Asgard is the high fortress of the Aesir gods, Odin's realm and the seat of his hall Valhalla, reached from Midgard only by the rainbow bridge Bifrost.
At a glance
- Old Norse
- Asgardr
- Meaning
- "Enclosure of the Aesir"
- Type
- High fortress realm of the gods
- Keeper
- Odin
- Inhabitants
- The Aesir gods and goddesses
- Connects
- Midgard, Vanaheim, via Bifrost and Yggdrasil's first root
- Notable halls
- Valhalla, Gladsheim, Vingolf, Breidablik
- Sources
- Poetic Edda, Prose Edda
Asgard is the high fortress realm of the Aesir, the ruling family of Norse gods. Odin holds court here in his hall Valhalla, and the realm is reached from Midgard only by the rainbow bridge Bifrost - a realm built for war as much as for majesty.
A fortress above the world
Asgard sits apart from and above the other realms, connected to the world of mortals by a single bridge and, deeper still, by one of Yggdrasil's three great roots. The Prose Edda describes it as a walled stronghold, its rampart raised against the Jotunheim giants who test its borders again and again. Within the walls stand golden and silver halls where the Aesir gods live, feast, and hold their daily counsel.
The Aesir who dwell there
Asgard is the seat of the ruling pantheon, the family of gods called the Aesir. Odin presides as its foremost lord, and Thor, Frigg, Baldr, and Tyr keep their halls alongside him. Loki, though born of giant stock, is bound to the Aesir by an oath of blood-brotherhood with Odin, and after the long war between the Aesir and the Vanir ended in a truce, the Vanir gods Njord, Freyr, and Freyja came to live in Asgard as well.
The halls within the walls
| Hall | Belongs to | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Valhalla | Odin | Houses the einherjar, warriors chosen from the honorable dead, training for Ragnarok |
| Gladsheim | The Aesir together | The great hall where the gods sit in judgment |
| Vingolf | The goddesses | A hall built for the Asynjur, the female Aesir |
| Breidablik | Baldr | Said to hold nothing unclean within its walls |
Built and guarded against the giants
Asgard's wall is itself a story. A giant mason, in disguise, offered to raise it in a single winter in exchange for the sun, the moon, and Freyja's hand in marriage. Loki's trickery, and the stallion Svadilfari he became to distract the mason's own horse, cost the builder his payment and, in the end, his life at Thor's hammer. The finished wall stands afterward as a monument to how seriously the Aesir take the threat from beyond their borders.
Reaching Asgard
Two paths lead into Asgard in the myths. Bifrost, the burning rainbow bridge, carries travelers up from Midgard and ends at Heimdall's watch post, where he stands ready to sound his horn at the first sign of Ragnarok. Beneath the visible realm, one of Yggdrasil's three roots reaches into Asgard as well, feeding the Well of Urd where the three Norns tend the world-tree and shape the fate of gods and mortals alike.