The Aesir-Vanir War from Norse mythology
The Norse have passed down tales of their gods for centuries, and have created their own mythology. The Norse have multiple gods that they worship and tales of those gods, with the Aesir-Vanir War being one of these tales.
There are two sides, or teams you can call them, and every Norse god belongs to one of them. These gods can either be Aesir or Vanir gods. Aesir gods are more brutal and strong, using brutality and sheer strength to defeat their enemies, while Vanir gods use magic in combat. The Aesir live in the realm of Asgard and the Vanir live in the realm of Vanaheim, and there are seven other realms: Midgard (Earth), Jotunheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, Helheim, Muspelheim and Nidavellir.
The beginning of the Aesir-Vanir War came about when Freya, the goddess of love, fertility, battle, and death, and a Vanir god, came to Asgard, the home of the Aesir gods. The Aesir gods were amazed by her magic. The Aesir eagerly asked favors of her, but eventually they saw that their priorities were being pushed aside by their selfish needs. The Aesir burned Freya three times, and three times she was reborn from the ashes. After this the Aesir began to fear the Vanir and vice versa. Their fear grew into hate for the other side. This hate for one another began a war between the two sides.
Both sides used different means of combat. The Aesir gods used weapons and brute force, being much more physical than the Vanir. The Vanir, being gods of magic, obviously used means of magic. After a long and weary war, both sides began to grow tired of the constant fighting.
They eventually agreed to a truce to end the war on both sides and end the bickering. They had customs that meant that when both sides agreed to a truce, both sides must send a hostage to live among the other tribe. Freya and Njord, the god of wind, seafarers, coasts and inland waters of the Vanir gods went to live among the Aesir and Hoenir, god of silence, and Mimir, the wisest god of the Aesir, went to live with the Vanir.
Njord seemed to live peacefully along with his children in Asgard. The same could not be said about Mimir and Hoenir. The Aesir noticed that Hoenir could deliver wisdom to the Aesir, but what they didn’t understand was that Hoenir could only do this in the company of Mimir. Hoenir, in reality, was a simple minded person, so when the Aesir began to ask Hoenir for wisdom apart from Mimir, the Aesir became furious when Hoenir responded with “Let others decide” too many times. The Aesir beheaded Mimir and sent the head back to Asgard, where Odin preserved it and now the head can still speak wisdom to Odin.
Sources:
https://norse-mythology.org/tales/the-aesir-vanir-war/
