The Way of Fire and Ice: The Living Tradition of Norse Paganism

by Ryan Smith

heat, and rules over the fire giants living there.

He is a massive, furious entity of great power embodying raging flame. Surtr carries a flaming swo...

Tree at the climax of Ragnarok, burning all t...

Surtr is a bringer of great destruction, catastrophe, and crisis.

Jord is the Earth itself.

Jord is the closest there is in Norse Paganism to an Earth goddess figure.

known as F...

Thor’s m...

Jord is a goddess to be reckoned with—she is everything that makes up the air we breathe, the soil that grows our food, the waters that sustain us, and all else that makes life possible. She is the rage of volcanos, the tremble of the rumbling earth, and ferocious landslides.

Jord’s potency, breadth, and depth reflect nature’s diversity, majesty, and fury. She invites contemplating the great paradoxes of life, both its nurturing and destructive sides.

Jord’s wisdom shows how to confront these limitations, humanity’s place in the natural world, and how utterly dependent humans are on forces that are, at best, indifferent to human needs. Jord calls for respect and humility before nature’s might. Anything representing Earth and the natural world are her symbols, showing her diversity and power.

Aegir and Ran are directly associated with the ocean in a more direct way than Njord.

Aegir

is also called the Brewer, possesses the only kettle large enough to make enough ale for all the gods.

They show how hospitality is widely honored across the Nine Worlds by hosting the Aesir and Vanir in their hall.

The best symbols for them are creatures of the deep like sharks, whales and octopi, ocean waves, and other representations

of the sea.

is a fishi...

Skadi is one of the most well-known of the Jötnar, in part due to the amount of information about her that survives to the modern day, as well as her close ties to the Aesir.

Skadi is tied to skis, snowshoes, hunting, mountains, wolves, and winter. In modern practice she is also associated

with sports, the great outdoors and the cold.

Her great wisdom is in the example of her strong, independent personality and willingness to take direct action to achieve justice.

seek Skadi’s guidance, she will urge you to act while helping you find the strength and best way to achieve justice.

Snowflakes, icicles, mountains, skis, snowshoes, and wolves are her most common symbols, as are implements of the hunt such as knives, spears, and bows.

The Norns are three goddesses who live at the base of the World Tree.

Their names are Urd, meaning what is, Verdandi, meaning what is becoming, and Skuld, meaning what shall be.

They are the shapers of Ørlog and the tenders of the World Tree.

drawing water from the Well of Urdr to nourish the Yggdrasil with pure possibility.

The Norns represent the primordial power of time. They are its inevitability and inescapable nature.

The wisdom they offer is accepting the inevitability of time’s march and how to cope with it.

Fenrir is the wolf child of Loki and Angrboda, queen of the trolls.

Fenrir is not simply a villain. His rage and vengeance exist because of betrayal by the gods, guaranteeing he will be an agent of destruction at Ragnarok.

Fenrir’s imprisonment shows the dangers of letting fear overpower your better judgment, urging you to always question the roots of your distress and ask if what you feel is justified.

Jormungandr is the great serpent child of Loki and Angrboda, so long that it circles all of Midgard and holds its own tail in its mouth.

Jormungandr is the edge of known reality. It represents the limits of existence.

Hel is the daughter of Loki by Angrboda. Born half-living and half-corpse, her appearance disgusted Odin so much that he flung her as far from Asgard as he could, launching her into the depths of what became Helheim.

As keeper of the dead, Hel is connected to the spirits of the departed, the grave, and decay.

She is the certainty of death and the memories that remain in spite of

She also provides a way of grappling with the inevitability of mortality, offering some degree of comfort that some part of you will endure long after your passing.

the great dragon Nidhoggr. It dwells there forever feasting on the dishonored dead who committed deeds too horrible to enter Helheim, like murdering the defenseless and kinslaying.

it chews endlessly on the roots

and trunk of the Wo...

Nidhoggr is the embodiment of entropy and decay.

Nidhoggr’s unceasing dedication to this task, along with the endless efforts to keep its harm at bay, neatly summarize the challenge presented by the inevitable march of time.

Those who commit terrible deeds in life have all save the most terrible actions worn away by time until the only things remaining of them are their most shameful actions.

the Nameless Seeress represents the most terrible of all knowledge.

What she offers is true and inescapable. Her status as dead, yet active and insightful, further suggests this wisdom comes from a permanent, irreversible change.

wisdom is of confronting the most primordial truths, greatest fears, and the biggest assumptions of life ...

warning that her answers may not be ones yo...