Aesir
Aesir are a prominent group of Norse Gods, who through the Prose Edda are at war with the Vanir group. The groups are referred to as families. The Aesir reside in Asgard.
Vanir
Vanir are the other major group/family, who are at war with the Aesir. The Venir are all fertility gods in different respects.
Njord
Njord is the Norse God of the sea and belongs to the Vanir family. He is the father of twins Frey and Freyja.
Frey
Child of Njord and twin to Freyja. A member of the Vanir family, Frey is the God of fertility of Earth.
Freyja
Child of Njord and twin to Frey, also in the Vanir family. Freyja is the God of sexual desire.
Odin
The God of death and cleverness. Odin is considered the main God of the Aesir family. He is also called God of all Gods. Odin and his brothers ultimately defeat Ymir, the frost giant.
Valkyries
Valkyries are the female spirits of battle that reside in Asgard. "Valkyries" translates to "chooser of the slain". These female spirits retrieve the souls of fallen warriors and bring them to Valhalla. Valhalla is the section of Asgard (considered Heaven) reserved specifically for fallen warriors. Souls taken to Valhalla wait there to fight during Ragnarok. This is their idea of the best version of the afterlife.
Saehriminir
A boar. Resides in Asgard that the warriors in Valhalla feast on every night. Each day the boar magically regenerates so there is always food.
Heidrun
A magical goat in Asgard. Similar to the boar, it provides meat for the warriors feast in Valhalla as well.
Sleipnir
Odin's eight-legged horse. The horse is one of Loki's offspring with a hare.
Hugin
Hugin is one of Odin's two ravens. The name Hugin translates to "thought". It goes out and comes back to tell Odin news of the world.
Munin
Odin's other raven. The name stands for "mind/memory". Goes out and comes back to tell Odin the news of the world.
Thor
The Norse storm god. Thor is strong and protects the Gods from the giants. Thor is handsome and brave and strong but not always the brightest. He is equipped with his hammer (mjollnir), iron gloves. and the belt of strength.
Loki
Loki is a Norse trickster God, although he is not worshipped as a God. Loki is the son of a giant and a goddess. He is a shape shifter, most notably, and considered to be an outsider and is not technically part of the Aesir family.
Fenrir
He is the son of Loki. He is a giant wolf and fights against the Aesir during Ragnarok. Fenrir eventually is responsible for killing Odin.
Midgard Serpent
A giant serpent that surrounds the earth. He fights against the Aesir during Ragnarok.
Gylfi
Swedish kind that disguises himself as Gangleri - which means "strider". HE has a conversation with 3 Aesir and wins a competition in which the Aesir's idea of the afterlife is disproved.
A section of the Prose Edda (the Gylfaginning) is dedicated to Gylfi. It is the deluding of Gylfi and represents the disproving of the Norse idea of mythology and the triumph of Christian ideas.
Ymir
The first frost giant. Created from the interaction between the North (Niflheim) and South (Muspell) regions. His sweat creates frost giants. Defeated by Odin and his brothers.
Aughumla
Nourishing cow that feeds Ymir and helps for Buri by licking ice.
Buri
The first of the Aesir. The first man is made from Audhumla licking ice. Buri's son is Bor.
Bor
The son of Buri. Bor and a giantess named Bestla are the parents of Odin. Odin and his brothers defeat Ymir.
Bestla
Wife of Bor and daughter of a giant. Her son is Odin.
Begelmir
A frost giant. He and his wife are the only frost giants that survive after Ymir is slain by Odin and his brothers. They are saved by a lur (wooden box) in Ymir's blood flood (killing).
Ask and Embla
According to Norse mythology, Odin and his brothers create the first humans from trees: they are Ask and Embla. Ask is "ash" trees and represents man. Embla is "elm" tree and represents the first woman.
