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Nabbi A dwarf mentioned only in Hyndluljoth, a section of the Poetic Edda, as one of the creators of the gold-bristled boar Hildisvini. According to this poem, Nabbi and his brother, Dain( 1), made the magical boar.
Naglfar( Conveyance Made of Nails) The ship made from dead men’ s nails. It carried the giants into battle against the gods at Ragnarok. Naglfar’ s size would depend on how many men had been buried with untrimmed fingernails. According to Snorri Sturluson, an ancient superstition said that the nails of the dead must be cut to keep the size of the fatal ship small and thus give the gods a better chance in battle.
Naglfari( Darkling) A giant, the first husband of Nott( night). They had a son named Aud. The only information about this giant comes from the stories of 13th-century Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson in Gylfaginning.
names Norse mythology is rich with meaningful names. Gods may have dozens of names; the supreme god Odin, for example, was known by more than 150 names or titles. Each character, whether human or supernatural, received his or her own name and often many different names. In Norse poetry, swords, chains, wells, animals, and even bridges received names.
Many names of the gods, dwarfs, and giants reflect what scholars see as a strong tradition among the Norse to give significant names to the objects of mythology. Scholars, however, suggest that some of the names in the manuscripts that have survived to modern times reflect a tendency among some editors and scribes of the stories to poke fun at the Norse tradition of naming objects.
Nanna An Aesir goddess, wife of Balder and mother of Forseti. After Balder’ s death, Nanna died of grief, and the gods placed her on his funeral pyre to burn with him. She accompanied Balder to Niflheim, the realm of Hel( 1), and gave gifts to Hermod for him to take back to Asgard.
Narfi( Nari) A son of Loki, the trickster god, and his wife Sigyn. Brother of Vali( 1).
The manuscripts containing the stories of Norse mythology contradict one another in regards to Narfi. The prose conclusion of Lokasenna, a 10th-century poem found in the Poetic Edda, claims that the gods turned Narfi into a wolf and used the intestines of his brother, Vali, to bind Loki to a boulder. However, Snorri Sturluson, who wrote his Prose Edda in the 13th century and likely used Lokasenna as a source, says that the gods turned Vali into a wolf that then killed Narfi. The gods then used Narfi’ s intestines, not Vali’ s, to bind Loki to the rock.
Nastrond( Strand of Corpses) The gruesome shore in Hel( 2) where the corpses of the evil dead washed up and where the dragon Nithog feasted. After Ragnarok( the end of the world), there was still a Nastrond and a Nithog to feed upon the bodies of the dead.
Nerthus( Hertha; Earth) A north German goddess, an Earth Mother, worshipped as a goddess of fertility. Some say that she was the sister-wife of the god Njord and the mother of Frey and Freya. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote that when Nerthus appeared in her wagon, drawn by oxen, it was a cause for rejoicing throughout the land, and sacrifices were made in her honor.
Nidafjoll( Dark Mountains) Two interpretations for this name exist in Norse poetry. One is
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