THE NORSE GODS

Ymir
 The first living being, a hermaphroditic giant
 Created from life-giving drops of water
 Father of all the giants

Buri
 First god
 He is the father of Borr (Odin’s father) and grandfather of Odin, Vili and Ve
 He was licked out of a block of ice by the divine cow, Audhumla.
 Ancestor of all the Aesir

AESIR GODS

Odin
 The king of the Aesir Gods
 God of war and of death
 The Allfather of the Aesir
 He was the awe-inspiring ruler of Asgard
 He is famous for sacrificing one of his eyes in order to be able to see the cosmos more
clearly and his thirst for wisdom

Frigg
 The Queen of the Aesir Gods
 Goddess of marriage and motherhood
 Odin’s wife and mother of Baldur, Hodr and Hermod
 Associated with fertility, household, motherhood, marriage, and domestic matters
 She was the only goddess allowed to sit next to her husband

Baldur
 The God of Light and Purity
 Younger son of Odin and Frigg
 A fair, wise, and gracious divine being
 Killed with mistletoe

Nanna
 Goddess of Joy, Devotion, Peace and Moon
 Wife of Baldur and mother of the god Forseti
 She dies of a broken heart after Baldur’s death

Forseti
 God of Justice and Reconciliation
 He is the son of Baldur and Nanna and the grandson of Odin and Freya
 He is a law speaker
 Forseti often acts as a judge, to decide the outcome of a dispute among the Gods and
Goddesses in Asgard

Hodr
 Blind god of darkness and winter
 He is the son of Odin and Frigg
 He is often depicted with his bow and arrow
 He was tricked by Loki into killing his brother Balder

Hermod
 Messenger of the gods
 He is the son of Odin and Frigg
 Known as Hermod the Swift

Vidar
 The Silent God of Vengeance
 Son of Odin and the giantess Grior
 He is an incredibly strong god who is prophesied to survive Ragnarok
 He will defeat the giant wolf Fenrir, avenging his father’s death

Vali
 Son of Odin and the giantess Rindr
 He was born for the sole purpose of avenging Baldur
 He is prophesied to survive Ragnarök.

Thor
 God of thunder
 The defender of Asgard (realm of the gods)and Midgard (human realm)
 He was the son of Odin and Jord (Earth)
 He was apparently worshiped more than any other god.
 Powerful god of thunder who wielded a hammer named Mjöllnir
 He commanded storms and rain, and brought lightning and thunder.

Sif
 Goddess of grain and fertility
 Wife of the thunder god Thor
 Sif’s golden hair, which symbolized her connection to the fertility of the land and the harvest
of grain

Thrud
 Goddess of strength
 Daughter of Thor and Sif, sister of Modi
 After her father's death, she inherits his hammer Mjölnir and mantle as the Goddess of
Thunder for herself.
Magni
 Eldest son of Thor and Jarnsaxa, and step-son of Sif.

Modi
 Son of Thor and Sif
 Younger half-brother of Magni and brother of Thrud

Bragi
 God of poetry
 He was admired for his wisdom, his eloquence, his ability to compose and recite, and his
knowledge of poetry
 He was also the god of ceremony and the god of skalds (bards)
 Bragi’s wife was the goddess Idun

Idun
 Goddess of eternal youthfulness
 "ever young" or "the rejuvenating one"
 She possesses golden apples that endow immortality and it avoid aging

Eir
 Goddess of Healing
 means “help” or “mercy.”
 She is one of the handmaids of Frigga
 She was either a goddess and/or a valkyrie — females that chose who lived and died in
battle — and associated with medical skill

Tyr
 God of war, upholder of law and justice
 He was best known for sacrificing his arm to Fenrir so that the gods could trap the giant
wolf
 Presides over matters of law and justice, more than any other gods

Heimdall
 God of Foresight, Surveillance, Order and Foreknowledge
 Son of Odin
 His dwelling is called Himinbjörg “Sky Cliffs,” connoting a high place ideal for a fortress
 known as the ‘shiniest’ of all gods due to him having the “whitest skin”
 Carrying a giant horn, Gjallarhorn to warn the gods of an attack
 Guardian of the gates of Asgard, he requires less sleep than a bird. His eyesight is so keen
that he can see for hundreds of miles by day or by night, and his hearing is so acute that
he can hear grass growing on the ground and wool growing on sheep
 He sat atop the Bifrost bridge and remained forever on alert
VANIR GODS

Njord
 Particularly associated with wealth, fertility, the sea and seafaring
 Father of Frey and Freja
 A saying among the Norse peoples held especially wealthy people to be “as rich as Njord.”
 Njord’s home was Noatun (“The Place of Ships”), a bright, warm place on the beach

Skadi
 Goddess of skiing
 A giantess and goddess in Norse mythology
 Wife of Njord, but she is not the mother of Frey and Freja as it was believed that Njord’s
unnamed sister is the mother of the twin
 Skadi lives in the highest reaches of the mountains, where the snow never melts. She’s
an avid huntress, and her bow, snowshoes, and skis are her most often-mentioned
attributes
 She was once married to the god Njord. However, their marriage was a failure

Freyr / Frey
 God of fertility, sunlight and peace
 Freyr was a symbol of prosperity and pleasant weather conditions, he is one of the most
respected gods for the Vanir clan
 He is hated by none for the reason that their well-being and prosperity depends on his
 benevolence
 Can be recognize as he is usually riding a bull

Freja
 Goddess of love, fertility and beauty
 One of the most sensual and passionate goddesses in Norse mythology.
 She’s a member of the Vanir tribe of deities, but became an honorary member of the Aesir
gods after the Aesir-Vanir War.
 Freya is famous for her fondness of love, fertility, beauty, and fine material possessions
 In one of the Eddic poems, for example, Loki accuses Freja (probably accurately) of having
slept with all of the gods and elves, including her brother.
 Freya presides over the afterlife realm Folkvang. According to one Old Norse poem, she
chooses half of the warriors slain in battle to dwell there.

NOT PART OF VANIR CLAN

Loki
 God of mischief
 Trickster god and creator of mischief in Norse mythology
 A mischievous god who could shape-shift and can take up animalistic forms.
 While treated as a nominal member of the gods, Loki occupies a highly ambivalent and
ultimately unique position among the gods, giants, and the other kinds of spiritual beings
 He Becomes the enemy of the gods after he arranges the death of Balder
LOKI’S FAMILY RELATIONS
 His father is the giant Farbauti
 His mother is Laufey

LOKI, WITH GIANTESS ANGRBODA FATHERED FOUR CREATURES

Hel
 Goddess of the underworld
 Goddess of death
 Originally the name of the world of the dead

Jormungand
 The great serpent, its name means giant monster who slays Thor during Ragnarok

Fenrir
 A monstrous wolf bound by a chain
 Supposedly to be released at the great final battle Ragnaok or the twilight of the gods.
 The wolf who bites off one of the hands of Tyr and who kills Odin during Ragnarok

Sleipnir
 Eight legged horse ridden by Odin
 Loki’s fourth child with a stallion Svadilfari where Loki being the female mare

REFERENCES

THE NORSE GODS

https://www.centreofexcellence.com/norse-gods-goddesses/

https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/

https://www.realmofhistory.com/2018/01/29/12-norse-gods-goddesses-facts/

https://blog.vkngjewelry.com/en/buri-the-first-aesir-god/

https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Hod/311146#:~:text=Hod%2C%20also%20spelle
d%20H%C3%B6d%2C%20Hoder,and%20perfect%20of%20the%20gods.

https://skjalden.com/forseti/

https://www.worldhistory.org/Thor/

https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Sif/313402

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aurgelmir

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXheT0i1YTM
https://mjr802.medium.com/eir-norse-goddess-of-healing-242b8d7d8ddc

https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/the-aesir-gods-and-goddesses/tyr/

https://www.worldhistory.org/Norse_Mythology/