Norse Mythology Library

The sea-god who hosts the feast in Lokasenna; his hall becomes the place where the gods answer Loki.

Son of Odin and Frigg whose ominous dreams and the mistletoe exception make his death the centre of divine rupture.

Buri’s son, who has Odin, Vili and Ve with Bestla.

The god known for poetry and eloquence, joined to Idunn, keeper of the youth-preserving apples.

The divine ancestor licked from the ice by Audhumla and father of Borr.

Njord’s daughter, linked to the slain-share, love, tear-gold and Brisingamen.

Njord’s son, linked to rain, sun, fertility, peace, Gerd and Skidbladnir.

Odin’s wife, knowing human fates while speaking no prophecy, and foremost among the goddesses.

Frigg’s maid, sent to Geirröth’s hall to warn the king against a stranger.

The goddess who asks Loki to stop at the feast; her intervention immediately draws the quarrel toward herself.

The enigmatic ferryman who keeps the boat on the far shore and mocks Thor instead of carrying him across.

Heimdall proposes in council that Thor wear the bridal veil.

Loki’s daughter, ruler of the realm sharing her name, who sets the all-things-weeping condition for Baldr’s return.

Odin’s son, sent by the gods to the Realm of Hel to seek Baldr’s return.

The blind god whom Loki guides into shooting Baldr with mistletoe.

The goddess who keeps the gods’ youth-preserving apples; when Thjazi takes her away, the gods quickly age.

The wise being made from Aesir and Vanir spittle after peace, whose blood is later brewed into the poetic mead.

The cunning figure among the Aesir whose children with Angrboda include Fenrir.

The moon god, seized by a wolf before Ragnarok.

The wise figure tied to the well of wisdom; Odin still rides to Mimir’s Well before the final battle.

Baldr’s wife, who dies of grief at the funeral and is laid on the pyre with him.

A Vanir hostage-god who rules wind, stills sea and fire, and is invoked for voyages, wealth and plenty.

The fate-goddesses from beside the Well of Urd who determine human lives.

The Allfather who brings Loki's children before him after prophecy warns the gods.

The deity in Rigsthula who visits three households under the name Rig.

Thor’s wife and Ullr’s mother; Loki cutting her hair sets the treasures of the gods in motion.

Loki’s wife, who holds a basin under the venom while he is bound.

Thjazi’s daughter, bound to Njord by a nine-night dwelling compact that keeps giant-world tension inside divine order.

Freyr’s messenger, sent to woo Gerd in the giant world and paid with Freyr’s sword.

The sun goddess, pursued and deprived of light in the doom sequence.

One of the strongest gods, holder of Mjolnir and the centre of later giant-world tests.

Traditionally identified as Thor’s daughter and the woman at the centre of the marriage dispute in Alvissmol.

A god known for courage, the only one to feed Fenrir and the one who gives his hand as pledge.

A god associated with bow, ski and single combat; Skaldskaparmal calls him Sif’s son.

A son of Odin who becomes Baldr’s avenger and is named again in the renewal after the fire.

One of Odin’s brothers, sharing the creation of world and humans with Odin and Vili.

Odin’s son, who kills the wolf after Fenrir swallows Odin.

One of Odin’s brothers, who with Odin and Ve kills Ymir and shapes the world.

The young prince who gives Grimnir a horn by the fires and later succeeds as king.

Arngrim’s eldest son, bearer of Tyrfing, and the father who answers Hervor from the mound.

The warrior who receives Tyrfing and fathers Angantyr.

The heroine Sigurd meets on the mountain; later wooing-deception makes her a turning figure in the death sequence.

One of Volund's brothers, who leaves Wolf Lake to seek Olrun after the swan-maidens depart.

The man Gunnar chooses to strike Sigurd in the Short Lay; this poem specifically says he did not share the oaths.

Giuki’s son; he woos Brynhild and later becomes involved in Sigurd’s death and Atli’s gold-driven trap.

The hero who is named, avenges, sails and dies in this poem’s prose.

The young hero of the First Lay who kills Hunding and answers Sigrun's appeal.

Angantyr’s daughter, who demands her father’s sword at the mound on Samsey.

Hjorvarth’s son, whose toast-vow breaks his brother’s bond.

The warrior who duels Angantyr on Samsey and companion of Orvar-Odd.

The old Gothic leader whom Brynhild says she defeated and sent down to Hel in Brynhild’s Hell-Ride.

Hogni’s son in this poem, who helps Guthrun kill Atli in revenge.

Giuki’s son and Gunnar’s brother; he carries the family side of the decisions in Sigurd’s death and Atli’s aftershock.

Hjalmar’s companion, who takes the remaining berserks on Samsey.

The young man who needs Hyndla’s ancestral recital to support a claim to inherited wealth.

Volsung’s son who draws the sword left by Odin; his broken weapon later becomes Sigurd’s Gram.

Hogni's daughter, who names the pledge made for her and aids Helgi in the storm.

Son of Sigmund and Hjordis; he kills Fafnir with Gram and carries the cursed gold into Giuki's court.

Called Helgi's brother in the poem, he answers the hostile side before the fleet.

One of Volund's brothers, who sets out to seek Svanhvit after the swan-maidens leave.

Hogni’s son, a young warrior who travels when his father leaves.

Hogni’s son, a young warrior who travels when his father leaves.

The woman who exchanges vows with Helgi, guards his fleet, and answers his final request.

The young man sent by an unnamed stepmother to seek Mengloth, who first asks for charms at his mother’s grave and then answers at the fire-ringed hall.

The Gothic king who shares grief with Guthrun at this lay’s opening.

The ancestral name and family anchor for the heroic house; Sigmund and later Sigurd come from this line.

The skilled smith of The Lay of Volund, who escapes by flight after Nithud confines him.

The elder of the first household in Rigsthula, who receives Rig with Edda.

Hrothmar’s son, who fights Helgi at Frekastein.

Hyndluljoth names this figure as Instein’s father in Ottar’s lineage.

One of the first human pair, given life and form from a tree by the sea.

Gudrun’s later husband; he seeks the gold left by Sigurd, leading the Giuking brothers toward death.

An unnamed woman in the poem; Oddrun says she kept her from saving Gunnar.

Byggvir’s wife, who hears the mountains shake and warns that Thor is coming.

A follower of Jormunrek; prose says he counsels that Randver should have Svanhild and reports to the king.

Nithud's daughter, who brings a broken ring to Volund and is drawn into his coercive revenge on the royal house.

The First Lay names Helgi as her son.

Heithrek’s daughter, suffering in difficult labour when Oddrun arrives.

Freyr’s servant, who speaks for the feast and his lord after Loki’s abuse.

Hogni’s son in the Second Lay, who avenges his father by killing Helgi and then offers Sigrun compensation.

Edda of the first household in Rigsthula, who bears Thrall nine months later in the poem.

A son of Guthrun and Atli; Guthrun reveals at the revenge feast that he has been killed.

Ægir’s servant, who tells Loki at the door what the company inside is discussing.

One of the first human pair, given life alongside Ask from trees by the sea.

The Erna brought to marry Jarl in Rigsthula and mother in the list that includes Kon.

A son of Guthrun and Atli; Guthrun reveals at the revenge feast that he has been killed.

Named in opening prose as Guthrun and Jonak’s son; a linked poem preserves a different maternal line.

Sigrlami’s daughter, Arngrim’s wife, and Angantyr’s mother.

Svava’s father in the prose.

Ægir’s servant, whose praise triggers the killing at the start of the feast.

Hyndluljoth names this figure as Hledis’s mother in Ottar’s lineage.

The king who orders two giant women to grind wealth and peace at Grotti without granting them rest.

Hyndluljoth names this figure as Hledis’s father in Ottar’s lineage.

The king of Grimnismol’s prose opening, who puts the self-named Grimnir between two fires.

The fatherly anchor of Giuki’s court; Gudrun, Gunnar and Hogni enter the story through this family position.

Gjaflaug, Gjuki’s sister in the First Lay, who tries to comfort Guthrun with her own losses.

Gunnar’s wife, who urges him to turn back through a sequence of dreams.

Gollrond, Gjuki’s daughter in the First Lay, who has Sigurd’s body uncovered for her sister.

The hostile figure who sees the fleet from Svarin's hill and reports it to Hothbrodd.

Hothbrodd's father, whose son is the man to whom Sigrun is pledged.

The woman who has Gotthorm fed wolf and snake flesh before the attack in the Fragment.

The foresighted king in Gripisspo who receives his nephew Sigurth but hesitates to tell the tragedy through.

Svipdag’s dead mother, awakened at her grave to speak nine protective charms for her son.

Giuki’s daughter and Sigurd’s wife; after Sigurd’s death she is drawn into Atli and the gold’s aftershock.

Guthrun’s son; he receives armour and foretells that the avengers will not return home.

Herborg, the Hunnish queen in the First Lay, who recounts loss, burial, and captivity.

Atli’s serving woman and former concubine; she accuses Guthrun and ultimately fails the boiling-water ordeal.

Atli’s cook; he is killed and his heart is carried to Gunnar as a deception.

Sigmund’s wife and Sigurd’s mother; she preserves the sword-shards, keeping the inheritance line alive.

A king of four wives; Sigrlin’s husband and Helgi’s father.

Hyndluljoth names this figure as Ottar’s mother in Ottar’s lineage.

The father who pledges his daughter Sigrun to Hothbrodd in the First Lay.

Granmar's son, promised Sigrun and later met by Helgi at Frekastein.

The king in Grimnismol’s prose opening and father of Agnar and Geirröth.

Sigrlin’s suitor and the enemy who ravages Svavaland.

The ruler killed by the young Helgi, whose death gives him his byname.

Hyndluljoth names this figure as Ottar’s father in Ottar’s lineage.

The Jarl of Rigsthula’s third household, later taught runes by Rig and married to Erna.

Guthrun’s third husband; opening prose calls Sorli, Erp, and Hamther his sons.

Svanhild’s husband; prose says he kills Randver and has Svanhild trampled by horses.

The Karl born after the second household episode in Rigsthula, who forms a home with Snor.

Atli’s envoy to Gunnar’s home; he brings lavish promises and invites the brothers through Myrkwood.

Hogni’s wife, who reads danger in altered runes and dreams.

The human survivors hidden in Hoddmimir’s Wood, from whom humankind continues after the fire.

The woman who waits for Svipdag at Lyfjaberg and speaks of her long waiting when they recognize each other.

The king who seizes Volund, takes his sword and ring, and confines him on an island in the poem.

The two unnamed royal sons in the poem, who are killed after going to Volund's island workshop.

Atli’s sister; she aids Borgny and laments that she could not save Gunnar.

Jormunrek’s son; opening prose says he is hanged after Bikki’s report.

Thor takes Thialfi and Roskva as servants.

Hyndluljoth names this figure as Ulf’s father in Ottar’s lineage.

The “southern king” summoned to hallow the boiling cauldron; the poem gives no further identity.

The messenger sent to summon Svava after Helgi is wounded.

Daughter of Svafnir and mother of Helgi.

The Snor who arrives at Karl’s home with keys and makes a dwelling with him in Rigsthula.

The kinsmen who demand redress from Helgi and are killed in the ensuing battle.

One of Guthrun’s sons; she urges him and Hamther to avenge Svanhild.

King of Svavaland and father of Sigrlin.

Hyndluljoth names this figure as Saefari’s father in Ottar’s lineage.

Daughter of Sigurth and Guthrun; she marries Jormunrek and is later trampled to death by horses.

Thialfi takes the marrow and breaks the goat’s leg-bone.

The Thir who comes to Thrall’s home, lives with him, and has children in Rigsthula.

The woman with whom Guthrun lives in Denmark after leaving the killing.

The Thrall born after the first household episode in Rigsthula, who forms a home with Thir.

Hyndluljoth names this figure as Alf the Old’s father in Ottar’s lineage.

Borgny’s lover; the poem says they were secretly together for five years and had a son and daughter.

Atli’s messenger, who falsifies Guthrun’s runes and reveals the trap at the gate.

Young Kon in the surviving fragment of Rigsthula: he learns runes, hears a crow’s invitation, and the poem breaks before the outcome.

The dwarf in Alvissmol who seeks Thor’s daughter and displays his learning through a long series of answers.

The swan-maiden paired with Volund in the poem, who leaves in the eighth winter.

The dwarf who owns the hoard and Andvaranaut; when he loses them, he lays a death-curse on the gold.

A giantess in Jotunheim who bears Fenrir, Jormungandr and Hel with Loki.

The primeval cow who nourishes Ymir and licks Buri out of salty ice.

Suttungr's brother; Odin works for him as Bolverkr and asks one drink of the poetic mead as wages.

An ancient giant whom Vafthruthnir says he remembers borne in a boat.

Borr’s consort and mother of Odin, Vili and Ve, from giant kin.

Thor wrestles Elli and falls only to one knee.

Hreidmar’s son, who kills his father for gold and keeps it in dragon form before Sigurd kills him.

One of the giant women forced to work at Grotti, whose song turns labour into a warning for Frodi.

The great wolf among Loki's children, bound with Gleipnir under divine fear and prophecy.

The dwarf who kills Kvasir with Galar and helps brew the mead.

The gatekeeper who questions a visitor before the fire-ringed hall; he first rejects Svipdag and recognizes his name only near the end.

The dwarf who joins Fjalar in killing Kvasir and later ransoms his life with the mead.

The hound loosed in doom, who fights Tyr to mutual death in the final battle.

The crafty giant who forces Loki's oath and sets a trap for Thor, then dies by the heated iron he throws.

A woman of giant kin whom Freyr sees and desires, sending Skirnir on the errand.

Geirrod's daughter, who raises Vimur and later joins Greip beneath the chair that attacks Thor.

Sigurd’s horse, linking the heroic quest to the horse tradition associated with Odin.

Geirrod's daughter, who hides beneath the chair with Gjalp and tries to force Thor into the roof.

Vidar's mother, who warns Thor of Geirrod's trap and lends a girdle, iron gloves and a staff.

Suttungr's daughter, placed at Hnitbjorg to guard the poetic mead.

The wolf pursuing the moon, seizing Mani before Ragnarok.

The giant Helgi kills before the fleet’s night confrontation.

Freyja’s gold-bristled boar, whom Hyndla suspects conceals Ottar on the night ride.

The figure said in the poem to sit in eagle form at heaven’s end, with wind from his wings.

Father of Otr, Fafnir and Regin; after taking the compensation gold he becomes an early victim of the curse chain.

Hati’s daughter, who challenges Helgi’s fleet by night.

A giant drawn to Asgard by Odin; after drunken threats against the gods, he duels Thor.

The giant who steers Naglfar among the doom host.

Thialfi races Hugi in Utgarda-Loki’s hall.

Hymir rows out with Thor to fish.

The giant woman Freyja calls from her cave to recite Ottar’s lineage.

Chapter 47 reveals that the cat Thor lifted was Jormungandr.

Loki and Logi compete in eating, and Logi consumes even bones and trencher.

The many-headed group that follows Hymir from eastern caves and is killed by Thor with Mjollnir.

One of the giant women forced to work at Grotti, who with Fenja turns the mill-song toward a prophecy of Frodi’s fall.

The creature gnawing Yggdrasil’s root from below, making cosmic structure vulnerable from the start.

The swan-maiden paired with Egil in the poem, who leaves in the eighth winter.

Hreidmar’s son; his death triggers the chain in which the gods pay compensation with Andvari’s hoard.

The raven that speaks after Sigurd’s death and foretells Atli’s blade and consequences of broken oaths in the Fragment.

Hreidmar’s son; he fosters Sigurd and turns the Fafnir treasure grievance into a heroic quest.

The unnamed giantess in Brynhild’s Hell-Ride who stops Brynhild on the Hel-road and questions her with hostility.

The wolf pursuing the sun, swallowing Sol in the doom sequence.

Thor’s party mistakes Skrymir’s glove for a large house and shelters in it.

Odin’s eight-legged horse, ridden by Hermod to the Realm of Hel.

The figure coming from the south with Muspell fire, finally burning the world.

After avenging his father Gillingr, he accepts the poetic mead as compensation and hides it in a mountain.

The swan-maiden paired with Slagfith in the poem, who leaves in the eighth winter.

Chapter 44 has the two goats draw Thor’s chariot.

The giant who carries off Idunn and the apples of youth, and the father of Skadi.

The cave-woman who refuses to weep for Baldr; the text says people deem her to be Loki.

Thrym says he has hidden the hammer deep in the earth.

Utgarda-Loki has Loki, Thialfi and Thor take separate contests.

The giant who receives Odin in questions and finally recognizes his opponent.

The first giant-shaped life quickened from rime and heat, whose body is later made into the world.

The heavenly place of the Light-Elves in chapter 17, introduced as a realm name rather than a full elf story.

The lake and island where the gods bring Fenrir for the trial of Gleipnir.

The gods’ heavenly dwelling and assembly direction, tied to the Well of Urd in Yggdrasil’s structure.

The bridge between earth and heaven by which gods travel, also marked as breakable under later fire.

The storm-waves east of which Tyr places Hymir; they mark the direction Thor and Tyr leave Asgard.

The place where Dag pierces Helgi with Odin’s spear in the Second Lay’s prose.

The poem's battle field where Helgi meets Hothbrodd's force.

The battle-place Alf sets and where Helgi receives a mortal wound.

The yawning gap before ordered world, where cold and heat frame the conditions for first life.

The mountain place where Suttungr hides the poetic mead under Gunnlod's guard.

The spring in Niflheim, later set beneath Yggdrasil’s root toward the cold depth.

The river Odin names in the contest as lying between gods and giants.

The giant-world direction, where one root of Yggdrasil reaches the Rime-Giants.

The battle field chosen by Helgi and Hunding's sons in the poem.

The middle enclosure made from Ymir’s brows as the dwelling of humankind.

The fiery southern boundary whose heat meets Niflheim’s cold and helps first life emerge.

The cold depth before creation, linked to Hvergelmir and one root of Yggdrasil.

The death-realm reached by Baldr, where Hermod rides Sleipnir to ask for his return.

The river-name formed from the slaver running from Fenrir’s mouth, preserving the pain left by the binding.

The island of Angantyr and Hjalmar’s duel, Angantyr’s burial, and Hervor’s later taking of Tyrfing.

The hidden craft region where Odin's messenger obtains the dwarven-made Gleipnir.

Svafnir’s land, which the prose says is plundered and burned.

The underground point to which the Gjoll stone is fastened, marking the deep anchor of Fenrir’s binding.

Odin’s hall for the slain, tying divine order to those who fall in battle.

The Vanir homeland from which Njord enters the divine settlement as hostage.

The broad plain where the gods and hostile hosts meet for the final battle.

The great river Thor must ford on his way to Geirrod; Gjalp makes it rise against him.

The island workshop where Nithud confines Volund and makes him forge treasures.

The well beneath Yggdrasil’s giantward root, holding wisdom and understanding.

The holy well beneath one root of Yggdrasil, where Norns determine lives and gods assemble.

The great tree holding the worlds together, with roots reaching gods, giants and Niflheim.

Njord enters the gods as hostage and becomes the sign of settlement between Aesir and Vanir.

Atli’s conversation with Guthrun about a dream of danger to their sons; an omen is not an event already fulfilled.

Loki uses mistletoe and Hodr to bring down Baldr, who had seemed unharmed by other things.

The gods place Baldr on a ship for cremation, with Nanna, Draupnir and Thor’s hallowing shaping the mourning scene.

The gods bind Fenrir with Gleipnir; Tyr loses his hand and Fenrir remains fastened until Ragnarok.

The poem’s event in which Brynhild travels by wagon on the Hel-road after the pyre and answers the rock giantess on the way.

Three gods find Ask and Embla by the sea and give them life, spirit, form and senses.

Odin, Vili and Ve create sea, earth, mountains, sky and Midgard from Ymir’s body.

The long winter and social collapse before Ragnarok, where successive winters begin the doom sequence.

An early Asgard building bargain: the builder demands Freyja, sun and moon, and Loki contrives to make the bargain fail.

The eight-night ordeal in which Geirröth places the self-named Grimnir between two fires.

The First Lay’s lament scene, concentrating silence, comfort, unveiling, and accusation at Sigurd’s body.

The late-night meeting in the Second Lay, when Sigrun enters Helgi’s mound and meets him after his death.

Loki is pursued, caught and bound on stones; Sigyn holds a basin under the venom, and the binding lasts until Ragnarok.

The wager that makes Ottar’s ancestry and inherited wealth a claim requiring proof.

The future doom toward which the binding points, when Fenrir remains destined as Odin's bane.

After fire and sinking, the earth rises again, some gods return, and a new line of life begins.

Brynhild’s grief and the Giuking brothers’ decision lead to Sigurd being killed.

Sigurd kills dragon-shaped Fafnir, bringing the cursed gold into the heroic line.

The ordeal in which Guthrun takes stones from the cauldron unharmed and Herkja is then burned.

The Fragment places Sigurd’s death outdoors south of the Rhine; closing prose places it beside the bedside version.

The poem opens with Thor waking and missing Mjolnir.

Thor places an ox head on the hook.

Loki’s mischief leads to a dwarf craft contest, and Odin, Thor and Freyr judge Mjolnir the best treasure.

Chapter 46 lists eating, running, drinking, cat-lifting and wrestling tests.

Vidar sets his foot on Fenrir’s lower jaw and tears the wolf’s mouth apart, answering Odin’s death.

Andvari’s ring, taken with the hoard and bound into the cursed gold sequence.

The ox head Thor takes from Hymir’s herd and uses to hook the world-serpent.

Freyja’s necklace, named among her important possessions in the goddess list.

Andvari’s hoard becomes a cross-generation death chain after the curse, linking Hreidmar, Fafnir, Sigurd and Atli.

The ring Brokkr brings to Odin, dropping eight rings of equal weight every ninth night.

The second fetter, stronger than Laedingr, and still broken by Fenrir.

The cord drawn through the end of Gleipnir to connect Fenrir’s binding to the stone.

The horn blown by Heimdall, calling the gods together for Ragnarok.

The great stone receiving Gelgja and helping fasten Fenrir’s binding.

A magical fetter, smooth like silk yet strong enough to bind Fenrir.

The sword reforged from Sigmund’s broken weapon; Sigurd uses it in the Fafnir fight.

The immense stone mill that grinds what its workers speak; in the two giant women’s hands, a tool of wealth becomes a prophecy.

The spear Loki gives to Odin, said to never stop in its thrust.

The great kettle sought for Ægir’s feast and carried away on Thor’s head.

The cup Hymir uses to test Thor’s strength; it breaks only when thrown against the giant’s head.

The first iron fetter with which the gods try to bind Fenrir; he snaps it by force.

The young shoot left outside Frigg’s oath-taking, which Loki turns into the weapon that strikes Baldr.

Thor’s hammer, judged the best dwarf-made work and the strongest defence against the Rime-Giants.

The ship loosed in the doom-flood, steered by Hrym.

The drink brewed from Kvasir's blood and honey, giving poetry or learning to whoever drinks it.

The auger Baugi uses at Odin's urging to bore through the rock of Hnitbjorg.

Freyr’s ship, gaining fair wind when sailed and folding small like a cloth.

The sword set in Fenrir’s mouth so that his jaws remain forced open.

The sword Hervor takes from Angantyr’s mound, carrying family memory and later danger into her hands.