Category Archives: The Gods

The Norse Gods

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The Norse Gods are the mythological characters that, as far as we know, came from the Northern Germanic tribes of the 9th century AD. These stories were passed down in the form of poetry until the 11th – 18th centuries when the Eddas and other medieval texts were written.

Norse mythology comprises the pre-Christian beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian peoples including those who settled on Iceland where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. Norse mythology not only has it’s gods, goddesses and immortals but also a myriad of other characters and creatures that populate the stories including giants, dwarfs, monsters, magical animals and objects.

A List of The Norse Gods

  • Aegir – Norse God of the sea. Married to Ran and lives under the waves near the island of Hlesey.
  • Aesir – A group of warrior gods led by Odin who inhabit Asgard.
  • Balder – Son of Odin and Frigg. Known as a gentle and wise god. Killed accidentally by his brother Hod. Will return after Ragnarok.
  • Bolverk – The alias Odin adopted when disguised as a giant to win the mead of poetry.
  • Bor – Son of Buri and father of Odin, Vili and Ve.
  • Bragi – The Norse God of poetry and eloquence. Son of Odin and husband of Idun.
  • Buri – Ancestor of the Norse gods. Created by the cow Audmula licking him from ice.
  • Day – Son of Night and Delling. Said to ride around the earth on his horse Skinfaxi.
  • Earth – Daughter of Night and Annar.
  • Einherjar – Band of dead warriors in Valhalla who await Ragnarok.
  • Eir – Goddess of healing
  • Fjorgyn – Lover of Odin and mother of Thor. Also referred to as Earth.
  • Forseti – God of Justice. Son of Balder and Nanna.
  • Freyja – Main goddess of the Vanir (fertility gods). Daughter of Njord and sister of Freyr.
  • Freyr – Important god of the Vanir. Son of Njord and brother of Freyja.
  • Frigga – Main goddess. Wife of Odin and mother of Balder.
  • Fulla – Goddess servant of Frigga.
  • Gangnrad – Pseudonym of Odin when he visits Vafthrudnir.
  • Gefion – Fertility goddess. Associated with the plow. Tricked the king of Sweden out of a tract of his land.
  • Grimnir – Pseudonym of Odin when he visits his foster son Geirrod, King of the Goths.
  • Gullveig – A Vanir goddess (probably Freyja) who is burned three times by the Aesir.
  • Harbard – Odin disguised as a ferryman when he wrangles with Thor.
  • Heimdall – Watchman of the Norse gods and owner of the horn Gjall. Son of nine mothers. Often identified with Rig, the creator of three races of men.
  • Hel – ruler of Helheim, the realm of the dead
  • Hermod – Son of Odin. Rode to Hel to try and rescue his brother Balder.
  • Hod – Son of Odin. A blind god who accidentally killed his brother Balder. he will return after Ragnarok.
  • Honir – A long-legged, indecisive god. Sent to the Vanir to seal the truce between them and the Aesir. He will survive Ragnarok.
  • Idun – Guardian of the golden apples of youth and wife of Bragi.
  • Lofn – Goddess of ilicit unions.
  • Loki – The sly, trickster of the Norse gods. Son of two giants. Also known as the Sly One, the Trickster, the Shape Changer and the Sky Traveller. Becomes increasingly more evil. He is responsible for the death of Balder. Bound until Ragnarok.
  • Magni – Son of Thor and the giantess Jarnsaxa. Will inherit Thor’s hammer Mjollnir with his brother Modi after Ragnarok.
  • Mimir – Wise Aesir god. Sent to the Vanir to seal the truce between the two groups of the Norse gods. Killed by the Vanir, his head is kept by Odin.
  • Modgud – Maiden guardian of the bridge over the river Gjoll in Jotenheim.
  • Modi – Son of Thor and the giantess Jarnsaxa. Will inherit Thor’s hammer Mjollnir with his brother Magni after Ragnarok.
  • Moon – Son of Mundilfari. Guides the moon on it’s course.
  • Nanna – Wife of Balder and daughter of Nep.
  • Narvi – Also known as Nari. Son of Loki and Sigyn who was killed by his brother Vali.
  • Night – Daughter of Narvi and mother of Day. Rides around the earth on her horse Hrimfaxi.
  • Njord – A Vanir god associated with wind and sea. Husband of Skadi and father of Freyja and Freyr.
  • Norns – Urd “fate”, Skuld “being” and Verandi “necessity”. Three goddesses of destiny.
  • Od – Missing husband of Freyja who she constantly mourns for.
  • Odin – King of the Norse Gods, God of poetry, battle and death. Chief god of the Aesir. Also known as the “all-father”, the “terrible one”, “one-eyed” and “father of battle”.
  • Ran – Wife of Aegir who dragged drowning men down with her net.
  • Rig – Pseudonym of Heimdall and the creator of three races of men.
  • Rind – Goddess and lover of Odin. Mother of Vali.
  • Saga – Goddess and drinking companion of Odin.
  • Sif – Wife of Thor whose golden hair was cut off by Loki.
  • Sigyn – Wife of Loki.
  • Sjofn – Goddess of human passion.
  • Skadi – Goddess of Winter and of the Hunt
  • Sun – Daughter of Mundilfari and guide of the sun.
  • Syn – Goddess of the accused at trial.
  • Thor – God of Sky, thunder and fertility. Associated with law and order in Asgard and guardian of the Norse gods. Son of Odin and Earth and husband of Sif. Also known as the “thunder god” and “charioteer”.
  • Thrud – Daughter of Thor. Promised to the dwarf Alvis.
  • Tyr – War god. Son of Odin who sacrificed his hand in the binding of Fenrir.
  • Ull – God of archery and skiing.
  • Vali – Son of Odin and the giantess Rind. Conceived to avenge the death of Balder.
  • Valkyries – Beautiful women who carried dying warriors to Valhalla.
  • Vanir – Fertility gods.
  • Var – Goddess of marriage oaths.
  • Ve – Son of Bor and brother of Odin and Vili.
  • Vidar – Son of Odin and the giantess Grid who will avenge Odin’s death after Ragnarok.
  • Vili – Son of Bor and brother of Odin and Ve.
  • Vor – Goddess who knows all.

Mythological Realms of The Norse Gods

  • Alfheim – The land of the light elves in Asgard
  • Algron – Island where Odin (Harbard) stayed for five years
  • Asgard – Land of the Aesir
  • Bilskirnir – Thor’s hall in Asgard
  • Bifrost - The flaming rainbow bridge between Asgard and Midgard
  • Breidablik – Balder’s hall in Asgard
  • Elivagar – The eleven rivers that flow from the spring of Hvergelmir in Niflheim.
  • Eljudnir – Hel’s hall in Nifleheim
  • Fensalir – Frigg’s hall in Asgard
  • Folkvang – Site of Freyja’s hall in Asgard
  • Franang’s Falls – Waterfall in Midgard where Loki, disguised as a salmon, was caught by the gods.
  • Gimli – Hall of the gods after Ragnarok
  • Ginnungagap – The void between Muspell and Nifleheim before the creation.
  • Gladsheim – Sanctuary of the Norse gods on the plain of Ida.
  • Glitnir – Silver and gold hall of Forseti, son of Balder, in Asgard.
  • Gnipahellir – Cave in front of Niflheim where the hound Garm is chained up.
  • Helheim – The realm of the dead in Niflheim, ruled over by the monster Hel.
  • Himinbjorg – Heimdall’s hall in Asgard
  • Hlesey – Island near the undersea hall of Aegir and Ran.
  • Hlidskjalf – Odin’s high thrown in Valaskjalf.
  • Hnitbjorg – Stronghold of the giant Suttung.
  • Hvergelmir – Spring in Niflheim under the root of Yggdrasill.
  • Idavoll – The central plain of Asgard. Contains the halls of Gladsheim and Vingolf.
  • Iving – River dividing Asgard from Jotunheim
  • Jotunheim – Land of the giants
  • Lyfjaberg – Mountain beside Menglad’s hall in Jotunheim.
  • Lyngvi – Island on lake Armsvartnir where Fenrir is bound.
  • Lyr – Menglad’s hall in Jotunheim
  • Midgard – The realm of mankind.
  • Mimir’s Well – Well of wisdom under the root of Yggdrasill in Asgard which is guarded by the head of Mimir.
  • Muspell – Southern land of fire guarded by the giant Surt.
  • Nastrond – Site of the hall of evil-does in Hel. The dragon Nidhogg gnaws at corpses here.
  • Niflheim – Land of freezing mist and darkness and home of Hel.
  • Okolnir – Land of warmth created after Ragnarok. Site of the hall of Brimnir.
  • Sessrumnir – Freyja’s hall in Asgard.
  • Sindri – Red gold roofed hall which will appear after Ragnarok.
  • Sokkvabekk – Saga’s hall in Asgard
  • Svartalfheim – Realm of the dark elves.
  • Thrudheim – Thor’s realm in Asgard and site of his hall Bilskirnir.
  • Thrymheim – Stronghold of the giant Thiazi which was passed on to his daughter Skadi.
  • Utgard – Realm in Jotunheim ruled by Utgard-Loki.
  • Valaskjalf – Odin’s hall in Asgard.
  • Valhalla – Hall presided over by Odin where the Einherjar await Ragnarok.
  • Vanaheim – Land of the Vanir in Asgard.
  • Vigrid – Plain in Asgard where the final battle will occur.
  • Vingolf – Hall of the goddesses in Asgard.
  • Ydalir – Ull’s hall in Asgard.
  • Yggdrasill – The world tree (Hodmimir’s wood)

Many believe the Norse gods and the other mythological beings of ancient Scandanavia represent aspects of the self, our emotions and the many qualities that make up the psyche of the human self.

Gefion

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Gefion (“giver”) is an old-Scandinavian vegetation and fertility goddess, especially connected with the plough. She was considered the patron of virgins and the bringer of good luck and prosperity. Every girl who dies a virgin will become Gefion’s servant. She is married to King Skjold or Scyld a son of Odin, and lived in Leire, Denmark, where she had a sanctuary. The Swedish kings are supposed to be her descendants.

It is traditionally claimed that Gefion created the island of Zealand (“Sjaelland” in Danish) by ploughing the soil out of the central Swedish region with the help of her sons (four Swedish oxen), creating the great Swedish lakes in the process. In Copenhagen, Denmark, there is a large fountain showing Gefion in the process of ploughing.

Gefion could be another form of Frigga who is also known under that name.

Forseti

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In Norse mythology, Forseti is the god of justice. He is the son of the god Balder and his mother is Nanna. Forseti rules in the beautiful palace Glitnir, which serves as a court of justice and where all legal disputes are settled. Glitnir has a roof of silver that is supported by pillars of red gold.

Forseti can be compared with the Teutonic god Fosite, who was worshipped on Helgoland.

Brunhilde

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Brunhilde (Brynhildr, Brunhilda, Brunhilde, Brünhild) was a female warrior, one of the Valkyries, and in some versions the daughter of the principal god Odin. She defies Odin and is punished by imprisonment within a ring of fire until a brave hero falls in love and rescues her. Siegfied (Sigurðr, Sigurd) brakes the spell, falls in love with her and gives her the ring, Andvarinaut. Siegfied is tricked and accused of infidelity. Eventually Brunhilde kills herself when she learns that Sigurd had betrayed her with another woman (Gudrun), not knowing he had been bewitched into doing so by Grimhild.

There are several versions of this character and her adventures. They vary slightly but the basic soap operatic theme is constant.

According to the Völsunga saga, Brynhildr (Brunhilde) is a valkyrie and the daughter of Budli. She was ordered to decide a fight between two kings, Hjalmgunnar and Agnar. Knowing that Odin preferred the older king, Hjalmgunnar, she sided with Agnar. For this Odin condemned her to live the life of a mortal woman and imprisoned her in a remote castle behind a wall of shields on top of mount Hindarfjall in the Alps where she must sleep within a ring of fire until a man rescues and marries her.

The hero Sigurðr Sigmundson (Siegfried in the Nibelungenlied), heir to the clan of Völsung and slayer of the dragon Fafnir, entered the castle and awoke Brynhildr by removing her helmet and cutting off her chainmail armour. He immediately fell in love and proposed to her with the magic ring Andvaranaut. Promising to return and make Brynhildr his bride, Sigurðr then left the castle and headed for the court of Gjuki, the King of Burgundy.

Gjuki’s wife, the sorceress Grimhild, wanted Sigurðr to marry her daughter Gudrun instead. She prepared a magic potion that made Sigurðr forget about Brynhildr. Sigurðr soon married Gudrun. Hearing of Sigurðr’s encounter with the valkyrie, Grimhild decided that Brynhildr should be the wife of her son Gunnar. Gunnar went to court Brynhild but was stopped by the ring of fire around the castle. He tried to ride through the flames with his own horse and then with Sigurðr’s horse, Grani, but couldn’t.

Still under Grimhild’s spell, Sigurðr shape-shifts into Gunnar and enters the ring of fire. Sigurðr (disguised as Gunnar) and Brynhildr get married, and they stayed there three nights, but Sigurðr laid his sword between them (meaning that he did not take her virginity before giving her to the real Gunnar). Sigurðr also took the ring Andvaranaut from her finger and later gave it to Gudrun. Gunnar and Sigurðr soon returned to their true forms, with Brynhildr thinking she married Gunnar.

However, Gudrun and Brynhildr later quarreled over whose husband was greater, Brynhildr boasting that even Sigurðr was not brave enough to ride through the flames. Gudrun revealed that it was actually Sigurðr who rode through the ring of fire, and Brynhildr became enraged. Sigurðr, remembering the truth, tried to console her, but to no avail. Brynhildr plotted revenge by urging Gunnar to kill Sigurðr, telling him that he slept with her on Hidarfjall, which he swore not to do. Gunnar and his brother Hogni were afraid to kill him themselves, as they had sworn oaths of brotherhood to Sigurðr. They incited their younger brother, Gutthorm, to kill Sigurðr, by giving him a magic potion that enraged him, and he murdered Sigurðr in his sleep. Dying, Sigurðr threw his sword at Gutthorm, killing him. (some Eddic poems say Gutthorm killed him in the forest south of the Rhine, also while resting).

Brynhildr herself killed Sigurðr’s three-year-old son, and then she willed herself to die. When Sigurðr’s funeral pyre was aflame, she threw herself upon it – thus they passed on together to the realm of Hel.

However, in some Eddic poems such as Sigurðarkviða hin skamma, Gunnar and Sigurðr lay siege to the castle of Atli, Brynhildr’s brother. Atli offers his sister’s hand in exchange for a truce, which Gunnar accepts. However, Brynhildr has sworn to marry only Sigurðr, so she is deceived into believing that Gunnar is actually Sigurðr.

According to the Völsunga saga, Brynhildr bore Sigurðr a daughter, Aslaug, who later married Ragnar Lodbrok.

In the Eddic poem Helreið Brynhildar (Bryndhildr’s ride to Hel), Brynhildr on her journey to Hel encounters the giantess a gýgr who blames her for an immoral livelihood. Brynhildr responds to her accusations:

“Munu við ofstríð alls til lengi
konur ok karlar kvikvir fæðask;
við skulum okkrum aldri slíta
Sigurðr saman. Sökkstu, gýgjar kyn.”
“Ever with grief and all too long
Are men and women born in the world;
But yet we shall live our lives together,
Sigurth and I. Sink down, Giantess!”




In the Nibelungenlied, Brünnhilde is instead the queen of Isenland (Iceland). Gunther here overpowers her in three warlike games with the help of Siegfried – equipped with an invisibility cloak. Firstly, Brünnhilde throws a spear towards Gunther that three men only barely can lift, but the invisible Siegfried diverts it. Secondly, she throws twelve fathoms a boulder that requires the strength of twelve men to lift. Lastly, she leaps over the same boulder. Gunther, however, defeats her with Siegfried’s help also in these games, and takes her as his wife.

The Nibelungenlied also differs from Scandinavian sources in its silence on Brünnhilde’s fate; she fails to kill herself at Siegfried’s funeral, and presumably survives Kriemhild and her brothers.

Wagner’s “Ring” cycle

Though the cycle of four operas is titled Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner in fact took Brünnhilde’s role from the Norse sagas rather than from the Nibelungenlied. Brünnhilde appears in the latter three operas (Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung), playing a central role in the overall story of Wotan’s downfall.

In Wagner’s tale, Brünnhilde is one of the valkyries, who are born out of a union between Wotan and Erda, the personification of the earth. In Die Walküre Wotan initially commissions her to protect Siegmund, his son by a mortal mother. When Fricka protests and forces Wotan to have Siegmund die, Brünnhilde disobeys her father’s change of orders and takes away Siegmund’s wife (and sister) Sieglinde and the shards of Siegmund’s sword, Nothung. She manages to hide them, but must then face the wrath of her father who is determined to make her mortal and seal her in a ring of fire to be claimed by any man who happens across her. Brünnhilde argues that what she did was in obeyance of the god’s true will and does not deserve such a fate. He is eventually persuaded to sentence her to await awakening by a hero who does not know fear.

Brünnhilde does not appear again until near the end of the third act of Siegfried. The title character is the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde, born after Siegmund’s death and raised by the dwarf Mime, the brother of Alberich who stole the gold and fashioned the ring around which the operas are centered. Having killed the giant-turned-dragon Fafner, Siegfried takes the ring and is guided to Brünnhilde’s rock, where he awakens her.

Siegfried and Brünnhilde appear again at the beginning of Götterdämmerung, at which point he gives her the ring and they are separated. Here again Wagner chooses to follow the Norse story, though with substantial modifications. Siegfried does go to Gunther’s hall, where he is given a potion to cause him to forget Brünnhilde so that Gunther may marry her. All this occurs at the instigation of Hagen, Alberich’s son and Gunther’s half-brother. The plan is successful, and Siegfried leads Gunther to Brünnhilde’s rock. In the meantime she has been visited by her sister valkyrie Waltraute, who warns her of Wotan’s plans for self-immolation and urges her to give up the ring. Brünnhilde refuses, only to be overpowered by Siegfried who, disguised as Gunther, takes the ring from her by force.

As Siegfried goes to marry Gutrune, Gunther’s sister, Brünnhilde sees that he has the ring and denounces him for his treachery. Still rejected, she joins Gunther and Hagen in a plot to murder Siegfried, telling Hagen that Siegfried can only be attacked from the back. So Gunther and Hagen take Siegfried on a hunting trip, in the course of which Hagen stabs Siegfried in the back with a spear. Upon their return, Brünnhilde takes charge, and has a pyre built in which she is to perish, cleansing the ring of its curse and returning it to the Rhinemaidens. Her pyre becomes the signal by which Valhalla and all the gods also perish in flames.

Buri

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Buri is the primeval man in Norse mythology. He had neither father nor mother, but was created by a cow named Audhumla. As she licked the salt blocks of Ginnagagap, the shape of a man — Buri — was formed. Buri had a son named Bor. Bor had three sons who were gods: Odin, Vili, and Ve.

Bragi

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The god of eloquence and poetry, and the patron of skalds (poets) in Norse mythology. He is regarded as a son of Odin and Frigga. Runes were carved on his tongue and he inspired poetry in humans by letting them drink from the mead of poetry. Bragi is married to Idun, the goddess of eternal youth. Oaths were sworn over the Bragarfull (“Cup of Bragi”), and drinks were taken from it in honor of a dead king. Before a king ascended the throne, he drank from such a cup.

Note: Originally, Bragi did not belong the pantheon of gods. He was a poet from the 9th century, Bragi Boddason. Poets from later centuries made him a god.

Vali

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Little is known about Vali, except that he is a son of Odin and his giant mistress Rind. When Balder was killed unintentionally by his twin brother Hod, Vali was born to avenge his death.

“In the west Rind will give birth to Vali.
Merely one night old he will avenge the son of Odin.
He will not wash his hands, nor will he comb his hair
until Balder’s murderer burns at the stake.”

Ve

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Ve is one of ancient Scandinavian gods and, together with Odin and Vili, the son of the primordial pair of giants Bor and Bestla. The three brothers created heaven and earth from the slain body of the primeval being Ymir and built the twelve realms. They also created Ask and Embla, the first pair of humans.