asgard was called Andvaranaut . Loki gave the treasure to the magician Hreidmar in compensation for killing his son Otr . Eventually , Andvari ’ s gold became the hoard guarded by the dragon Fafnir .
Angantyr ( 1 ) A Berserker . According to the poem Hyndluljodh and the Icelandic Hervarar
Saga , Angantyr was one of the 12 sons of Arngrim and Eyfura and became a warrior with the strength of two men . In this heroic legend , Angantyr inherited the cursed sword Tyrfing from his father , who received the sword as a wedding gift when he married Eyfura . Tyrfing had been crafted by the dwarfs , Dvalin and Durinn .
Angantyr died after he and his 11 brothers fought a furious battle , before which they all entered a trance and became wild and ferocious beings . Angantyr ’ s daughter retrieved the sword from her father ’ s grave and passed it down through the family until it became the weapon of the legendary hero Angantyr ( 2 ), a distant descendent .
Angantyr ( 2 ) A human hero of the Icelandic legend of the cursed sword Tyrfing and the sword ’ s final owner . Angantyr was the son of King Heidrek and a distant descendent of Angantyr ( 1 ), the Berserker .
Angantyr appears primarily in the final portion of the heroic legend Hervarar Saga , which tells the story of several generations of owners of the sword . In the end of the tale , Angantyr , who has become the king of the Goths , kills his half-brother Hlod , who is king of the Huns , with the sword Tyrfing . This is the final act of the dwarfs ’ curse .
Angrboda ( Bringer of Sorrow ) The giantess wife of Loki , the trickster god . According to 13thcentury poet Snorri Sturluson , Angrboda was the mother of three monsters by Loki : the wolf Fenrir ; the goddess of death Hel ( 1 ); and the Midgard Serpent known as Jormungand .
Her name is invoked in the poem Hyndluljod as the mother of the wolf .
Arnamagnaean Codex The first part of a manuscript apparently written in Iceland in the late 1100s or early in the 1200s , now located in the Árni Magnússon Institute in Copenhagen , Denmark . The Arnamagnaean Codex , formally known as AM 748 Ia 4to , is a source of many of the poems that tell the stories of Norse mythology .
The six pages of this handwritten vellum manuscript contain the only known source of the poem
Baldrs Draumar . In addition , the Codex features all or parts of five of the poems from the Poetic Edda .
Grimnismal and Hymiskvitha are complete . Most of Skirnismal , Harbarthsljoth , and Vafthrudnismal are also in this manuscript . However , only the beginning of Volundarkvitha , a heroic legend that tells the story of the life of Volund , has been preserved .
Arvak ( Arvakr ; Early Waker ) One of the two horses that pulled the Sun ’ s chariot , driven by the fair maiden Sol , across the sky . The other horse was Alsvid . They are named in Grimnismal , part of the Poetic Edda , and by Snorri Sturluson in
Gylfaginning .
The horses ’ names are often used in descriptions of the Sun . In the poem Sigrdrifumal , part of the Poetic Edda , Odin writes runes on Arvak ’ s ear and Alsvid ’ s hoof .
as , asa Prefixes in Old Norse that mean “ god .” Occasionally , some gods are known by two versions of their names in the Old Norse Icelandic manuscripts . One example is Thor , who is also called Asa-Thor . The word Asgard means “ realm of or enclosure of the gods .” The name As-Bru , an alternative name for the bridge Bilrost , means “ Aesir-bridge ” or bridge to the gods .
Asgard The realm of the Aesir gods . Odin presides over Asgard , the topmost level of the Nine Worlds . Here the gods and goddesses had their palaces and mansions , called halls .
Asgard was surrounded and protected by a mighty wall constructed by the Giant Master Builder . In the center of Asgard was the green field Idavoll , around which stood the 13 halls of the gods . Among them were : Gladsheim , the main hall of the gods ; Bilskirnir , the hall of Thor ; Fensalir , which belonged to Frigg ; Breidablik , where Balder and his wife , Nanna , lived ; Himinbjorg , the abode of Heimdall ; Glitnir , where Forseti presided ; Sessrumnir , Freya ’ s hall ; and Valhalla , where Odin entertained the slain heroes of the world . Bilrost , the Rainbow Bridge , connected Asgard to Midgard ( Middle Earth ). At Ragnarok , the end of the world , all the beautiful mansions would be destroyed , but the golden playthings of the gods — chess pieces — would remain , and a new world would arise .
Asgard ’ s Wall and the Giant Master Builder The Aesir gods wanted to build a new wall around