Northvegr.org

The Northern Way

Vocalbulary

Æger. The god of the sea.
Æger’s Daughters. The waves.
Alfheim. The palace of Frey.
Allfather (the Great Spirit). he that lives through all generations, and whom we dare not name; the Creator of the sun, the Ruler of all things; the Lofty one, the Ancient, the Revealer of mysteries, the Manifold, the great almighty God, whom all nations have sought in their mythological systems. He is the father of gods and men; nay, he is the Indescribable. (1)
Agantyr. jarl of the Orkneys. — See “The Saga of Thorstein, Viking’s Son,” ch. 24.
Asas. The Norse deities, whose chief was Odin.
Asgard. The celestial abode of the gods.
Ask. the first man created by the gods.
Astrild. The goddess of love. She is not mentioned in the Norse mythology, but appears in the poems of the later Norse skalds. The name is from the Teutonic root ast, love, and is connected with Easter (Germ. Oster), the feast of Venus among the Britons and Germans.
Balder. Odin’s and Frigg’s son. The god of innocence, piety, and light. he was often called the white god.
Balders-Hage. Balder’s meads. A sanctuary in Sogn in Norway, consecrated to Balder.
Bele. Son of Skate. — See “The Saga of Thorstein, Viking’s Son,” ch. 17.
Berserk. Etymology contested. it undoubtedly comes from berr (Germ. bär; Eng. bear, ursus) and serkr (cp. sark, Scot. for shirt). Hence bear-coats; and we also have men called wolf-coats. Berserks were wild warriors, or champions, in the heathen age.
Berserk-Gang. Berserk’s-course. The fit of fury which seized the berserk when dangerously excited by his martial frenzy.
Bifrost. The trembling bridge. The bridge betwixt heaven and earth, guarded against the giants by Heimdal. The rainbow.
Bjorn Blue-Tooth. — See “The Saga of Thorstein, Viking’s Son.” ch. 3.
Blood-Eagle. To carve the blood-eagle is an expression in the sagas referring to a cruel punishment given to detested enemies or the most wretched villain. it consisted in cutting the figure of an eagle on the back of the sufferer, parting the ribs from the back-bone and drawing the lungs from out the opening.
Brage. The god of poetry and song.
Bran. Fridthjof’s dog. His name seems to have been suggested to Tegnér by a passage in “Ossian” (Temora 8).
Breidablik. Balder’s dwelling. The broad-shining splendor, where nothing impure is found.
Bretland. The land of the Britons.
Chess. The game of chess has been known in the North from the earliest times, and is mentioned again and again in the sagas. The Icelanders are to this day excellent chess-players.
Day. The son of Night and Delling (day-break).
Delling. One of the asas. the last husband of the giantess Night. Delling’s son is Day.
Dises. Goddesses.
Dises’ Hall. Pantheon.
Dwarfs. The Cyclopes (Gr. Kuklwpez) in miniature. Pigmies hideous in form and malevolent in disposition, but excelling in mechanical skill. They made Draupner, Skidblander, Gungner, etc. They dwelt in rocks and caverns, and had quickened as maggots in the body of the slaughtered Ymir.
Dwergmál. Dwarf-language, echo.
Earth. (Jord). Daughter of Night, spouse of Odin, mother of Thor, sister of Day, Etc.
East Sea. The Baltic.
Efje Sound. At the Orkneys.
Einherjes. The happy heroes in Valhal.
Ellide. Fridthjof’s ship.
Fafner. The famous dragon, who sat brooding over the enormous wealth procured for the death of Otter. — See Norse Mythology. p. 375.
Fenris. One of the three monster-offspring of Loke and Angerboda. The giant wolf who devours Odin in Ragnarok.
Folkvang. Freyja’s hall.
Forsete. The son of Balder and Nanna; God of justice.
Framness. A promontory in Sogn, Norway, where Fridthjof’s estate was situated.
Frey. Njord’s son; the god of harvest.
Freyja. Njord’s daughter, Oder’s wife; goddess of love.
Fridthjof. The thief or spoiler of peace.
Frigg. Odin’s wife.
Fylke. originally meant a district capable of supporting an armed force of fifty warriors, and having its own independent chief.
Gandvik. (Serpent-bay). The White Sea, so called from its tortuosity.
Gefjun. The goddess of virgin-purity.
Gerd. Frey’s wife.
Gimle. The home of the righteous after Ragnarok.
Gjallarhorn. Heimdal’s trumpet. It sound was heard through all the worlds.
Glitner. Forsete’s dwelling.
Groning Sound. (Gronsound). The sound betwixt the Danish Isles, Zealand, Moen and Falster.
Hagbart. One of the heroes in the Norse sagas. He was betrothed to the princess Signe, but enmity arose between her father, king Sigar, and him. Sigar took Hagbart prisoner and hanged him. Signe would not survive her lover, but set fire to her bower and perished in the flames. Hagbart and Signe in the North answers to Romeo and Juliet or Abelard and Heloise in the South and West.
Halfdan. Son of Bele.
Hávamál (Song of the High one). One of the poems of the Elder Edda. A collection of maxims given by Odin.
Heimdal. The god of the rainbow, the warder of the gods.
Heimskringla. The earth’s circle; the world.                
Hel. Goddess of death; daughter of Loke and Angerboda.
Helge. Son of Bele.
Hilding. The foster-father of Fridthjof and Ingeborg.
Hoder. the god of darkness and winter. Balder’s blind brother and by Loke’s instigation Balder’s murderer.
Holm-gang. A duel, so called because it was generally fought on a holm (rock-island).
Idavellir. Ida-vales. Ida’s plains; the place where the gods assemble.
Idun. Brage’s wife; the goddess of youth.
Ingeborg. Daughter of Bele.
Iron-head. Kol’s and Trona’s third child hight Harek Iron-head.
Jadar. The present Jæderen in Stavanger Amt, Norway.
Jarl. Earl.
Jotunheim. The home of the giants.
Jumala. (the Supreme). From time immemorial the Finnish term for the Great god. To him no tokens were attributed and no distinguishing qualities. He was the Only, the Highest, he who himself invisible governed all. In Bjarmeland was set up his image, by itself; the lower deities had nothing such. Northward on a cape by Vin-a (the river Dvina) stood this Jumala idol, within a post consecrated thereto and surrounded by a lofty paling. Rich and sacred it was and became a kind of national sanctuary for the Finnish tribes. It is worth of remark that the name Jumiel occurs in the list of angelic princes given in the apocryphal book ascribed to Enoch. The Finnish name of God is still Jumala.

ENDNOTES:

1. (transcriber’s note) This is an attempt to identify Odhinn with the Christian god as there have been attempts to identify Baldr with the Christian Christ. The attempt should be viewed with great skepticism. 

Lofn. Goddess of marriage and forbiden sexual liasons.
Loke. The god of evil; the instigator of Balder’s death. (2)       
Megingjarder. Thor’s belt of strength.
Midgard-serpent. Loke’s and Angerboda’s offspring; brother of Hel and the Fenris-wolf. With his immense tail he encircles the whole earth.
Mimer. Owner of the fountain of wisdom at that root of Ygdrasil which extends to Ginungagap (chaos).
Morven. the north of Scotland.
Muspelheim. Surt’s realm; world of fire, south of Ginungagap.
Muspel’s sons. The flames (cp. the daughters of Æger).
Nanna. Wife of Balder.
Nastrand. (Corpse-strand). The abode of the wicked after death.
Nidhug. A dragon forever gnawing at that root of Ygdrasil that goes to Niflheim.
Niflheim. The nebulous world; the reign of cold and darkness north of Ginungagap.
Norn. There are three chief norns; Urd, Verdande, and Skuld — Past, Present, Future. there are the Fates, or Parcæ.
Odin. The chief among the Teutonic gods.
Orkneys. The Orkneys belonged for a long time to Norway, and were favorite resort for vikings.
Ragnarok. The Twilight of the Gods; the end of the world; the last day.
Ran. Æger’s wife; goddess of the sea.
Ring-ric. The realm of Ring, on the western border of Chrstiania-fjord.
Rota. One of the valkyries.
Rune. One of the characters of the Old Norse alphabet. the runic alphabet has sixteen letters. F, U, Þ, O, R, K, are the first six runes; hence the runic alphabet (a, ß) is called Futhorc. Professor George Stephens is the most distinguished runic scholar living.
Rune-staff. Calender-stave carved with runic signs. It may be used instead of a common almanac.
Rune-stone. A grave-stone carved with runes.
Saga. The goddess of history; the Clio of the North. She sits at Sokvabek relating to Odin the fortunes of gods and men.
Seming. One of Odin’s sons. the historical Odin had three sons: Skjold, whom he made king of Denark; Yngve, whom he made king of Sweden; and Seming, whom he made king of Norway. — See Norse Mythology, p. 232-236.
Sikeley. Sicily. the Norsemen knew this country well. They conquered it in the eleventh century, and Roger united it to Naples by the name of the two Sicilies.
Skinfaxe. Sheen-fax (shining mane). The horse of Day. Night rides ahead with her steed Rimfaxe, who every morn bedews the earth with the foam of his bridle.
Skuld. The norn of the future.
Sleipnir. Odin’s eight-footed steed. Pegasos.
Sokn-sound. Between the islands Sokken and Bro, to the south of Bukkenfjord near Stavanger in Norway.
Sokvabek. The dwelling of Saga.
Solund Isle. At the outlet of Sogn-fjord in Norway lies a group of islands bearing this name.
Sote. A celebrated Norse freebooter.
Streitaland. the residence of king Ring.
Surt. The god of fire; the ruler of Muspelheim.
Syrstrand. the residence of king Bele and his family. It lies opposite Framness in Sogn-fjord.
Thor. The god of strength and thunder; the son of Odin and Earth; the slayer of giants.
Thorstein. Viking’s son. the eldest son of Viking; the father of Fridthjof the bold.
Thrudvang. Thor’s realm.
Thing. (originally meaning talk, conference). the public meeting, diet, assize, parliament, or wittenagemot of the Norsemen.
Tirfing. A sword fabricated by two skillful dwarfs as a ransom for their lives. It was bright as a sunbeam; its hilt and guard were of gold; it defied rust and fracture; would cleave iron or stone as easily as a garment; and whether in single or banded combat, conferred victory on the arm which wielded it; but it should also prove fatal to its original possessor and be the instrument of three heinous crimes. the prophesy was fulfilled.
Upland. A district in Norway comprehending the present amts of Christian and Hedemark, together with the upper Romer-ric.
Upsala. A city and university seat north of Stockholm in Sweden, where there was in olden times a famous temple where the followers of Odin worshiped.
Urd. The norn of the past.
Urd’s Fountain. The fountain of time. It was situated at that root of Ygdrasil that extends to Asgard.
Utgard. The capital of Jotunheim.
Vala. Prophetess. Her prophetic song is “Voluspá,” the first poem in the Elder Edda. She corresponds to the souther sibyl.
Valaskjalf. Vale’s citadel and Odin’s throne.
Vale. Son of Odin and Rind.
Valfather. Father of the slain. One of Odin’s names.
Valhal. The hall of the slain. the heavenly dwelling of the gods and the einherjes.
Valkyries. Choosers of the slain. Maids who on the field of battle elect those who are worthy of going to Valhal.
Vanadis. The väna, i.e. fair goddess, or the goddess of the vans (deities of the water). A surname of Freyja.
Var. The goddess of oaths.
Varg I Véum. Wolf in the sanctuary. Temple-defamer.
Vegtamskvida. The lay of the wayfarer; one of the songs of the Elder Edda, giving an account of Odin’s visit to the realm of Hel to obtain form the vala information about Balder’s fate.
Vidar. The god of silence; one of the sons of Odin; next after Thor the strongest of the gods.
Vifil. See “The Saga of Thorstein, Viking’s Son,” ch. 1.
Vigrid. The battle-field of the gods at Ragnarok; a plain stretching an hundred miles each way.
Viking. See “The Saga of Thorstein, Viking’s Son,”ch. 3, 4.
Vingolf. The floor of friends; the hall of the goddesses in Valhal.
Volund. A finnish smith celebrated in the sagas for his great skill in his trade. He lived a long time at the court of the grim king Nidud in Norway. He finally freed himself from imprisonment and took vengeance on his oppressor. He is a mythical person and corresponds to Vulcan.
White God. A surname of Balder.
Woolen Acre. Formerly a fylke-kingdom in the present province of Vestmanland, Sweden.
Ygdrasil (Ygg’s, i.e. Odin’s bearer). A sacred tree so called because Odin once hung in its branches. It is the world-tree. The tree of time.
Ymer. The giant out of whose body the world was shapen.

ENDNOTES:

2. (transcriber’s note) Again this is a christianization in our view. Nothing more than an attempt at equating Loke with the kristian Satan.