Birth of the Norse Gods

The main sources for Norse mythology are two medieval books, both called Edda; the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. The meaning of the word Edda is not known. The Poetic Edda is a collection of ancient mythological lays, now found only in a single manuscript, the Codex Regius, which was copied into Icelandic in the 1270s.
    The Prose Edda was written around 1220 by the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson, as a handbook for aspiring poets. According to the Edda, the universe emerged out of a Great Void. The first living being to emerge was a giant called Ymir, ancestor of the evil race of Frost Giants. From the blocks of salty ice around Ymir's head, a primeval cow licked into shape another being called Buri, the ancestor of the gods. Buri married a giantess who was born in Ymir's left armpit, and their offspring were the first three gods: Odin and his two brothers.

How the first man was made
Together the three of them set upon Ymir and slew him, fashioning the world from his carcass. The first man and woman where whittled out of two pieces of driftwood by Odin and his brothers. And were given a home in the Midgard (sometimes written Midgarth); a name meaning the Middle Enclave. In the heart of the Midgard, the gods built their own fortified home, Asgard, on a high crag which was connected to Earth by the shining rainbow-bridge of Bifrost.
    Belief in the Norse gods continues to the present day. In Iceland there is a small cult of the Norse gods called Asturu (Belief in the Gods). It's members conduct marriages and funerals according to ancient Norse rites, and the ceremonies are recognised as legal by the state.

Norse Mythology

Name

 Description

Aesir

 Chief gods of Asgard; one of two groups of gods, the Aesir and the Vanir

Andvari

 Dwarf; robbed of gold and magic ring by Loki

Angerbotha(Angerboda, Angrboda)

Giantess; mother by Loki of Fenrir, Hel, and Jormungand

Asgard (Asgarth)

Abode of the Aesir gods

Ask

 First man; created by Odin, Hoenir, and Lothur

Asynjur

 Goddesses of Asgard

Atli

 Second husband of Gudrun; invited Gunnar and Hogni to his court, where they were slain; slain by Gudrun

Audhumia (Audhambla, Audhumla)

Cow that nourished Ymir, whom she created by licking ice cliff

Balder (Baldur, Baldr)

God of light, spring, peace, joy; son of Odin; inadvertently slain by Hod at instigation of Loki

Bergelmir

 Frost giant who, with his wife, was the only giant to survive death of Ymir

Bifrost

 Rainbow bridge connecting Midgard and Asgard

Bor (Bur)

 Son of Buri; father of Odin, Hoenir, and Lothur

Bragi

 God of poetry

Branstock

 Great oak in hall of Volsungs; into it, Odin thrust the magic sword Gram, which only Sigmund could draw forth

Brynhild

 Valkyrie; wakened from magic sleep by Sigurd; married Gunnar; instigated death of Sigurd; killed herself and was burned on pyre beside Sigurd

Buri (Bori, Bure)

Progenitor of gods; father of Bor; created by Audhumia

Einherjar

 The chosen slain, whose souls dwelled in Valhalla

Embla

 First woman; created by Odin, Hoenir, and Lothur

Fafnir

 Son of Hreidmar, whom he slew for gold in Otter's skin; in form of dragon, guarded gold; slain by Sigurd

Fenrir

 Wolf; offspring of Loki; posed a threat to the gods until they were able to restrain him

Forseti (Forsete)

Son of Balder; god of justice and conciliation

Frey (Freyr)

 God of wealth and crops; son of Njord; originally one of Vanir

Freya (Freyja, Frea)

Goddess of love and beauty; sister of Frey; originally one of Vanir

Frigg (Frigga)

 Chief goddess; goddess of marriage; wife of Odin

Garm

 Watchdog of Hel

Gerd

 Wife of Frey; the most beautiful of all women

Gimle

 Home of blessed after Ragnarok

Ginnungagap

 Yawning chasm that existed at the beginning of the universe; within it were Niflheim and Muspelheim

Gladsheim (Glathsehim)

Hall of the gods in Asgard

Gleipnir

 Magic cord used to shackle Fenrir

Grimhild

 Mother of Gudrun; administered magic

Gudrun

 Daughter of Giuki; wife of Sigurd; later wife of Atli and Jonakr

Gunnar

 Son of Giuki; in his semblance Sigurd won Brynhild for him; slain at hall of Atli

Guttorm

 Son of Giuki; slew Sigurd at Brynhild's request

Heimdall (Heimdallr)

Guardian of Asgard; son of Odin

Hel

 Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld; daughter of Loki

Hel

 A realm of the dead within the underworld; a place of fog and intense cold

Hermod

 Messenger of the gods; son of Odin and Frigg

Hiordis

 Wife of Sigmund; mother of Sigurd

Hod (Hoder, Hodur)

Blind god of night and darkness; tricked by Loki into slaying Balder

Hoenir

 One of the creators of Ask and Embla; son of Bor

Hreidmar

 Father of Regin, Otter, and Fafnir; demanded Otter's skin be filled with gold; slain by Fafnir, who stole the gold

Idunn (Ithun, Iduna)

Keeper of the golden apples of youth; wife of Bragi

Jonakr

 Third husband of Gudrun

Jormungand

 Midgard Serpent; chief enemy of Thor; symbol of evil

Jormunrek

 Slayer of Swanhild; slain by sons of Gudrun

Jotun

 Race of giants

Jotunheim (Jotunnheim, Jotunheimr)

Abode of the giants

Lif and Lifthrasir

 First man and woman after Ragnarok

Loki

 God of evil and mischief; instigator of Balder's death

Lothur (Lodur)

 One of the creators of Ask and Embla

Mani

 Being who drove the moon; brother of Sol

Midgard (Midgarth)

Abode of humans; the Earth

Mimir

 Giant; guardian of the well in Jotunheim at root of Yggdrasil; had immense wisdom and knowledge of past, present, and future

Mjolnir

 Magic hammer of Thor

Muspelheim

 Hot, glowing land of fire in the south of Ginnungagap

Naglfar

 Ship to be used by giants in attacking Asgard at Ragnarok; built from nails of dead men

Nanna

 Wife of Balder

Nibelungs

 Dwellers in northern kingdom ruled by Giuki

Niflheim (Nifelheim)

Outer region of cold and darkness; site of Hel, the land of the dead

Njord (Njorth; Njordr)

Father of Frey and Freya; originally one of the Vanir

Nott

 Giantess; personification of night

Norns

 Demigoddesses of fate; Urd (Urdr), the past; Verdande, the present; Skuld, the future

Odin (Othin)

 Chief of the Aesir; creator of the world with Vili and Ve; equivalent to Woden (Wodan, Wotan) in Teutonic mythology

Otter

 Son of Hreidmar; slain by Loki; his skin was filled with the gold hoard of Andvari to appease Rodmar

Ragnarok

 Final destruction of the present world in battle between gods and giants; some minor gods would survive, and Lif and Lifthrasir would repeople the world

Regin

 Blacksmith; son of Hreidmar; foster father of Sigurd

Rerir

 King of the Huns; son of Sigi

Sif

 Wife of Thor; goddess of grain and fertility

Siggeir

 King of the Goths; husband of Signy; he and his sons slew Volsung and his sons, except Sigmund; slain by Sigmund and Sinflotli

Sigi

 King of Huns; son of Odin

Sigmund

 Son of Volsung; brother of Signy, who bore him Sinflotli; husband of Hiordis, who bore him Sigurd

Signy

 Daughter of Volsung; sister of Sigmund; wife of Siggeir; mother by Sigmund of Sinflotli

Sigurd

 Son of Sigmund and Hiordis; wakened Brynhild from a magic sleep; married Gudrun; slain by Guttorm at instigation of Brynhild

Sigyn

 Wife of Loki

Sinflotli

 Son of Sigmund and Signy

Skidbladnir

 Magic ship made by dwarfs and owned by Frey; could be folded up like a handkerchief

Sleipnir (Sleipner)

Eight legged horse of Odin

Sol

 Being who drove the sun; sister of Mani

Surt (Surtr)

 Fire demon; would slay Frey at Ragnarok

Svartalfaheim

 Abode of dwarfs

Swanhild

 Daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun; slain by Jormunrek

Thor

 God of thunder; oldest son of Odin; equivalent to Germanic deity Donar

Tyr

 God of war; son of Odin; equivalent to Tiw in Teutonic mythology

Ull (Ullr)

 Hunter god; son of Sif; stepson of Thor

Valhalla (Valhall)

Great hall in Asgard where Odin received souls of heroes killed in battle (Einherjar)

Vali

 Odin's son; Ragnarok survivor

Valkyries

 Virgins, messengers of Odin, who selected souls of heroes who died in battle and took them to Valhalla

Vanir

 One of the two races of gods; three survivors, Njord, Frey, and Freya, are associated with Aesir

Ve

 Brother of Odin; one of the creators of the world

Vidar (Vithar)

 Son of Odin; survivor of Ragnarok

Vili

 Brother of Odin; one of the creators of the world

Vingolf

 Abode of goddesses in Asgard

Volsung

 Descendant of Odin, and father of Signy and Sigmund; his descendants were called Volsungs

Yggdrasil

 Giant ash tree springing from the body of Ymir and supporting the universe; its roots extended to Asgard, Jotunheim, and Niflheim

Ymir (Aurgelmir)

 Primeval frost giant killed by Odin, Vili, and Ve; world was created from his body; also, from his body sprang Yggdrasil

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