_Lok_—the evil principle. He gave birth to Midgard (sin), the snake whose folds encircle the earth—Hela (death)—and the wolf Fenris, the guardian of the gate of hell; these were the evil progeny of Lok, begotten for the destruction of the human race.
_Surter_—the evil divinity of fire—the next in rank to Lok. The Scythians represented him as a beautiful youth; the Saxons as an old man, to whose honour they dedicated the seventh day of the week.
_Balder_—son of Odin, god of eloquence and poetry, and ruler of the sun—the Scandinavian Apollo. He was represented as a youth with a burning wheel upon his breast; his face resembled the sun.
_Nastronde_—According to the Scandinavian mythology, at the end of the world, during a night which was to last a year, a tremendous battle was to be fought between the good and evil spirits, in which the former were to conquer and reign in Gimle, a more glorious heaven than Asgard; while the wicked were to be banished to Nastronde, a new hell, made purposely for them.
_Maelstrom_, _Malestrom_, or _Moskoestrom_—a tremendous whirlpool on the Norwegian coast, very dangerous, and often fatal to navigators venturing too near it. Moskoe is an island situated in the gulf: there are also several others.
_Sleipner_—the warrior horse of Odin. He had four black legs and four white ones: he generally travelled through the air.
_Rinda_—daughter of Balder, and mother of Vile, by Odin. The favourite goddess of the Scandinavian women.
_Hydrasil_—the tree of heaven, standing in the garden of Odin. It was the abode of the disposer of man’s destiny.
_Heidruna_—the immortal goat, whose milk was the hydromel served up nightly at the festivals of Valhalla.
_Serimnor_—the wild boar, whose flesh served them for food.
_Hugo_ and _Mumin_—the raven messengers of Odin.
_Thor_—the warrior god—the eldest son of Odin, who, in his journey over the world, defeated Midgard, and loosened his folds from the earth; he is typical of divine justice and vengeance. In the beautiful fables of the Scalds, he is represented as a stern warrior, armed with an enormous mallet, and wearing a crown of twelve stars. He lived in a palace of Valasciolf, of five hundred and forty halls, and was the ruler and wielder of the thunderbolt.