RPG SHEET Viking profile Title : Ironside Age : 28 y/o Place of birth : Kattegat
Subject: 2.1 The Aesir Gods and Godesses Thu Apr 27, 2017 5:59 pm
The Aesir Gods and Godesses
This part is free to read, not mandatory
The Aesir were one of the two main tribes of deities venerated by the pre-Christian Norse and other Germanic peoples. The second tribe was the Vanir. Most of the best-known Norse gods and goddesses belong to the Aesir, including Odin, Thor, Frigg, Tyr, Loki, Baldur, Heimdall, Idun, and Bragi. Their home is Asgard, one of the Nine Worlds, which is located in the highest, sunniest branches of the world-tree Yggdrasil. In the Norse sources, Odin, the “Allfather,” is their chief.
Odin: He’s the chief of the Aesir tribe of deities, yet he often ventures far from their kingdom, Asgard, on long, solitary wanderings throughout the cosmos on purely self-interested quests. He’s a relentless seeker after and giver of wisdom, but he has little regard for communal values such as justice, fairness, or respect for law and convention. He’s the divine patron of rulers, and also of outcasts. He’s a war-god, but also a poetry-god, and he has prominent “effeminate” qualities that would have brought unspeakable shame to any historical Norse/Germanic warrior. He’s worshiped by those in search of prestige, honor, and nobility, yet he’s often cursed for being a fickle trickster. What kind of literary figure – let alone a god whose historical worship spanned much of a continent and several centuries – could possibly embody all of these qualities at once, with their apparently glaring contradictions?
Thor: Thor, the brawny thunder god, is the archetype of a loyal and honorable warrior, the ideal toward which the average human warrior aspired. He’s the indefatigable defender of the Aesir gods and their fortress, Asgard, from the encroachments of the giants, who are usually the enemies of the gods.
Frigg: Also known as “Frigga,” is the highest-ranking of the Aesir goddesses. She’s the wife of Odin, the chief of the gods, and the mother of Baldur. Strangely for a goddess of her high position, there is only sparse and casual accounts of anything related to her personality, deeds, or other attributes. The specifics they discuss are not unique to Frigg, but are instead shared by both her and Freya, a goddess who belongs to both the Aesir and the Vanir tribes of deities.
Tyr: Tyr is a Norse war god, but also the god who, more than any other, presides over matters of law and justice. He fulfilled his role as one of the principal war gods of the Norse, along with Odin and Thor.
Loki: Loki is the wily trickster god of Norse mythology. While treated as a nominal member of the gods, Loki occupies a highly ambivalent and ultimately unique position among the gods, giants, and the other kinds of spiritual beings. His familial relations attest to this. His father is the giant Farbauti. His mother is Laufey or Nal. Laufey/Nal could be a goddess, a giantess, or something else entirely.
Baldur: He’s the son of Odin and Frigg, the husband of the obscure goddess Nanna, and the father of the god Forseti. He’s loved by all the gods, goddesses, and beings of a more physical nature. So handsome, gracious, and cheerful is he that he actually gives off light.
Heimdall: Heimdall is the ever-vigilant guardian of the gods’ stronghold, Asgard. His dwelling is called Himinbjörg, which sits at the top of Bifrost, the rainbow bridge that leads to Asgard. He requires less sleep than a bird. His eyesight is so keen that he can see for hundreds of miles by day or by night, and his hearing is so acute that he can hear grass growing on the ground and wool growing on sheep. He watches and listens, holding at the ready the horn Gjallarhorn, which he sounds when intruders are approaching.
Idun: She is the wife of Bragi and is depicted as the owner and dispenser of a fruit that imparts immortality. Whatever species Idun’s produce belongs to, its ability to sustain the immortality of the gods and goddesses makes Idun an indispensable presence in Asgard.
Bragi: Bragi is the most wise and learned bard among the gods. His poems were so outstandingly artful and moving that subsequent generations imagined that, Odin had appointed him the court poet of Valhalla. It is said he had runes carved on his tongue and was able to hypnotise the gods with his poetry.
Subject: 2.1 The Aesir Gods and Godesses 