Rethinking the Norse Pantheon: Sámi Influence in Old Norse Mythology

Abstract

What shaped Old Norse mythology and its associated pantheon? Scholarship has traditionally attributed its development to the Proto-Germanic peoples who migrated into Scandinavia during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Far less attention has been given to the Sámi, an Indigenous people whose religious traditions both predated and overlapped with the emergence of Norse religion in northern Scandinavia. This paper argues that the Norse pantheon should not be understood as a purely Germanic system, but as one shaped through intercultural interaction with the Sámi. It develops this argument through case studies of Loki and Skaði. Drawing on a targeted literature review and close analysis of primary mythological sources, the paper examines each deity’s cultural and geographical foundations, genealogy and position within the pantheon, and recurring narrative motifs. In doing so, it is informed by Eric Wolf’s view of societies as historically interconnected. Across these dimensions, Loki and Skaði display patterns that align more closely with Sámi religious traditions than with Proto-Germanic origins, including their strong association with northern Scandinavia, outsider genealogies linked to Jǫtunheimr, and narrative elements that parallel Sámi noaidi practices and cosmological frameworks. Taken together, these findings suggest that Sámi–Norse interaction played a meaningful role in shaping certain figures within the Old Norse pantheon. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of incorporating Indigenous Sámi perspectives into future studies of Norse mythology.