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.