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There are a lot of various gods in Norse Mythology. Not all can be
considered here. The most interesting is that the gods have two distinct
heritage lines: the Æsir and the Vanir indicating two
cultural roots where no one is all-dominant. According to the Norse
Mythology the two clans of gods fought battles, concluded treaties,
and exchanged hostages. Thus, living in peace coexistence hereafter.
Nevertheless, the most powerful gods belong to the
Æsir.
But still some of the Vanir were the most popular for worship.
The Æsir Pantheon
| Odin | male | The most powerful and thus the chief of the Norse Gods | He is learned in wisdom and sorcery; god of war (germ. Wotan) |
| Frigg | female | The wife of Odin, queen of the Æsir, and goddess of the sky | She is connected to fertility, love, household management, marriage,
motherhood, and domestic arts. |
| Thor | male | The second powerful of the Norse Gods | He is the hero fighter and furthermore the controller of the weather.
Thus, he is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder (germ. Donar).
He is the son of Odin and the giantess Jörd (Jord, the Earth). |
| Sif | female | The wife of Thor | She is connected to the field and to the crop and she
had some power on destiny. |
| Loki | male | The most untrustworthy of the Norse Gods (he was not worshiped) | He controls the fire, mythical being of mischief; later was expelled from the Æsir. |
| Baldr | male | He is the god of the sun; representing the seasons | The god of innocence, beauty, joy, purity, and peace, and is Odin's second son.
He is killed by his brother Höðr (the winter) inadvertently with a mistletoe but
will be reborn again. |
| Höðr | male | He is the blind god of darkness and winter | He shoot his brother Baldr unintentionally.
After this Odin and the giantess Rindr gave birth to Váli
who grew to adulthood within a day and slew Höðr. |
| Heimdallr | male | The guardian | Heimdall is the guardian of the gods on the Bifrost Bridge (the rainbow)
who will blow the Gjallarhorn if danger approaches Asgard. |
| Forseti | male | The god of justice and judiciary | Forseti was considered the wisest and most eloquent. In contrast to his
fellow god Týr, who presided over the bloody affairs of carnal law,
Forseti presided over disputes resolved by mediation.
He is thought to have been the chief god or ancestor of the Frisians with
his major place of worship at Heligoland. |
| Týr | male | He is the god of single combat and heroic glory | He is portrayed, alternately, as the son of Odin or of Hymir, while
the origins of his name and his possible relationship to Tuisto
in Tacitus' Germania suggest he was once considered the father of
the gods and head of the pantheon. |
| Ullr | male | The hunting god | He is a son of Sif and a stepson of Thor. While extant sources are
scant he appears to have been a major god in prehistoric times. |
The Vanir Pantheon
| Freyr | male | One of the most important deities; the son of the sea god Njörðr | Worshiped as a phallic fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals".
He rules over the rain, the shining of the sun and the produce of the fields. |
| Freyja | female | Sister of Freyr and daughter of the sea god Njörðr | she is the most beautiful of the gods. She was called on to bring fruitfulness
to fields or wombs, she was a goddess of love, beauty, sex, and attraction.
She was also a goddess of war, death, magic, prophecies and wealth.
Freya is cited as receiving half of the dead lost in battle in her hall
Folkvang, whereas Odin would receive the other half. |
| Njörðr | male | God of the sea and the fishermen | He is connected to seafaring and thus is the god of wind, fertile land along
the seacoast, as well as seamanship, sailing and fishing. |
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