Aegir

God of the Oceans

Aegir and his wife, Ran, hold themselves apart from the Aesir and Vanir. Rather than living on Asgard, they reside on Midgard, at the bottom of the ocean. Aegir’s realm is the deep ocean, far from land, where navigation and fishing are difficult and full of danger.

He appears as a fierce man with a long, gray beard and fingers like claws. He appears on the surface of the sea to destroy ships that fail to sacrifice to him, yet is well known for the bounty of the feasts he arranges for his fellow gods. Ran, his wife and equal partner, drags drowning men down to her hall beneath the sea. She holds similar responsibilities to Freya and Hel in that regard, since the drowned do not go to Valhalla, Sessrumnir, or the underworld.

Aegir and Ran have nine daughters, each of whom represents a different type of ocean wave.