Njord Sightings
- Poetic Edda 1200 - 1300
Today you might turn to fan sites and wikis for the scoop on your favorite fictional characters. But in the 13th century, Icelanders collected info on their gods and goddesses as poems in manuscripts. Fun facts on Njord from the Poetic Edda: he's originally a Vanir, he's the father of Frey and Freya, and he's one of the few gods who will survive Ragnarok. We only hear him speak once, though; during Aegir's feast, he defends Freyja's honor from Loki and calls Loki a "pervert." Go Dad!
- Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson 1200 - 1300
Snorri Sturluson was kind of like the ultimate fan fic writer of his day. He took episodes that were only hinted at in the Poetic Edda—like Njord's troubled marriage to Skadi or his attempt to improve his son Frey's love life—and added the background and details to make them full-blown stories in the Prose Edda. Plus, Snorri gave all the gods cool nicknames: Njord, for example, is the "Giving God" and "God of Chariots." (Don't understand the reason for that last one? Yeah, neither do we.)
- Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson 1200 - 1300
Snorri Sturluson had a problem, and it wasn't just that his parents named him Snorri. Nope, the problem was that he wanted to write about pagan gods and goddesses at a time when Scandinavia was becoming Christian. His solution? Re-imagine the pagan gods as ancient kings. In this version of the story, Njord arrives among the Swedes as a peace hostage, but his awesomeness quickly wins him the job of priest of sacrifices. Then he succeeds Odin to the throne.
- Thor (Marvel Comics) 1978
The character of Njord first appeared in this comic book series in 1978. He seems to be the same character, except that he apparently likes wearing a Roman gladiator costume.