Æsir

 The Æsir are the gods of the principal pantheon in Old Norse religion and Norse mythology. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir; these two pantheons waged war against each other, resulting in a unified pantheon. 

 

housecarl

 housecarl

housecarl, also spelled huscarl, Old Norse húskarl (“house man”), Danish and Norwegian hird (“household,” or “household member”), member of the personal or household troops or bodyguard of Scandinavian kings and chieftains in the Viking and medieval periods. The housecarls achieved a celebrated place in European history as the Danish occupation force in England under Canute the Great in 1015–35.

Skræling

Skræling (Old Norse and Icelandic: skrælingi, plural skrælingjar) is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the indigenous peoples they encountered in North America and Greenland. In surviving sources it is first applied to the Thule people, the Eskimo group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century. In the sagas it is also used for the peoples of the region known as Vinland (probably Newfoundland) whom the Norse encountered during their expeditions there in the early 11th century.

Þrúðr

Þrúðr (Old Norse "strength"), sometimes anglicized as Thrúd or Thrud, is a daughter of the major god Thor in Norse mythology. Þrúðr is also the name of one of the valkyries who serve ale to the einherjar in Valhalla (Grímnismál, stanza 36). The two may or may not be the same figure.

Sigyn

Sigyn (Old Norse "victorious girl-friend") is a Nymph goddess and wife of Loki in Norse mythology. Sigyn is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In the Poetic Edda, little information is provided about Sigyn other than her role in assisting Loki during his captivity. In the Prose Edda, her role in helping her husband through his time spent in bondage is stated again, she appears in various kennings, and her status as a goddess is twice stated. Sigyn may appear on the Gosforth Cross and has been the subject of an amount of theory and cultural references.

Týr

Týr is the god of single combat, victory and heroic glory in Norse mythology, portrayed as a one-handed man. Corresponding names in other Germanic languages are Gothic Teiws, Old English Tīw and Old High German Ziu and Cyo, all from Proto-Germanic *Tîwaz (*Tē₂waz). The latinised name is Tius or Tio.

In the late Icelandic Eddas, Tyr is portrayed, alternately, as the son of Odin (Prose Edda) or of Hymir (Poetic Edda), while the origins of his name and his possible relationship to Tuisto (see Tacitus' Germania) suggest he was once considered the father of the gods and head of the pantheon, since his name is ultimately cognate to that of *Dyeus (cf. Dyaus), the reconstructed chief deity in Indo-European religion. It is assumed that Tîwaz was overtaken in popularity and in authority by both Odin and Thor at some point during the Migration Age, as Odin shares his role as God of war.

Tyr, known for his great wisdom and courage, agreed, and the other gods bound the wolf. After Fenrir had been bound by the gods, he struggled to try to break the rope. When the gods saw that Fenrir was bound they all rejoiced, except Tyr, who had his right hand bitten off by the wolf.

vargr

In Norse mythology, a vargr (often anglicised as warg or varg) is a wolf and in particular refers to the wolf Fenrir and his sons Sköll and Hati. Based on this, J. R. R. Tolkien in his fiction used the Old English form warg (other O.E. forms being wearg and wearh) to refer to a wolf-like creature of a particularly evil kind.

In Old Norse, vargr is a term for "wolf" (ulfr). The Proto-Germanic *wargaz meant "strangler" (see modern German würgen), and hence "evildoer, criminal, outcast." Varg is still the modern Swedish word for "wolf." Also cognate is Old English warg "large bear". In Dutch wolverines are sometimes called Warg, although the name Veelvraat is more commonly used.

In line 1514 of Beowulf, Grendel's mother is described as a grund-wyrgen or "warg of the depths."

Helheim

In Norse mythology, Helheim, the location, means "house of Hel." It was the abode of Hel, a female figure who ruled the Underworld in Norse Mythology. In late Icelandic sources, varying descriptions of Hel are given and various figures are described as being buried with items that will facilitate their journey to Hel after their death. In the Poetic Edda, Brynhildr's trip to Hel after her death is described and Odin, while alive, also visits Hel upon his horse Sleipnir. In the Prose Edda, Baldr goes to Hel upon death and subsequently Hermóðr uses Sleipnir to attempt to retrieve him. "Hel-shoes" are described in Gísla saga.

Urðarbrunnr

Urðarbrunnr (Old Norse "Well of Urðr"; either referring to a Germanic concept of fate—urðr—or the norn named Urðr) is a well in Norse mythology. Urðarbrunnr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, the well lies beneath the world tree Yggdrasil, and is associated with a trio of norns (Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld). In the Prose Edda, Urðarbrunnr is cited as one of three wells existing beneath three roots of Yggdrasil that reach into three distant, different lands; the other two wells being Hvergelmir, located beneath a root in Niflheim, and Mímisbrunnr, located beneath a root near the home of the frost jötnar. Scholarly theory and speculation surrounds the well.