Asatru glossary

F

Falcon – animal considered holy in the Nordic tradition. The falcon is associated with Freya, seeing how she would occasionally take the form of this bird, but also with Loki, who flew like a falcon after stealing Freya’s feathered shirt.

Fafnir – because of his greed for the cursed treasure he was turned into a dragon. He was slain by Sigurd.

Farbauti – Loki’s father.

Fenriz – one of Loki’s children, the beast of Ragnarok. To stop his destructiveness, the Gods tricked him into magical shackles.

Fylgja – a creature from the Nordic folklore considered a man’s follower. This being appears to a man announcing his death; it had its human and animal form. The placenta the children were born with was also called fylgja.

Fjalar – he and his brother killed the wise Kvasir.

Forseti – God of justice, the son of Baldur and Nana. He reigned in Glitnir where he presided as a judge and dispensed justice.

Frey – the son of Nord and Nertus, Freya’s twin brother. God of fecundity and plenty, ruled the Sun’s light and rain, but also a God of peace and prosperity. During drought and barren years the Nordic peoples would offer sacrifices to Frey; also to achieve peace. Frey’s temple was in Uppsala. Even though he wasn’t allowed to sit on Odin’s throne – Hildskjalf – Frey did it causing big trouble for himself. From Hildskjalf he saw the beautiful she-giant Gerda who he fell deeply in love with. Frey sent his servant Skirnir to propose to Gerd, and gave him the sword he never let out of his hands. Because of this, he won’t be able to defeat Surt, who will attack him when Ragnarok comes, and because of this he will die.

Frey

Freya – one of the Vanir, the Goddess of fertility and Freya’s sister. According to legend, she was a sorceress who could fly in the form of an falcon. Half of the fallen warriors belonged to her, and another half to Odin; because of this she’s also called Valfreyia. Freya would take these fallen warriors to her palace of Sesrumnir, while Folkvang was reserved for dead lovers. Freya was the one who uncovered the power of the seidr to humans, a Nordic magical practice; beside the humans, she also revealed this skill to Odin. In spite of her power and beauty, Freya lost her husband: he abandoned her because she spent the night with four dwarves. Therefore she started a quest all over the world, crying tears of red gold. Her daughter’s name is Hnoss – a name for precious jewellery.

Freki – a wolf whose name means Voracious. Together with Geri, he followed Odin on all his journeys.

Frigga – Odin’s wife and Baldur’s mother, guardian of marriage. She tried to protect his son by making all the plants and all the weapons to swear not to injure him. It worked with everything except the holly which caused Baldur’s death. Frigga is also considered the queen of Asgard, even though Odin doesn’t have the title of king. Her palace is Fensalir which means Marsh Halls.

Merseburg charms

Asatru glossary

E

Eddas – next to the sagas, eddas are the most important source for researching Nordic mythology. There are two narratives bearing this name: Poetic Eddas and the Prose Edda, that is Snorri’s Edda. The Poetic Edda is a collection of poems which were gathered from the 9th to the 12th century AD in Iceland. The essential part of this collection are poems Voluspa and Hávamál. Snorri’s Edda is consisted of four parts: Prologue, The Fooling of Gylfi, Skáldsaparmál and Háttatal. The most important part is certainly The Fooling of Gylfi, seeing that it describes the complete history of the Nordic Universe, and represents all the Gods of the Nordic pantheon.

Egir – God of the sea and the Ran’s husband. His nine daughters are the waves, and their names are: Himinglaeva, Dufa, Blodughadda, Hefring, Unn, Hronn, Bylgja, Bara and Kolga. As he often sunk ships, the Nordic people would sacrifice prisoners to him, hoping that will give them safe sailing. Egir is also known as a very hospitable deity, whose halls often played host to feasts for the Gods. On one of those feasts Loki appeared and mocked the Gods, as described in the Lokasenna.

Egir

Einherjar – Odin’s warriors «they who fight alone», they are dead heroes staying in Valhalla until Ragnarok. Their food is meat of magical boar Sehrimnir and their beverage the mead served to them by the Valkyries. Einherjars spend their days battling on a field in front of Valhalla, and none of their wounds are lethal, because they heal on themselves.

Embla – the first woman, made out of a birch tree. Henir, Odin and Lodur gave life to her and her husband Askr.

Asatru Glossary

C

Cat – animal consecrated to Freya, that symbolizes her femininity. Freya was always depicted in the company of two cats dragging her carriage.

D

Disir – a common name for all female deities, meaning both Goddesses and mortal women who were later deified. These mortal women were priestess and tribal leaders in life, and it was believed that they won’t leave their tribes even after death. Hopeful for their divine protection, the people would offer sacrifices to the Disir.

Donnar – a name for Thor outside of Scandinavia, most of all in modern Germany.

Draugen – mythical being bringing fear to villagers throughout Scandinavia. Draugen is the ghost of a drowned man, describes by the people’s imagination as a horrific creature bloated from the water and covered in river flora.

Draupnir – Odin’s ring of power, capable of multiplying itself nine times.

Freya with her cats

Asatru glossary

B

Baldur – son of Odin and Frigga, Solar Deity who was sent to the Underworld by Loki’s ruse. Described as the fairest of the Gods, Baldur lived peacefully with his wife Nana until one fatal day. Even though he was protected from any weapon, Baldur could be injured by holly which Loki used to get rid of the Sun God. On that ill-fated day, Loki convinces Baldur’s blind brother Hod to shoot Baldur with an arrow made of holly and thus prove Baldur’s famed invulnerability. Hod hit Baldur who fell dead on the spot, and Hod and Loki were then cruelly punished. Subsequently Baldur went to Hel, where he will stay until Ragnarok ends.

Baldur

Bear – one of the sacred animals in Nordic tradition. It’s associated to the berserkers, warriors who possessed great strength and courage, greatly valued among the Nordic peoples. Parents often gave their sons the name Bjørn (bear), hoping that the bear’s strength and wisdom will be passed on to their offspring.

Beowulf – Germanic hero who’s slain two monsters – Grendel and the dragon that attacked his country. Hero of the Old English epic of the same name.

Berserkers – Odin’s warriors going into battle without armour and shields, relying only on their immense strength. They owed their bravery to an unidentified potion they’d drink before battle, which probably included some narcotics. Berserk means «bear-skin».

Bestla – Borr’s wife and mother of Odin, Vili and Vea.

Bifrost – rainbow-bridge, connecting Asgard and Midgard. It was made of three colours – red, blue and green (the Eddas mention four). This bridge was a protection from the forces of darkness and chaos, most of all from Muspel’s sons; it was also a connexion between humans and the Gods. Its other name was Ásbrú, i.e. the As bridge. The guardian of this bridge was Heimdal.

Birka – a place near Stockholm where a pagan sanctuary was located.

Boar – sacred animal in the Nordic tradition, dedicated to Frey. in the Eddas we find the boar Seshrimnir who served as food for the fallen warriors in Valhalla. No matter how much of him they ate, he would always regenerate, which is suggested by the meaning of his name – “cooking pit”.

Borr – son of Buri and husband of Bestla, father of Odin, Vili and Ve.

Bragi – son of Odin and the she-giant Gunlod. God of poetry and eloquence, as well as the husband of the Goddess Idun.

Brisingamen – Freya’s magical necklace crafted by dwarves of Svartalfheima. Because of this item, the Goddess slept with four dwarves and so lost her husband Odur.

Brisings – dwarves that crafted Brisingamen.

Brunhilde – one of the Valkyries. She stood up to Odin and for punishment closed inside the fiery ring, wherefrom she was liberated by Sigurd, her future lover.

Buri – forebear of all the Gods. He was liberated from the ice by Audhumle, the primordial cow.

Nietzsche

"What is good?-All that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man.

What is bad?-All that proceeds from weakness.

What is happiness?-The feeling that power increases-that a resistance is overcome.
Not contentment, but more power; not peace at all, but WAR; not virtue, but proficiency.
The weak and ill-constituted shall perish: first principle of our philanthropy. And one shall help them to do so.

What is more harmful than any vice?-Active sympathy for the ill-constituted and weak-Christianity . . ."

Asatru Glossary

A


Ajra – Goddess of healing.

Alheim – abode of the light fairies identical to Ljosalfheim.

Alvaldi – A powerful giant and father of Tjazi.

Alvis – «omniscient». A dwarf Thor outwitted by giving him riddles. The riddle-asking went on until morning, and when the Sun rose it turned the dwarf into stone.

Alberich – a character from the Nibelung epic. A dwarf whose treasure was stolen by Loki.

Amsvartnir – the lake the island of Lingvi is located. The wolf Fenriz is shackled there.

Andvari – dwarf, owner of the magical ring later stolen by Loki.

Angrboda – «bearer of bad news». An ice she-giant and Loki’s lover. The mother of Fenriz, Hel and Jormungand.

Apple – fruit considered sacred in Nordic tradition. It’s connected to the Goddess Idun who stored apples of youth in her coffer; these apples gave the Gods eternal youth and good health.

Asgard – abode of the Asir and the Vanir, after the two tribes made peace.

Asgard

Asir – one of the two divine tribes. Most of all they were Gods of war; belonging to this pantheon are Odin, Thor, Hermod, Tyr, Bragi, Forseti, Hodur, Vidar and many others. Asir is plural of the word As, meaning God.

Askr – the first man created by Gods from an ash tree. From him and Embla the whole human race was born.

Atli – Nordic name for Attila, king of the Huns, who died in 453 AD. Attila is the protagonist of the most famous German epic – the Volsung saga.

Audhumla – primordial cow, the first creature to rise up from Ginugagap. From her four udders rivers of milk ran, feeding the first ice giant.

Austri – one of the dwarves standing on four sides of the world, holding the heavens; Austri means East.