{366} Utgartha-Loki, a giant of truly immense size. In Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda it is related that Thor once slept in Utgartha-Loki’s glove, which was so gigantic that he mistook it for a house. Thor is often mocked for this.
Valaskjalf, a hall of Odin.
Valhalla, “hall of the slain,” where the Valkyries bring slain warriors to live with Odin till Ragnarok.
Vali, son of Odin and Rind, who avenges the death of Balder on Hoth while he is only one night old.
Valkyries, “choosers of the slain,” women who fly over battlefields and conduct the spirits of the best slain warriors to Valhalla. A Valkyrie is not a separate kind of being from humans, but appears instead to be an occupation that mortal women (such as Sigrun) can assume.
Vanaheim, a realm inhabited by the Vanir gods.
Vanir (plural), a family of gods associated with agriculture and fertility (Frey and his sister Freyja) and the sea (their father Njorth). Njorth and his children live with the Aesir in Asgard; it is implied that there are other Vanir as well who live in Vanaheim.
Var, goddess of wedding vows.
Ve, a brother of Odin.
Verthandi, “happening,” the name of one of the Norns, the three sisters who determine fate.
Vilir, a brother of Odin.
Vilmund, lover of Borgny, mentioned (in Oddrunargratr only) as the killer of Hogni (2).
Vithar, a son of Odin who will slay Fenrir at Ragnarok after Fenrir kills Odin.
Volsung, the eponymous ancestor of the Volsungs, father of Sigmund.
Volsungs, the family that includes Sigurth and Helgi and their father Sigmund. The family is named for Sigmund’s father, Volsung.
Volund, identified as an elf, a smith of great talent.
Ydalir, home of Ull.
Yggdrasil, the ash tree central to the nine worlds of Norse cosmology, where Odin hanged himself on a sort of vision-quest in which he learned the runic alphabet.
Ylfings, an alternative name for the Volsungs.
Ymir, the first giant, and the first living thing. Odin and his brothers made the earth from his corpse.
The Poetic Edda Page 30