Norse Gods & Ragnarok

34 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.What bonds hold Loki after Balder's death?
- A. Entrails of his son with a serpent dripping venom above
- B. A sleep of Hel's mist sealed in stone
- C. A binding of Gleipnir's twin strands
- D. Chains of ice inside a mountain of glass
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Entrails of his son with a serpent dripping venom above
Did you know? The gods bound Loki in a cave, with Sigyn catching the serpent's venom in a bowl.
2.Which fire giant burns the world with his flaming sword?
- A. Hrym
- B. Thrym
- C. Utgard-Loki
- D. Surtr
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Surtr
Did you know? Surtr's fire sweeps the earth at Ragnarök, and his flame engulfs the world tree.
3.Which dragon gnaws at Yggdrasil's deepest root?
- A. Fafnir
- B. Jormungandr
- C. Sköll
- D. Nidhoggr
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Nidhoggr
Did you know? Nidhoggr chews the root over Hvergelmir and gnaws corpses of the dead.
4.Which mother made every thing on earth swear never to harm her son?
- A. Skadi
- B. Frigg, mother of Balder
- C. Sif, mother of Ullr
- D. Hel
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Frigg, mother of Balder
Did you know? Frigg extracted oaths from fire, water, metals and plants to shield Balder.
5.What is the Fimbulwinter that heralds Ragnarök?
- A. The freezing of all seas
- B. A blizzard of poisoned snow
- C. A single night lasting a year
- D. Three winters in a row with no summer between
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Three winters in a row with no summer between
Did you know? The Fimbulwinter's three sunless winters erase all mercy among men.
6.What share of the battle-slain does Freyja claim?
- A. Only the cowards' souls
- B. None, she keeps only heroes' names
- C. A quarter, taken each full moon
- D. Half, received in her field Fólkvangr
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Half, received in her field Fólkvangr
Did you know? Freyja picks half the slain; the rest feast in Odin's hall.
7.What troubled the gods about Balder before his death?
- A. He renounced his godhood
- B. He quarreled with Odin
- C. He dreamed of his own death
- D. He lost his voice
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He dreamed of his own death
Did you know? Balder's dreams of his death made Frigg extract oaths from all things.
8.Which god is the divine patron of poetry and skaldic verse?
- A. Odin
- B. Njord
- C. Loki
- D. Bragi
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Bragi
Did you know? Bragi, husband of Idunn, welcomes poets with runes carved on his tongue.
9.What did the dwarves craft for Sif after Loki cut her hair?
- A. A golden crown of oak leaves
- B. Hair of real gold that grows like living hair
- C. A silver veil
- D. A helm of shining scales
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Hair of real gold that grows like living hair
Did you know? Loki's mischief earned Sif golden hair and gave the gods their great treasures.
10.Which treasures belong to the fertility god Freyr?
- A. The spear Gungnir and the ship Naglfar
- B. The hammer Mjolnir and the belt Megingjord
- C. The ship Skidbladnir and the boar Gullinbursti
- D. The horn Gjallarhorn and the ring Draupnir
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The ship Skidbladnir and the boar Gullinbursti
Did you know? Freyr owns a folding ship that holds all gods and a golden boar that outshines night.
11.Which god guards the rainbow bridge, able to hear grass grow?
- A. Heimdall
- B. Ullr
- C. Tyr
- D. Bragi
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Heimdall
Did you know? Heimdall watches Bifrost with sharp senses and keeps the horn Gjallarhorn.
12.Which goddess keeps the golden apples that renew the gods' youth?
- A. Frigg
- B. Idunn
- C. Gefjon
- D. Sif
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Idunn
Did you know? Without Idunn's apples the gods begin to age.
13.Which family of gods of fertility, sea and wealth exchanged hostages with the Aesir?
- A. The Alfar
- B. The Jotnar
- C. The Dokkalfar
- D. The Vanir
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The Vanir
Did you know? The war with the Vanir ended with hostage exchange, bringing Njord to Asgard.
14.Which goddess weaves the clouds and shares Odin's high seat of marriage?
- A. Freyja
- B. Frigg
- C. Sif
- D. Idunn
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Frigg
Did you know? Frigg, wife of Odin, knows the fates but seldom speaks them.
15.What bait did Thor use to hook the Midgard Serpent while fishing?
- A. A lump of iron
- B. A golden apple
- C. An ox head
- D. A piece of his goat
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An ox head
Did you know? Thor hooked Jörmungandr with an ox head bait, nearly dragging the serpent aboard.
16.Which animals pull Thor's chariot across the sky?
- A. Two wolves, Geri and Freki
- B. Two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr
- C. Two ravens of Odin
- D. Two horses, Skinfaxi and Hrímfaxi
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Two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr
Did you know? Thor's goats may be eaten and revived the next day, always pulling his chariot.
17.What does Thor's belt Megingjörð grant him?
- A. Safe travel across rivers
- B. Doubled divine strength
- C. Invisibility in battle
- D. Immunity to fire
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Doubled divine strength
Did you know? Thor's power belt Megingjörð doubles his already mighty strength.
18.Which of Hesiod's ages comes fourth, the age of the demigods' war?
- A. The Silver Age
- B. The Bronze Age
- C. The Age of Heroes
- D. The Iron Age
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The Age of Heroes
Did you know? The Heroic Age fought at Thebes and Troy before the Iron.
19.Which reforged sword does Sigurd use to slay the dragon Fafnir?
- A. Balmung of the later tales
- B. Gram
- C. Kusanagi
- D. Dainsleif
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Gram
Did you know? Gram shattered on Sigmund and was reforged for Sigurd.
20.Which beast feeds the einherjar nightly, reborn each day?
- A. The horse Skinfaxi
- B. The boar Sæhrímnir
- C. The stag Eikthyrnir
- D. The goat Heidrun
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The boar Sæhrímnir
Did you know? The cook Andhrímnir boils Sæhrímnir nightly in the cauldron Eldhrímnir.
21.Which great Saxon pillar, sacred to their gods, did Charlemagne fell in 772?
- A. The Irminsul
- B. The Donar oak
- C. The Eresburg oak
- D. The Yule log
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The Irminsul
Did you know? The Irminsul's fall at the Eresburg marked the Saxon wars' opening.
22.Whom did Thor disguise himself as to recover his stolen hammer?
- A. A wandering völva
- B. The goddess Freyja, at a giant's wedding
- C. The king of Sweden
- D. A dwarven smith
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The goddess Freyja, at a giant's wedding
Did you know? Thor dressed as a bride to attend Thrym's wedding, where his hammer was laid before him.
23.Which stallion aided a giant's builder in raising Asgard's walls?
- A. Sleipnir
- B. Grani
- C. Hofvarpnir
- D. Svadilfari
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Svadilfari
Did you know? Loki's mare lured Svadilfari away, costing the giant his payment.
24.Which animal supplies the mead that flows in Valhalla?
- A. The mare Goldfaxi
- B. The sow Saehrimnir
- C. The cow Audhumla
- D. The goat Heidrun
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The goat Heidrun
Did you know? Heidrun grazes on the leaves of Laerad and fills the mead horns nightly.
25.In the Finnish Kalevala, from what did the world first arise?
- A. A Giant oak of the north
- B. Eggs laid on Ilmatar's knee
- C. Sampo's grinding flour
- D. Ilmatar's tears
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Eggs laid on Ilmatar's knee
Did you know? A teal's eggs broke on Ilmatar's knee, yolk becoming sun and shell the earth.
26.Which blind god hurled the fatal branch at Balder?
- A. Vali
- B. Vidar
- C. Bragi
- D. Hodr
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Hodr
Did you know? The blind Hodr threw the one unsworn plant guided by Loki's hand.
27.Which Norse siblings drive the chariots of the sun and the moon?
- A. Dagr and Nott
- B. Skoll and Hati
- C. Arvakr and Alsvid
- D. Sol and Mani
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Sol and Mani
Did you know? Mani steals a child to people the moon, the poems say.
28.Which Sumerian mother goddess shapes humankind from riverbank clay?
- A. Ereshkigal
- B. Inanna
- C. Ishtar
- D. Nammu
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Nammu
Did you know? Nammu, the primeval sea, shaped humanity at Enki's prompting.
29.Which giantess daughter of Thjazi skis across the mountains hunting with bow?
- A. Bestla
- B. Hel
- C. Skadi
- D. Gerd
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Skadi
Did you know? Skadi came to Asgard demanding wergild for her father and chose Njord by his feet.
30.Which river flows beside Hel's hall in Norse belief?
- A. The Slidr
- B. The Styx
- C. The Hubur
- D. The Gjoll
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The Gjoll
Did you know? Gjoll is bridged by the Gjallarbru that Hermodr crossed.
31.What does the Orphic egg hatch according to the Greek Orphic texts?
- A. Eros of Hesiod
- B. The sun itself
- C. A serpent Ophion
- D. Phanes, the radiant first-born
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Phanes, the radiant first-born
Did you know? The Orphic egg splits to loose Phanes, bearer of light.
32.Which god rode Sleipnir to Hel to ransom Balder?
- A. Tyr
- B. Heimdall
- C. Bragi
- D. Hermodr
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Hermodr
Did you know? Hermodr rode to Hel's hall, where Hel freed Balder only if all things wept.
33.How did Odin win the knowledge of the runes?
- A. He hung nine nights on Yggdrasil, wounded by his own spear
- B. He stole them from the dwarves
- C. He married a giantess of wisdom
- D. He defeated a dragon in riddles
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He hung nine nights on Yggdrasil, wounded by his own spear
Did you know? Odin hung on the world tree nine nights, sacrificing himself to himself for the runes.
34.Which god of winter, archery and skis answers challenges in Odin's absence?
- A. Ullr
- B. Heimdall
- C. Tyr
- D. Forseti
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Ullr
Did you know? Ullr, the ski god, rules Asgard for five years in one saga of exile.

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