DOGS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

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Dogs in Norse mythology

Karelian bear dogs scare bears away—to protect them

The best-known dog from Norse mythology is Garm (also given as Garmr), who, according to mythologist Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241 CE), guarded the gates of the afterlife realm of Hel. Garm is said to have kept the souls of the dead safely behind Hel's walls while also keeping the living from trespassing in trying to bring a soul back to the land of the living. Later scholars (such as Rudolf Simek and John Lindow) dispute Snorri's interpretation, however, pointing out that the dog who guards Hel has no name and that Garm is identical to the great wolf Fenrir as both are loosed at Ragnarok and both kill the war-god Tyr who sacrificed his hand to bind Fenrir.

Ragnarök

At the same time, however, Garm is called “best of hounds” by Odin in the Grimnismal section of the Poetic Edda when he lists the best things in all the cosmological realms. It seems unlikely he would refer to Garm this way if Garm were another name for Fenrir. Even so, Garm is repeatedly referred to using the same imagery and phrasing used to describe Fenrir.

Whether Garm is or is not the guardian of Hel, dogs were closely associated with the gods and the afterlife. The great Icelandic sagas mention dogs accompanying their masters to Valhalla after death. The dog acted as a kind of psychopomp, guiding the soul from the realm of life to the land beyond death. Scholar Anne-Sofie Graslund comments on this:

The dog is both nature and culture, both good and evil, and stands between this world and the other world. The dogs could bear the souls through the border area from the land of the living to the land of the dead…but dogs were not only conductors to the realm of the dead, they also acted as guards at the entrance of the underworld so that the living could not enter and the dead could not leave. 

More dog remains have been found in Scandinavian burial sites than in those of any other culture. Graslund notes how they obviously played an important sacrificial role in funerary rites but also how often they are depicted, sometimes in great detail, in rock carvings which show hunting scenes and also ritual ceremonies. This is hardly surprising since, according to Adam of Bremen (c. 1050 - c. 1085 CE), dogs were among the sacrifices at the Temple of Uppsala in Sweden dedicated to Odin, Thor, and Freyr, the fertility god and brother of Freyja. H.R. Ellis Davidson notes:

Dog skeletons, sometimes several at a time, are found along with those of horses and cattle in the great Scandinavian ship-burials of the Viking Age, and both large hunting dogs and smaller breeds in individual graves…In Scandinavian myth and legend the dog is the guardian of the underworld and one reason for putting a dog into a grave might be to provide a guide for the dead. (Myths and Symbols, 57)

Mother Goddess figures, or protective female deities in general, are often depicted with a dog, and in Norse mythology, they are linked to the powerful goddess Frigg, Odin's consort. Although dogs are not explicitly referenced as favorites of Frigg, she is sometimes depicted in a chariot drawn by dogs. It may be that Frigg's association with dogs is a later development intended to further differentiate her from Freyja and her cat-drawn chariot but utilizing similar imagery. There are so many similarities between the two goddesses that scholars believe they were once a single deity.

Dogs in Daily Life

Dogs were not only honored through mythological and spiritual connections, however, but were an important part of everyday life in Scandinavia. Dogs were companions as well as working animals, and farmers who could afford it would keep both hunting and herd dogs.


Hunting dog breeds were:

  • Norwegian Elkhound
  • Swedish Elkhound
  • Karelian Bear Dog
  • Finnish Spitz Dog
  • Danish bird Dog
  • Norwegian Lundehund

Herd dog breeds were:

  • Lapphund
  • Lapp Reindeer Dog
  • Vallhund
  • Icelandic Sheep Dog
  • Norwegian Buhund (Source: Viking Answer Lady)

These dogs were highly valued and expensive to train and keep and so became status symbols among the Norse. The more dogs one had, the greater one's show of wealth and success. Dogs were imported to Iceland as evidenced by excavations of graves which contain full skeletons of dogs and they were buried both with their masters and on their own. The importance of the dog to its master is emphasized by the inclusion of dogs in Odin's great hall of Valhalla in the afterlife. It is not only the soul of the warrior that lives on in the hall but also that of his dog.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking

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