungandr, the serpent that circles the world

Why: Thor baited a hook with an ox head and pulled the serpent up to the side of the boat, and the giant Hymir cut the line in panic. At Ragnarok Thor kills it and then walks nine paces before the venom drops him.
8Which god keeps watch over the Bifrost bridge and sounds the horn Gjallarhorn?
- A Forseti
- B Vidar
- C Heimdall Correct
- D Ullr
Answer: C. Heimdall

Why: Heimdall is described as needing less sleep than a bird and hearing wool grow on a sheep, which makes him the obvious sentry. He and Loki are fated to kill each other at the end.
9A war in Norse myth ended with an exchange of hostages between which two groups of gods?
- A The giants and the dwarves
- B The Aesir and the Vanir Correct
- C The Aesir and the giants
- D The Vanir and the elves
Answer: B. The Aesir and the Vanir

Why: The truce sent Njord and his children Freyr and Freyja to live among the Aesir. Both sides also spat into a vat to seal the peace, and out of that came Kvasir, whose blood was later brewed into the mead of poetry.
10Where do almost all surviving Norse myths come from?
- A Icelandic manuscripts of the thirteenth century Correct
- B Roman accounts of the Germanic tribes
- C Runestones carved in Denmark
- D Anglo-Saxon monastic chronicles
Answer: A. Icelandic manuscripts of the thirteenth century

Why: The Poetic Edda and Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda were both written in Iceland roughly two centuries after the country became Christian. Snorri was a chieftain and lawspeaker, and his book was partly a manual for poets who needed the old references to make their verse work.

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