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The worlds are many things. They are times, places, states of mind, they are what is beyond the doors into otherworlds from Midgard, they are metaphors, and in the Fireverse they are also other dimensions. Jotunheim is 2D space. The story in which Freya rides Ottar to Jotunheim disguised as her battle pig is rendered in the Fireverse as “She rode him so flat they ended up in Jotunheim.”

Asgard is nine-space. When Loki is telling his versions of heathen mythology to the human character P, he tells the stories as if they happened in a three dimensional place so that the human can understand them, but he also tells her that they aren’t really like that. When Loki and P are sailing the ship through space, P is aware that it is not really a Viking longship despite its appearance, but when she asks Loki about it, he tells her to accept the metaphor as it is given to her.

Bragi is the god of music. He is married to Idunna, whose apples keep the gods from aging.

Fireverse-Bragi is probably pretty different than the Bragi of this universe, because the Fireverse needed a character within Asgard society that would actively oppose the teller of the story, who was Loki, and the opposition character became Bragi. Loki is usually cast as the opposition character in most traditional tellings of the mythology, but of course he would not cast himself in that role.

Odin’s mother Bestla was Jotun, but she and her husband, the Asa god Bor, made their home in Asgard when all the worlds were new.

In my novel gnosis, Bestla died in the First War. Odin’s grief was so great that he decided to make war itself a sacred thing in her honor. He had been building a hall for himself near his parents’ hill dwelling, but after their deaths he moved into the hill and finished his hall as Valhalla, a place for his chosen warriors.

Asgard is not really a three dimensional physical space, but in the Fireverse it has a geography suitable for the human to whom the story is told to understand. The World Tree can be reached from the top of a hill. It’s not growing out of the hill but is next to it and Odin is able to grasp one of the branches in order to hang from the tree. From that hill, one can look sheer down into forever. On one side of that hill there is a cliff with a stone seat carved into the hillside. There is a little foot path to the seat. This is Odin’s seat of seeing. From there, he can look into Jotunheim, or Midgard, or wherever. Just in front of this throne, the path broadens a bit and there is a short wall at the cliff edge, just right for Odin’s ravens to perch on.

On the other side of the hill stands Valhalla. It is just as described in lore, made out of spears and shields and having many doors and the Einherjar within, and a pig of unlimited bacon, and a goat whose milk is mead, and the triple throne where High, Just As High, and Third sit and rule. These are Odin, Honir, and Loki. Honir does not have a physical form unless he is manifesting between Odin and Loki. He sometimes manifests in the middle throne while Odin and Loki are both in their thrones. Odin sits in the sky throne, that is, the throne of air. Loki’s throne is fire and water. Honir’s throne is earth and ice. Just as it says in lore, the Einherjar go out and fight all day and then are resurrected and party all night in Valhalla. So, the Einherjar are not there during the day. In the Fireverse, Odin holds court in Valhalla in the day, with a lunch for any gods who want to drop in; when he’s not there all these processes continue to happen.

The Alfar (elves) live in Alfheim. Just like the jotnar living in Jotunheim and the dvergar living in Svartalfheim, the Alfar are really living in Alfheim even when they seem to be living in Midgard (the human world.) They can all go to other worlds but they all live in their dimensional homes regardless of whether that home appears to have a physical location in Midgard.

In Iceland when they are going to build a road, they will try to build around the “elf church” (sacred place of the alfar) but if it’s too hard to reroute they can ask them to move. The elf-whisperer isn’t really asking them to move their home, just the portal between the worlds. My novel-gnosis is that such a place is really more of a dimensional gateway than just a place where they live. Destroy the place on Midgard and you destroy the gateway, but if you ask nicely before building the road they may be able to move their gateway first.

Image: elf woman by SilviaP Design via Pixabay

P.S. if you like my writing you can find out more here: https://www.erinlaleauthor.com/

Njord is a sea god in heathen mythology. He is the father of Freya and Freyr. The lore does not say who their mother is, but it is hinted that it might be himself, or his counterpart. That would be Nerthus, except that Nerthus and Njord never appear in the same story. Nerthus appears in lore written by Tacitus in the Roman era, and Njord appears in lore written in the Viking Age. Linguistically the name Nerthus probably became the name Njord, and thus, Nerthus the goddess probably became Njord the god.

In Viking Age heathen mythology, Njord was briefly married to Skadi, the frost giantess who became a goddess of winter. That story took place in Asgard, though, and Njord, Freya, and Freyr all settled in Asgard as adults, with the status of hostages after the First War. So, Skadi is a stepmother, and after the divorce, a former stepmother. 

A frequently asked question is: How do I get an authentic Viking tattoo? There are lots of art designs that Asatruars and other heathens wear, but if you you want something historically accurate to the Viking Age, there are a few things to keep in mind.