What Was The Weirdest Weapon in Norse Myth?
In the previous blog post, we have discussed four awesome Norse weapons that the Norse gods used. Those included Gungnir Spear of Odin, Mjolnir Hammer of Thor, Sumarbrandr Sword of Freyr, and Tyrfing Sword of Svafrlami the King. But none of them was weird. In this blog post, we are to discover what the weirdest weapon in Norse myth was.
If you have read the mentioned previous piece of writing about Norse weapons, you might hear of the Sumarbrandr the magical sword of god Freyr. The loss of this sword "gave birth to" the appearance of the weirdest weapon in Norse myth. Yes, that weird weapon belonged to god Freyr and it was an antler.
Before using an antler, Freyr was in possession of the Sumarbrandr sword. According to surviving materials, Sumarbrandr sword was the magical sword that could fight on its own. This meant that Sumarbrandr was the first automatic sword that appeared in Norse mythology. Three weapons that the jotun (or the giant) feared the most were Mjolnir hammer of Thor, Gungnir spear of Odin, and Sumarbrandr sword of Freyr. One cool thing about the Sumarbrandr was that the name "Sumarbrandr" meant "Summer-sword" and Freyr was the god of summer and sunlight.
Surtr the fire giant and Freyr god on his boar
However, Freyr fell in love with the giantess Gerðr. But their love story was not easy as Freyr had to give up his sword to Skirnir. But who was Skirnir? He was Freyr's messenger who was willing to travel to Jotunheim and help Freyr to win the hand of Freyr. And Skirnir managed to win the hand of Gerðr for his lovesick master and was offered the Sumarbrandr sword. And there it was, Freyr lost his magical sword.
Later in Norse mythology, it was told that Freyr used an antler to battle. Freyr used his antler to kill the giant Beli in one fighting. However, Freyr could not survive Ragnarok. In the last battle, he encountered the fire giant Surtr who wielded the fire sword. Surtr was the ruler of the Muspelheim the primeval land of fire. In this last battle, Freyr wielded his antler to fight against Surtr but he did not make it. He was slain and Surtr used his fire giant to engulfed the whole world in the fire.
Antler Meaning?
Many people might wonder why antler but not other things? There was no accurate answer to this because the whole picture of Norse mythology still had many missing pieces, not to mention the figurative meaning of the antler. But presumably, the antler in Norse mythology symbolized the deer spirit. It revolved around the gentleness, sensitivity, vigilance, and a heart full of determination and energy. Moreover, antler was defined as the extensions of the head's skull. This somehow referred to the expansion of mind. It symbolized the growth of mind and awareness. The heart full of energy and the conscious mind could help one to overcome many obstacles that might pop up in life.
