Aesir

   In Nordic myth the group of leaders forming the entourage of Odin. Originally there seems to have been a coven of a chief with a retinue of twelve and it may be assumed that, of the sixteen names listed below, never more than a dozen were included at any one time. Their feast day was the Yule festival.

   The Aesir seem to have arrived in Scandinavia shortly after the Vanir, with whom they at first fought and subsequently allied themselves. The stories of their wars against the giants may have related to their struggles with the Finna. The Eddas tell one side of the story, the Kalevala and the Hero of Estonia portions of the other.

   Asgard, the fabled city of the Aesir, with its palaces and assembly halls, may be a memory of their actual capital city before they migrated to north-west Europe. It is possible that some of the names of the Aesir were hereditary titles, whilst others may have been the names of those who belonged to the Aesir at various times: Balder, Baugi, Bragi, Forseti, Freyr, Heimdall, Hoder, Hoenir, Loki, Mimir, Odin, Thor, Tyr, Ullr, Vali, Vidar. Other details are given under Asynjor, Norns, Valkyries.