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of her own, where she and her handmaidens spin golden thread and weave clouds. Clairvoyant, Frigg knows of events in the present and future, but cannot affect them. When she learns that her son Balder is fated to die, she tries to alter his destiny by extracting a promise from all things in creation not to harm him. But she neglects the mistletoe, thinking that it is too young and weak to threaten her son. Loki uses Frigg’s omission to bring about Balder’s death and his exile to the underworld. In some traditions, Frigg’s tears become the berries of the mistletoe. When Frigg learns that Balder will be restored to life, she hangs the mistletoe and promises to kiss all those who walk beneath it—adding to the ancient source of the Christmas tradition of mistletoe, which, in Celtic rites, was a sign of goodwill.

Frigg is related to another earlier Germanic goddess, named Frea, and her name is the source of the word “Friday.”

Heimdall Known as “world brightener,” Heimdall is god of dawn and another of Odin’s sons. He is famed for his acute hearing and vision—he can hear grass grow and see for hundreds of miles, day or night—and serves as the lookout on Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge that leads to Asgard, ready to blow a horn signaling that the battle Ragnarok is to begin. Heimdall is also credited with creating social order among humans during his visits to Midgard. In one tale, Heimdall sleeps in a poor man’s hovel and is given meager food. Nine months later, a woman gives birth to Thrall, the first of the race of serfs, or slaves. Next, he sleeps in a farmhouse, where the hardworking people treat him well and he fathers Karl (source of the word “churl”), first of the race of free peasants. Finally, he sleeps in a fine hall, where he is well treated and fathers Jarl (source of the word “earl”), first of the race of noblemen.

When the Battle of Ragnarok finally comes, Loki steals his sword, but Heimdall manages to kill the trickster before dying of his wounds.

Hel The daughter of Loki and a giantess, Hel is the sinister goddess of death and the underworld, who is said to be half-black and half-white. She is cast into the cold regions by Odin, who decrees that she will rule over those who die of sickness or old age. Hel is also the sister of the monstrous wolf Fenrir and the serpent Jormungand, the other creatures who lead the final battle against the gods.

Hel rules the land of the dead, which bears her name. According to descriptions of it, the road to the Norse Hel is a freezing river filled with blocks of ice and weapons, its entrance guarded by a mighty dog similar to the Greek Cerberus.

Idun Wife of Bragi, Idun is goddess of immortality and keeps the golden apples of youth that preserve the gods’ eternal youth. When Loki is coerced into luring Idun away from Asgard so a giant can steal the apples and weaken the gods, Odin and the other gods begin to wither with age. Using a magical falcon skin and citing the secret words—the runes—Loki becomes a bird and flies to the giant’s palace and returns with Idun and the apples, rescuing the gods after having put them in peril in the first place.

Loki The supreme trickster god of uncertain parentage, Loki might be the offspring of the giants—the sworn enemies of the gods. But he is a frequent companion of the gods Odin and Thor. At times destructive and mischievous, Loki is also an appealing god who helps the other deities out of difficulties—usually the very ones he has created.

In the Eddas of Snorri Sturluson, Loki is described as “pleasant and handsome in appearance, wicked in character and very changeable in his ways. He had much more than others that kind of intelligence that is called cunning and stratagems for every eventuality. He was always placing the Aesir into the most difficult situations; and often extracts them by his wiles.”

In a typical story, Loki taunts Odin, who wants to sleep with Freyja after she has bedded the four hideous dwarves in exchange for the marvelous “necklace of the Brisings.” Turning into a fly, Loki finds Freyja asleep, so