Nordic Pantheon

Where the land plummets from the snowy hills into the icy fjords below, where the longboats draw up onto the beach, where the glaciers flow forward and retreat with every fall and spring - this is the land of the Northmen, the home of the Nordic pantheon. It's a brutal clime, and one that calls for brutal living. The warriors of the land have had to adapt to the harsh conditions in order to survive, but they haven't been too twisted by the needs of their environment. Given the necessity of raiding for food and wealth, it's surprising the mortals turned out as well as they did. Their powers reflect the need these warriors had for strong leadership and decisive action. Thus, they see their deities in every bend of a river, hear them in the crash of the thunder and the booming of the glaciers, and smell them in the smoke of a burning longhouse.
The Nordic pantheon includes two main families, the Aesir (deities of war and destiny) and the Vanir (gods of fertility and prosperity). Once enemies, these two families are now closely allied against their common enemies, the giants (including the gods Surtur and Thrym).

Structure

The speakers of the Nordic Pantheon are known as Wyrdravens, in honor of Odin's use of Ravens as messengers. Those who channel the divine might of Asgard tend to be clerics, druids, and paladins.

Cosmological Views

The Afterlife

The Faithful believe that after death, a person's soul is assigned to Hel, realm of the God Hel (or Hela). Hela is a stern and uncompromising God, but her realm has lands of bounty and peace as well as lands of war and hardship.
The souls of great heroes are sometimes intercepted by the Valkyrie, and taken to dwell in Valhalla, Odin's great hall in Asgard, to train for Ragnarok, the final battle.

Worship

Gods of the Pantheon

The members of the Pantheon are described briefly below.

The Nordic Gods

• Odin, god of knowledge and war

• Balder, god of beauty and poetry

• Forsetí, god of justice and law

• Frey, god of fertility and the sun

• Freya, goddess of fertility and love

• Frigga, goddess of birth and fertility

• Heimdall, god of watchfulness and loyalty

• Hel, goddess of the underworld

• Hermod, god of luck

• Loki, god of thieves and trickery

• Njord, god of sea and wind

• Odur, god of light and the sun

• Síf, goddess of war

• Thor, god of storms and thunder

• Tyr, god of courage and strategy

• Uller, god of hunting and winter

Odin

God of the Sky, Ruler of the Gods

As chieftain of the Aesir gods, Odin united the Norse pantheon through the Aesir-Vanir War and ruled over their combined might in Asgard. While Odin was known as a great warrior, his chief weapon was actually his mind. Odin achieved his ends through cunning, craft, and the power of suggestion. Odin was also wise. Through his magic, and by dint of his unceasing quest for knowledge, Odin gained understanding of both the occult world and events yet to come.
Odin's domains are Knowledge and War. His favored weapon is the lightning bolt, represented by spears and javelins.

Baldur

God of Beauty and Poetry

“Shining” Baldur of the Aesir tribe was the loveliest and most beloved of all gods in the Norse pantheon. As the wisest of all the gods, he served as arbiter of disputes, settling feuds among both gods and men. His death, predicted as an early event in Ragnarok, led to the imprisonment of Loki.
Baldur's Domains are Light and Life. His favored weapon is a greatsword

Forseti

God of Law and Justice

Forseti is the god of justice. He is the son of the god Balder and his mother is Nanna. He rules in the beautiful palace Glitnir with its pillars of red gold and its roof with inlaid silver, which serves as a court of justice and where all legal disputes are settled.
Forseti's domain is Light. His favored weapon is a longsword.

Freya

God of Magic, Fertility, and Love

Freya was a prominent Norse goddess, a member of the Vanir tribe, and a practitioner of seidr magic. She held domain over love, lust, and fertility. A powerful and at times contradictory figure, Freya was the subject around which several major Norse myths revolved.
Freya's Domain's are Arcana and Life. Her favored weapon is a longsword.

Freyr

God of Fertility and the Sun

Freyr, of the Vanir tribe, was the Norse god of masculine virility and reproduction. Known as a bringer of peace and prosperity, he was the twin brother of Freya, the goddess of wisdom and magic. Often associated with sunshine and fair weather, Freyr was famed for his fabulous accoutrements, including a glow in the dark boar, a ship that folded up and could be carried in a pocket, and a sword that fought on its own.
Freyr's Domains are Light and Life, His favored weapon is a greatsword.

Frigg

God of Birth and Family

As the wife of Odin, Frigg served as the queen of the Norse deities. A member of the Aesir tribe, Frigg was associated with marriage, love, wisdom, and prophecy. She was also the mother of shining Baldur, whose death bereaved the gods and set in motion the chain of events known as Ragnarök.
Frigg's Domains are Knowledge and Life. Her favored weapon is a dagger.

Heimdall

God of Watchfulness and Loyalty

Heimdall the watcher was a Norse deity of the Aesir tribe, a god of keen eyesight and hearing who stood ready to sound the Gjallarhorn at the beginning of Ragnarök. He was known as a protector of the gods and a guardian of the passages to and from the Nine Worlds.
Heimdall's Domain's are Light and War. His favored weapon is a longsword.

Hel

God of the Dead

Hel is the Norse goddess of the dead. She ruled over the underworld, Niflheim, where she received the dead. Hel’s father was the trickster god Loki and her mother the giantess Angrboda. Loki and Angrboda had three children: the wolf Fenrir; the serpent Jörmungandr; and Hel, their only daughter.
Hel was born with the bones on one half of her body fully exposed and, thus, is often depicted as a half-black and half-white monster. She grew up with Fenrir and Jörmungandr in Jotunheim, land of the giants, until Odin, ruler of the Aesir, decided they should live in Asgard where their father came from. In Asgard, the other Norse gods were uncomfortable with Hel’s appearance. For this reason, Odin agreed to send her away, and gave her the World of Niflheim – one of the Nine Realms. There she became queen of the dead.
Hel's Domains are Death and Grave. Her favored weapon is a longsword.

Hermod

God of Messengers, Bravery, and Luck

Hermod was a son of the principal god, Odin, and his wife, Frigg. Known as Hermod the Swift, he was called upon by the other gods when they had a task requiring speed and urgency. Hermod wore a helmet and coat of mail given to him by Odin, and he always carried Gambantein, his magic wand or staff. He was also called Hermod the Bold, as he was courageous in war and loved a good fight. The Vikings believed that he would be waiting, along with Odin, at the entrance to Valhalla to welcome the Einherjar, warriors who had died valiantly in battle.
Hermod's Domain is Trickery, His favored weapon is a Rapier.

Loki

God of Mischief and Trickery

Full of wit and wile, Loki was the devious trickster god of the Norse pantheon. A figure of great mischief, Loki used his shapeshifting abilities to deceive gods and mortals alike. According to the prophecies of Ragnarök, Loki was fated to take up arms against the gods and precipitate the end of the world.
Loki's Domain is Trickery, His favored weapon is a Dagger.

Njord

God of the Sea

The Norse god of the seas and the winds, Njord was the patriarch of the Vanir tribe and the patron of sailors and fishermen. He was best known for fathering the twin deities Freyr and Freya, as well as for his unhappy marriage to the giant Skadi.
Njord's Domains are Nature and Tempest. His favored weapon is a Harpoon or Spear.

Sif

God of Fertility and Battle

The wife of the thunder god, Thor. Sif was a giantess, goddess of grain and fertility, and one of the Asynjur. She was the mother of Uller, god of archery, skiing, and single combat. Sif was Thor’s second wife, and Uller was his stepson.
Sif’s golden hair, which symbolized her connection to the fertility of the land and the harvest of grain, was often praised. She was known to be very vain about its beauty. According to legend, Loki, the mischievous trickster fire god, cut off Sif’s hair while she slept (in one version, he burns it off). Thor was so angry that he forced Loki to replace Sif’s hair with a wig, crafted by the dwarfs and made of the finest strands of gold.
Sif's Domain is War. Her favored weapon is a longsword.

Thor

God of Storm and Thunder

The son of Odin, Thor was the Norse god of thunder, lightning, and war. He was a figure of prodigious strength who bested giants, trolls, and dwarves with a war hammer called Mjölnir, the “grinder.” While Thor was quick to anger and always ready for a fight, he also enjoyed more pleasurable activities such as drinking and making love to women.
Thor's Domains are Tempest and War. His favored weapon is a Hammer.

Tyr

God of Justice and Honor

Tyr was a Norse god, one of the Aesir deities, who represented war, bravery, and justice. He was best known for losing an arm to the monstrous wolf Fenrir, sacrificing it so the other gods could chain the beast. Though Tyr was once a prominent god among the Germanic people, his importance eventually waned, and by the time of the Vikings he was little more than a minor deity.
Tyr's Domains are Knowledge and War. His favored weapon is a Longsword.

Uller

God of Hunting, Archery, Winter, and Sports

Ullr is the god of sports, bow hunting and skiing. Beautiful to look at and an accomplished warrior, Uller is often invoked by people entering single combat. The son of Sif and Thor, Uller has particular skill at skiing and archery. His cunning makes him valuable to the council of the gods. When Skadi divorced Njord, she married Uller.
Uller's Domain is Nature. His favored weapon is a Longbow.

Political Influence & Intrigue

Relations with Other Faiths

Having dwelt in close proximity for years, the Olympian Pantheon and the Nordic Pantheon tend to have a friendly rivalry, where followers of similar gods compete to see whose better. The Nords see the world in a fundamentally different way than the followers of the Lord of Light, so the two faiths tend to be at odds. The Old Ways are honored and toasted in Nordic households and its followers are considered family.