Vocabulary

Lofn. Goddess of marriage.
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.