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The Gods and Goddess of Heathenry

Within Heathenry, whether you fall into the Anglo-Saxon, Germanic or Norse traditions, we all share one thing in common. The Gods and Goddess of our ancestors. Each tradition may have a different spelling, but they all refer to the same Gods and Goddess.

In the Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon tradition, there are two races of  Gods. The Æsir/Ése and the Vanir/Wena. Therefore, this page will be divided into the two races, the giants and other beings. The Æsir reside in Asgard and the Vanir reside in Vanaheim

~ Æsir ~ Ése ~

Sky and War

Gods and Goddesses

Odin - Old Norse (Oðinn)

Woden - Old Saxon

Wodan - Old Franconian

Wutan, Wuotan - Old High German

Alfaðr - Father of All

Odin, husband to Frigg, father to Baldr, Thor, and Vali. He is the ruler of Asgard. By giving up his eye, he gained wisdom. By hanging on Yggdrasill for 9 days, he gained the knowledge of the runes. He, along with his brother, Vili and Ve, were the first Gods created. He is the God of poetry and the "father" of all the Gods. He has two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who travel over the whole world to bring news back to Odin. During times of battle, he sends out Valkyries (Oðins meyjar - "Odin's maidens") to bring half of the battle slain warriors back to reside in Valhalla, where they gather around him until the time of Ragnarok, the final battle between the Gods and Giants. 

Frigg - Old Norse

Frîja - Old High German

Frigg is wife to Odin and mother to Baldr. She resides in Asgard and weaves the clouds with her great spinning wheel.

When it is predicted that her son Baldr would die, she went around to everything in the world and extracted a promise from each and everything not to hurt her beautiful son. However, she did not take an oath from the young mistletoe. Loki disguised himself as a woman and tricked Frigg into revealing that no oath had been taken from the mistletoe. Loki, being jealous of Baldr, then tricked the blind God Hoðr into throwing a sprig of mistletoe at Baldr, which fatally pierced him and killed Frigg's son. So heartbroken over the loss of her son, she sends Odin's son Hermóðr to bring Baldr back. Hel tells him that if all things in the world weep for the death of Baldr, then she will set him free. All things did weep for Baldr, with the exception of a giantess named Þokk who refused to cry. Snorri states that this was Loki in disguise once again and Baldr remained in Hel.

Baldr - Old Norse

Balder - Old English, Old High German

**Some believe that Baldr was in truth a Danish king and was associated with the Danish royal house in Lejre. There are several sources which suggest this as well. The name of Baldr's residence, Breiðablik, has been found in the Danish place name Bredebliche which is near Lejre.

Thor

Þorr, Þunarr - Old Norse

Þonar - West German

Donar - Old High German

Þunor - Anglo-Saxon for Germanic ÞunraR, originally meaning "Thunder"

He is the Germanic God of Thunder, lightning, wind and rain and is the strongest of all the Æsir, protector of Midgard, and giant killer extrodinaire. He rides in a chariot pulled by two goats, Tanngrísnir and Tanngnjóstr, which makes him known as the "Chariot God" and "Lord of the Goats" as well. He wears a strength giving belt and an iron gauntlet. The giantess Gríðr, gives him a staff called Gríðarvolr. But, he's best known for his mighty war hammer, Mjollnir and his flowing red beard. His most formidible opponents are the giants and the Midgard serpent, about both of which, many tales are told.

At Ragnarok he will face the Midgard serpent a second time and this time will defeat it. However, he will then succumb to it's poisonous breath and die.

Týr - Old Norse

Tìwaz - Old High German

 Ti - Anglo-Saxon

Tyz - Gothic

When the Æsir wished to bind the Fenris wolf, they had chains specially forged by the dwarves to hold him fast. After all, no mere chain could hold him. When the forging was complete, the Æsir told Fenris that they wanted to try out the chain by binding him with it. Fenris, being smarter than the average wolf, refused to allow them to chain him. He did not trust the Æsir. Týr promised to release him, if he could not break the chains, yet he still refused. Having no other choice, and knowing that Fenris must be bound, Týr placed his hand into the wolf's mouth and told Fenris that if they did not release him, he could bite off his hand. Once the chains were on him securely, the wolf tried to break free, but due to the specially forged strength within the chains, he was unable to.

Sticking by his oath, Týr kept his hand in the wolf's mouth and allowed him to bite it off, thus sacrificing his hand to see that his oath was met.

Bragi - Old Norse

He is rarely mentioned in skaldic poetry, once as the husband of Iðunn in a stanza in Grettis saga and twice elsewhere, in the Hákonarmál 14 and the Eireksmál 3, both times welcoming newcomers to Valhalla. He is mentioned as one of the Æsir

*Some suggest that Bragi was not a God, but was in fact a poet in the 9th century who was deified after his death. He does not appear as a god in any writings until Snorri's Edda and the Lokasenna, during the 12th and 13th century, which has lead some to believe that he was the deification of a much loved and revered poet of the 9th century, Bragi enn gamli Boddason or "Bragi Boddason the Old". His skaldic works are the oldest that are known to date. 

Hama - Anglo-Saxon

Born from nine sisters (giantesses), he is the warder of Asgard and the Bifrost bridge. His horse is named Gulltopr and he carries a sword called Hofuð (man-head). Snorri calls him "the white As" and states that he is "great and holy". He has also been known as Hallinskiði and Gullintanni, because his teeth are made of gold. He lives in Himinbjorg near the Bifrost bridge and can hear the grass growing on the Earth and can see things 100 miles off, day or night.

He and Loki are deadly enemies and kill each other when Ragnarok comes.

Forseta

Geofon

Hana

Meomor

Wær

Wiðer

~ Vanir ~ Wena ~

Fertility, Earth and Nature

Gods and Goddesses

Njorðr - Old Norse

Scandinavian God. Father of Freyr and Freyja.  He lives by the Sea in his hall called, Nóatún. He married the giantess, Skaði when she was given the opportunity to chose a husband but only by seeing the feet of the Gods. She chose his feet because his were by far the most beautiful of all the Gods, and she believed them to belong to Baldr. The marriage did not last, as Skaði missed her home in the mountains and  Njorðr loved his home by the sea. And in the end they divorced.

Njorðr is often called upon to aid seafarers and fishermen and controls the sea and wind. Some believe Njorðr and Nerthus to be a divine brother and sister, much like Freyr and Freyja.

Nerthus

Freyr

Freyja

Wuldor - Anglo-Saxon

Germanic God. Son of Sif, step-son to Thor, second husband to Skaði. He lives in Ýdakur. He is also known as the "Bow God", as he is a very accomplished archer and hunter. He has also been referred to as the "God of Skis" because he is an excellent skater and skier. 

"The rejuvenating one", wife to Bragi, she is the bearer of the golden apples, which keep the Gods youthful. She is lured out by Loki and kidnapped by Þjazi (giant, father of Skaði). Loki is ordered to go retrieve her because the Æsir need her apples to stay young and are very angry over her kidnapping. The kidnapping of Idun is what leads to Þjazi's death.

She is rarely mentioned in Old Norse mythology, but this could be attributed to the lack of information on the goddesses in general.

Eostre

Giants and Giantesses

Skaði

Sceadu

Her home is in the mountains and her hall is called "Thrymheim" which means "noise". She is the beautiful giantess who stood in front of Odin and the Æsir ready to extract her vengeance for her father's Þjazi's death, after the kidnapping of Idun. Her name means "scathe"

Loki

Hel

Dæg

Nótt

Niht

Sunna

Sunne

Mani

Mona

Wéland

Ægir

Eagor

Jord

Eorðe

Gerð

Gearde

The information on this page was researched utilizing:

*Dictionary of Northern Mythology  by Rudolf Simek

and

*Myth and Religion of the North, The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia by E.O.G. Turville-Petre

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