Knowra Æsir Æsir The principal group of gods in Norse mythology, including Odin, Thor, and Frigg. Their myths center on power, kinship, conflict, and the fate of the cosmos.
Odin : The chief god associated with wisdom, war, poetry, and the dead in Norse mythology. As the Æsir’s leading figure, Odin binds rule, knowledge, and sacrifice.
Ragnarök : The prophesied series of battles and disasters that destroys much of the Norse cosmos before its renewal. The Æsir’s conflicts culminate in their foretold deaths at Ragnarök.
Poetic Edda : A collection of Old Norse poems about mythology and heroic legend, preserved in a medieval Icelandic manuscript. Its poems are a principal source for the Æsir’s myths and names.
Germanic mythology : The mythic traditions of Germanic-speaking peoples, including Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and continental sources. The Æsir are a Norse expression of deities and traditions with wider Germanic parallels.
Thor : The Norse god of thunder, associated with strength and the protection of gods and humans. Thor is the Æsir’s most prominent defender against giants.
Æsir–Vanir War : A mythic conflict between the Æsir and Vanir that ends in an exchange of hostages and peace. The war explains how two divine groups became a single pantheon.
Prose Edda : A medieval Icelandic handbook of poetic language and Norse mythology written by Snorri Sturluson. Snorri’s account organizes and retells traditions about the gods.
Interpretatio romana : The Roman practice of identifying foreign gods with Roman deities having similar attributes. Roman writers used this interpretive habit when describing Germanic gods.
Frigg : A Norse goddess associated with marriage, motherhood, and foresight, and Odin’s wife. Her status and household place her among the central Æsir.
Jötnar : A diverse class of beings in Norse mythology, often opposed to the gods but also connected to them by kinship and marriage. Relations with the jötnar make Æsir power dependent on both conflict and alliance.
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