Norse Mythology Glossary A-M
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Glossary N-Z
| Aegir |
The Norse god of the sea. Also sometimes listed as a Jotun.
His wife was Ran and his nine daughters were all poetically named for the
waves. He was well known for his lavish entertainment and good hospitality.
Sailors both worshiped and feared him, and ships that wrecked were said
to go “into Aegir’s wide jaws.” |
| Aesir |
The collective name for the Norse Gods and Goddesses, or just the Gods |
| Alfheim |
One of the nine worlds. The home of the elves. The Aesir created it for
them high in the air. |
| Angrboda |
Loki’s Jotun wife, mother of Fenris, Hel, and the Midgard Serpent |
| As |
The collective name for all the male members of the Aesir. |
| Asgard |
One of the nine worlds. The home of the Aesir. It was reached by Bifrost,
the rainbow bridge. It consisted of the thirteen halls of the gods with
the field of Ida at the center.Asguard means "land of the Gods" or "garden
of the Gods" |
| Ask |
The first man. He was created from an ash tree by Odin, Hoener, and Lodur,
the first of the Aesir. |
| Asynjer |
The collective name of the female members of the Aesir. |
| Audhumla |
The ice cow. Created at the beginning of time along with Ymir, it was
her milk that fed him. |
| Balder |
God of light joy, purity, innocence, and peace. He was the son of Odin
and Frigga. His wife was Nanna. His son is Forseti. His hall was called
Breidablik (broad splendor) and was a place where nothing unclean could
be. |
| Bestla |
A Jotun maiden. The wife of Bor and mother of Odin Lodur and Hoener |
| Bifrost |
The rainbow bridge which connected Asgard and Midgard |
| Bor |
The son of Buri, and father of Odin, Lodur, and Hoener. His wife was the
beautiful Jotun maiden, Bestla. |
| Bragi |
Son of Odin and Gunnlod. He was the God of poetry. His wife was Idunn |
| Buri |
The father of Bor. He rose from the salt lick that Audhumla fed on. |
| Dagur |
Dagur drove the chariot of the sun, which was always chased
by a Jotun disguised as a wolf. |
| Draupnir |
Odin’s magic arm ring. From it eight identical bracelets would drop every
ninth night. It was made by the dwarf Sindri. |
| Eddas, The |
Icelandic books of myth. The source of much of what is known of Norse
myth. The Elder or Poetic Edda is a collection of 34 poems, some mythical
and some heroic, from the 9th to 12th centuries. The Younger or Prose Edda
contains the creation, and various other mythological stories. It was written
by Snorri Sturlson (1179-1241). Edda translates to great-grandmother. |
| Einherjar, the |
The heroes who died with great bravery in battle. These were the men carried
by the Valkyries to Valhalla, where they remain feasting and fighting until
Ragnarok when they fight on the side of the Aesir. |
| Eir |
The (minor) Goddess of healing. It was she who taught women (who were
the only physicians) the powers of herbs, with which she could even raise
the dead. She was a companion of Frigga. |
| Elli |
Old age in the form of a woman. She wrestled Thor in the hall of Utgardsloki. |
| Fenris |
A giant wolf. The eldest child of Loki and Angrboda.
The gods bound him with a magic chain to keep him from harming the world,
but on the day of Ragnarok, the chain will be broken and he will fight on
the side of the giants, against the Aesir. It is he who will kill Odin.
He will then be slain by Odin’s son Vidar |
| Forseti |
The god of justice. He is the son of Balder and Nanna. His
hall is the palace Glitnir, which serves as the court where all disputes
of the Aesir are settled. |
| Freya |
The goddess of love and fertility, birth and crops and she
is the symbol of sensuality. She is the most beautiful of the Goddesses.
She is not Aesir, but Vanir, the daughter of Njord and sister of Freyr.
Her husband is Od. Her hall is Sessrimnir, where half the warriors claimed
by the Valkyries go. Her daughter is Noss. She is said to travel in a chariot
drawn by cats. |
| Freyr |
The god of sun and rain and plentiful harvests. He is the ruler
of the Elves in Alfheim. He is the son of Njord, and brother of Freya. He
is a Vanir God. His wife is the Jotun Gerd. |
| Frigga |
Goddess of marriage and motherhood and the home. Often she
is thought of as spinning yarn. She is Odin’s wife and so the highest goddess
of the Aesir. She is the mother of Balder, and it was she who went around
extracting oaths from all the things on Midgard to prevent his death. She
is known for her wisdom almost as well as Odin. |
| Garm |
The hound which guarded the gate to Helheim. He
has four eyes and his chest is drenched with blood. On the day of Ragnarok,
he will join with the Jotuns and will be killed by the God Tyr, who will
die of wounds inflicted by the dog. |
| Gefjon |
A fertility goddess especially associated with the plough.
She was considered the bringer of good luck and prosperity. She is also
the patron of virgins. All girls who die virgins become her attendants.
She plowed the Danish island of Sjaelland from the mainland of Sweden and
moved it to its present position. She was married to King Skjod, a son of
Odin. |
| Gerd |
She is a Jotun maiden, the daughter of Gymir, and wife of Freyr.
She is an earth Goddess and a personification of the fertile soil, and of
the frozen seed brought to life by the Freyr’s gently rains and warm sunshine. |
| Ginnungagap |
The void separating Neflheim and Muspelheim at the beginning
of time. It is from Ginnungagap that the first life, Ymir and Audhumbla
sprung. |
Gjall,
Gjallerhorn |
The great horn carried by Heimdall, the watchman of the Aesir.
A soft tone was played at the arrival of guests, but it also sounded the
alarm in times of danger. At Ragnarok, it will sound a final time and be
heard around the world, calling all the Gods and warriors to the last battle |
| Gullveig |
A Vanir sorceress and seer who came to Asgard looking for gold.
Because of her the Aesir began to quarrel and so Odin, seeing that she had
brought evil to Asgard, ordered her burned. Three times she was burned and
three times she arose from the flames unscathed reborn in a different shape.
Her treatment angered the Vanir and so began the war between the Aesir and
the Vanir. This was the first war in the world. |
| Gungnir |
The magic spear of Odin, which never missed its mark. |
| Heimdall |
The God of light. He is the son of Odin and nine
Jotun maidens. He sleeps less than a bird and can see as well by night as
by day. He is the guardian of Asgard and carries Gjallerhorn. At Ragnarok,
he will sound it a final time and be heard around the world, calling all
the Gods and warriors to the last battle. At Ragnarok he and Loki will slay
each other. |
| Hel |
The only daughter and youngest child of Loki and Angrboda.
She is a hag, pale as death on one side and dark as peat on the other. Her
realm is Helheim, the realm of the dead. It is the underworld and lies on
the edge of Neflheim. Her hall is Eljudnir, or Misery, is the hall of the
dead. It was her right to decide where in her realm the dead were sent.
Those who died of sickness or old age were sent to her hall. Those who were
truly wicked were thrown into Neflheim. |
| Helheim |
The realm of the dead on the edge of Neflheim, named for Hel,
who ruled it. Garm, the hound, guards its entrance. |
| Hermod |
A son of Odin and Frigga, he is one of the war gods. It was
he who rode to Helheim to ask Hel to release Balder after his death. |
| Hod |
A son of Odin. He is the blind war god, symbolizing force unguided
by reason. It was he who Loki tricked into killing Balder, who was his half-brother.
He was put to death for this by Vali, Odin’s youngest son. |
| Holler |
The god of death and destruction, who brings about disease
and disasters. |
| Hoenir (Vili) |
One of Odin’s brothers. He is Will, and when they created Ask
and Embla, Heonir’s gift to them was the will to think and move. After the
war with he Vanir, he is one of the hostages sent to the Vanir as insurance
against further trouble. |
| Hugi |
Thought in the form of a giant, who raced Tjalfi in the hall
of Utgardsloki |
| Huginn |
One of the two ravens who perch on Odin’s shoulders. Each morning
they are sent out and bring back news of all that is happening in the world
and whisper it in Odin’s ears. Huginn means Memory. |
| Hymir |
A Jotun, who was the God of the winter sea. He owned a large
cauldron which Thor was sent by the Aesir to bring back to brew mead in.
On the day of Ragnarok, he will sail the ship Naglfar, which is made entirely
from the nails of the dead and manned by a crew of ghosts, filled with Jotuns
to the battlefield of Vigrond. |
| Ida |
The open field at the center of Asgard, around which the thirteen
halls of the Aesir are centered. |
| Idunn |
The goddess of eternal youth. The wife of Bragi. Idunn is the custodian
of the Golden Apples of Youth. When the Aesir feel old age approaching they
only have to eat of these apples to become young again |
| Jord |
One of the Jotun maidens. She represented the primitive,
unpopulated, uncultivated earth. She is the mother of Thor. |
| Jormungand |
The Midgard serpent. The middle child of Loki and
Angrboda. It was thrown into the ocean, where it grew so long that it encircled
the earth, and lies deep at the bottom of the ocean biting it’s own tail.
All of mankind is caught within its coils. On the day of Ragnarok, Thor
will kit it, but will himself be killed by the serpent’s venomous breath. |
| Jotunheim |
One of the nine worlds. The home of the Jotuns
and trolls. It is separated from Midgard by the River Iving, which never
freezes over. Mimir’s well is in Jotunheim. |
| Jotuns |
A race of frost giants. They represent the wild
and destructive forces of nature. They are the enemy of the Aesir, and will
prevail on the day of Ragnarok. They are said to be able to turn themselves
into eagles and wolves. |
| Kvasir |
The spirit of knowledge. After the war between
the Aesir and Vanir, and after the trading of hostages. The Aesir and Vanir
sealed their peace agreement by chewing certain berries and spitting the
juices into a vat. These juices then took shape and became Kvasir. There
was no question he couldn’t answer, and the more he was asked, the more
his knowledge increased. One day though, two gnomes drowned him in his own
essence and brewed mead from his blood. |
| Lodur (Ve) |
One of the three original Aesir. He is the brother of Heonir
and Odin. Lodur is warmth. It was he who gave Ask and Embla feeling and
warm red blood to flow through their veins instead of cold sap. he is also
said to have given them speach. |
| Logi |
Wildfire personified. It was he that competed with Loki in an eating contest
in Utgardsloki's hall. |
| Loki |
A Jotun by birth and Aesir by adoption. He is the blood brother of Odin.
He is the God of mischief, trickery, and cunning. His Aesir wife is Sigyn.
His Jotun wife is the giantess Angrboda, and with her he is the father of
Hel, Fenris, and the Midgard Serpent, Jormungand. The further along the
myths, the more malicious Loki becomes. It was he who caused the death of
Balder. For this he is bound until the day of Ragnarok. He is chained to
three large boulders and a venomous snake is hung at his head, so that the
venom will drip down onto his face. Sigyn sits at his side and catches the
venom in a bowl to keep it from hitting him, but every so often she must
empty it, and then the venom reaches Loki causing him to twist in pain,
and this is the cause of earthquakes |
| Magni |
A son of Thor. He is the God of might and strength. He alone
was strong enough to save his father from the Jotun Rungnir, and he is the
only one other that Thor who can lift Mjolnir. He is one of the few Aesir
who will survive Ragnarok. |
| Midgard |
The world of man. The three original Aesir created it from the body of
Ymir, and gave it to man as his home. Yggdrasil, the world tree grows from
it’s center, and Bifrost, the rainbow bridge connects it to Asgard. Midgard
means “middle earth” or “middle garden.” |
Midgard
Serpent |
see Jormungand |
| Mimir |
The wise and ancient Jotun, who kept the well of wisdom, which is under
one of the roots of Yggdrasil in Jotunheim. Odin traded Mimir one of his
all-seeing eyes to drink from this well. After the war with the Vanir. Mimir
went with Hoenir as the hostages sent to the Vanir to ensure peace. When
the Vanir realized that Hoenir was slow of thought and that all answers
he gave really came from Mimir, they cut off Mimir’s head and sent it back
to the Aesir. Odin then preserved the head and put a spell on it so that
it could speak to him, and from then on Mimir’s head advised the Aesir. |
| Mjolnir |
Thor’s hammer. It was made for him by dwarfs. Every time that Thor threw
Mjolnir, it hit his target, lightning flashed, and the hammer returned to
Thor’s right hand like a boomerang. |
| Modi |
A son of Thor. He is the God of battle wrath and berserks. He is one of
the few Aesir who will survive Ragnarok. His name means courage. |
| Muspelhiem |
The world of fire. The combination of its sparks and bits of frost from
Neflheim were what originally created life. At the creation of Midgard,
it was pushed outside the dome of the sky to keep it’s sparks from setting
the new world afire. It is the home of the fire giants, ruled by Surt. |