北歐神話中英雄的後裔，即今斯堪地那維亞半島及德意誌東北低地的日耳曼民族。他們生長在荒涼苛虐的自然環境中，養成勇武彪悍的個性。
流浪、戰鬥和狩獵是他們日常的生活方式，他們經常在大膽進取的首領率領下，遠征他國，並從異國贏得在本土所無的地位與財富。
這些戰勝國原有的文化，未必優於被他們征服的國家，武器和裝備也不壹定能勝過對方。但他們擁有不知恐懼的冒險精神和視死如歸的勇氣，這是日耳曼民族所以能侵擾整個歐洲的重耍原因。
這些不怕死的日耳曼勇士，逐漸擴大了遠征的範圍。西元400年，他們以萊茵河、多瑙河為界，與羅馬帝國相鄰。到了羅馬國勢漸衰，他們便不斷侵擾羅馬帝國的領土。
到第五世紀中葉，日耳曼民族從東西和北面受到芬族（即被漢帝國打敗西遷的北匈奴）的壓迫，於是，引起怒濤般的民族大遷徙。這就是日耳曼人所謂的英雄時代，北歐傳奇中的主人翁大多是這時代的英雄。
這次大遷徙的結果，東至俄羅斯，西迄法國海岸、布列登島，南至西班牙、意大利半島、西西裏、北非，都受到日耳曼人的侵襲，甚至遠至格陵蘭和部份美洲大陸都留有他們的足跡。
流傳至今的北歐神話就是這民族的產物。但神話的記錄在今天的日耳曼國家中都已不復存在。反而是在北海中滿布火山與冰河的孤島—冰島上保存了下來。
日耳曼諸神完全被日耳曼民族遺忘，其中最重要的原因當推與羅馬帝國的接觸，以及經由接觸而受到的基督教之同化。再加上天災人禍，尤其是西元1618-1648的「三十年戰爭」，使日耳曼固有文化殘缺荒廢，可貴的文獻傳說，都墜入遺忘的深淵，塵封於漫長的歲月。
而當時只有基督教的教士識字，他們既掌管記錄，保管文獻，對於異教傳說、抄本、歌曲等自然深惡痛絕，清掃乾凈；只有少數資料幸存：英國的「貝歐武夫」-Beowulf、德國的「尼伯龍根之歌」-Nibelungenlied和壹些斷簡殘篇-Saga（英雄傳說），以及兩部冰島神話詩集「愛達經」-Edda。再加上日耳曼民族認為原先所使用的古文字-魯納（Runenschrift），是帶有魔力的咒文，如果將語言定形為文字，等於將神秘力量授予敵人。因此，今日不只是古日耳曼人的信仰，甚至是生活方式，也都難以考證。
Norse mythology
Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. However, it is important to note that Finnish mythology forms a separate creed, although it shares some similarities with Norse mythology. It is the best-preserved version of the older common Germanic mythology, which also includes the closely related Anglo-Saxon mythology. Germanic mythology, in its turn, had evolved from an earlier Indo-European mythology.
Norse mythology is a collection of beliefs and stories shared by Northern Germanic tribes. It was not a revealed religion, in that it was not a truth handed down from the divine to the mortal (although it does have tales of normal persons learning the stories of the gods from a visit to or from the gods), and it had no scripture. The mythology was orally transmitted in the form of long, regular poetry. Oral transmission continued through the Viking Age, and our knowledge about it is mainly based on the Eddas and other medieval texts written down during and after Christianisation.
In Scandinavian folklore, these beliefs held on the longest, and in rural areas some traditions have been maintained until today. Others have recently been revived or reinvented as Germanic Neopaganism. The mythology also remains as an inspiration in literature (see Norse mythological influences on later literature) as well as on stage productions and movies.
介紹壹下本人覺得不錯的
資料壹/topic/norse-mythology
資料二http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_mythology