Image: Asgard
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I. The Gods

In the heavens lived two clans of gods.
 The Aesir were warrior gods and mighty Odin was their king.
Odin had many companions.
His son Thor, the god of thunder, was born to him from the earth goddess Jord.
Vidar, the god of vengeance, was the son of Odin and the giantess Grid.
However, Odin chose Frigg, the goddess of motherhood, as his queen.
Frigg bore Odin two sons Tyr, the god of courage, and Baldr, the god of beauty.
Those among the Aesir who were not Odin's family were Loki, the god of discord and fire,
and Mimir, the god of wisdom.

The Vanir were fertility gods, and their leader was Njord.
Njord was the god of the sea and took the goddess Nerthus as his wife.
Nerthus gave Njord two children Frey, the god of light, and his sister Freyja, the goddess of love.
There were also many gods not related to Njord.
Gullveig was one of them and the Vanir loved her dearly,
for she was the goddess of wealth.
The Vanir often called her Heidr, meaning bright one,
for she showered them with gold and good fortune.


Njord
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II. The War

When Loki saw how rich the Vanir had become, he convinced Odin to send for Gullveig.
Loki claimed that he could trick her into giving up the secret of the Vanir's wealth.
However, Gullveig was not fooled by Loki and refused to tell him her secrets.
Angered by the goddess, Loki took his spear and ran her through, but she did not die.
Loki burned her three times with fire, and each time, she was reborn.
Finally Gullveig was set free,
but when the Vanir learned what had happened, they waged war on the Aesir.

The two sides fought endlessly,
and when it looked as though neither one would win,
Odin's son Thor proposed a challenge to decide the victor.
The thunder god boasted that not even the best of the Vanir could defeat him man to man.
Njord accepted Thor's challenge, but added that they should fight with spears
for he had seen Thor's war hammer Mjolnir in battle,
and knew that it would never miss its target.
Thor agreed, and the two gods met at the center of the battlefield.


Thor
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Njord made the first move and hurled his spear at his opponent,
but Thor ducked, evading the attack.
With the sea god unarmed, Thor believed that he now had the upper hand.
Thor charged at his rival,
but Njord sprang to the ground, dodged Thor's spear and recovered his own.
Angered, Thor made a second attempt to overpower Njord,
but mischievous Loki tossed a stone in Thor's path.
Thor stumbled to the ground,
and Njord ran his spear though the weak part of his armor just above Thor's collar bone.
Thor's brother Vidar unsheathed his sword, but Odin stopped him and stepped onto the field.
 Odin, the honorable King of the Aesir, commended the Vanir for their victory.
He had seen Loki pull his prank, but knew that the war should not last forever.

Odin proposed a truce between the gods, which the Vanir accepted.
Njord, along with his children, Frey and Freyja, were invited to stay with the Aesir in Asgard.
In return, Odin's brother Vili and the wise Mimir went to Vanaheim.





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