AllFreeNovel
Share Us
GLOSSARY TERMS
Norse Pantheon: Made up of two clans: theAesirwho are considered the main gods and goddesses and live inAsgardwhile theVanirare the fertility gods and goddesses and live inVanaheimr.
Freyja: Often confused with Frigg, Óðinn’s wife, but no one knows if she is married or not (My romantic brain says she’s not and should have her own story). Practicesseidr, or Norse magic, and has a fondness for love, fertility, and beauty.
Idunn: (Pronounced “IH-dune”) The goddess of immortality and grows a special fruit that sustains the gods’ and goddesses’ immortality.
Freyr: (Pronounced “FREY-ur”) Freyja’s twin brother and leader of the Elves and is the god of fertility, well-being, and prosperity.
Óðinn: Supreme deity in Norse mythology and also known as the war god. He is in charge of the female warriors known as Valkyries.
Heimdall: (Pronounced “HAME-doll”) Guardian of the gods’ stronghold, Asgard and lives in the fortress (Sky Cliffs) that sits at the top of the Bifröst.
Baldr: Son of Óðinn and the god of love and light. Loki tricked Baldr’s blind brother, Hodur, guiding his hand as he threw a dart, killing Baldr.
Dökkálfar: Offspring from the unions of light and black elves.Dökkálfarare known as ‘dark elves’ and are considered the lowest class of Elves and are looked down upon by all others. Of course, living in underground cities didn’t help. Too much like dwarves, a race the elves detested.
Svartálfar:The more serious black elves who are extremely talented and intelligent. An ancient Norse historian noted the black elves have skin as black as pitch and many believe them to be dwarves, which is a total insult, of course.
Ljósálfar:The lighthearted, more frivolous light elves are beautiful and have very fair skin. Unfortunately, they annoy both the dark and black elves with their seemingly lack of seriousness.
Dwarves: An ancient race of elves made into slaves and renamed dwarves and after millennia of servitude, they no longer believe themselves the same race and identify as miners, forgers, and artisans. Most detest the light, black, and dark elves for enslaving them.
Loki: The trickster god of Norse mythology and a god of many faces. He pranks, runs afoul of social expectation and the laws of nature, and is most commonly considered a scheming coward. He can also be playful with a witty sense of humor and can be helpful yet malicious. Basically, Loki is only out for Loki.
Fenrir: The son of Loki and brother to Hel. A giant wolf, Fenrir was tortured and imprisoned by the Norse gods when they learned he would kill Óðinn and bring about Ragnarök.
Hel: The daughter of Loki and is the goddess of the Underworld, or Hel, which can get confusing if you don’t know if it’s the person or the place being referred to. She can be dangerous when riled and seems indifferent to both the dead and the living, keeping to herself most of the time.
Beast of Gévaudan: Reported to have killed more than 100 people in Gévaudan, France during the mid 1700s. Reports state the animal was like a wolf yet not, and scholars have suggested it may not be a wolf at all. There were so many attacks, it is believed there may have been more than one creature.Émilienis the source of this creature, cursed by Fer-Diorich to live in the body of a large wolf to become the father of all the cursed wolves.
Fer-Diorich: A Dark Fae of the Celtic pantheon and sentenced for past crimes to live out the rest of his life in the Unseelie court, little more than a Celtic prison. Using magic, experimented on different species until he discovered the perfect formula for a half-man, half-wolf soldier.
Draugar(singular: draugr and pronounced drawger): The undead of the Norse pantheon, living a cursed afterlife, neither dead nor living and no one knows why or who cursed them. Some were evil and doomed by their own malevolent deeds or by a necromancer, but most were decent beings and have no idea why they were cursed.
Bifröst: The rainbow bridge connecting Asgard to Midgard (the human world: Earth).
Ragnarök: The ‘final battle’ where everything will be destroyed and then reborn.
Midgard: One of the Nine Worlds in Norse beliefs and known as Earth.
Seidir: (Pronounced “Saydir”) A form of pre-Christian Norse magic and shamanism discerning the course of fate, working within its structure to bring about change, often by symbolically weaving new events into being.
Álfheimr: The home of the elves and Freyr. Destroyed during the Great War.
Svartheimr:The home of the dwarves, distant cousins of the elves and used as slaves. A small faction resents that and can’t let go of the past while the rest prefer to start over. Most would even like to forgive the elves, knowing those who believed in slavery were killed during the Great War.
Niflheimr:The frozen realm that Hel rules over. The dead live inHelheimr:Ævibjoðis the forever lands (the part of Helheimr where the living reside) andVígvöllris the field of battles. Hel’s castle is namedEljudnir.
Celtic Pantheon: Also known as theTuatha Dé Danannand worshiped by the ancient Celts across Europe as well as England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
Morrigan: (pronounced Mor-REE-gun) She is the Celtic goddess of death, destiny, and battle. Known as the triple goddess, along with her sistersNemain(creates the frenzy of war and the thirst for blood) andMacha(associated with the land and the reason for war. She creates the thirst and vengeance in every warrior’s heart).
Arawn: (pronounced ah-rown, the second syllable is like ‘clown’ in English). The Celtic God of Death and often symbolizes war, revenge, terror, and hunting.
Egyptian Pantheon: An integral part of the people's everyday lives, there were more than two thousand deities in this ancient pantheon of gods and goddesses. The gods evolved from an animistic belief system to one which was highly anthropomorphic and imbued with magic.
Osiris: Ruler of the Egyptian “Everafter” (the Underworld where the dead lived). Killed by his brother Set, his wife (and sister), Isis, saved him. Along with judging the dead, Osiris began to be associated with the cycles observed in nature.
