Gods and Other Great Powers of the Realms

The Allfather's Pantheon

Members

The gods are of two primary families: the Æsir, who are descended from Óðinn, and the Vanir, deities of nature and trade. The two groups warred in the ancient past, but have since settled their differences and intermarried.
The chief deity of the Asgardian pantheon is Óðinn, the All-Father, first among the Æsir. Among the Æsir, Óðinn's word is final. Óðinn's wife is Freyja, Goddess of Love, queen of the Vanir. They have two sons: Baldr, God of Joy, and his twin Hod, the Blind. Baldr in turn has a son, Forseti, god of truth and balance, whose mother is Nanna. Odin is also father to Vidar, god of silence.
The strongest of the Aesir is Thor, son of Odin and the Jötunn Fjörgyn, whose name means Earth. His wife is Sif, golden-haired goddess of wheat, with whom he has a son and daughter, Móði, the Angry, and Thrud, the Powerful. Sif had a son before meeting Thór, Ullr, God of the Hunt, and Thór also had a son with the Jötunn Jarnsaxa : Magni, the Strong.
Njörðr, the blessed Vanir god of trade, and husband of Skaði, Goddess of Winter and father of Freyja.
Ægir opposes Njörðr, and is violent god of the oceans and storms, and Ægir's wife Rán, Goddess of the Sea, who inhabit the oceans of Midgard. Aegir and Ran have nine daughters, known as the Waves, who together birthed the god Heimdallr, God of Light, watchman of Asgard, with Odinn.
Loki, the infamous god of mischief and blood brother to the Allfather, is said to be the offspring of the giants Fárbauti and Laufey . He has three monstrous children with the giantess Angrboda: Hel, the half-dead queen who rules the underworld; the world-serpent Jörmungandr; and the wolf Fenrir. With his wife Sigyn, Goddess of Fertility, Loki has two sons, Vali and Narfi. Loki is the mother of Odin's horse Sleipnir.
Other gods include Hermod, messenger of the Aesir; Bragi, God of Poetry; Bragi's wife Iðunn, Goddess of Youth, whose apples give the gods their eternal youth; Honir the large, and Mimir, God of Wisdom.
The mysterious Norns, guardians of fate, are sometimes considered part of the pantheon, though they do not receive worship. Some other entities have divine status: the valkyries who recover fallen heroes are said to have the status of demigoddesses or quasi-deities, as do some giants, Óðinn's Einherjar warriors, and some servants.
Numerous other Jötnar, heroes, and mythic beasts serve the pantheon.
Organization Óðinn is undisputed ruler of the Norse pantheon. The gods of Asgard meet in council to make decisions, but Óðinn's vote can override the decisions of the council.
The gods of Asgard are historically divided into the Aesir, who are of Óðinn's bloodline; and the The Vanir, who came from the nearby realm of Vanaheim, but whose bloodline is not well known in Midgard. The two families were once enemies, but set aside their differences long ago. There are also the Jötnar, giants who have often opposed the Allfather. Intermarriage has occurred between these three groups, and many of the gods are descended from multiple lines.
New members can gain admittance to the pantheon. Past examples of this include the Vanir gods, who first joined the Aesir long ago to secure a peace treaty, and several Jotnar, who entered the pantheon by marriage. A worthy mortal could be promoted to the pantheon; Freyja's shield-man, the Alle Skirnir, may be one such hero.

Worship

The Asgardian gods are worshiped primarily in the world of Midgard, said to have been crafted by Óðinn himself from the body of the giant Ymir. The gods are active in the human world, able to travel between Asgard and Midgard by means of the rainbow bridge Bifrost, and have no rules against interfering with human affairs. As a result, few in Midgard have reason to doubt the pantheon's existence.
The gods are most commonly worshiped individually, but some do treat them collectively as a pantheon. Temples to the gods are often grand high peaked staved buildings and great halls, featuring a large central hearth and with statues of the major god.
Cults to individual gods are incredibly influencial. Many gothi take one of the gods to be their patron, and temples and shrines to individual gods exist. Those who follow one of the gods as their primary patron still revere the pantheon in general.

History

Origin

The world began as a great void, called Ginnungagap. To the north lay the frozen land of Niflheim, from which the eleven rivers Elivagar flowed from the spring Hvergelmir. Slowly, layers of ice formed across Ginnungagap until it reached the fiery Muspelheim to the south.
From the melting ice climbed Ymir, the first frost giant, and Audhumla, the great cow from whose udders four rivers of milk flowed. Drops of Ymir's sweat formed the race of frost giants, sustained by Audhumla's milk. Audhumla licked the salty ice for three days until she uncovered the strong and handsome Buri, progenitor of the Æsir.
From the son of Buri and the Jötunn, came Borr. Borr then married the Jötunn Bestla and then came three brothers: Odinn, Vili, and Ve.

Creation of the world

Óðinn, Vili and Ve rose up and slew the giant Ymir. A tidal wave of his blood drowned all of the frost giants except Bergelmir, ancestor all frost giants thereafter.
Óðinn and his brothers carried Ymir's body from Ginnungagap and carved the Earth, Midgard, from his flesh. Ymir's bones became the world's rocks; his teeth became the stones and gravel; his blood the oceans; his skull the dome of the sky; his brains the clouds floating within it; his hair the plants and trees; his eyelashes a fortification around Midgard.
The three brothers crafted the grand realm of Asgard for the gods to live in.
Then they created the first humans: a man, Ask, and a woman, Embla. Odinn granted them life, Vili granted them consciousness, and Ve gave them form.

War with the Vanir

Conflict between the Aesir and Vanir began when the Aesir tortured the Vanir goddess Gullveig for witchcraft. When the Vanir demanded to be paid compensation for this offense, the Aesir responded with a declaration of war.
The Aesir and Vanir fought an epic war until both sides tired, and agreed to a peace treaty where Freyr would return to his feminine form, Freyja, and agreed to marry Odinn.
In exchange, the Aesir sent Honir, the big, and Mimir, the wise. At first, Honir's leadership abilities made him appear valuable to the Vanir, but they discovered that he was a fool without Mimir's wisdom.
Enraged, the Vanir cut off Mimir's head and sent it to the Æsir. Odin considered this fair punishment for the Æsir's deception, and placed Mimir's head in the well beneath Yggdrasil's root with athelas and other herbs stuffed into his mouth, as Freyja instructed. The head returned to life and greeted his nephew merrily.

Prophecy of Ragnarok

Main article: Ragnarök
It is foretold by fate that one day, all of the Asgardian pantheon will fight in one epic climactic battle, Ragnarok, where nearly all of of the gods are destined to be killed. Most of the gods know that fate cannot be avoided, and will face their fate bravely, but Odinn does not intend to accept it meekly and seeks to alter his fate if he can.