The Norse gods could
be brutal and terrifying, including Thor, the son of Odin and
Fjorgyn, who was associated with thunder, the sky, fertility and the law. If plague or
famine threatened, sacrifices were made to him. Armed with his hammer and the
girdle of his strength, he drove his chariot across the sky behind the fearsome
mountain goats Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher.
The Norse Heaven and
Earth were united by Yggdrasil, the great evergreen ash tree,
whose roots lay in Asgard, Jotunheim and Niflheim.The tree of life and knowledge, it
was watered by a fountain of virtues. All the worlds, mortal and supernatural, were
encompassed by it. Midgard, the human realm, is at the bottom; Afgeinm, the land of
the fairies, above it; and Asgard, the home of the gods, at the top.
