Norse gods and their symbols
The gods of Norse myth as the Eddas describe them, and the objects and place names that show they were worshipped, from Odin and Thor to Freyja, Loki and the Norns.
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Also in: Ancient symbols
The Æsir
- OdinOdin was the chief of the Norse gods: god of kings, war and the dead, and of poetry and magic, who gave an eye for wisdom. His signs are the spear Gungnir, the ravens Huginn and Muninn, the eight-legged horse Sleipnir, the wolves Geri and Freki and the gold ring Draupnir.
- FriggFrigg is Odin’s wife and Baldr’s mother in Norse myth, the foremost of the goddesses, who knows the fate of all but tells it to no one. Her signs today are the key and the spindle, which modern Heathens give her.
- ThorThor was the Norse god of thunder and the gods’ defender against the giants, and his symbol is his hammer, Mjölnir. Snorri’s Edda gives him two more treasures, a belt of strength and a pair of iron gloves, and a chariot drawn by two goats.
- BaldrBaldr is the shining son of Odin and Frigg in Norse myth, killed by a dart of mistletoe that Loki put into the hand of his blind brother Hodr. His signs are the mistletoe, the gold ring Draupnir laid on his pyre and his ship Hringhorni.
- TyrTyr was the Norse god of battle and, Lex suggests, of law and oaths, best known for laying his right hand in the wolf Fenrir’s jaws so that the gods could bind it. The lost hand is his mark in the myths; Lex names the sword as his attribute.
- HeimdallHeimdall was the watchman of the Norse gods, who guards the rainbow bridge Bifröst against the giants. His symbol is his horn, Gjallarhorn, which he blows to call the gods to their last battle at Ragnarök.
- BragiBragi is the Norse god of poetry and eloquence, a son of Odin and the husband of Idun. Snorri calls him the long-bearded god and the first maker of poetry, and an Eddic poem names his tongue among the things runes were carved on.
- IdunIdun (Iðunn) is the Norse goddess who keeps the apples of youth, which the gods eat when they begin to grow old. Her attributes are the apples and the box of ash wood that Snorri’s Edda says she keeps them in.
- UllrUllr (Ull) is the Norse god of the bow, the ski and the hunt, the son of Sif and stepson of Thor. Snorri says no one can match him as an archer or on skis; his hall is Ydalir, the Yew Dales, and oaths were sworn on his ring.
The Vanir
- NjordNjord was the Norse god of the sea, ships and wealth, the god Snorri says men should call on for voyages and hunting. He lives at Nóatún, the “ship-enclosure”, he is the father of Freyr and Freyja, and the giantess Skadi chose him for her husband by his feet.
- FreyrFreyr was the Norse god of fertility, good harvests and peace, the god Snorri says it is good to call on “for fruitful seasons and peace”. His attributes are the golden boar Gullinbursti, the folding ship Skidbladnir and the sword he gave away for love, and the gold foils stamped with an embracing couple are often read as Freyr and his bride Gerd.
- FreyjaFreyja was the foremost goddess of Norse myth, a goddess of love and fertility who also chose half of the slain for her hall and taught Odin the magic called seiðr. Her attributes are the necklace Brísingamen, a chariot drawn by two cats, a feather cloak for flying and the golden boar Hildisvini.
Born of giants
- LokiLoki is the shape-shifting trickster of Norse myth, a giant’s son counted among the gods, who helps them and harms them by turns and leads the giants against them at Ragnarök. His best-known image, on the Snaptun stone from Denmark, is a face with its lips sewn shut.
- SkadiSkadi was a giantess counted among the Norse gods, the goddess of hunting and skiing who lives in the mountains and hunts with a bow. She married Njord, chosen by his feet, and went back to her father’s mountain hall, Thrymheim.
- HelHel is the ruler of the Norse world of the dead, which is also called Hel: Loki’s daughter, half blue-black like a corpse and half flesh-coloured. She receives those who die of sickness and old age, and her name lives on in the word hell.
About norse gods and their symbols
Norse gods and their symbols follows the gods of the Æsir and the Vanir as the two Eddas tell of them, and the objects, place names and day names that show people worshipped them before those books were written. In Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, in Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur’s 1916 translation, the divine Æsir are twelve, and the goddesses “are of no less authority”. Odin is the highest and eldest of the gods, and Frigg, his wife, knows all the fates of men. The National Museum of Denmark calls Odin the god of war and of the dead, worshipped first of all by kings, chieftains and their warriors, and Thor the most popular of the gods, “the god of the people”. Loki is of giant stock but lives among the gods, crafty and not to be trusted. Freyr makes the crops in the fields grow, and his twin sister Freyja is the goddess of love, fertility and the magic called seiðr. The other pages are Tyr, Baldr, Heimdall, Bragi, Idun, Ullr, Njord, Skadi, Hel and the Norns, the female spirits at the roots of the world tree who spin the threads of fate. The gods’ own things have their pages in Norse and Viking symbols: Thor’s hammer Mjölnir, Odin’s spear Gungnir, his eight-legged horse Sleipnir and his ravens Huginn and Muninn.
How the gods are known
The two Eddas are the main sources, and the National Museum of Denmark points out that both were written by Christian writers at the start of the Middle Ages, so they tell us “more how Christians perceived” the gods than how the Vikings saw them. From the Viking period itself there are only accounts by Arab travellers and Western Christians, skaldic poetry and rune stones, and the objects: Thor’s hammers, and jewellery showing valkyries. Gold bracteates show that the gods were worshipped at least 300 years before the Viking Age, among them Týr with his hand in the mouth of the wolf Fenrir. Place names tell the same story. The museum gives Frøsmose, Frøsbjerg and Frølund in Denmark, named after Frey and Freyja, and notes that such names are more common in Norway and Sweden.
The gods in the days of the week
Four English weekdays are named after Norse gods, the museum notes: Tuesday after Týr, Wednesday after Odin, Thursday after Thor, and Friday after either Frigg or Freyja. The custom of naming days after gods came from the Romans. Iceland’s Ásatrúarfélagið still prints the old day names in the calendar it sends its members: týsdagur, óðinsdagur, þórsdagur and freyjudagur.
The gods today
The gods are worshipped today. The National Museum of Denmark counts between 500 and 1,000 believers in Denmark, where Forn Sidr, founded in 1997, was officially approved in 2003; at their blóts believers drink toasts to the gods, to Njörd and Frej for a good harvest, to Thor for strength or to Odin for wisdom. Ásatrúarfélagið describes itself as the fifth largest religious community in Iceland and the largest not built on a Christian foundation, with well over 5,000 members. In the United States, The Troth writes that “Asatru is a Polytheistic religion where we worship many Gods”, and that Heathens believe in the gods “in different ways”.
Sources
- The Viking gods, National Museum of Denmark
- The old religion, National Museum of Denmark
- The old Nordic religion today, National Museum of Denmark
- The Prose Edda (Brodeur translation), Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (trans.), 1916, American-Scandinavian Foundation (Internet Archive), Gylfaginning, chapter XX
- Vor siður (Ásatrúarfélagið), Ásatrúarfélagið
- Um Ásatrúarfélagið, Ásatrúarfélagið
- The Gods (The Troth), The Troth
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research