Course Seven: Lore 315
long conflict, the two groups made a truce. To ensure
this peace, they traded hostages and intermarried. The
Vanir were given their own dwelling-place of Vanaheim.The 12 Aesir
Balder—God of beauty, light, joy, purity, innocence,
and reconciliation. His wife is Nanna.
Bragi—God of eloquence and poetry. His wife is Idun.
Forseti—God of mediation and justice, son of Balder.
Frigg—Wife of Odin, goddess of love and fertility,
and patron of marriage and motherhood.
Heimdall—Watchman of the gods and guardian of
the rainbow bridge, Bifrost.
Hod—Blind god of winter, twin brother of Balder.
Loki—God of fire and ally of the frost giants, he is
crafty and malicious, always plotting against the
gods. His wife is Sigyn.
Odin—God of wisdom, inventor of the runes, and chief
of all the gods, he is called All-Father. He traded
one eye for a drink from the Well of Wisdom. His
two ravens Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory)
bring him news from all the worlds. His wife is
Frigg.
Thor—God of thunder, and strongest
of the gods. Lightning flashes
whenever he throws his hammer,
Mjollnir. His wife is Sif.
Ve—Brother of Odin and co-creator of
humans.
Vidar—Son of Odin, god of silence and
revenge, the second
strongest of the gods
(after Thor).
Vili—Brother
of Odin and
co-creator of
humans.The Vanir
Freija—Goddess of love, beauty, fertility, prosperity,
and magick. Daughter of Njordh and twin sister of
Freyr, she likes love-poetry, but she also chooses
slain warriors for her great hall, Sessrumnir.
Freyr—God of Sun and rain and the patron of bountiful
harvests, son of Njordh. His wife is the
beautiful giantess Gerd.
Idun—Goddess of eternal
youth and keeper of the
apples of immortality.
Her husband is
Bragi.
Nerthus—
A Frisian
Earth god-
dess whom
many believe
to be the sister-wife of Njordh and mother of Freyr and Freya.
Njordh—God of the sea, winds, fire, and the hunt. His
wife is the giantess Skadi.
Sif—Golden-haired fertility goddess (some say
giantess), wife of Thor.
Tyr—Original Germanic god of war and justice, the
precursor of Odin.
Ullr—God of the hunt, famous for his skill in archery.
He is the son of Sif.Other Important Norse Deities (and Beings)
Dwarves—Skilled artisans, they live under the
mountains and mine precious gems and ores.
Elves—Bright elves live in Ljosalfheim and are
benevolent; malevolent dark elves and dwarves live
in Svartalfheim.
Fenris—The huge and terrible wolf who will destroy
the gods on Ragnarök.
Giants—Most live in Jotunheim and are generally
hostile to the gods, but some are friendly and some
have even married gods.
Hella—Goddess of the Underworld, daughter of Loki
and sister of Fenris.
Mimir—Keeper of the Well of Wisdom.
Norns—Goddesses who determine fate. The three best
known are Urd (what has been), Verdandi
(becoming), and Skuld (what shall be). One’s fate,
or wyrd, was the result of what you were given at
birth and the choices you made.
Valkyries—Daughters of Odin who select dead
heroes and bring them to Valhalla.Ragnarök
Norse mythology envisions the inevitable end
of the world as Ragnarök (“Doom of the Gods”). It
will be preceded by Fimbulwintr, the Winter of
Winters, lasting three full years with no Summer.
Fighting will break out everywhere, and all morality
will disappear. Wolves will devour the Sun and the
Moon, plunging the Earth into darkness. The stars will
vanish. The Earth will shudder with quakes, and every
bond will burst, freeing the terrible wolf Fenris. Frost
giants, fire giants, and the dead from Hel will sail forth
to battle the gods, who will lose. The nine worlds will
burn, and the Earth will sink into the sea.
After the destruction, a new and beautiful world
will emerge from the sea, filled with abundance. Some
of the gods will survive, and others will be reborn.
Wickedness and misery will be gone and gods and
mortals will live happily together. And the thing is, all
this has happened before, in previous cycles....Lesson 6: The Celts
The gods of the Irish Celts were called the Tuatha de
Danaan (“children of Dana”). Dana or Danu was
Mother Earth, and her husband was Bilé, a god of theThorFreija- Lore.p65 315 1/15/2004, 9:37 AM