The Foundations of Lokabrenna Part 2: Overview of The Gods, and the Norse Pantheon as it pertains to Lokabrenna
The path of Lokabrenna honors all gods in the Norse/Scandinavian Pantheon, and reveres any name for (or story pertaining to) those gods found within all of the Scandinavian cultures.
While the primary focus of Lokabrenna is on the Norse and Icelandic portrayal of these gods that is predominantly because sources for the other areas are more scant/harder to find and do not create a complete picture. However, the history started long before anyone settled in Norway, and even longer before they settles in Iceland, and as such it deserves to be honored and respected in its entirety.
I will get into the overlap between the Scandinavian cultures and the surrounding areas (Such as the Celts, Picts, Druids, and the like) at a later point, but as a general rule, their pantheons are theirs regardless of their influences on the Scandinavian religions and vice-versa.
This section will not give an in-depth description of each god, but instead go over what constitutes a god in Lokabrenna, why, and how these views differ from other Heathen traditions.
To start, Lokabrenna honors the Æsir and the Ásynjur, Vanir, and the Disir, as many versions of Heathenry do, and it is heavily based in the factual histories and the mythologies found in the same source materials which each of the modern religions adhere to/follow/take from.
However, the key difference is that Lokabrenna honors the other nonhuman/divine races not often referred to as "Gods” in the cosmology - often excluded solely on the basis that are not counted among the Æsir (or because they have been deemed enemies of the Æsir).
The following beings (among others, and in no particular order) are all considered Gods in Lokabrenna:
The Primordial Men (Buri and Borr, Odin's ancestors)
The Thurs (the Giants- both the Jotnar and the Muspelli/Sons of Muspellheim)
The Rokkr (Loki and his kin)
The Æsir and the Ásynjur(See below)
The Dísir (Spirits of particular women who have died and tend to be associated with Fate- Such as the Volva/Seeress Odin raises from the dead in the Eddic Poem, Völuspá)
The Svartalfar (Also called the Dökkálfar - the Dwarves/Dark Elves)
The Alfar (Also called the Ljósálfar - the Elves)
The Vættir/Landvættir (The wights; spirits of the land or the dead, and a term that is sometimes used to refer to all of the above beings- but in this instance refers to named beings and creatures which are not part of those stated races such as the Hulder, the Nisse/Tomtenisse and other similar mythological creatures)
Rattatosk, the Unnamed Eagle, Níðhöggr and the rest of the named animals that inhabit the world tree Yggdrasil; As well as all of the named animals that are considered symbols of the gods (such as Thor's goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr), which are counted as Vættir in Lokabrenna.
And finally, though it is not a being like all of the above, we honor and respect the Wyrd itself with the same reverence as a God.
The primary reason for the distinction that each of these beings are Gods is because many of these beings are attested to as having domain over various forces of nature in the lore, despite not being counted among the Æsir; and while the word Æsir is synonymous with "Gods" in Norse tradition and language, according to the bloodlines as stated in the lore, there is no one true race of Gods.
As such, Lokabrenna recognizes the lineage of the gods, as stated in the lore; and interprets the term Æsir to mean a ruling council of Odin's Innangardr (inner-yard, inner circle; Kindred, family and the like).
The reason for this is clear when looking at the genealogy of the gods.
Odin is thought of in many Heathen circles and organizations (and source texts) as the head of the gods, "The God-King of the Æsir" and "The Allfather" and those same circles pose most of the races mentioned above as "Enemies of the Gods/Æsir"- and while much of the lore plays out that way, this narrow view ignores the fact that Odin's parents were Bestla and Borr. While it is true that his genealogy is half "God" or "Primordial Man" (as I mentioned before regarding Borr and Buri), he is also half Jotun by his mother, Bestla.
With this genealogy clear it is impossible to deny the Half-Jotnar heritage of Odin, Vili and Ve.
Among the Æsir, Odin is also not the only Jotun; And these distinctions are important to make when it comes to the terminology of what are considered Gods and why.
The Line of Odin - As described above, Odin is a half Jotun by his mother Bestla, as are both of his brothers, Vili and Ve. However, this also means that all of Odin's sons- Thor, Baldur, Víðarr and Váli, are of quarter-Jotun blood. It also means that Thor's children (Móði, Magni and Þrúðr) as well as Buldar's son Forseti, are all similarly of Jotun descent.
There are sources that pose other gods as the son of Odin, including Heimdallr and Tyr, and while sources about those facts are contradicting, whether they are in his line or not it would only add to the point that many of the gods have the Jotun lineage.
The Line Of Ægir - While no parental line is stated in the lore, Ægir is referred to as a Jotun in nearly every mention, and is never attested to as any other race. Ægir is the Jotun god of the sea - and while he himself is NOT one of the Æsir, he is a close ally and friend of them all, as well as being the grandfather of Heimdall (as I discuss below)
His wife is Rán, who is counted among the Æsir. She is only ever attested to as a Goddess, and it is unclear whether she was originally Vanir, Jotun, or something else entirely.
Together, Ægir and Rán are the parents of both Snær (Snow) in some sources, as well as the parents of The Nine Daughters.
The Nine Daughters become the nine mothers of the god Heimdallr, making Heimdallr part Jotun.
Snaer, meanwhile, is universally known as the Jotun god of Snow. However his lineage is up for debate, as some sources say his parents are Ægir and Rán- others pose that he is the son of Jökul, who is in turn the son of Kári, who is the brother of Ægir.
In a few sources, Snær is attributed as the father of Thorri, the Jotun god of Winter, for whom the late-winter festival Þorrablót (Thorrablot) is held.
These ties to the Jotnar, combined with these beings' status as allies to the Æsir, and the fact that two holidays (Ægirsblót/Ægir's Day- a more modern minor holiday celebrated by some in March, and Þorrablót) in are often overlooked and ignored, similarly to Odin's own lineage, when discussing what role Jotnar have in the religion.
The Line of Skaði - Skaði is known as the Jotun godess among the Asynjur- daughter of the Jotun-King Þjazi (Thiazi). She marries the god of the sea, Njörðr. While it is stated that Njörðr has ten children, the only ones given a named mother are Freyja and Freyr, and it isn't Skaði.
There is also the case to be made that Freyr falls for, pursues and marries, a Jotun woman named Gerðr (Who is attested as Ægir's daughter in some sources, but this is debated)
The Line of Loki - Loki is counted among the Æsir, though most of the rest of his lineage are not. However, his lineage is just as important; being the son of the Jotun, Farbauti, and the (presumed) Vanir, Laufey. This makes him, like Odin, half Jotun. The similarity here is often overlooked, as people often refer to Loki's negative traits and blame his "evil" nature (which I will touch on in my write-up about Loki, later) on his Jotun blood, while ignoring how malicious Odin can be as well as Odin's own Jotun blood.
Loki is the father of numerous children from two women in the lore: the Jotun, Angrboða, and the Goddess Sigyn.
By Angrboða, he sires what are referred to in Lokabrenna as the Rokkr (a term also used in other Lokean forms of Heathenry, denoting that they are the beings that enact Ragnarok);
-The wolf Fenris (also Fenrisúlfr, Fenrir, Hróðvitnir or Vánagandr)
-The world serpent, Jörmungandr (also Miðgarðsormr)
-The goddess of the Dead, and Queen of Niflheim, Hel (also Hella).
Of these three, Hel is counted as a well respected goddess, having at least a level of status that demands even Odin approach her as an equal, and the "political" power within the Norse cosmology to deny Odin his requests without recrimination. Like Odin, she is a God-Queen of her realm.
Further, by Sigyn, Loki is attested to having the children Narfi (or Nari) and Váli (Some scholars believe this is the same Váli attested as Odin's son, however the poem Lokasenna- which predates the Prose Edda line that names him as Odin's son, clearly attributes him as Loki and Sigyn's).
Loki is also the mother of the 8-legged horse, Sleipnir, who is referred to as The King of Horses and the fastest of all horses, and whom Odin uses as his mount.
All of Loki's children are at least part Jotun.
The Nornir - While not counted among the Æsir, the Nornir stand apart and are respected by all of the Gods and races- and not the least of whom is Odin; These three figures, named Urðr (Wyrd), Verðandi, and Skuld (whose names loosely translate to Past, Present and Future), are stated to have come to the well of Wyrd from Jotunheim; And while it does not state that they ARE Jotnar, their place of origina heavily implies it.
There are many others examples that I can add at a later date, as I compile everything that makes up the path of Lokabrenna; But these four examples are more than enough to show that while many Heathen practices separate Jotnar out as enemies of the gods, in MANY cases this is not true, as a large portion of the Æsir themselves (Including Odin) are of Jotun descent.
Further, and I won't get into every example, but there are also many Vanir among the Æsir, including not just Mimir, Freyr and Freya, but Njörðr. On top of this, there are many other figures who historians debate whether they are Vanir or not, including Iðunn, Heimdall (By way of his mothers and Rán, who are never stated as Vanir per se, but having strong connections to nature as the goddess of the Sea makes it likely), Ullr (The Æsir god of the Winter), the Seeress from the Völuspá, and even Frigga (who actually needs a breakdown herself, as historically speaking, it's likely that she started as the goddess Freyja, and the two figures eventually evolved into separate beings as time, cultural differences and stories spread and changed throughout Scandinavia via word of mouth).
Which draws the conclusion that the Æsir are a combination of races, and not themselves a separate race.
With that point illustrated, we now get back to the point that I mentioned earlier:
While the term Æsir means God, there is no one true race of Gods. The Æsir are comprised of many races, and even many who are not counted as Æsir (and not mentioned above) such as the Dwarves tasked with holding up the sky on Midgard, to the Jotun that the Æsir hired to build the wall around Asgard, to the dwarves that created Mjollnir, and many, many others, all do the bidding of the Æsir - and are all considered "The best" at what they do, their own respective domain.
And in Lokabrenna, this means that they all should be honored in respect for the domains that they are given in the lore, whether they are Æsir, or Jotnar, or Dwarf, or Rokkr- they all have a place and exist in the lore for a reason.
