AEGIR : Norse god of the sea, regarded as a giant whose wild nature had to be kept in subjection by the great gods. His consort was RAN , and they had nine daughters who are described as waves of the sea.

AESIR : The gods who form the entourage of ODIN and dwell in ASGARD . Their number is sometimes given as twelve, although many more are included.

ALFAR : A group of dwarfs or minor spirits (elves)

ALFHEIM : The home of the ALFAR , the elves or dwarfs, ruled over by FREY .

ANGERBODA : A giantess and consort of LOKI , to whom she bore FENRIR (FENRIS) , JORMUNGAND and HEL .

AS : The singular of the plural AESIR .

ASGARD : The city in which dwell the AESIR , the great gods, and connected with the earth by BIFROST , the rainbow bridge.

ASK : The first human, with his wife EMBLA . They were created from trees, and became progenitors of the human race.

AUDHUMLA : The primeval cow on whose milk the giant YMIR was fed.

BALDER, BALDUR : The son of ODIN and FRIGG , the most beautiful of the AESIR , and a god of light, wisdom and righteousness. He was killed by his brother HOD at the instigation of LOKI but will return again at the final destruction of the world.

BERSERKS : "The bearskin-people", wild warlike beings who are subject to ferocious rages during which they might kill their own people or fight with the boulders or timbers of the forest.

BIFROST : The rainbow-bridge which connects the earth with ASGARD , the city of the gods.

BORR : Son of BURI and father of ODIN , VILI and VE .

BRAGI : One of the AESIR and son of ODIN . He is a god of eloquence and the art of poetry, and patron of bards. His consort is IDUN , goddess of eternal youth.

BRYNHILD, BRUNHILD : A princess loved and betrothed by SIGURD . When he was slain, she had herself burned on his funeral pyre. The later Teutonic version of the story represents her as a VALKYRIE awakened by Sigurd from an enchanted sleep.

BURI : The god who sprang from the divine cow AUDHUMLA and who was father of BORR and grandfather of ODIN .

DWARF'S The uncanny artificers and craftsmen who are adept in the mining an d working of metals and who fashion the marvellous magic weapons and treasures of the gods.

EDDA : The name of the old icelandic collections of texts which are our sources for Norse mythology. The oldest is the Elder, or Poetic Edda, which was later followed by the Younger, or Pros Edda.

EIR : Lit. "Mercy", a Norse goddess of healing.

ELLI : Personified Norse goddess of old age, who overcame THOR in wrestling.

ELVES : See ALFAR .

EMBLA : The first woman and wife of ASK the first man, both created from trees and serving as the progenitors of the human race.

FAFNIR : Obtained the treasure of the DWARFS by violence and guarded it, having changed himself into a venomous serpent. He was killed by SIGURD .

FENRIS, FENRIR : A ravenous wolf, offspring of LOKI . He was bound by a magic chain made of the cats footfall, the womans beard, the fish's breath, the bird's spittle, etc., which is the reason these do not exist. At the end of the world he will be released and will fight against the gods, but will be slain.

FREY : Ruler over the elves, or ALFAR , in ALFHEIM , brother of FRIGGA ( FREYA ), and husband of GERDA .

FREY, FREYR : son of NJORD and brother of FREYA . He is a handsome and brave deity who governs good weather and prosperity, joy and peace.

FREYA : Daughter of NJORD and sister of FREY , and goddess of love and beauty. She is represented as riding in a chariot drawn by two cats.

FRIGG : The wife of ODIN , mother of BALDER and foremost of the goddesses, probably another aspect of the fertility goddess FREYA .

GERD, GERDA : A beautiful giantess, wife of FREY .

GLADSHEIM : Literally "the glad home", the palace of ODIN in ASGARD .

GRIMHILD, KRIEMHILD : A queen who by her sorcery compels SIGURD to marry her daughter GUDRUN .

GUNNAR : A brother of GRIMHILD , the wife of SIGURD . With his brother HOGNI he plotted Sigurd's death.

GUDRUN : Daughter of GRIMHILD .

HEIMDAL : A son of ODIN and one of the chief deities of ASGARD and the watchman of the gods, guarding the rainbow-bridge BIFROST against the giants.

HEL, HELL : The daughter of LOKI and the giantess ANGERBODA , described as a horrible hag and ruler over the realms of the dead, which are also called by her name, in the darkest and coldest regions of NIFLHEIM , beneath the roots of YGGDRASIL .

HOENIR : One of the ancient gods who with ODIN took part in the creation of man. Hoenir gave man his soul.

HOGNI, HAGEN : A brother of GRIMHILD , the wife of SIGURD . With his brother GUNNAR he plotted Sigurd's death.

IDUN : The consort of BRAGI , god of poetry. She possesses the apples which she gives to the gods to restore their eternal youth.

JORMUNGAND : One of the three children of LOKI and ANGERBODA , known as the MIDGARD SERPENT.

JOTUNHEIM : The home of the JOTUNS , in the snowy regions on the outermost shores of the ocean.

JOTUNS : The primeval frost-giants who were drowned in the blood of YMIR .

LIF : Literally "life", the woman who will be left alive after RAGNAROK , and with LIFTHRASIR will beget a new race of mankind.

LIFTHRASIR : Literally "he who holds fast to life", the man who will be left alive after RAGNAROK , and with LIF will beget a new race of mankind.

LODUR : One of the ancient gods who with ODIN took part in the creation of man. Lodur gave man blood and bodily colour.

LOKI : One of the major deities. By race a giant and considered one of the AESIR , although actually their enemy. He is handsome, but crafty and malicious. He is also connected with fire and magic, and by the giantess ANGERBODA begot the evil creatures FENRIR , JORMUNGAND and HEL .

MIDGARD : The defensive fortress which the gods built about the middle portion of the earth allotted to men in order to protect mankind from the giants.

MIDGARD SERPENT : The serpent JORMUNGAND who encompasses the entire mid-portion of the earth ( MIDGARD ) and bites its own tail. See OUROBOROS .

MIMIR : One of the giants and the epitome of wisdom, which he obtained by drinking daily of the "Well of the Highest Wisdom", which was situated near one of the roots of YGGDRASIL .

MUSPELLSHEIM : The flaming, torrid region, the "Home of Desolation" opposed to NIFLHEIM , and from whose animating beams sprang the first living beings. The celestial bodies were made from its sparks which flew out into space.

NIDHOGG : The monstrous serpent which, together with other serpents, gnaws continually at the deepest roots of YGGDRASIL , threatening to destroy it.

NIFLHEIM : The far northern region of icy fogs and mist.

NIFLUNGS, NIBLUNGS, NIEBELUNGS : The royal family whose queen, GRIMHILD , enchants SIGURD so that he marries her daughter GUDRUN . In the later Teutonic version of the story, the Niflungs (Niblungs) are represented as the dwellers in NIFLHEIM .

NIXES : The water-sprites who live in rivers and lakes. they were considered as malignant in some quarters, but as harmless and friendly in others.

NJORD : A god of the winds, sea and fire, governing good fortune at sea and in the hunt.

NORNS : The goddesses of destiny, controlling not only the fates of both men and gods, but also the unchanging laws of the cosmos. Their names are URD , VERDANDI and SKULD , and they dwell beside a well under the branches of YGGDRASIL .

ODIN (WODEN, WOTAN): The supreme deity, son of BORR and Bestla, daughter of one of the primeval giants, who bore Odin, VILI and VE . Odin and his brothers created the cosmos and all animate things, including ASK and EMBLA , the first human pair, whom they created from two trees. As chief of the AESIR , Odin presided over the assemblage of the gods and over their feasts, consuming nothing but wine. He was also the wisest of the gods, and derived his wisdom from two ravens (their names being Hugin "thought", and Munin "memory") who perched on his shoulders and flew through all the reaches of the universe and told him what they had seen. He had given one of his eyes in pawn to MIMIR so that he might imbibe wisdom from his well, and hence was also referred to as "one-eyed". He was also a god of battles, and captured enemies were sometimes sacrificed to him. He had many concubines, but his chief wife was FRIGG .

OUROBOROS, UROBOROS : lit. "the tail-devourer", a representation of a serpent with its tail in its mouth, and used to symbolize concepts of completion, perfection and totality, the endless round of existence, etc.

RAGNAROK : Literally "the darkness, or twilight, of the gods", interpreted to mean the end of the existing universe and of the gods, preceded by struggles and wickedness and by ominous cold and piercing winds. LOKI , FENRIR and the MIDGARD SERPENT will burst their bonds, the forces of HEL will be released, and the monsters and evil powers will fight against the gods. THOR will kill the Midgard Serpent, but will die of its venom. The gods and evil monsters will be slain, but a new earth will arise, free from all evil. Some of the AESIR , notably VIDAR and VALI , and the sons of Thor will be left alive, as will LIF and LIFTHRASIR of the sons of men, and a new and righteous generation of gods and men will dwell in the world.

RAN : The wife of AEGIR , the sea-deity; she drew seafaring men down to herself in the depths.

SAGA : Believed to be a goddess who knows all things, hence a goddess of the poetic arts and history.

SIGURD, SIEGFRIED: The hero of the Norse saga of the Treasure of the NIFLUNGS ( NIBLUNGS ). He slew the dragon FAFNIR and loved the princess BRYNHILD , but forgot her after drinking the magic potion offered him by GRIMHILD , so that he married the latter's daughter GUDRUN . He was later treacherously slain through the plotting of Gudrun's brothers GUNNAR and HOGNI .

SKULD : The last of the three sisters, the NORNS , which sees.

THOR : Son of ODIN and a god of fertility and especially of thunder and lightning, produced by the goat-drawn chariot in which he rides. He is also the chief protagonist of gods and men in the battle against the Giants, whom he fights with his huge hammer which always finds its mark and always returns to his hand.

TYR : Son of ODIN and a daughter of one of the primeval giants, the boldest of the gods, who inspires courage and heroism in battle. He was only one who dared to feed FENRIR (the FENRIS wolf), who bit off one of his hands.

URD : The first of the three sisters, the NORNS , which see.

UTGARD : Was the chief city of JOTUNHEIM , the abode of the Giants.

VALHALLA : The banquet hall of the AESIR in ASGARD , where the slain warriors feasted and rejoiced in immortality.

VALI : A son of ODIN who will be left alive after RAGNAROK .

VALKYRIRES : The "Maidens of ODIN ", who rode through the air in full armour and who as signed victory to warriors and chose those to be slain, bearing them off to VALHALLA .

VANAHEIM : The dwelling place of the VANIR .

VANIR : A group of deities of wild nature and fertility.

VE : Brother of ODIN and VILI and son of BORR .

VERDANDI : One of the three sisters known as the NORNS which see.

VIDAR, VIDUR : A son of ODIN and a giantess, and after THOR the strongest of the gods. At RAGNAROK he will cleave the throat of FENRIR with his thick boot. He is also know as "The god of few words".

VILI : Brother of ODIN and VE and son of BORR .

YGGDRASIL : The giant ash tree which is the foundation of the universe. Its deepest reaches are in NIFLHEIM , and the serpent NIDHOGG continually gnaws at its roots.

YMIR : The primordial giant ( JOTUN ), brought into life by the warm and animating beams emanating from MUSPELLSHEIM . With him was born the cow AUDHUMLA , whose milk nourished him. The evil race of the JOTUNS sprang from him. He was later slain by ODIN , and from his body the world was created and his blood drowned the frost-giants.