Hotel Valhalla [Magnus Chase Series]

Glossary

AEGIR—lord of the waves

AESIR—gods of war, close to humans

ALF SEIDR—elf magic

ALFHEIM—the home of the light elves

ANGRBODA—the giantess mother of Fenris Wolf, Jormungand, and Hel, with Loki

ASGARD—the home of the Aesir

BALDER—god of light; the second son of Odin and Frigg, and brother of Hod. Frigg made all earthly things swear to never harm her son, but she forgot about mistletoe. Loki tricked Hod into killing Balder with a dart made of
mistletoe.

BIFROST—the rainbow bridge leading from Asgard to Midgard

BRISINGAMEN—Freya’s signature piece of jewelry, a ruby-and-diamond
lacework necklace of unsurpassed beauty

BROKKR AND SINDRI—the dwarves who made Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir

EIKTHRYMIR—a stag in the Tree of Laeradr whose horns spray water nonstop that feeds every river in every world

EINHERJAR (EINHERJI, sing.)—great heroes who have died with bravery on Earth; soldiers in Odin’s eternal army; they train in Valhalla for Ragnarok, when the bravest of them will join Odin against Loki and the giants in the battle at the end of the world

FENRIS WOLF—an invulnerable wolf born of Loki’s affair with a giantess; his mighty strength strikes fear even in the gods, who keep him tied to a rock
on an island. He is destined to break free on the day of Ragnarok.

FJALAR AND GJALAR—two nasty dwarves who killed Kvasir

FOLKVANGER—the Vanir afterlife for slain heroes, ruled by the goddess Freya

FREY—the god of spring and summer; the sun, the rain, and the harvest;
abundance and fertility, growth and vitality. Frey is the twin brother of
Freya and, like his sister, is associated with great beauty. He is lord of Alfheim.

FREYA—the goddess of love; twin sister of Frey; ruler of Folkvanger

FRIGG—goddess of marriage and motherhood; Odin’s wife and the queen of
Asgard; mother of Balder and Hod

GERI AND FREKI—two wolves who often accompany Odin

GINNUNGAGAP—the primordial void; a mist that obscures appearances

GLEIPNIR—a rope made by dwarves to keep Fenris Wolf in bondage

GUNGNIR—Odin’s staff

HEIDRUN—the goat in the Tree of Laeradr whose milk is brewed for the
magical mead of Valhalla

HEIMDALL—god of vigilance and the guardian of the Bifrost, the gateway to
Asgard

HEL—goddess of the dishonorable dead; born of Loki’s affair with the giantess Angrboda

HELHEIM—the underworld, ruled by Hel and inhabited by those who died in wickedness, old age, or illness

HLIDSKJALF—the High Seat of Odin

HOD—Balder’s blind brother

HONIR—an Aesir god who, along with Mimir, traded places with Vanir gods
Frey and Njord at the end of the war between the Aesir and the Vanir

HUGINN AND MUNINN—two ravens who bring Odin information from all over Midgard

IDUN—a goddess who distributes the apples of immortality that keep the gods young and spry

JORMUNGAND—the World Serpent, born of Loki’s affair with a giantess; his body is so long it wraps around the earth

JOTUN—giant

JOTUNHEIM—the home of the giants

KVASIR—a wise god born of the saliva of the Aesir and the Vanir

LOKI—god of mischief, magic, and artifice; the son of two giants; adept with magic and shape-shifting. He is alternatively malicious and heroic to the
Asgardian gods and to humankind. Because of his role in the death of
Balder, Loki was chained by Odin to three giant boulders with a
poisonous serpent coiled over his head. The venom of the snake
occasionally irritates Loki’s face, and his writhing is the cause of
earthquakes.

LYNGVI—the Isle of Heather, where Fenris Wolf is bound; the island’s location shifts every year as the branches of Yggdrasil sway in the winds
of the void. It only surfaces during the first full moon of each year.

MAGNI AND MODI—Thor’s favorite sons, fated to survive Ragnarok

MIDGARD—the home of humans

MIMIR—an Aesir god who, along with Honir, traded places with Vanir gods
Frey and Njord at the end of the war between the Aesir and the Vanir.
When the Vanir didn’t like his counsel, they cut off his head and sent it to Odin. Odin placed the head in a magical well, where the water brought it back to life, and Mimir soaked up all the knowledge of the World Tree.

MJOLNIR—Thor’s hammer

MUSPELLHEIM—the home of the fire giants and demons

NARVI—one of Loki’s sons, disemboweled by his brother Vali, who was
turned into a wolf after Loki killed Balder

NIDAVELLIR—the home of the dwarves

NIDHOGG—the dragon that lives at the bottom of the World Tree and chews
on its roots

NIFLHEIM—the world of ice, fog, and mist

NJORD—god of ships, sailors, and fishermen; father of Frey and Freya

NORNS—three sisters who control the destinies of both gods and humans

ODIN—the “All-Father” and king of the gods; the god of war and death, but
also poetry and wisdom. By trading one eye for a drink from the Well of
Wisdom, Odin gained unparalleled knowledge. He has the ability to
observe all the Nine Worlds from his throne in Asgard; in addition to his great hall, he also resides in Valhalla with the bravest of those slain in battle.

RAGNAROK—the Day of Doom or Judgment, when the bravest of the einherjar
will join Odin against Loki and the giants in the battle at the end of the world

RAN—goddess of the sea; wife of Aegir

RATATOSK—an invulnerable squirrel that constantly runs up and down the
World Tree carrying insults between the eagle that lives at the top and Nidhogg, the dragon that lives at the roots

RED GOLD—the currency of Asgard and Valhalla

SAEHRIMNIR—the magical beast of Valhalla; every day it is killed and cooked for dinner and every morning it is resurrected; it tastes like whatever the
diner wants

SESSRUMNIR—the Hall of Many Seats, Freya’s mansion in Folkvanger

SIF—Thor’s wife

SKIRNIR—a god; Frey’s servant and messenger

SLEIPNIR—Odin’s eight-legged steed; only Odin can summon him; one of Loki’s children

SNORRI STURLUSON—an Icelandic historian, poet, and author of The Prose Edda

SUMARBRANDER—the Sword of Summer

SURT—lord of Muspellheim

SVARTALF—dark elf, a subset of dwarves

TANNGNJÓSTR AND TANNGRISNR—Thor’s goats, who pull his chariot and also supply him with daily sustenance; after being killed, cooked, and eaten, they can resurrect themselves eternally

THANE—a lord of Valhalla

THJAZI—a giant who kidnapped Idun

THOR—god of thunder; son of Odin. Thunderstorms are the earthly effects of Thor’s mighty chariot rides across the sky, and lightning is caused by
hurling his great hammer, Mjolnir.

TREE OF LAERADR—a tree in the center of the Feast Hall of the Slain in
Valhalla containing immortal animals that have particular jobs

TYR—god of courage, law, and trial by combat; he lost a hand to Fenris’s bite when the Wolf was restrained by the gods

ULLER—the god of snowshoes and archery

UTGARD-LOKI—the most powerful sorcerer of Jotunheim; king of the
mountain giants

VALHALLA—paradise for warriors in the service of Odin

VALI—Loki’s son, who was turned into a wolf after Loki killed Balder; as a
wolf he disemboweled his brother Narvi before he was gutted himself

VALKYRIE—Odin’s handmaidens who choose slain heroes to bring to Valhalla

VANAHEIM—the home of the Vanir

VANIR—gods of nature; close to elves

YGGDRASIL—the World Tree

YMIR—the largest of the giants; father to both the giants and the gods. He was killed by Odin and his brothers, who used his flesh to create Midgard. This act was the genesis of the cosmic hatred between the gods and the giants.