AEGIR—lord of the waves

AESIR—gods of war, close to humans

ALLAHU akbar—God is greater

ARGR—Norse for unmanly

BALDER—an Aesir god, son of Odin and Frigg, brother of many, including Thor; he was so handsome, gracious, and cheerful that he gave off light

BERSERKER—a Norse warrior frenzied in battle and considered invulnerable

BIFROST—the rainbow bridge leading from Asgard to Midgard

BOLVERK—an alias used by Odin

BRAGI—god of poetry

BRUNNMIGI—a being who urinates into wells

CAILLEACH—Gaelic for witch or hag

DRAUGR—Norse zombies

EID al-fitr—a holiday celebrated by Muslims to mark the end of Ramadan

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

EINVIGI—Norse for single combat

ELDHUSFIFL—Norse for village idiot

FARBAUTI—the jotun husband of Laufey and father of Loki

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.

FLYTING—a verbal duel of insults, in which the contestants must display prestige, power, and confidence

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

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

GARM—the guard dog of Hel

GINNUNGAGAP—the primordial void; a mist that obscures appearances

GJALLAR—Heimdall’s horn

GLAMOUR—illusion magic

GROVE OF GLASIR—trees in the realm of Asgard, outside the doors of Valhalla, with golden red leaves. Glasir means gleaming.

HALAL—meat prepared as required by Muslim law

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

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

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

HRUNGNIR—brawler

HUGINN AND MUNINN—Odin’s ravens, whose names mean thought and memory, respectively

HULDER—a domesticated forest sprite

IDUN—a beautiful goddess of youth, who supplies the other gods and goddesses with apples of immortality

INSHALLAH—God willing

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

JOTUN—giant

KENAZ—the torch, the fire of life

KONUNGSGURTHA—Norse for king’s court

KVASIR—a man created from the spit of the Aesir and Vanir gods, to represent the peace treaty between them after their war

KVASIR’s Mead—a drink that grants the gift of oration, created from a combination of Kvasir’s blood and honey

LAUFEY—the jotun wife of Farbauti and mother of Loki

LINDWORM—a fearsome dragon the size and length of an eighteen-wheeler, with just two front legs and leathery brown bat-type wings too small for effective flight

LOKI—god of mischief, magic, and artifice; the son of two giants, Farbauti and Laufey; adept with magic and shape-shifting. He is alternately 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 can cause earthquakes.

MAGHRIB PRAYER—the fourth of five formal daily prayers performed by practicing Muslims, prayed just after sunset

MEINFRETR—stinkfart

MIKILLGULR—Norse for big yellow

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.

MINIé ball—a type of bullet used in muzzle-loading rifles during the Civil War

MJÖЗNorse for mead

MJOLNIR—Thor’s hammer

NAGLFAR—the Ship of Nails

NJORD—Vanir god of the sea, father of Frey and Freya

NØKK—a nixie, or water spirit

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.

OTHALA—inheritance

QURANIC—something relating or belonging to the Quran, the central religious text of Islam

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

RAMADAN—a time for spiritual purification achieved through fasting, self-sacrifice, and prayers, celebrated in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar

RAN—goddess of the sea; wife of Aegir

RED gold—the currency of Asgard and Valhalla

SIF—goddess of the earth; mother of Uller by her first husband; Thor is her second husband; the rowan is her sacred tree

SIGYN—Loki’s wife

SKADI—an ice giantess once married to Njord

SKALDS—poets who composed at the courts of leaders during the Viking Age

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

SUHUR—the pre-dawn meal eaten by practicing Muslims during Ramadan

SUMARBRANDER—the Sword of Summer

THANE—a lord of Valhalla

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.

THRALL—a slave, servant, or captive

THRYM—king of the jotun

THRYMHEIMR—Thunder Home

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

TVEIRVIGI—double combat

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

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

VALHALLA—paradise for warriors in the service of Odin

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

VANIR—gods of nature; close to elves

VATNAVAETTIR (each-uisce in Ireland)—water horses

VIGRIDR—a plain that will be the site of the battle between the gods and Surt’s forces during Ragnarok

VILI AND VE—the two younger brothers of Odin, who, together with him, shared a role in the shaping of the cosmos and are the first of the Aesir. When Odin was abroad for a long time, Vili and Ve ruled in his stead, alongside Frigg.

WERGILD—blood debt

WYRD—fate

YMIR—the ancestor of all gods and jotun