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.