by Peter Archer
Thor
The god of thunder, son of Odin. With his hammer, Mjollnir, he rides his chariot pulled by the goats Tooth-gnasher and Tooth-gritter. His hammer alone can protect the Æsir and Vanir from the giants.
Thrym
A king of the giants who steals Thor’s hammer, Mjollnir. Through trickery, Loki and Thor get the hammer back, and Thor uses it to kill Thrym.
Tyr
The god of heroism and law. He is one-handed, having lost one of his hands in the struggle to bind Fenriswolf.
U
Ull
Stepson of Thor, his mother is Sif. He is skilled with a bow and is a notable warrior.
Urdr
One of the Norns, she is also sometimes known as Fate. She resides at the Well of Urdr beneath one of the roots of Yggdrasil.
Utgard
The castle and realm ruled by the giant Utgarda-Loki.
Utgarda-Loki
A giant to whose stronghold Thor and Loki paid a visit. The giant disguised himself as another giant named Skrymir and played various tricks on them that enraged Thor.
V
Valhalla
Odin’s hall of heroes in Asgard, where the souls of half those of die heroically in battle are welcomed and reside until the coming of Ragnarök.
Vali
The son of Odin and Rind.
Váli
The son of Loki. Odin transforms him into a wolf that tears out his brother, Narfi’s, guts. The gods then use those guts to bind Loki.
Valkyries
Warlike women who escort the souls of heroes who fall in battle to Valhalla and, once there, wait upon them.
Vanaheim
One of the nine worlds; home of the Vanir.
Vanir
One of two races of Viking gods (see Æsir). The Vanir included Njord, Freyr, Freyja, and other gods only incidentally mentioned. It is possible that the cult of the Vanir was connected to fertility rituals.
Var
Goddess of contracts and agreements.
Verdandi
One of the three Norns who live at the Well of Urdr beneath the root of Yggdrasil. Her name means “present” or “becoming.”
Vídarr
Sometimes called the silent god, he will use his shoe to kill Fenriswolf during Ragnarök. He is the god of vengeance.
Vígridr
The site of the final battle between gods and monsters during Ragnarök.
Vili and Vé
The brothers of Odin, who helped him destroy the giant Ymir and use the giant’s body to create the world.
Vinland
Land discovered in North America by Leif Erikson. It was probably around the mouth of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Volsung
Leader of the Volsung clan, father of Sigmund and Signy.
Völuspá
A poem about the creation of the world; part of the Poetic Edda.
W
Well of Urdr
A well in Asgard that lies beneath a root of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. The gods gather at the well each day to pronounce their judgments.
Woden
German form of Odin.
Y
Yggdrasil
The World Tree of Norse mythology. It is an ash whose trunk and roots spread throughout the nine worlds. One root is in Asgard at the Well of Urdr; a second is in Niflheim over the well Mímisbrunnr; and a third in Jötunheim in the place where Ginnungagap, the Yawning Void, formerly existed (see Chapter 5).
Ymir
The giant who was formed by the ice in Ginnungagap in the beginning of the world. The world was shaped from his body by Odin and his brothers. Ymir is described in the Prose Edda as “the father of all frost giants.”
Bibliography
Allan, Tony, The Vikings: Life, Myth, and Art. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2004.
Bellows, Henry Adams, The Poetic Edda. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1936.
Beowulf: A Dual-Language Edition. Trans. Howell D. Chickering, Jr. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1977.
Craigie, W.A., The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. New York: Pyrrhus Press, reprinted 2014.
Crossley-Holland, Kevin, The Norse Myths. New York: Pantheon, 1980.
Davidson, H.R. Ellis, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. New York: Penguin, 1965.
Ferguson, Robert, The Vikings: A History. New York: Penguin, 2009.
Graham-Campbell, James, and Dafydd Kidd, The Vikings. New York: William Morrow, 1980.
Pye, Michael, The Edge of the World: A Cultural History of the North Sea and the Transformation of Europe. London: Pegasus, 2016.
Roesdahl, Else, Vikings, revised edition. New York: Penguin, 1998.
Rosenberg, Donna, World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics, 2nd edition. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Publishing Group, 1994.
Smiley, Jane, ed., The Sagas of Icelanders. New York: Penguin, 2000.
Sturluson, Snorri, The Prose Edda. Trans. Jesse L. Byock. New York: Penguin, 2005.
Wernick, Robert, and the Editors of Time-Life Books, The Vikings: The Seafarers. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1979.
About the Author
Peter Archer holds an MA from the University of Toledo and an MLitt in medieval history from the University of St. Andrews. He first formed a connection to the Vikings when he visited L’Anse aux Meadows, site of the first Viking settlement in North America, in 1967. While teaching classes at Eastern New Mexico University, he lectured on mythology and folklore. He is currently an associate editor for Adams Media and lives in Massachusetts in a 200-year-old house filled with books and cats.
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