Old Norse Astronomy/Astrology

(December 22, 2025) 

Asgard is Ásgarðr in Old Norse. It is the dwelling place of the gods. It comes from the Druid Akkadian phrase AS.G.AR.D meaning "Expeller of the energy for the Controllers of life-manifestations." where the controllers here are the gods.   

In the Eddas the rainbow is called "Bifrost" and it was the road to the sky realm which was called Hel (Druid Akkadian Ḫ.EL meaning Hu's high powers where Hu is the Druid sun and storm god). The word "Bifrost" originates from two Indo-European words, bif, meaning "shimmering" and rost meaning "road." 

The rainbow road was guarded by Heimdall which text treat as both a place and a person. Heimdall dwelt at the entry to Asgard. Heimdall kept the “ringing” horn, Gjallarhorn, which could be heard throughout heaven, earth, and the lower world. It would sounded to summon the gods when their enemies, the giants, drew near.

Heimdall is the Old Norse Heimdallr which is a compound word. "Heim" is Indo-European and means "realm." "Dall" seems to be the Druid Akkadian phrase D.A.LL meaning "Manifestations affecting longing." So this indicates that originally Heimdall meant "realm where manifestations can be affected by longing" which would be analogous to a heaven today where all wishes come true. This place later became personified in the god Heimdall who blew the horn of thunder (Gjallarhorn) when intruders were detected. Prose Edda's  Gylfaginning reports that he required less sleep than a bird, his eyesight is so keen that he could see for hundreds of miles by day or by night, and that his hearing is so acute that he could hear grass growing on the ground and wool growing on sheep.

(August 3, 2023)  The Völuspa of the Eddas provides a story about the origin of the stars. The world was created from the body of the Ymer (Akkadian IMu = "emotion-maker"). His skull forms the sky shell and is held in place by four dwarves. Sparks from some fire form the stars. 

In another story near the end of a fight between Thor and the giant Hrungne. Thor was injured when a small piece of stone got stuck in his head. In order to get it out, he sought help from a Vala, a type of oracle, named Groa. When Thor felt that the stone were coming out, he told Groa that he helped her husband Aurvandil, to escape from the land of the giants. During the escape Aurvandil froze his big toe, which Thor broke off and threw into the sky to become the constellation, Aurvandil's toe. This made Groa so happy that she forgot her magic.

”Aurvandil's Toe” is most likely the Corona Borealis because it is shaped like a toe. Another clue making this identification  likely is that the Corona Borealis rises in the spring. In ”Gesta Danorum" written by Saxo Grammaticus [4], one finds a story of a King, Horwendil, who is fighting a duel with a Norwegian king, Koller (IE meaning "cold"). The duel ends with Horwendil cutting off Koller's foot and thus killing him. This story is probably based on an old myth of the fight between seasons, making Koller's foot or “Aurvandil's toe” a sign of spring when summer overcome the cold of winter. 

References

Jonas Persson (2003-2023) Norse Constellations. Online at: https://www.digitaliseducation.com/resources-norse.html

References used by Person:

1. Roslund Curt, Stjärn-Oddi: En vikingatida astronom på Island, Astronomisk årsbok, s 28, 1984 (in Swedish)

2. Beckman, N. and Kålund, Kr. (1914-16). Alfræði íslenzk: Islandsk encyklo-pædisk litteratur: II. Rímtöl [Encyclopaedic literature on the calendar]. s 48-53 (in Swedish).

3. Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names; Their lore and meaning

4. Saxo Grammaticus, ”Gesta danorum" (In Latin)Rudolf Simek, The Dictionary of Northen Mythology

5. Jan de Vries, Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte (in German)

6. Beckman, N. and Kålund, Kr. (1914-16). Alfræði íslenzk: Islandsk encyklo-pædisk litteratur: II. Rímtöl [Encyclopaedic literature on the calendar]. s 72. (in Swedish)

7. Gislason, K. Fire og fyrretyve for en stor Deel forhen utrykte Prøver af oldnordisk Sprog og Litteratur. (København: Gyldendalska bogh. 1860) (in Danish)

(August 4, 2023) Most Norse Texts use Latin and Greek names for the stars. Yet in Beckman and Kålund’s compilation of Rimtöl they present five constellations that appear to have the Old Norse (Indo-European) names:

1. Kvennavagn:  Woman's chariot; Latin Ursa Minor, (Little Dipper)

2. Karlvagn: Man's chariot; Latin Ursa Major (Big Dipper)

3. Ulf's Keptr: Mouth of the Wolf, Greek Hyades Star Cluster in Taurus

4. Fiskikarlar: Fishermen, Greek Orion

5. Asar Bardagi: Beckman translates this as "Asar Battlefield," but that is incorrect. Asar Bardagi probably means "Enclosure (ASR) for Seeing (BR) Thu's (Ṭ) Energy (G). Latin Auriga meaning "charioteer" after Greek words representing the same thing.

References

Beckman, N. and Kålund, Kr. (1914-16). Alfræði íslenzk: Islandsk encyklo-pædisk litteratur: II. Rímtöl [Encyclopaedic literature on the calendar]. s 48-53 (in Swedish).

Three star names have been identified due to their ending suffix "stjarna." 

These stars are:

1. Dagstjarna: The "Day Star" because in Old Norse Dag is the word for day. This is the Greek star Arcturus, also called Alpha Boötis. It is the brightest star in Boötes (Herdsman) constellation and the fourth brightest star in the sky. The Finnish name for Arcturus is “Aurinkontähti” meaning "Sun Star. " This star seems to act like the star Sirius at more southern latitudes in that it indicates when the sun is about to rise so its name "sun star" is left over from the Neolithic farmer migration out of Northern Mesopotamia.

2. Leidarstjarna: The lodestone star. It is the north star (Polaris).

3. Sudrstjarna: The "South star." Sud is equivalent to modern Norse Syd meaning "south." It usually indentified with the star Vega which is also called Alpha Lyrae because it is visible in the southern sky during summer and in the south at midnight during summer solstice. It is the brightest star in the Latin constellation Lyra and fifth brightest in the night sky.