Norse Mythology

A GLOSSARY

Aegir: Greatest of the sea giants. Husband of Ran, father of nine daughters, who are the waves of the ocean.

Aesir: A race or tribe or branch of the gods. They live in Asgard.

Alfheim: One of the nine worlds, inhabited by the light elves.

Angrboda: A giantess, mother of Loki’s three monstrous children.

Asgard: Home of the Aesir. The realm of the gods.

Ask: The first man, made from an ash tree.

Audhumla: The first cow, whose tongue shaped the ancestor of the gods, and from whose teats ran rivers of milk.

Aurboda: A mountain giantess, mother of Gerd.

Balder: Known as “the beautiful.” Odin’s second son, loved by all but Loki.

Barri, isle of: An island on which Frey and Gerd get married.

Baugi: A giant, the brother of Suttung.

Beli: A giant. Frey kills him with a stag’s antler.

Bergelmir: Ymir’s grandson. Bergelmir and his wife were the only giants to survive the flood.

Bestla: Mother of Odin, Vili, and Ve, and wife of Bor. Daughter of a giant called Bolthorn. Sister of Mimir.

Bifrost: The rainbow bridge that joins Asgard to Midgard.

Bodn: One of two mead vats made to hold the mead of poetry. The other is Son.

Bolverkr: One of the names Odin calls himself when in disguise.

Bor: A god. Buri’s son, married to Bestla. Father of Odin, Vili, and Ve.

Bragi: God of poetry.

Breidablik: Balder’s home, a place of joy and music and knowledge.

Brisings, necklace of the: A shining necklace belonging to Freya.

Brokk: A dwarf capable of making great treasures. Brother of Eitri.

Buri: The ancestor of the gods, father to Bor, grandfather of Odin.

Draupnir: Odin’s golden arm-ring which, every nine nights, produces eight arm-rings of equal beauty and value.

Egil: A farmer, the father of Thialfi and Roskva.

Einherjar: The noble dead who died bravely in battle, and who now feast and battle in Valhalla.

Eitri: A dwarf who forges great treasures, including Thor’s hammer. Brother of Brokk.

Elli: An old nurse who is, in fact, old age.

Embla: The first woman, made from an elm tree.

Farbauti: Loki’s father, a giant. “He who strikes dangerous blows.”

Fenrir or Fenris Wolf: A wolf. Loki’s son with Angrboda.

Fimbulwinter: The winter before Ragnarok, which does not end.

Fjalar: The brother of Galar and murderer of Kvasir.

Fjolnir: Son of Frey and Gerd and first king of Sweden.

Franang’s Falls: High waterfall where Loki hid himself in the guise of salmon.

Frey: A god of the Vanir, who lives with the Aesir. Freya’s brother.

Freya: A goddess of the Vanir, who lives with the Aesir. Frey’s sister.

Frigg: Odin’s wife, the queen of the gods. Mother of Balder.

Fulla: A goddess, Frigg’s handmaiden.

Galar: One of the dark elves. Brother of Fjalar and murderer of Kvasir.

Garm: A monstrous hound, who kills and is killed by Tyr at Ragnarok.

Gerd: A radiantly beautiful giantess, loved by Frey.

Gilling: A giant, killed by Fjalar and Galar, and father of Suttung and Baugi.

Ginnungagap: A yawning gap between Muspell (the fire world) and Niflheim (the mist world) at the beginning of creation.

Gjallerhorn: Heimdall’s horn, kept by Mimir’s well.

Gleipnir: Magical chain forged by dwarfs and used by the gods to bind Fenrir.

Grimnir: “The hooded one.” A name for Odin.

Grinder: Tanngnjóstr, or “teeth-grinder.” One of the two goats who pull Thor’s chariot.

Gullenbursti: The golden boar made for Frey by the dwarfs.

Gungnir: Odin’s spear. It never misses its mark, and oaths made on Gungnir are unbreakable.

Gunnlod: A giantess, the daughter of Suttung, set to guard the mead of poetry.

Gymir: An earth giant, Gerd’s father.

Heidrun: A goat that gives mead instead of milk. She feeds the dead in Valhalla.

Heimdall: The watchman of the gods, far-seeing.

Hel: Loki’s daughter with Angrboda. She rules Hel, the realm of the shameful dead, who did not die nobly in battle.

Hermod the Nimble: A son of Odin. He rides Sleipnir to beg Hel to release Balder.

Hlidskjalf: Odin’s throne, from which he can see the nine worlds.

Hod: Balder’s brother, a blind god.

Hoenir: An old god, who gave humans the gift of reason. One of the Aesir, sent to the Vanir to be their king.

Hrym: The leader of the frost giants at Ragnarok.

Hugi: A young giant, able to run faster than anything. In reality, thought itself.

Huginn: One of Odin’s two ravens. Its name means “thought.”

Hvergelmir: A spring in Niflheim, beneath Yggdrasil, that is the origin of many other rivers and streams.

Hymir: A king of the giants.

Hyrrokkin: A giantess, even stronger than Thor.

Idavoll: The “splendid plain,” on which Asgard was built, and to which the surviving gods will return after Ragnarok.

Idunn: A goddess of the Aesir. She is the keeper of the apples of immortality, which give the gods eternal youth.

Ivaldi: One of the dark elves. The sons of Ivaldi crafted Skidbladnir, Frey’s remarkable ship, Gungnir, Odin’s spear, and new, beautiful golden hair for Sif, Thor’s wife.

Jord: Thor’s mother, a giantess, who was also a goddess of the earth.

Jormungundr: The Midgard serpent. One of Loki’s children and Thor’s nemesis.

Jotunheim: Jotun means giant, and Jotunheim is the realm of the giants.

Kvasir: A god formed from the mixture of the spittle of the Aesir and the Vanir, he became a god of wisdom. Kvasir was murdered by dwarfs, who made the mead of poetry from his blood. Later, he came back to life.

Laufey: The mother of Loki. Also called Nal, or needle, because she was so thin.

Lerad: A tree, probably part of Yggdrasil, which fed Heidrun, the goat that gives her mead to the warriors of Valhalla.

Lit: An unfortunate dwarf.

Loki: Odin’s blood brother, the son of Farbauti and of Laufey. The shrewdest, most cunning of all the inhabitants of Asgard. He is a shapeshifter, and his lips are scarred. He has shoes that allow him to walk in the sky.

Magni: Thor’s son, “the strong.”

Megingjord: Thor’s belt of might. Wearing it doubles his strength.

Midgard: “Middle yard.” Our world. The realm of humans.

Midgard serpent: Jormungundr.

Mimir: Odin’s uncle and keeper of the spring of wisdom in Jotunheim. A giant, perhaps also one of the Aesir. He was decapitated by the Vanir, and his head still gives wisdom and watches over the spring.

Mimir’s well: A spring or well at the roots of the world-tree. Odin traded an eye to take a sip of its water, scooped up in Heimdall’s Gjallerhorn.

Mjollnir: Thor’s remarkable hammer and most prized possession, made for him by Eitri. (Brokk worked the bellows.)

Modgud: “Furious Battler.” She was the guardian of the bridge that leads to the land of the dead.

Modi: Thor’s son, “the brave.”

Muninn: One of Odin’s ravens. Its name means “memory.”

Muspell: The fiery world that exists at the beginning of creation. One of the nine worlds.

Naglfar: A ship, built from the untrimmed finger- and toenails of the dead. The giants and the dead from Hel who will battle the gods and the Einherjar at Ragnarok will travel on this ship.

Nal: “Needle.” Another name for Laufey, Loki’s mother.

Narfi: Loki and Sigyn’s son, Vali’s brother.

Nidavellir, also called Svartalfheim: Where the dwarfs (also known as dark elves) live beneath the mountains.

Nidhogg: A dragon who devours corpses and chews on the roots of Yggdrasil.

Niflheim: A cold, misty place, there at the start of everything.

Njord: A god of the Vanir, father of Frey and Freya.

Norns: The three sisters, Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, who tend the well of Urd, or fate, and water the roots of Yggdrasil, the world-tree. They, along with other norns, decide what will happen in your life.

Odin: The highest and oldest of the gods. He wears a cloak and a hat and only has one eye, having traded the other for wisdom. He has many other names including all-father, Grimnir, and the gallows god.

Odrerir: A kettle for brewing the mead of poetry. “Ecstasy-giver.”

Ran: Wife of Aegir the sea giant, goddess of those who drown at sea, mother of the nine waves.

Ratatosk: A squirrel who lives in the branches of Yggdrasil and takes messages from Nidhogg the corpse-devourer at the roots to an eagle who lives in the upper branches.

Rati: The auger or drill of the gods.

Roskva: Sister of Thialfi, Thor’s human servant.

Sif: Thor’s wife. She had golden hair.

Sigyn: Loki’s wife, mother of Vali and Narfi. After Loki’s imprisonment, she stays with him beneath the ground, holding a bowl with which she protects Loki’s face from the venom of the serpent.

Skadi: A giant, daughter of the giant Thiazi. She marries Njord.

Skidbladnir: A magical ship, made for Frey by the sons of Ivaldi. It folds up like a scarf.

Skirnir: A light elf, Frey’s servant.

Skrymir: “Big fellow.” A particularly big giant, encountered by Loki, Thor, and Thialfi on the way to Utgard.

Skuld: One of the norns. Her name means “that which is intended,” and her domain is the future.

Sleipnir: Odin’s horse. The fastest of horses, eight-legged, the offspring of Loki and Svadilfari.

Snarler: Tanngrisnir, which means tooth-barer or snarler. One of the two goats who pull Thor’s chariot.

Son: A vat for mead.

Surtr: A huge fiery giant who wields a flaming sword. Surtr existed before the gods. Guardian of Muspell, the fire region.

Suttung: A giant, the son of Gilling. He takes vengeance on his parents’ killers.

Svadilfari: A horse belonging to the master builder who built Asgard’s wall. Father of Sleipnir.

Thiazi: A giant who disguises himself as an eagle to kidnap Idunn. Father to Skadi.

Thokk: Old woman, whose name means “gratitude” but is the single living creature who won’t mourn the death of Balder.

Thor: Odin’s red-bearded son, Aesir god of thunder. The strongest of the gods.

Thrud: Thor’s daughter, “the powerful.”

Thrym: Lord of the ogres, who wanted Freya for his bride.

Tyr: The one-handed god of war, a son of Odin; the stepson of Hymir the giant.

Ullr: Thor’s stepson. A god who hunts with bow and arrow and who skis.

Urd: “Fate.” One of the three norns. She determines our past.

Urd’s well: The well in Asgard tended by the norns.

Utgard: The “outyard.” A wild region of giants, with a castle at its center, also called Utgard.

Utgardaloki: The king of the giants of Utgard.

Valhalla: Odin’s hall, where the noble dead who die bravely in battle feast.

Vali: There are two gods named Vali. One is a son of Loki and Sigyn, who becomes a wolf and kills his brother, Narfi. The other is a son of Odin and Rind, conceived to avenge Balder’s death.

Valkyries: “Choosers of the slain.” Odin’s handmaidens, who collect the souls of the dead who die bravely on the battlefield and bring them to Valhalla.

Vanaheim: The realm of the Vanir.

Var: Goddess of marriage.

Ve: Odin’s brother, a son of Bor and Bestla.

Verdandi: One of the norns. Her name means “becoming,” and she determines our present.

Vidar: Odin’s son. The silent and reliable god. One of his shoes is made from all the cast-off scrap leather of all the shoes that have been made.

Vigrid: The plain where the great battle of Ragnarok will take place.

Vili: Odin’s brother, a son of Bor and Bestla.

Yggdrasil: The world-tree.

Ymir: The first being, a giant bigger than worlds, the ancestor of all giants. Ymir was nourished by the first cow, Audhumla.