DANANN
The mother of the ancient gods of Ireland, and the patroness of the
Tuatha de Danann.
FREY:
Also called Fro, was the Norse god of fruitfulness, and also the patron of seafarers. His wife was Gredr
GERDA :
Wife of Frey, in Norse mythology
HECATE:
A daughter of Tartaros and Night, Hecate was of Titanic origin, and was the Goddess of Nature, having control over birth, life and death, and she enjoyed great favour among the gods of Olympus. Her chief function was that of goddess of the nether world, of night and darkness;she was mistress of witchcraft and the black arts.
HEL:
Who was the Norse goddess of the Underworld, being in fact one of the three children of Loki. She was half black and half blue, and lived on the brains and marrow of men. When the god Balder was taken by her, and the gods requested his return, she told the messenger that she would allow Balder to leave if every living thing in Asgard cried for him.
IRIS:
Goddess of the Rainbow, a daughter of Thaumas and Elektra and a sister to the Harpies, Iris was also the personal messenger to Zeus and Hera (in this she differed from Hermes, who was messenger to all the gods of Olympus). She was also looked on, like Hermes, as a guide and an advisor, and she travelled with the speed of the wind, from one end of the world to the other, could penetrate to the bottom of the sea, or even to the Styx. She was believed to charge the clouds with water from lakes and rivers, so that the rain might fall and fertilise and refresh the land. Contrary to Christian myth, when her rainbow appeared in the sky it was taken as a sign of rain, welcomed by farmers. Represented as a beautiful virgin with wings the colour of the rainbow itself, Iris was said to ride on the rainbow, sometimes with a nimbus on her head, in which the colours of the rainbow were reflected.
NIMUE:
The Lady of the Lake, who presented to King Arthur the sword Excalibur, and who accepted it back after Arthur's defeat. She also raised the knight Sir Lancelot.
NINEVE:
The daughter of a Siren, she captured the heart of the great wizard Merlin, who allowed himself to be enslaved by her, and remained in her enchanted forest.
NORNS:
The Norse Fates, three sisters who decided the destiny of men
PHEME:
The goddess of fame and report, whether good or bad, she was sleepless, always prying, swift of foot, announcing whatever she saw or heard, at first only to a few people, and in a whisper, then to larger groups and people, and louder, until finally she had traversed heaven and earth communicating it. She was a daughter of Gaea, and represented as a gentle, tender figure, winged and holding a trumpet.
RHIANNON:
Wife of the Welsh hero Pwyll.
SIF:
The wife of Thor, in Norse mythology.
VALKYRIES, THE:
Fierce warrior-maidens who presided over the field of battle, decreeing the death or victory of fighting men, as dictated by their master, Odin.
GODS
DAGDA:
The Irish god of life and death, Dagda had a staff with one end of which he could kill nine men, but with the other restore them to life. He was chief of the Tuatha de Danann, and the lord of knowledge and great magic. Among his sacred possessions were an inexhaustible cauldron, two marvellous swine---one always roasting, the other always growing---and ever-laden fruit trees. His daughter was Brigit, goddess of fire, fertility, cattle and poetry.
HERMODR:
The brother of Balder, who rode down to Hel, to beg the release of his brother from the dark kingdom.
HODER:
The Blind God, who in Norse mythology accidentally killed Balder, and was in turn slain by Bali, Odin's son.
HYPNOS:
Also known as Somnus, Hypnos was the god of rest, and a twin brother of Thanatos. His influence extended beyond men, to gods as well, the deities welcoming rest and refreshment as much as anyone. He lived in deep subterranean darkness near the entrance to Tartaros with his brother, and was styled many different ways:as a youth holding a poppy or a horn, from which sleep trickled down on those reposing;as a child;or as an aged, bearded man. On his head were the wings of a hawk or a night bird, and beside him frequently a lizard. He was looked on as a favourite of the Muses, because of the dreams he was supposed to communicate to men.
IDUNA:
In Norse mythology, she was the wife of Bragi, and the keeper of the sacred apples which gave the gods eternal youth
IGRAINE:
Wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall, she was the mother of Arthur, king
of Britain, who was conceived in bastardy.
IKELOS:
Assistant to the God of dreams, Morpheus, Ikelos fashioned dreams
that had all the appearance of reality.
KALAIS:
One of the two sons of Boreas, the Wind God, who, with his brother Zetos, drove off the Harpies that plagued Phineus
LOKI:
The personification of mischief and evil in Norse mythology, Loki was the son of the Giant Farbanti, and had three children, Fenris, the huge wolf who awaited to swallow the world, Jormungand, the Midgard serpent, and Hel, goddess of the Underworld.
MANANNAN MAC LIR:
The sea god of the Irish people, it was he who gave the magic cup
and branch to Cormac Mac Airt
MERLIN:
The wizard who brought together the two who were to become the parents of the most famous king of Britain, Arthur. King Uther Pendragon fathered on Igraine, wife to Duke Gorlois of Cornwall, and Merlin took over the youth's rearing, after his father was killed. Merlin is credited with the building of Stonehenge, and the fashioning of the Round Table. Born himself under dubious and uncertain circumstances, Merlin eventually fell in love with Nineve, the daughter of a Siren, and taught her how to bind him magically to her, so that he remained forever in the enchanted wood with her.
MORDRED:
Nephew of King Arthur of Britain, who raised a rebellion that split Arthur's kingdom, and became the downfall of the king.
MORPHEUS:
Morpheus was one of the two Greek gods of dreams, it being his function to shape and mould the visions which men saw as they slept, and in the manner in which the gods wished them to be sent to mortals. In this he was assisted by Ikelos, who made his dreams seem real, Phobetor, the maker of alarming dreams, and Phantasos, who troubled sleepers with many strange phenomena. Morpheus was also seen as the guardian or watchman of dreams.
NJORD:
The sea god of the Norse peoples, Njord had a son and a daughter, the two gods of the Vanir, Frey and Freya.
ODIN:
All-Father of the Gods in Norse mythology, Odin was the god of battle, and he ruled, with twelve of the Aesir, in Asgard. Odin watched the world of men, Midgard, from his high seat atop Valaskialf, the tower from which he could see everything that transpired in the world below. Odin had two ravens, Hugin and Munin, who brought to the All-Father news of the world of men, and two hunting wolves also.
Son of Bor and Bestla, a giantess, Odin had two brothers, Vili and Ve, and together the three destroyed the first ice giant, Ymir, and created the world. After this, Odin and his brothers created man and woman, from two lumps of driftwood they found. The man they called Ash, the woman Embla. Odin's eldest son was Thor, the god of thunder. He was also father to Balder the Beautiful, the most handsome and loved god in Asgard. His wife was Freya, and he also professed a fathership towards Loki, the god of mischief, which is somewhat in doubt, Loki having been the son of one of the giants of Jotunheim.
Wishing to attain ultimate wisdom, Odin approached the wise Mimir, who guarded the waters of wisdom in his well at the root of Yggdrasil, and the father of the gods was told that if he wanted wisdom, he must pay for it. The price in this case proved to be one of Odin's eyes, which he pulled out himself and tossed into the waters of the well, thus earning a drink from the enchanted spring, and attaining the wisdom he required. It is also said that Odin hung himself on the trunk of Yggdrasil to attain knowledge.
OISIN:
Son of Finn MacCumhaill, Oisin sailed for the mythical land of Tir na nOg, and finding it, spent 300 years there as its king. In a wood he encountered a strange being with the body of a beautiful woman, but the head of a pig. The creature declared that it was under an enchantment, that would vanish if Oisin would swear to marry it. Oisin did so, and the woman became whole, beautiful, and Oisin married her.Wishing to return to his native Ireland, Oisin was warned by his wife that many hundreds of years had passed, and that if he wished to go back, he must ride on a magical steed and not allow his own foot to touch the ground. Unfortunately, he slipped and fell from the horse, whereupon he aged rapidly, and died.
PWYLL:
One of the greatest Welsh heroes, Pwyll encountered grey-clad Arawn, the magician, and king of the underworld, Annwfn, and they agreed to exchange forms and responsibilities for a year. Later he married Rhiannon, but lost her temporarily to the deceitful Gwawl, the disappointed suitor who had the support of her family. Later he recovered her, but the curse of Gwawl's family meant that the family underwent terrible hardship and misfortune, even after Pwyll was dead.
RAGNAROK:
The Twilight of the Gods, Ragnarok was the time spoken of in Norse myth when the forces of evil would rise and march against the gods of Asgard, led by the renegade Loki. On Midgard, the Fimbul Winter would come, an axe age, a sword age, when brother would kill brother, and peace and goodness would pass from the world. Above, in Asgard, the gods would march to meet the frost giants, and the awful children of Loki, Jormungand the world serpent, and Fenrir the wolf, as well as the Evil One himself. The giants would swarm across the Rainbow Bridge, which would break under their assault.In Ragnarok, all the gods were fated to die in different ways, and also all the mortals of Midgard, except for two, who would live on and recreate the race. Balder, the shining god slain inadvertently by blind Hodur, at Loki's urging, would return to lead these people to a new age.
REGIN:
In Norse mythology, Regin was the brother of the otter killed by Loki, and also of Fafnir, who was transformed by the power of the curse of Andvari's ring into a great dragon. Regin was a smith, who taught the young hero Sigurd all the arts and sciences, and forged for him a great sword, which which the hero was to kill Fafnir, that Regin might have the treasures that the dragon guards. But the sword broke upon its first trial, and Sigurd, in contempt, had Regin reassemble the sword of his father, the great blade Gram. When Sigurd had slain Fafnir, and Regin demanded the treasure, Sigurd slew him with the sword.
RERIR
Father of Volsung, and descendant of Odin.
SIGMUND:
Son of Volsung, to whom the great sword Gram went, Sigmund being the only person who could draw it from the log into which Odin had thrust it. After Sigmund died, he bequeathed the sword to his as yet unborn son, Sigurd.
TUETATESA:
Celtic war god worshipped by the Gauls.
THOR:
Norse god of thunder, Thor was the son of Odin, and commanded the storms and the lightnings
TYR:
The Norse god of war, Tyr lost one of his hands when the other gods were in the process of binding the Fenris Wolf. The monster would only allow itself approached if one of the gods would put his hand in the animal's mouth, as security. Tyr did so, and when the Wolf realised that it had been tricked, it bit his hand off.
ULLR:
Norse god of the chase, a skilful runner and a deadly bowman.
VEGTAM:
The name that Odin often took, when wandering Midgard in disguise.
VITHAR:
The Norse god next in strength to Thor, Vithar was supposed to destroy the Fenris wolf, by placing one foot on the lower jaw, grasping the upper and tearing the wolf's mouth apart.
YMIR:
Father of all the Norse gods, Ymir was the first Frost Giant, and was created by the mixture of the smoke and heat from Muspellheim and the ice of Nifllheim, at the beginning of the creation of the world. From his body the three brother gods Odin, Vili and Ve fashioned the Earth.
OTHER
DRYADS:
Nymphs of woods and the trees, they inhabited groves, valleys and ravines. They were fond when making merry with Pan, Apollo, Hermes, and were very attractive to satyrs. Sometimes they appeared as rustic huntresses or shepherdesses.
ECHO:
A mountain nymph, who was a servant of Hera, but had to be kept at a distance, due to her talkativeness. She was loved by the god Pan, but conceived a passion and love for Narcissus, a son of the river god Kephissos:a passion that, unfortunately, he did not return. Echo grieved at this, and pined away day by day, until only her voice was left her. She then took to the woods that Pan frequented, occupying herself by mimicking every vocal sound she heard.
THE EDDA:
The account of the creation of the world ascribed to Norse
mythology~the Norse Genesis
EINHERJAR:
The souls of departed champions that gathered in Valhalla.
EMBLA:
The name, in Norse mythology, of the first woman on the earth (Midgard). She and her husband, Ash , were fashioned by Odin and his brothers from two floating pieces of wood.
FENRIS:
The great wolf who lay bound in chains in Asgard, the labour of which cost Tyr his hand. Fenris was to rise at the onset of Ragnarok, and destroy the world, in concert with Niddhogg and the other enemies of the Norse gods.
FINN MAC CUMAILL:
One of the very greatest of the ancient Irish heroes, Finn was High King of Ireland, and leader of the Fianna, the top warriors in that country. His exploits are many and numerous, and rival even the adventures of Cuchulainn. His son, Oisin, is best known for his famous visit to Tir na nOg, the eternal land of youth.
FULLA:
The handmaidens of Freya
GALAHAD:
One of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table, Galahad was said to be the most pure and incorruptible of them all, and it was he who had the vision of the Holy Grail that precipitated the quest for the same.
GAWAIN:
Seen as the perfect knight, and the enemy of Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain found his reputation tested by the legendary and enigmatic Green Man, an adventure which begins in King Arthur's hall in Camelot on New Year's Eve. A huge green giant challenges the knights to a beheading contest, and Sir Gawain accepts and severs the head of the giant, who, unmoved, picks up his head and mounts his horse, the green lips on the severed head issuing a challenge for Gawain to meet the Green Knight in a lonely chapel, a year hence, to receive his share of the axe's edge. Reaching the appointed place, Gawain has his meeting with the Green Man, but as the axe descends he flinches, and so keeps his head but loses his reputation.
GINKI :
The wise king who, at the beginning of the Eddas, travels to Asgard to gain information from the Aesir as to the nature of gods, and the creation of the world.
GIOLL:
The Norse equivalent of the River Styx, the Gioll surrounded the
Lower World, which was ruled over by the goddess Hel.
GRAM:
The mighty sword that Odin thrust into a log in the Saga of the Volsungs, predicting great things for the man who could draw it out. That man was Sigmund, who on his death bequeathed the sword to his son Sigurd, who went on to become the best known hero in Old German legend.
GRENDEL:
The monster which plagued the lands of King Hrothgar of Denmark, terrible to behold, a ravener of the night, a prowler of the dark, which the Anglo-Saxon hero Beowulf sought and fought, chopping off the monster's arm after a long struggle. Beowulf later skew Grendel's mother, and finding the creature on its deathbed, finished off Grendel itself.
THE HARPIES
The three daughters of the Giant Thaumas and the Okeanid nymph Elektra, the Harpies were employed by the gods to punish crime on the Earth. Their names were Okypete, Aello and Kelaeno, also called Podarge. Their bodies were those of birds, the heads women's, and their manner of punishing a wrongdoer was to carry off all his food, or failing that, to foul it so that the criminal could not eat it. One such person who received such treatment from the Harpies was Phineas, a king of Thrace, who was eventually freed of the curse of the triple sisters by the Argonauts.
HASTSEZINI:
The fire god of the Navaho Indians
HEIMDALL:
Watchman on the Rainbow Bridge, Bifrost, Heimdall guarded the approach to Asgard, and for this his senses were razor-sharp, his eyes so keen that he could see the wool growing on the backs of sheep, though they were at the other side of the world, and his ears so acute that he could hear grass growing. Heimdall carried a great battlehorn, whose sounding was to signal the final battle, Ragnarok as the giants from Jotunheim swarmed across Bifrost, into Asgard.
HELA:
The Norse Underworld, the realm of Death.
HIMINBIORG:
The personal tower of Thor, from which he surveyed the world.
HRESVELGR:
In the extreme north of Asgard dwelt the Giant Hresvelgr, the motion of whose huge wings caused the wind and the tempest.
HRIMTHURSEN:
In Norse legend, the cold Giants who brought the winter.
HRUNGNIR:
In Norse mythology, a huge Giant with a head of stone and a heart also of stone.
HUGIN:
One of the two great ravens that attended Odin, bringing him news of Midgard, reporting to him in his great tower Valaskialf.
JORMUNGAND:
The world serpent that dwelled at the bottom of the sea, and that encircled the whole world. It was to rise against the gods at Ragnarok, helping the Fenris Wolf and Surt, and the other enemies of the gods, to destroy both Asgard and Midgard.
JOTUNHEIM:
Realm of the fierce Giants in Asgard.
KURMA:
One of the Avatars of Vishnu, in which he appeared as a tortoise, supporting Mount Mandara on his back, while the Gods churned the sea for the divine ambrosia.
LANCELOT:
Sir Lancelot du Lac, Lancelot of the Lake, was abducted when he was one year old and raised by the Lady of the Lake, Nimue. He joined King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table at Camelot, but sowed the seeds of his lord's downfall when he fell in love with Guinevere, rendering himself unfit for the Quest for the Holy Grail. After Arthur had 'passed away', he became a priest and tended the king's grave.
MIDGARD:
The world of men, in Norse mythology
MIMIR:
Keeper of the Well of Wisdom, at the foot of the world tree Yggdrassil, Mimir drank daily from these waters, thus he knew everything there was to know. He allowed no-one else to partake of the spring, apart from the one time he had given in to Odin, who for the favour had to lose one of his eyes.
MJOLLNIR:
The hammer of the Norse thunder god, Thor. It was made by the dwarf smith Brok, could penetrate anything, and would always return to the hand of he who threw it.
MUNIN:
One of the two ravens that flew from Odin's watchtower, Valaskialf, to scour the world and bring back news of Midgard to the All-Father.
NASTRAND:
In Norse mythos, the very worst spot in the underworld ruled by the goddess Hel. The roofs and doors of Nastrand were wattled with hissing snakes, that spat poison, through which perjurers and murderers had to wade, as punishment for their crimes.
NIFLHEIM:
In the Norse myth of the Creation, the great void was occupied by two regions, of which Niflheim was the region snow, ice and mist.
OKYPETE:
One of the three Harpies.
PHANTASOS:
One of the helpers of Morpheus, Phantasos tricked dreamers with innumerable and strange phenomena.
PODARGE:
One of the three Harpies.
PONTOS:
The unfruitful sea, whose child, with Gaea, was the sea god Nereus.
REIFRIESEN, THE:
Norse giants who brought the winter.
REIMTHURSEN, THE:
In Norse legend, the great Frost Giants.
SKRYMIR:
A giant that Thor and Loki met on the way to Utgard, with their mortal servant. They inadvertently slept in Skrymir's glove, thinking it a house with five rooms. When they awoke the next morning, Thor tried to kill the giant with his hammer, but Skrymir shrugged off his attacks, warning them not to approach Utgard. Later they found that Skrymir was in fact Utgard-Loki, ruler of Utgard, and that he had used trickery to save himself from the thunder god's mighty wrath.
SLEIPNIR:
Odin's great eight-legged horse, which was the offspring of the stallion of the giant and the mare which Loki became, in order to thwart plans to build the wall around Asgard
THAUMAS:
A giant, father of the Harpies.
THRYMIR:
The frost giant who stole Thor's hammer, intending to ransom it for Freya as his bride.
TIR NA NOG:
The mythical 'land of the young', where Oisin became king for 300 years, before returning to Ireland, and his death.
TROLLWEIBER, THE:
In Norse mythology, these were phantoms from the land of the dead, who in the dark of night rode to the Earth on a wolf bridled with snakes.
URDR:
One of the Norse Norns, whose name meant 'past'.
UTGARD-LOKI:
King of the city of the giants, Utgard. He fooled Thor and his companions on their visit to Utgard by means related in the entry on Thor.
UTHER PENDRAGON:
Father of King Arthur of Britain.
VANIR, THE:
Originally rivals of the Aesir in Norse mythology, the Vanir wereled by Frey and Freya, but later made peace with their enemies and the Aesir and the Vanir became one people.
VE:
One of the brothers of Odin.
VILI:
One of the brothers of Odin.
VINGOLF:
The mansion in Asgard reserved for the goddesses.
VOLSUNG:
The son of Rerir, who was the son of Sigi, who in turn was the son of Odin, Volsung lay in his mother's womb for seven years, and when he was finally born, gave rise to the great and epic Saga of the Volsungs. Volsung's descendants were the great Germanic heroes Sigmund and his son Sigurd.
YGGDRASIL:
The World Tree, which in Norse mthyos had its upper roots in Asgard, its lower in Hel, and its third in Niflheim. The gods met beneath its branches in council every day, and around its base Niddhogg the dragon gnawed at its roots, while the squirrel Ratatosk ran from top to bottom of the Tree, bringing news and insults from Nidhogg to the great eagle that dwelt in Yggdrasil's topmost branches. The well of Mimir was at the base of the World Tree.
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