Asgard is the eastern part of Nordheim. The yellowhaired Aesir are a numerous people but Asgard is not a unified kingdom serving one supreme king. Essentially the Aesir are a villagebased people who are bound only by a common way of life.
They are fierce warriors, proud and honourable. With white hot enthusiasm they pursue life, facing death fearlessly with a song on their lips. They are giant men who value honour, loyalty and reputation above all things, for their land is harsh. Even the women are strong, running households while the men war with each other across the icy plains and mountains.
The blond-haired, blue-eyed Aesir not only have ferocity and courage as measure of manhood. Self-esteem is also valued and to some degree it revolves around appearance. Using combs made from antlers, they groom themselves daily, braiding their hair, moustaches and beards. Many carry small tools to clean their fingernails and ears. Bathing ans using saunas at least once a week is considered the norm.
In addition to grooming, self-esteem includes a measure of status under the form of display of wealth. Their clothes and armour have coins sewn onto them. Coins are also hung on chains and worn as jewellery, displayed with arrogant pride. Jewellery is equally prized by men as by the women. Precious metals are often melted down and recast as wearable items, such as bracelets or armlets.
Aesir men wear trousers, tunics, coats and cloaks, usually made from hide, leather, worsted wool or linen. Most wool is dyed red, blue, brown or yellow, although some is not dyed at all if its natural colour is pleasing.
The Aesir are a virile and rough hewn race of hunters and axe-wielding warriors who fight by day and carouse by night. Unlike the Vanir they are in general welcoming to peaceful strangers, though they constantly raid foreign lands and can be vicious when abroad on one of their forays. The Aesir feast in a loud, boisterous fashion and often engage in ‘friendly’ brawls when drunk.
Their favoured weapons are the broadsword and the axe. Hunting and war spears are also commonly seen. However they frown upon the use of bows, which they perceive a dishonourable weapon used by cowards.
They are the blood enemies of the Vanir, the red-haired barbarians of Vanaheim. Eons of feuding ensure that there will never be an easy peace between these two peoples. Also, they fear the Hyperboreans, knowing what dark arts they practice in the land, and that of those who venture there, few return. Furthermore, they have an animosity for Cimmerians, believing their presence in Asgard is for spying purposes or declaring war.
Aesir rarely burn a village they plunder, preferring to leave their targets fairly intact to allow the survivors to rebuild and provide another lucrative target in the future.
The nordheimer worship Ymir, the Frost Giant King. Dread Ymir rules icy Valhalla, a realm of long halls, snowy glaciers and eternal drinking, wenching and fighting. The dead dwell there. Ymir represents the Earth to the nordheimer and both the Vanir and the Aesir spring from Ymir. Battle for the nordheimer is not only the basis of their economy and social life, it is also the basis of their religious life, for Ymir is worshipped by doing battle all day, then eating, drinking and singing all night. Indeed, even those activities have religious merit, for ale is the drink of bold Ymir and, as such, is sacred and consumed in large quantities. It is said among the nordheimer that it is possible to come into direct contact with Ymir by drinking yourself unconscious. Thus, inebriation is a religious obligation as well as a social activity.
The Nordheimers believe in an afterlife and the afterlife often mirrors how one lives life and meets one’s doom. For the common folk, the afterlife is dull and dreary, a life spent gathering and serving the warriors. For valiant warriors, however, the afterlife is filled with fighting and feasting in the snowy plains and halls of Valhalla.
Nordheimers have no time or interest in priests to interpret Ymir for them. Each man is his own intermediary to Ymir. Religion is viewed as a personal matter. They keep no temples to Ymir but they acknowledge many sacred outdoor sites, such as mountains, islands, fields, rocks and groves.
Three times per year the nordheimer hold ceremonies to placate Ymir, asking for victory in war and raiding, making sacrifices of animals and humans, feasting on steaming food hot from the fires, drinking ale in fantastic quantities and singing lustful songs celebrating their wars and heroes.
The Völva are their shamans and oracles but they have more political and medical functions than religious ones. Male shamans are called Godi. Female shamans are called völva and practises seid, the Nordheimer version of Shamanism.
Seid is considered unmanly in nordheimer tradition, so almost all völvas are female. A few men, however, especially after a near-death experience, do take up the path. Seid is considered unmanly because it is a manipulative practice, which runs counter to the nordheimer code of forthright behaviour for men. Old women völvas are seen as representatives of the spirits of death. The primary forms of magic practised by völvas are Divination, Hypnotism, Nature Magic and Curses. Really old and powerful völvas practise Necromancy.
The nordheimer villages are ruled by kings, as chosen during the Althing, which is the democratic body that deals with legislative or social issues. Any Aesir free man is a member of the Althing and can have his say and cast his vote. They see the Althing as a social setting for war, the arena in which most social combats are fought.
The Aesir have many kings, for each village is like a kingdom unto itself. A king, to the nordheimer, is any local warrior who can maintain a following, using both income and honour to hold on to that following. The king always leads his warriors into battle, which means that most Aesir kings die young but with barbaric honour and pride.
The chieftain has the social responsibility of enforcing the laws of nordheimer society. A chieftain is expected to be generous in all things and to protect the honour of the clan against outsiders. The chieftain must be a good leader, a powerful warrior, an excellent speaker and an inspiration to his men. He is required to attend every Thing or Althing lest he lose his position. The Hirðmaðr are those who have sworn Allegiance to the king or chieftain and fight by his side. The Jarls are the upper class, the wealthiest of nordheimer. Below them are the commoners: landowners and land-workers.
War is an essential component in the lives of the Nordheimers. War is not only their social and religious setting, war is also the basis of their economy. Annual raids is the cornerstone in their economy where they acquire precious metals, usually silver, used for trade. They pay for goods with coin or an appropriate weight in silver cut off from their jewellery. The Aesir rarely carry purses or sacks of coin because of the noise. It is easier and quieter to recast coins as a bracelet and then just slice off pieces as needed. The Aesir also engage in barter for trade goods. Of course, their preferred manner of acquiring necessities is to raid a rival for them.
The frigid northlands are not suited for agriculture and the Nordheimer do not practice anything beyond bare subsistence farming. The Aesir do not herd great herds of animals either. They hunt for their livelihood as befits a warrior race. Their wasteland realm is not as barren of life as one might suppose at first glance. The frozen mountains and icy plains support bear, mammoths, moose, reindeer and similar beasts of the wild. Wild fruits and berries supplement the Aesir diet. Dependent upon wildlife, Aesir villages, built using whatever materials are close at hand or can be readily raided, are usually erected near known animal trails and water.
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