Also known as LODER, LOKE, LOKKJU, LOPTER, LOPTI LOKI: God of Hokey Pokey and one of the world's major Trickster Gods. In his early days LOKI was a rascal; crafty, sneaky, silly and malicious — a Loki The Lad. The son of two Giants, he was so outrageously mischievous that he even sneaked his way into becoming a God. He was the first Anti-Hero, quick-witting his way out of the tight corners and confrontations caused by his misdeeds. But as time wore on he became increasingly nasty. His first escapade was a very rampant romp. When the Gods were struggling to build ASGARD, they found they'd run out of funds. Which is not surprising as money and banks hadn't been invented yet. All the basic construction had been completed but they needed a large protective wall to keep the riff-raff out. LOKI came up with the plan of contracting a Giant to do the job. As payment, the Giant asked for the Sun and Moon and also the Goddess FREYA if the work was completed to schedule. The Gods were not too sure. "Don't worry," advised LOKI. "He'll never manage it on his own, even if he works night and day — and the deal will be off. We'll let him keep the wheelbarrow or something." Alas, the Giant was not on his own. He had a huge stallion called Svadilfari, which could haul boulders like there was no tomorrow. With three days to go, FREYA was in distress and the Gods aghast. Now LOKI, like fire and smoke, was a shape-changer from the word go. A talent he'd developed to make him the shiftiest transmogrifier of all time — from flea to fish to fast flying feathers in 0.3 seconds. So he changed himself into a mare and seduced the Giant's stallion. By whinnying and prancing off into the woods, Svadilfari was led far away from the stone pile. With his horse missing, the Giant didn't quite make the schedule. Seething with rage, he tried to take FREYA by force — until THOR cracked his skull with his hammer. Meanwhile LOKI was having a fine old time frolicking in the fields. In fact he became pregnant, and decided to sample the joys of motherhood. He gave birth to a fine baby boy stallion with eight legs. He gave this as a gift to ODIN and it was called SLEIPNIR. LOKI was now well in with top God ODIN and his son THOR, with whom he shared numerous adventures. THOR, the perfect fall guy, was persuaded to appear in drag as the prospective bride of a giant and other embarrassments. THOR could always be relied on to supply the muscle when corners became too tight for trickery. LOKI had many run-ins with the dwarves, which he cheated at any opportunity until they stitched him up. Literally. They stitched his mouth shut, which kept him quiet for quite some time. LOKI never missed an opportunity to take advantage of any Goddess, despite already having had three wives. The first not many folk know about, and it is only by assiduous research we have discovered GLUT, who bore two daughters EINMYRIA and EISA. Next was ANGRBODA, a giantess who spawned FENRIR the Giant Wolf, JORMUNGAND the Earth-encircling Serpent, and HEL the Underworld Goddess. Finally there was his wife SIGYN, who produced their ill-fated sons NARVI and VALI(2). For further LOKI adventures, click your way to ANDVARI, FAFNIR, GEIRROD, THIASSI and BALDUR. And check out our Loki Trickster Wearables! We are still investigating the mysterious theft of FREYA's precious necklace Brisingamen when a flea was seen to flee the scene. As a well-known God of bed-hopping, fingers of suspicion are already pointing at you-know-who. As the most scandalous God of all time, LOKI was seldom out of the Nordic News or the Sunday Runes. But his tricks came to an end after causing the death of BALDUR. Now he's trapped in eternal punishment until RAGNAROK rolls around.

Also known as GANGLERI, ODINN, OTHINN, VAK, VALTAM ODIN: The Norse Biggy. ODIN is Father of the Gods, King of ASGARD, Ruler of the AESIR and the Lord of War, Death and Knowledge. To travel the world without being recognised, he wears a huge wide-brimmed hat. He also — thanks to LOKI — rides an eight-legged horse named SLEIPNIR into battle. All he needs is a six-shooter and a sheriff's badge to be able to stand in for John Wayne in True Grit. His biggest fans include the Berserkers, which should give you some idea. He's also very hot on Knowledge and Military Intelligence, having two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who fly around the world every day bringing up-to-date reports. ODIN himself has only one eye, having traded the other one for a sip from MIMIR's Well of Wisdom during his visit to the great World Tree YGGDRASIL. Consequently he's full of knowledge, while his missing eye is hidden in an unknown location care of MIMIR the Talking Head. The eye enabled MIMIR to focus on far-distant events, allowing ODIN the ability to always see far ahead. To become the Top Wise Guy, ODIN put himself through some incredibly rigorous ordeals. The Well of Wisdom lies under the second root of YGGDRASIL, which allows the Dew of Knowledge to seep into it. So ODIN stabbed himself with his own spear and hung himself on the tree for nine days and nights. He was then allowed a peep, and saw magic runes appear on rocks beneath him. With a superhuman effort he struggled to lift them, which must have been quite an acrobatic feat. Running his eye over the mystic symbols, he was instantly freed of all encumbrances; restored and rejuvenated with everlasting vigour enabling him to drop lightly to the ground. His ordeal accomplished, ODIN was at last able to take a well-deserved swig from MIMIR's well, making him well-wise as well as wise. It was even tastier than his usual tipple Kvas, the Mead of Inspiration, a special brew made from the blood of KVASIR. If you think a wise one-eyed Norse cowboy on an eight-legged horse would be easy to recognise, this ain't necessarily so for ODIN is a shape-changer, and his range of disguises make Sherlock Holmes look like Miss Marple. He also travels incognito under a variety of false names. Sharing primeval God status with brothers VE and VILI, the Great ODIN helped bring the world as we know it into being, so we can forgive his little foibles. The legend tells that in the ice-laden wastes of NIFLHEIM, he got into a rather catastophic snowball fight with YMIR, the king of the FROST-GIANTS. The Abominable Snowgiant was slashed into pieces and ODIN made the world from all the bits. He even found a use for the eyebrows. ODIN's dad is BOR, son of BURI, son of an ice cube. Married to FRIGG (with the occasional Freya fling and flirtation with RIND), the family firm includes BALDUR, HOD, HERMOTH, THOR and VIDAR. See also WODEN.

Also known as WODAN, WOTAN, WODIN WODEN: God of Wednesday. He's the Germanic version of ODIN, so it should really be called Odinesday. There is more. The Persians called it Red Letter Day as that was the day the Moon was created. The last Wednesday in November is called Black Wednesday but don't ask me why.

Also known as BALDER, BALDR BALDUR: ODIN's son BALDUR is the Scandinavian God of Peace. Not to be confused with hair piece. A champion of goodness, innocence and forgiveness, he was loved by everybody. But news has just reached us that he was killed by LOKI. The good news is that, due to extensive mourning by all earthly things, he may be brought back to life. No. It's failed — one old hag called Thokk has refused to weep, saying he never done nuffin for her. How did he die? Every thing in existence had promised never to harm him, thus making him completely indestructable. In fact he was so impervious to injury that at banquets guests used to amuse themselves by hurling things at him. So how did LOKI kill him? (It's more convoluted than Agatha Christie but bear with us.) Ah, when all the world was promising not to hurt him, there was an abstainer. Mistletoe. Yes, mistletoe. When LOKI found this out, he made a dart of sharpened mistletoe and gave it to a blind god called HOD. In the middle of a banquet, HOD with sharp ears and sharp mistletoe hit the target. Zap! But that's not the end of it. The old hag Thokk turns out to have been arch-villain LOKI in one of his many disguises. When confronted he tried to escape by turning into a salmon. But he was not slippery enough to escape the net and now faces perpetual punishment. But there's more! HOD turns out to be BALDUR's unsuspecting twin brother. But was he full of hidden hatred? Will BALDUR return? Can HERMOTH save him from the Underworld? Can you wait for the next instalment? Stay tuned for Part Two of the Baldur Murder Mystery!

Also known as DONAR THOR: God of Thunder. Thursday is Thorsday. Son of ODIN and JORD, he's the famous Scandinavian God with Hammer, the burly red-bearded Lord of Thunderstorms. He rides through the storm clouds in a chariot pulled by goats and throws his hammer MJOLLNIR all over the place to create lightning. Thud Thud Clang. As perhaps you might expect, he's not terribly bright and LOKI was always leading him astray. But they were firm friends and THOR was always ready to bash his enemies with the business end of his hammer. Married to SIF, he's also been known to have a fling with the Giantess JARNSAXA, with whom he produced the equally fearsome MAGNI and MODI. His daughter is THRUD. And that's not an insult, it's her name. See also DONAR.

DONAR: The Original Thundergod who donated the symbol of the Thunderbolt to THOR. This symbol was in the form of a swastika. It should have been used on the Nazis and not by them. Despite their Teutonic twaddle the Nazis were not nice or Norse.

Also known as FREYJA FREYA: Goddess of Love, Fertility and Sexual Desire. She's also a feisty warrior and Queen of the VALKYRIES. The daughter of NJORD, and the beautiful twin sister of FREYR, she is — to put it in modern vernacular — a bit of a goer. She did marry a God called OD, causing much confusion amongst academics and historians who have confused him with ODIN leading to further confusion by confusing her with FRIGG. (This is why you need Godchecker.) But OD was a bit of a goer himself and nipped out one day for pastures new. This caused much weeping of golden tears, but as usual FREYA made the best of a bad job and really went off the rails. She ran wild with Gods, mortals, giants and dwarves. The stories and allegations of how she gained possession of Brisingamen, the golden amber necklace of desire, are scandalous. Especially the one about her bedding four dwarves in turn before they would give it to her. But this sort of thing is just titillation. In any case, the necklace was stolen by LOKI and — although it was rescued by HEIMDALL — we don't think she got it back. Being a strong-willed warrior maiden, she joined and then led the VALKYRIES — so that she could have first pick of the slain battlefield warriors. Most of the slain go to VALHALLA, but the good-looking heroes go straight to her palace for rest and recuperation. But FREYA does have a softer side — she loves romantic music and bunches of flowers. Her daughters are the beautiful HNOSS and the equally beautiful GERSEMI.

Also known as AASGARD, ASGARDR, Ã…SGARD, GODHEIM, GODHEIMR ASGARD: This is Norse God H.Q, where the AESIR live and rule. ASGARD lies at the far side of BIFROST, the Rainbow Bridge, and security is very tight. You won't get in unless you're a dead hero on the way to VALHALLA via the tradesman's entrance. The halls of ASGARD have been built to withstand the onslaught of giants, and for extra security the exact geography of the place is a closely-guarded secret. Although brochures of the warrior's paradise VALHALLA are readily available, what goes on in THRUDHEIM and the remaining halls is out of bounds. The Gods seem to do most of their carousing at their local club, a banqueting hall called GLADSHEIM. They are often to be found hanging out at the Well of Urd to catch up on the latest gossip from the Three NORNS as they sit in the shade of YGGDRASIL. We live in MIDGARD and below is NIFLHEIM or Deadville. The Norse Gods are mad about the number nine so there are another six regions floating about somewhere. Even the most ancient legends contradict each other on the subject. We would guess that after enough beers it all makes sense. See NINE-WORLDS.

NINE-WORLDS: The Nordics liked nines. So they have nine worlds. YGGDRASIL, the Tree of Life, has nine roots which feed or lead to different realms. Starting from the bottom up, theres: 1 : HELHEIM, HEL's Domain of the Dead 2 : NIFLHEIM, the frosty Realm of Ice 3 : JOTUNHEIM, Land of the Giants 4 : NIDAVELLIR, the Land of Dwarfs 5 : SVARTALFHEIM, the Domain of the Dark Elves 6 : MIDGARD, Middle-earth, our bit, the Realm of Mankind 7 : ALFHEIM, the Land of the Light Elves 8 : VANAHEIM, the World of the VANIR 9 : ASGARD, the World of the AESIR Also fitting somehow into the picture are MUSPELL, a sort of no-man's-land of Fire Giants, and GINNUNGAGAP, the ancient Void of Chaos. And don't forget YGGDRASIL itself. This is the tree you need to talk to.

Also known as TIWAL, TIW, TIWAZ, THINGS, ZIU TYR: Started off as a fearless Germanic God of War, and became ODIN's left hand man when the Vikings came along. He's bold and brave, but not too bright. Who else would be brave or foolhardy enough to keep FENRIR, the supernatural monster wolf, as a pet? Whilst FENRIR was being restrained with a chain, he put his hand in the creature's mouth as a gesture of goodwill. Not a good idea. Now he is very left-handed as that is the only hand he has left. (Tolkien fans will note the similarity to Beren The One-Handed here.) Can you be a right-hand man if you don't have a right hand? About TYR's only legacy now is that Tuesday is named after him. What he did on Tuesday we're not quite sure. Perhaps it was his day off. TYR is shrouded in a great deal of mystery, speculation and rumor. He might be older than ODIN or even ODIN's son, and may once have been a wooden pillar that supported the Universe. TYR could also have Celtic connections, putting himself about as NUADA of the Silver Hand with claims to have lost his hand in battle. The Germans or Teutons, who lost no opportunity to invade Mythology, called him Ziu or Tiuz, which could of course cause confusion with ZEUS. They also called him Things, from which the German word for Tuesday (Dienstag) is derived. He has even been associated with Mars, probably by the U.F.O. tribe. The only certified documentation that can be produced is via the Norse Legends, but how often do Gods get asked to produce a passport? Anyway, TYR is waiting for his revenge on the wolf FENRIR during RAGNAROK (he won't get it). Then again, RAGNAROK may already have happened, in which case TYR will have killed GARM the Monster Hound belonging to HEL.

Also known as GOTTERDAMMERUNG, RAGNARÖK, RAGNARØKR, RAGNORAK RAGNAROK: The End of the World and Doom of the Gods. (Literally 'Destruction of the Powers'. After three terrible winters of bitterness and conflict, SKOLL will eat the sun and his brother HATI will scoff the moon. Three cocks will crow (or is that three crows will cock?) and HEIMDALL will finally blow his awesome horn, bringing the Gods to the final battle. All hell will be let loose. The Earth will tremble, FENRIR's bonds will be shaken loose, and JORMUNGAND will emerge causing awful devastation with every twist of his serpent body. Everybody who's anybody will be beating the living daylights out of their enemies in a final glorious slaughter of Gods, Giants, Monsters and Dwarfs. Even the dead will join in with LOKI as their captain. And nobody will win. The Gods will defeat their enemies but be defeated themselves, and everyone and everything will perish utterly. Only two people will survive. LIF and LIFTHRASIR, two humans hiding in a secret forest, will awaken to find a lush and empty new world waiting for them…

Also known as FENRIS, FENRIC, FENRISULFR FENRIR: The wolf monster son of LOKI who turned rather nasty and had to be bound over to keep the peace with a magic chain. Even then he managed to bite off TYR's hand. One adventurous day ODIN chanced upon LOKI's monstrous brood. He cast HEL into HELHEIM, and slung JORMUNGAND into the sea, but brought FENRIR the puppy back to ASGARD where an eye could be kept on him. After all, he might prove useful as a guard dog. TYR was given the job of kennel master, but as FENRIR grew at an alarming rate and became ferociously menacing, it became apparent he could not be taken for walkies much longer. It was decided FENRIR should be restrained. After twice snapping the chains with which he was entwined with a leer that said 'Now what?', FENRIR caused great alarm. So the Gods called in the technical experts known as dwarves. Instead of a heavy-duty macho chain, they forged a very slender little ribbon which hardly seemed up to the job. It was fashioned from the following magical ingredients: The Sound of a Prowling Cat The Beard of a Woman The Roots of a Mountain The Sinews of a Bear The Breath of a Fish and the Spittle of a Bird. But strangely enough this innocent little ribbon was infinitely tough and more than enough to keep FENRIR restrained. FENRIR, however, declined to be trussed until TYR placed a hand in the wolfish mouth as a gesture of trust. The creature was bound over and now has to keep the peace. He also kept TYR's hand which he bit off. When RAGNAROK comes, FENRIR will finally manage to break his bonds and join the giants in their final battle against the Gods. ODIN will go the way of TYR's hand and be swallowed alive before FENRIR is finally dispatched by VIDAR's avenging sword.

Also known as HELL, HELA HEL: Goddess of the Inglorious Dead and Queen of HELHEIM, the Norse Underworld. The daughter of LOKI and ANGRBODA, she's an ugly half-dead hag with gangrene legs and a hideous face. Which just shows that sometimes you can judge by appearances. Having been banished to the Underworld by order of ODIN — merely for being the ugly evil daughter of LOKI — she made the place her own and became HEL of the HELHEIM Hell Hall. Which tends to become hellishly confusing. Yes, her name gives us the word 'Hell', but her domain is almost the complete opposite of SATAN's abode: it's cold, damp, and populated by the kind of apathetic souls most devils would hardly feel worth the trouble of roasting. In fact most souls go to HELHEIM because they've spent their lives sitting on their asses instead of killing, pillaging and then singing rude songs about it. It's a melancholy and depressing place filled with gloomy pessimistic spirits. Which is why HEL is also Goddess of the Blues. Half her body is blue and the words associated with her say it all: dank, clouds, hunger, tardy feet, splendid misery... Plus authoress of 'Nine Ways Out Of This World' and singer of jazz classic 'Oh Baby, Trouble in Mind' on the Doom and Gloom label, also known as 'What the Hel we gonna do now?'

Also known as HELGARDH HELHEIM: The Icy Underworld and Land of the Dead ruled by HEL. Inhabited by a growing population of ghastly spirits — in particular, the souls of cowards, losers, wastrels, lazybums and liars — HELHEIM is a grim place at the best of times. With marrow-clenching cold and no heating facilities, there is nothing for the punished soul to do except shiver out their miserable stint in eternity. If you ever get haunted by a spectre, you can easily tell if it's come from HELHEIM — the ghost will be shivering and covered with goosebumps instead of you. The place appears to be a frozen subsidiary of NIFLHEIM of the NINE-WORLDS, the vast underground realm of ice. But HELHEIM is at the dead center of operations. It's HEL in there.

NIFLHEIM: The underground Realm of Ice and the ancient place where FROST-GIANTS, YMIR and practically everything else in Norse Mythology was created. See NINE-WORLDS. Next door is GINNUNGAGAP, the Cosmic Void, and at the center is the hellish domain of HELHEIM. The NIBELUNGS live here but they don't take kindly to opera singers.

Godchecker/Countries/Gods from Norse Mythology... JOTUNHEIM JOTUNHEIM: Land of the Giants. And we're not talking about the television show. This is one of the NINE-WORLDS, where the FROST-GIANTS and Rock Giants have their abode.

NIDAVELLIR: The Land of the Dwarfs. See NINE-WORLDS. SVARTALFHEIM: The Land of the Dark Elves. See NINE-WORLDS. MIDGARD: The Realm of Mankind. This is the Earthy bit of Norse cosmology where all the humans live. See NINE-WORLDS. MIDGARD actually means 'Middle-earth', the place sandwiched between heaven and hell. Tolkien fans will notice yet another instance of Norse inspiration here.

ALFHEIM: The Land of the Light Elves. See NINE-WORLDS. VANAHEIM: The World of the VANIR. See NINE-WORLDS. VANIR: Rival Gods to the AESIR. They were mostly wild and rough Nature Gods and detested the more noble Warrior Gods, who included ODIN, THOR, et al. But after a number of battles and betrayals, the two sides were reconciled. The VANIR now live next door to the AESIR in VANAHEIM.

AESIR: The Norse Top Gods, including ODIN, THOR, LOKI et al. They rule the world from the heavenly ASGARD. They must never be let loose in a marathon. The VANIR were their mortal enemies. Or should that be immortal enemies? However, after wars and trickery and exciting tales, the two familes of Gods were more or less reconciled. See KVASIR.

SURT: Nordic. Means Soot. Mr Sooty is a Fire Giant ruling the fireworld of MUSPELL. He's been going since before creation, waiting for RAGNAROK so he can consume the world in spectacular volcanic eruptions.