**Major Gods & Goddesses (beyond Odin & Freyja):** - **Thor:** God of thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, and the protection of mankind. Famous for his hammer, Mjolnir, and his goat-drawn chariot. - **Loki:** The trickster god, a jötunn (giant) who became a blood-brother to Odin. Known for his cunning, shapeshifting abilities, and often causing trouble for the other gods, but sometimes helping them too. Father of Fenrir, Jörmungandr (the Midgard Serpent), and Hel. - **Frigg:** Odin's wife, queen of Asgard, and goddess of marriage, motherhood, and foreknowledge (though she never reveals what she knows). - **Heimdall:** The guardian of Asgard, who lives by the rainbow bridge Bifröst. He has acute senses, able to hear grass grow and see hundreds of miles. He will blow the Gjallarhorn to signal Ragnarök. - **Tyr:** The god of war, law, and justice. Famous for sacrificing his hand to bind Fenrir. - **Baldr:** The handsome, wise, and kind god, son of Odin and Frigg. His death, orchestrated by Loki, is a significant event leading to Ragnarök. - **Skadi:** A jötunn and goddess associated with winter, skiing, mountains, and hunting. - **Njord:** God of the sea, seafaring, wind, fishing, and wealth. Father of Freyja and Freyr. - **Freyr:** God of fertility, prosperity, kingship, sunshine, and fair weather. Possesses the magical ship Skidbladnir and the golden boar Gullinbursti. **The Nine Realms & Cosmology:** - **Asgard:** Home of the Æsir gods (like Odin, Thor, Frigg). - **Midgard:** Earth, the realm of humans, connected to Asgard by Bifröst (the rainbow bridge). - **Jötunheimr:** Home of the Jötnar (giants), often enemies of the gods. - **Niflheim:** A primordial realm of ice, mist, and cold. Helheim (the realm of the dead) is located here. - **Muspelheim:** A primordial realm of fire, guarded by the fire giant Surtr. - **Svartalfheim:** Home of the Dökkálfar (dark elves) or Dwarves. - **Alfheim:** Home of the Ljósálfar (light elves). - **Vanaheimr:** Home of the Vanir gods (like Freyja, Freyr, Njord). - **Helheim:** The underworld, ruled by Hel, where most of the dead who didn't die gloriously in battle go. **Villains, Monsters & Dangerous Beings (beyond Fenrir & Midgard Serpent):** - **Hel:** Ruler of Helheim, Loki's daughter, depicted as half-beautiful, half-decaying. - **Surtr:** A fire giant from Muspelheim, destined to be a major destructive force during Ragnarök. - **Jötnar (Giants):** Not all are evil, but many are antagonists to the gods (e.g., Thrym who stole Mjolnir, Utgard-Loki who tricked Thor). - **Níðhöggr:** A dragon or serpent that gnaws at one of the roots of Yggdrasil, causing it harm. - **Garmr:** A monstrous hound that guards the entrance to Helheim. - **Draugar:** Undead creatures that guard their burial mounds and treasures. **Key Concepts, Items & Stories:** - **Ragnarök:** The prophesied "doom of the gods," a series of cataclysmic events, including a great battle, that will result in the death of many gods and the submersion of the world, followed by its rebirth. - **Mjolnir:** Thor's powerful hammer. - **Gjallarhorn:** Heimdall's horn, which he will blow to signal the start of Ragnarök. - **Gungnir:** Odin's spear, said never to miss its target. - **Draupnir:** Odin's gold ring, which creates eight new rings of equal weight every ninth night. - **Hugin and Munin:** Odin's two ravens, representing Thought and Memory, who fly around the world and report back to him. - **Sleipnir:** Odin's eight-legged horse, son of Loki (in horse form). - **Mímir's Well:** A well of wisdom at the roots of Yggdrasil, guarded by Mímir, from which Odin gained immense knowledge at the cost of one eye. - **The Poetic Edda and Prose Edda:** The main sources of Norse mythology written down in Iceland. - **The Binding of Fenrir:** The story of how the gods managed to bind the mighty wolf Fenrir using a magical chain (Gleipnir). - **The Creation Myth:** How the world was formed from the primordial void of Ginnungagap, the ice of Niflheim, and the fire of Muspelheim, and from the body of the giant Ymir. - **The Death of Baldr:** A pivotal story where Loki tricks the blind god Hodr into killing Baldr with a mistletoe dart, leading to his descent to Helheim.