Norse mythology was the belief system of the pre-Christian Scandinavian and Germanic peoples.

The pantheon was divided into two main groups of gods: the Aesir, associated with war and power, and the Vanir, associated with fertility.

Key deities included Odin, the All-Father and god of wisdom and war; Thor, the god of thunder and protector of mankind; and Freyja, the goddess of love and fertility.

Loki was a complex trickster figure, sometimes an ally of the gods and sometimes their enemy.

The Norse cosmos was centered on the world tree, Yggdrasil, which connected the Nine Worlds.

These worlds included Asgard, the home of the gods; Midgard, the world of humans; and Jotunheim, the land of the giants.

Valhalla was Odin's hall in Asgard, where warriors who died bravely in battle were taken by the Valkyries.

The mythology foretold a final, apocalyptic battle called Ragnarök, where the gods and their enemies would destroy each other.

Our primary sources for Norse mythology are the 'Poetic Edda' and the 'Prose Edda,' which were written down in Iceland in the 13th century, after the conversion to Christianity.

Elements of Norse mythology, such as the names of the gods for days of the week (e.g., Thursday for Thor), survive in modern culture.