Famous Men of the Middle Ages · Intro, part 1 · Unit 1: Gods and heroes of the Teutons
1. The gods of the Teutons
Goal: Your child can name the chief gods the Teutons believed in, tell the story of Baldur, and say which days of the week are named after these gods.
You'll need
- The book, open to this chapter
- A map of Europe and the Mediterranean (a free online map or a globe)
- Paper and colored pencils
- A long strip of paper for a timeline (taped-together sheets work well)
What's in the book
The first part of the Introduction: after Rome's power was broken, tribes from north of the Danube and the Rhine (Goths, Vandals, Huns, Franks and Anglo-Saxons) took over its lands. The Teutons' gods are described: Woden and his horse Sleipnir, Thor and his hammer, Tiew, Frija, bright Baldur killed by a mistletoe arrow, the Valkyries and Valhalla, the giant Ymir, the world tree, and the last great battle of gods and giants.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find the River Rhine and the River Danube on the map. Say: The Roman Empire once reached up to these two rivers. North of them lived tribes the Romans called barbarians.
If your child read Famous Men of Rome, remind them how it ended: Rome was taken by Goths and Vandals, and the last emperor of the West lost his throne. This book starts there.
Read the chapter
Read the section called The Gods of the Teutons aloud together. It begins:
In the little volume called The Famous Men of Rome you have read about the great empire which the Romans established.
Stop after each god and let your child say in a few words what that god did.
Tell it back
Close the book and ask your child to tell what they remember. Prompts if they get stuck:
- Who was the king of all the gods, and what did he ride?
- What happened when Thor threw his hammer?
- Why could nothing hurt Baldur except the mistletoe?
- Who were the Valkyries, and where did they carry the warriors?
Days of the week
Read this together:
Four of the days of the week are named after these gods. Tuesday means the day of Tiew; Wednesday, the day of Woden; Thursday, the day of Thor; and Friday, the day of Frija.
Say each day slowly and listen for the god's name inside it. Write the four days with the god's name beside each.
Talk it over
The book explains what the Baldur story meant to the Teutons: his bright face was the sunshine, and the world's sorrow at his death was the gloom of the long northern winter.
Ask:
- Why do you think people who lived through dark, cold winters told a story like this?
- How did the Teutons explain thunder and lightning?
A note about 1904
The book calls the Teutons "war-like, savage and cruel" and says the greatest nations of modern times came from them. That is how many writers talked in 1904.
SayThese were the old beliefs of the people of northern Europe. Later in this book many of them become Christians, but the old stories were not forgotten.
Start a timeline (optional)
Lay out a long paper strip. Write "The Middle Ages" across the top. Say: The Middle Ages are the years between the fall of Rome and about the time Columbus sailed, roughly a thousand years. All the dates in this book are A.D., so they count up.
Your child can draw Thor's hammer at the left end.
Afterwards
During the week, each time you say the name of a day, ask your child whose day it is.
Tip
Some families know these gods from comics and films. The book's versions are older and a little different; that is a good thing to notice together, not to argue about.
Answers to the book's problems
Woden (Odin) was king of the gods and rode the eight-footed horse Sleipnir. Thor's hammer made lightning as it flew and thunder when it struck the ice mountains. Frija made every living thing promise not to hurt Baldur but forgot the mistletoe. The Valkyries were warrior women who carried Woden's favorite warriors to Valhalla, the hall of the slain. Thunder was Thor's hammer; a storm was the snorting of Sleipnir.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.