Why do vikings believe in gods?

Answer 1

People worship gods for many reasons, perhaps originally because this gave them some control over their lives. They could call on their gods to ensure a good crop, a victory in war, help in a crisis or any other worthwhile purpose. Some people continue to worship the gods of their parents because they have never stopped to really consider whether there really are any gods. Those who enquire may come to the realisation that there is no god, but religion also provides some people with comfort and a sense of purpose. There is diversity in religion because there is no objective proof that one religion and its God or gods are more true than another.

Answer 2

Why does anyone believe in gods? That is a question with as many answers as there are people on this Earth. To explain reality, because gods do exist, to comfort their own fears, because their stories about gods represent archetypal concepts...maybe even because the gods in question are aliens from Sumer. Some claim that Norse mythology is a mystery cult, and that all the stories are metaphors for a great secret.

Answer 3

Why are any Gods worshipped?

The biggest reason for the creation of different cultures Gods is ancient mans attempts to explain and understand the forces happening around them.

Look at it this way. To us a storm is no big deal, we know what causes them as well as we know what causes lightening and thunder and we understand how and why it rains. The ancient Vikings didn't, all they knew was that at times the sky lit up and this was followed by a large boom and the rains came. Eventually to explain this they came up with Thor the God of Thunder.

Some of the stories became quite complex and interesting such as the reason for earthquakes.

Loki the God of Mischief had a son the he ended up murdering. As a punishment Odin the Father of the Gods banished him to the underworld where Loki was bound to a rock by his murdered son's entrails and a giant snake hanging from the roof above him would drip his venom down into Loki's eyes. Loki's Wife would stand there holding a large bowl above his face to catch the venom but at some point the bowl would fill and she had to empty it, when she did the snakes venom was free to drip into Loki's eyes and the pain would make him struggle against his restraints causing the earth to quake until his Wife returned with the emptied bowl to catch more venom.

Its these reasons why ancient man worshipped they're Gods, all the Vikings knew was that there were things that happened around them that they couldn't explain and as far as they knew they had to be caused by greater beings than themselves and if these beings were greater and so much more powerful then trying to appease them or earn they're favor couldn't be a bad thing.

Answer 4

Maybe because they wanted to believe something or someone was there.

Answer 5

Thor was a symbol of both strength and fertility. Being aggressive and expansionistic, vikings respect both a great deal.