Norse gods and goddesses: 14 of the most important deities venerated by the Vikings
Names like Odin and Thor are commonly known. But if can’t tell your Aesir from your Vanir, or don’t know what animals pulled Freyja’s chariot, or which of the gods and goddesses survived Ragnarök, here is a guide to some of the key figures and events in Norse mythology
Before the existence of humans, before the cosmos, before the gods, there was the Ginnungagap: a gaping, primordial void. On one side of this yawning nothingness was an icy realm called Niflheim, and on the other was the land of fire, Muspelheim.
When the realms expanded and the ice and fire clashed together, a burning frost formed and sent heated water droplets into the Ginnungagap. There, they merged into the form of a being; the first life, a giant named Ymir, according to Norse mythology.
It was from Ymir that other lives emerged, among them the god Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve, who killed the giant and created the world from his corpse. His flesh became the earth and his blood the seas, oceans and rivers; his skull was turned into the sky and his brain used for clouds, while his bones made the mountains and his teeth the stones. The brothers then made humans from ash and elm trees.
From there, the legendary pantheon of Norse gods and goddesses burst forth, complete with a rich and complex set of beliefs that, today, we still know little about. Yet the names and images have lodged themselves in our consciousness, from Thor’s hammer to the afterlife at Valhalla.
Who are the most famous Norse gods and goddesses?
- Odin – The All-Father, god of war, wisdom, poetry, prophecy, runes and the dead
- Frigg – Goddess of motherhood, love and marriage
- Thor – God of thunder, the sky and agriculture
- Freyr – God of peace, prosperity and fertility
- Freyja – Goddess of beauty, gold and fertility
- Loki – The trickster god
- Heimdall – The watchman of the gods
- Balder – God of light, purity and summer sunshine
- Tyr – God of war, law and justice
- Njord – God of the sea, wind and bounty
- Hel – Keeper of the land of the dead
- Bragi – God of poetry and music
- Idunn – Goddess of youth, rejuvenation and spring
- Skadi – Goddess of winter, mountains, skiing and bow hunting
Odin: Norse god of war, wisdom and the dead
Known as: the All-Father, Father of Men, Woden
Known for: Ruler of Asgard, he was the supreme deity who sacrificed his eye for wisdom
Family: Husband to Frigg, father to many gods including Thor, Balder and Heimdall
Odin is the chief deity in the Norse pantheon and ruler of Asgard, worshipped as a god of war, wisdom, poetry, prophecy, runes and the dead.
Portrayed as a tall, aging man with a great beard, he would be accompanied by two ravens (Huginn and Muninn, who brought him news of everything they saw) and two wolves, and rode an eight-legged flying horse called Sleipnir.
He often hid his appearance by wearing a broad-brimmed hat and cloak to walk unrecognised among the humans of Midgard.
Odin craved knowledge, so much so that he sacrificed one of his eyes in return for perception of the cosmos, and he let himself be hanged on the world tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nights to gain understanding of the runes.
Norse warriors revered him, for he welcomed those who died in battle and were chosen by the Valkyries (Odin’s fierce and loyal shieldmaidens) to Valhalla, a magnificent hall in Asgard.
There, they trained all day in preparation for Ragnarök, the end of the worlds of gods and men, at which Odin was destined to meet his fate fighting the monstrous wolf, Fenrir.
- On the podcast | From Thor to Odin, Carolyne Larrington discusses the legendary figures of Viking mythology
Frigg: Norse goddess of motherhood, love and marriage
Known as: Frija, Frea
Known for: Her powers of prophetic visions and her doomed attempt to save her son from deat
Family: Wife of Odin, mother of Balder and Hodr
As Odin’s queen, Frigg – meaning ‘beloved’ – was the only goddess allowed to sit alongside the All-Father as an equal in the great halls of Asgard. She also resided in her own dwelling, Fensalir, or the hall of the marshes.
Despite her status as perhaps the most important goddess in the Norse pantheon, surprisingly little is known about her. Such is the confusion that there is a theory that Frigg and another goddess, Freyja, were actually the same person.
Frigg was gifted with the power of divination, although she never revealed what her visions showed her. This proved to be her torment: having prophesised the death of her son Balder (though in some tales, Balder prophesies his own demise), she travelled the Nine Worlds taking the oaths of all things, from beings to the elements, that they would not harm him. But the trickster Loki discovered the loophole that led to Balder’s fate.
Thor: Norse god of thunder, the sky and agriculture
Known as: Thunor, Thonar, Donar
Known for: The protector of humanity, he was a mighty warrior wielding his hammer, Mjolnir
Family: Son of Odin, husband to Sif
Famed for his skills in battle and his control over the storms that affected crops and sailing, Thor was one of the most popular and worshipped gods among the Norse people. Particularly in Norway and Iceland, he was the ultimate everyman god, called upon for myriad purposes.
Often portrayed as red-bearded, the son of Odin boasted such strength (and a fierce temper) that he could fight giants, armed with his enchanted belt and iron gloves that let him wield his famous weapon, the hammer Mjölnir, which had been forged by the dwarfs and could level mountains.
Mjölnir became a ubiquitous symbol in Norse art and culture, and remains one of the most important images of the Viking Age. Thor, however, once lost it to the giants and had to disguise himself as the beautiful goddess Freyja to get it back.
If not wielding his hammer, Thor (meaning ‘thunder’) was often depicted riding a chariot drawn by two huge goats – which he could kill and eat, then resurrect each day – or at Ragnarök, where he would kill the Midgard-encircling serpent Jörmungandr before dying of his wounds.
Freyr: Norse god of peace, prosperity and fertility
Known as: Yngvi, Frey
Known for: For his associations with fertility, he was one of the most worshipped gods in Sweden
Family: Son of Njord, twin brother of Freyja
As son of the sea god Njord, Freyr was one of the Vanir who came to Asgard as a hostage following the war between the two tribes of gods. While still a baby, he was gifted Alfheim, one of the Nine Worlds where the elves lived.
His name meaning ‘lord’, he became one of the most venerated of the gods as a symbol of peace, prosperity and fertility, especially in Sweden where he has even been linked to the royal house.
His worship included offerings for a good harvest or virility, the latter explaining why many of his depictions included a particularly large phallus.
Freyr also owned a sword that could fight on its own, and a golden boar. But his prized possession was a ship that always had a favourable wind and comfortably fit the entire Norse pantheon inside, and yet could be folded up and put in his pocket.
Freyja: Norse goddess of beauty, gold and fertility
Known as: Mardöll, Hörn, Gefn, Syr
Known for: Beautiful and pleasure-seeking, she chose half of the Norse warriors who died in battle
Family: Daughter of Njord, twin sister of Freyr
While half of the warriors who died in battle were selected to go to Valhalla, the other half went to the meadow of Fólkvangar, presided over by Freyja. One of the Vanir, she also introduced the magic of seidr (prophecy) to the Aesir.
Famed for her ties to love and sex, Freyja (meaning ‘lady’) had a reputation for pleasure-seeking, and as she was also associated with gold, she craved material possessions.
Chief among them was her beautiful necklace, Brísingamen, made by four dwarfs. According to the legend, she spent a night with each of them to acquire it.
Freyja also had a cloak of falcon feathers that let her fly – which she loaned to other gods – and a chariot pulled by two cats named Bygul and Trjegul, given to her by Thor.
Loki: Norse trickster god
Known as: Lokki, Lokkemand, Lokke, Luku, Hvedrungr
Known for: His mischievous, often cruel pranks, and for siding against the gods at Ragnarök
Family: Son of a giant, father to Hel and the creatures Fenrir, Jörmungandr, births Sleipnir
Loki was a trickster, a shapeshifter, an agent of chaos. The child of a giant welcomed among the gods as a blood brother of Odin, he proved time and time again not to be trustworthy.
He sired the goddess of death Hel, as well as the monsters Fenrir (a wolf) and Jörmungandr (a serpent so large that it encircled Midgard).
By turning himself into a female horse and seducing a stallion, he gave birth to Odin’s eight-legged horse Sleipnir, too.
Perhaps the cruellest of Loki’s pranks was to trick Frigg into revealing that her son Balder’s only weakness was mistletoe, then getting Balder’s own brother, the blind god Hod, to kill him with a sharpened branch of the plant.
For that, Loki was bound to a rock with a snake dripping venom on him, with only his wife Sigyn to hold a bowl to catch the poison. He remained in that torture until Ragnarök , when he sided with the giants and was slain by Heimdall.
Heimdall: Norse watchman of the gods
Known as: Gullintani, Rig, Hallinskidi, Vindler
Known for: Keeping watch over Asgard and warning the gods of Ragnarök
Family: Possibly a son of Odin and nine mothers
From his fortress Himinbjorg, Heimdall stood watch over the rainbow bridge that connected Asgard and Midgard, while keeping an eye out for the first signs that Ragnarök had begun. If so, he would sound the Gjallarhorn (‘hollering horn’) to warn the other gods.
Heimdall could survive on as little sleep as a bird, see over huge distances and hear the grass growing. He was known as the shiniest god, partly for the whiteness of his skin but also for his gold teeth, hence his nickname Gullintanni (‘gold tooth’).
He was associated with sheep and rams – he could also hear the wool grow on a sheep’s back – and rode a great horse named Gulltoppr. When the time of Ragnarök did come, he was destined to meet his long-time enemy Loki in battle, where they would kill each other.
Balder: Norse god of light, purity and summer sunshine
Known as: Baldr, Baldur
Known for: A favourite of the gods, he was accidentally killed by his blind brother
Family: Son of Odin and Frigg, brother of Hodr and Hermodr
One of the best-known stories in Norse mythology is the death of Balder. Associated with light and purity, he was the fairest of the gods representing all that was good in Asgard. He had the greatest of all ships, Hringhorni, and the most beautiful hall of Breidablik.
As son of Odin and Frigg, his name means ‘prince’. But when his mother had a vision of his death, she sought to prevent it by seeking an oath from all things vowing not to harm him. Some stories tell how other gods then amused themselves by throwing objects at Balder, knowing he was immune.
But he had a weakness: Frigg had deemed mistletoe too small and harmless to worry about. Loki discovered this and tricked the blind god Hodr to throw a sharpened mistletoe branch at Balder, thus killing the ‘best of gods’.
Balder’s other brother Hermodr travelled to the land of the dead to plea and made a deal that he could return as long as everything in the Nine Worlds wept for him. The only being not to do so was a giantess (actually Loki in disguise), and so Balder remained in the land of the dead until Ragnarök.
Tyr: Norse god of war, law and justice
Known as: Tiw, Tiwaz, Ziu
Known for: In a selfless act of courage, he had his hand bitten off by the wolf Fenrir
Family: Possibly the son of Odin or of a giant
One of the oldest gods in the pantheon (his name simply means ‘god’), Tyr joined the likes of Odin and Thor in an association with war. More than that, he was interested in those wars being carried out according to law and justice, so he became linked to truces and peace.
Despite the presence of other war gods, Tyr held a status as one of the chief deities in the Norse pantheon. His most famous act of bravery did not come in battle, though. It came from the gods’ attempts to bind the great wolf Fenrir.
They went to the dwarfs to create an unbreakable chain, Gleipnir, made of the sounds of a cat’s footsteps, the beard of women, the roots of mountains, bears’ sinews, the breath of fish, and the spittle from birds.
When they tried to attach it, Fenrir demanded that one of the gods put their hand in his jaws as a sign of good faith. Tyr volunteered, but lost his right hand when Fenrir, realising the chain would not break, bit down in anger.
Njord: Norse god of the sea, wind and bounty
Known as: Njordr
Known for: He survived both an unhappy marriage with a giantess and Ragnarök
Family: Father of Freyr and Freyja
As one of the water gods, Njord could ensure safety at sea by controlling the waves, sending fair winds and quelling storms, and be called upon for plentiful fishing trips. Unsurprisingly, he was revered in the seafaring communities of Scandinavia.
He was also one of the leading members of the Vanir, who came to live in Asgard with his children Freyr and Freyja. There, he married the giantess Skadi, but they soon separated. He preferred to live at his dwelling by the sea, Noatun, while she wanted to be in the mountains.
Njord also holds a rare place of honour as being one of the few in the Norse pantheon to make it out of Ragnarök alive.
Hel: Norse keeper of the land of the dead
Known as: Hela
Known for: She presided over the land of the dead for those who died of old age or sickness
Family: Daughter of Loki
While the name Hel (meaning ‘to cover’ or ‘to hide’) obviously evokes the modern-day notion of Hell, the land of the dead that the goddess Hel presided over was not solely a place of torment and eternal suffering.
Murderers, adulterers and oath-breakers faced punishments such as serpent venom and a dragon sucking their blood; for everyone else, it was simply where those not slain in battle went after death.
The daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrboda (not Odin and Frigg, as Marvel would have you believe), Hel was often depicted as having half the face of a normal woman while the other half was deathly pale, even blue, as if already a corpse. She was not a goddess to be worshipped, but a representation of death.
Bragi: Norse god of poetry and music
Known for: His love of poetry saw him become the skald of Asgard
Family: Possibly a son of Odin, husband of Idunn
Poetry was an important part of Norse culture, used to pass down stories and heroic deeds through oral tradition, and the bards and skalds were significant figures. The same was true for the gods: Bragi was wise and learned, and entertained in the halls of Asgard.
Despite claims that he was one of Odin’s sons, there is no evidence that he was worshipped as a god. In fact, he may have been based on a ninth-century poet, Bragi Boddason, who could have been deified and his name honoured in the pantheon.
According to legend, Bragi married the goddess Idunn, who helped him get out of a potentially life-threatening argument with Loki, who belittled his place among the gods. As a sign of his love of poetry, Bragi was said to have runes carved across his tongue.
Idunn: Norse goddess of youth, rejuvenation and spring
Known as: Ydun, Idun, Ithunn, Idunna
Known for: Keeping the magic apples that made the gods immortal
Family: Wife of Bragi
She may not be one of the most famous Norse gods and goddesses, but Idunn had one of the most important roles in Asgard. She looked after the magic apples – golden, in some of the sources – that the gods ate to achieve long life.
As such, Idunn (meaning ‘ever young’) was worshipped as the representation of youth and the new life that came every spring. She was also associated with fertility.
However, Loki played a trick on her. Luring her into a trap with the claim that he had discovered apples even better than the ones she cared for, Loki brought her and the apples to a giantess in the form of an eagle, who took her to Jotunheim.
When the gods began to age, they immediately suspected Loki and made him put things right. He saved Idunn by flying to the giants’ realm as a falcon and transforming her into a nut to be carried back to Asgard.
Skadi: Norse goddess of winter, mountains and skiing
Known as: Skade, Skathi
Known for: The giantess was a skilled bow hunter in the mountains, famed for her snowshoes
Family: Husband of Njord
As part of the goddess Idunn’s escape from Jotunheim, the giant Thiazi was killed. His daughter, Skadi, put on her war gear and went to Asgard for revenge, but was convinced to accept one of the gods as a husband in compensation.
She also demanded that one of the gods make her laugh, which Loki achieved by tying a rope to a goat at one end and his testicles at the other, then squealing in pain when the rope got pulled. (Later, it would be Skadi who placed the venomous snake over Loki for his torture when bound to a rock.)
The one condition for Skadi with selecting her new husband was that she could only see the gods’ feet. She picked who she hoped was the fair and handsome Balder, but ended up with Njord.
The marriage did not last, since they could not tolerate living in the other’s preferred environment. Skadi dwelt in the mountains, hunting with a bow, skiing and wearing her famed snowshoes.
Did any Norse gods and goddesses survive Ragnarök?
At Ragnarök, the gods were destined to be defeated in the great final battle of the cosmos against the a formidable set of opponents: giants; an army of the dead led by the goddess Hel; and the monstrous creatures sired by Loki; the wolf Fenrir and world serpent Jörmungandr.
With the Nine Worlds turned to darkness and engulfed in flames, the majority of the Norse gods and goddesses perished, including Odin, Thor, Heimdall, Freyr and Tyr. Loki, who sided against the gods, also died.
From the cataclysm, so the legend has it, a handful of gods survived and a new world would emerge. There is no known mention of what happened to the goddesses. Among them were Thor’s sons Magni and Modi, Odin’s sons Vali and Vidar (who killed Fenrir), Hoenir and the sea god Njord.
Balder and Hodr, who died before Ragnarök, returned from the land of the dead to live in the new world, and even two humans, Lif and Lifthrasir, managed to escape the destruction.
Where do the Norse gods and goddesses live?
The Norse gods and goddesses live, according to legend, on Asgard, one of the Nine Worlds of the cosmos. At least, the Aesir do. Other gods, the Vanir, live on Vanaheim (more of that below). Midgard is the realm of humans, while the giants and elves dwell on Jotunheim and Alfheim respectively.
A rainbow bridge, the Bifrost, links Asgard and Midgard, but all of the Nine Worlds are connected by the branches and roots of Yggdrasil, the mighty and sacred ash tree at the centre of the cosmos.
How many Norse gods and goddesses are there?
Without a full encyclopaedic knowledge of Norse mythology – the sources are scant and contrary, ranging from stone carvings and mentions in poetry to the Prose Edda, a handbook for Skaldic poetry from 13th-century Iceland – there is no knowing how many gods and goddesses were venerated by the Vikings.
The number 66 is often cited, but other sources say only a couple of dozen stand above as the main deities that were worshipped over the centuries. Here are some of the key figures in the pantheon, and their key characteristics according to legend.
What is the difference between the Aesir and the Vanir?
The Aesir and Vanir can essentially be seen as two different tribes of Norse gods.
The larger group is the Aesir, made up of some of the most recognisable names in the pantheon (Odin, Frigg, Thor, Loki and Heimdall among them). They are more warlike than the Vanir, a group mostly associated with fertility and the power to see the future. They include Njord and his children Freyr and Freyja.
Early in the mythology, the Aesir of Asgard and Vanir of Vanaheim went to war. With neither able to claim victory, though, they agreed to a truce in which hostages from both sides were taken.
What days of the week are named after Norse gods and goddesses?
Nearly all the days of the week in the modern English language got their names from Norse gods and goddesses, somewhat indirectly. The Romans had named the days after the Sun, Moon and planets linked with their gods; these were then given an Anglo-Saxon adaptation, whose gods had roots in the Norse pantheon.
So, while Sunday and Monday are named for the Sun and Moon respectively (Sol and Mani in Norse), Tuesday honours the war god Tyr; Wednesday is named after Odin (or Woden); Thursday marks Thor’s day; and Friday got its name from Frigg (or possibly Freyja, or both if they were indeed the same person).
The exception is Saturday, which comes from the Roman god Saturn. For the Norse, this was laugardagur, or ‘washing day’.
Discover more learning from week three of the HistoryExtra Academy Vikings course
Video: Daily life, with Professor Ryan Lavelle – watching time 19 mins
What was life like for Viking women? – reading time 7 mins
Inside the Viking mind – reading time 10 mins
Podcast: What Norse poetry reveals about the Viking Age – listening time 48 mins
Viking women: raiders, traders and settlers – reading time 7 mins
How England rode the Viking storm – reading time 12 mins
Viking ‘warrior women’ – reading time 3 mins
Authors
Jonny Wilkes is a former staff writer for BBC History Revealed, and he continues to write for both the magazine and HistoryExtra. He has BA in History from the University of York.
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