Several days of our week are named after the Teutonic gods: Tuesday after Tyr, Wednesday after Odin (Woden), Thursday after Thor, and Friday after Frey. The mythological stories of the Norse gods show a culture that centered on warfare, and these gods are glorified human warriors who get their way by force, by magic, and by cunning. Balder and, in part, Odin show a certain amount of spirituality; yet on the whole the Norse gods are not very elevating, as Loki points out at Aegir's feast. These are gods who are doomed and know it, and like many men they are determined to get all the pleasure they can from life before they die. Courage, strength, and cleverness are what count to them.
Despite their moral laxity, however; the Aesir were regarded as the noblest beings in existence. They supported human civilization, such as it was, against the titanic destructive forces in nature such as the Giants and demons. In the frozen world of Scandinavia such beings were necessary to the primitive culture; and survival depended on fighting for the little land there was. Yet war seemed to become an end in itself, the main justification for living. Heroism in such a world becomes self-destructive and meaningless. To fight for the sheer joy of fighting is a terrible waste, like suicide. Despite the excesses to which the Teutonic religion tended, the Norse gods have a certain gloomy grandeur.
