Aesir:  The most common fiction is to claim this Icelandic word means 'gods.' It is repeated time and again and it is in reality completely false. The Icelandic form of 'god' is goð with the plural as goðar. The feminine form is gyðja with the plural as gyðjur and holds the same sense of 'goddess.' I go over the various spellings under the section for 'deities' which can be reviewed.

 

So, we can cut the bullshit with all the other various words from just this Icelandic source often claimed to mean or be 'god or a god' of some kind, or the dumber ones that call a female deity a god to more or less intentionally cause people to unconsciously apply the word in a false gender-neutral sense as a noun or pro-noun. It only applies in such a case when the word is used as an adjective for 'good.'  

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Actual Etymology:

 

• The oldest source of the singular Aes to the plural Aesir is actually from aise, the Norman Frankish word source of Ease.

• Its base meaning is "help, comfort, please, and even opportunity and also has a sense of well-being such as "being at ease," as in relaxed as well as comforted.

• It is likely to have been an import from later 12th and 13th century CE authors as a basis for importing Roman Latin ideas. If not, that we have to conclude that it was an imported idea from the Greek and Romans by way of the Gauls/Galatians.

• 'Ais' is a singular word that has its direct link to the Etruscans in the plural aisar / eisar with the same base meaning and the same base associations.

• It is actually none other than Snorri Sturluson, who in the 12th century assumed in error the word had its roots in the word Asia and Asian which is actually an old Greek word referring to Anatolia and the territories of the Persian Empire in contrast to Greece and Egypt and akin to the word East in reference to the direction of the Rising Sun. (Note, he never referred to his unorganized notes as the Eddas. Someone else called the collection of such written works by that name around the 14th century CE).

• When applied as two classifications of such entities, Etruscan derived aiser si (light court associated with the Sun and Day) and aiser seu (dark court associated with the Moon and Night).

• This has its direct application to the so called Irish and Scottish Aos sí and the two different courts known as the Seelie (those as being of the light) and Unseelie (those as being of the dark) courts. This duality of light and dark from Latin authors is repeated over and over beyond the point of ridiculous. 

• Seelie from Scottish sources comes from Old Saxon salig, which where the word silly comes from originally meaning in the context of 'playful, harmless, and good natured' before later being used mostly in the negative sense of feeble in mind, stupid, lacking in reason, and foolish.  

• Vanir:  Vanir is derived from Vanus (Vane/Vanity) and akin to Wana (Wane), such as found in Old Norse vana.

• This is proven by the fact that Asgard (Ais-gard) as the Yard of the aiser /eisar is often associated with catacomb tombs as "halls," and the land of the Vanir is called Vanaheim (home of the vane). 

• Even Valholl/Valhalla is falsified in meaning. The word Val means fall, sometimes applied as the same as fallen in the sense of dead or slain and Holl or Halla still retains the sense of Hall or Halls.

• This has direct connection not with some place in the sky, on a mountain, or anything of the sort. Instead, it refers to tombs/graves often within a burial mound. The association with burial mounds is a constant in all these things.

• ​Such were more or less created to be the polar opposites more or less of the Aesir, however, it's never truly spun that way when such were more or less invented to fit the above narratives as it is sometimes presented more in the reverse.

 

 

When one actually sets aside all the nonsense which has mostly been perpetuated since the 1800s onward, the facts such as these become obvious, and also puts an end to much of the puritanical nonsense of modern idiocy, illiteracy and bigotry. For example, when one looks into the Etruscan references from a 3rd century BCE artifact called the Liber Linteus, it becomes laughingly obvious where all this was imported from. Cases in point which will in part repeat some of the previous:

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• A deity was called an ais (later eis), which in the plural is aisar / eisar.

• The words to distinguish "deities of Light" as aiser si from "deities of Darkness" as aiser seu is noted. 

• Offerings were made for both groups with oil from the 'Chi' and from the 'Esvi' rituals."

• The abode of an ais was a fanu or luth, a sacred place, such as a favi, a grave or temple which is where the offerings had to be made.

• The word used for 'offering' was fler (plural flerchva).

• When such were associated as ancestors, they were called man or mani (Latin Manes), and the tombs were called a mun (plural muni) which is associated with burial mounds. 

• When it comes to such deities they are classified in three types: Primordial, Divine, and those associated with the "Underworld" which represents the catacombs as burial sites and as temples/cities of the dead. 

• A mysterious or unknown class of deities were often presented as prior to even the primordial ones called the dii involuti or "veiled/covered/hidden deities." It is used figuratively to mean unknown or unknowable. 

• When it came to the dead being buried, some were placed in boxes with their more youthful representations placed on the top as carved sculptures, some were cremated and their ashes and bits of remaining bone placed in urns, while others had their remains wrapped up in linens and laid out on benches. 

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As to Other Characters:

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Draug: The oldest source of Draug (also Draugr) is the same as Drag. In fact, it literally means Dragger. It is likewise related to dragan "draws, drags," which is the source of dragon despite many "objections" to this fact. Case in point, it is also spelled as draugen, draugur or dreygur which again retains a sense of dragging something (or someone).

 

When used in reference to a reanimated corpse, it is not uncommon for such an entity to also be described as "taking on the form of a dragon since both are associated with graves, burial mounds, caverns, catacombs and ancient offerings as "burial hordes" they guard jealously.

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1. The oldest recorded sense besides that of "pulling" is of "drinking" such as in draught and offerings of drinks as part of old customs honoring the dead in which some of a drink is poured on a grave or the ground and then some is consumed by the participants as a type of communion.

2. One can also see it's also connected to the word drug in reference to some sort of intoxicant and also with a hallucination. Ghost is a later association with a Draug, also spelled Draugr among the many variations between dialects.

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Dwarf: The oldest source of the word Dwarf is actually duerg. It’s a compound of du + erg with the base meaning of "do work and to work" and can also mean 'the worker" and akin to the word demi-urge as "secondary worker."

 

1. It has nothing to do with any sort of context meaning a diminutive size.

2. In any case this association with working has to do with manual labor and part of the reason why Dwarves still retain in concept the association with "working in pits and mines and caves, as well as crafting tools and weapons, among other such things.

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Elf: The oldest source of Elf is actually Ulf which is the same source as wolf. This is almost never mentioned and if it is it is only in a vague foot note. Proof is enough by tracking down the roots that include such as ulf, álf, olf, ulv, áv, olv, and included the 'w' as wulf, wolf, walf to name but a few of these variations.

 

1. There are many variations of this that one can find which also is one reason why one will often find shared characteristics of elves with wolves, and even concepts such as werewolves in older sources.

2. The most common associations are the moon and hunting. It also all shares its form the same roots as the word wool and wooly, specifically from wulfel as wool + fell a term for a skin from which the wool/thick fur of a hide has not been sheared or pulled off from a wolf hide and also used as a term for a "feller of wolves" as in a wolf hunter.

3. Wulfel survives to this day in the surname Wolfel which dates back to at least the 13th century CE. 

4. It has no connection in any case with words like alp in associated meanings such as white and the actual reason for that being suggested is questionable for many diverse reasons, though can only be in itself speculative.

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Ettin: Ettin literally means Eaten and Eater. Used as a term for cannibals and cannibalism it sometimes also was applied to animals as man-eaters. Sometimes it is also, though rarely, expressed in the context of a rotten corpse eaten by worms and or insects or invertebrates of land and sea.

 

1. Variations of this word also include eoten, etun, Iotan, jötunn, jötun and the plural form such as jötnar or ettins from ettin. 

2. There were also alternative names such as þursar (sing. þurs) which means thirst and used in the sense of blood thirsty when applied to such entities, and risar (sing. risi) meaning simply to rise as in get up. Referring to such as Risers was used figuratively in reference to being 'awakened from sleep' and 'standing up' in an aggressive manner and ready to attack.

3. Sometimes these secondary terms were combined in ways such as þursarisar roughly meaning 'thirsty risers' and in a sense tended to have a roughly vampiric connotation to it when used in such a manner.

4. The association with the word for Giant is a much later addition of concept and has led to many later erronous representations, as in many cases such terms were predominately used to refer cannibalistic reanimated corpses, which in turn has also been overshadowed in representations of a Draug.

5. It’s often applied to and shares etymology with another word known as Juten or simply the Jutes.

6. It is also sometimes applied with the same concept as Goblin, which is from the root gob meaning mouth. It’s akin to such terms as gobble (meaning to eat in a greedy or in a gluttonous manner) as well as such words as Goblet.

7. It was and is sometimes used as an alternative word for Ettin in a few cases as there is also often the association with cannibals and the act of cannibalism with Goblins as well.

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Ghost: The oldest source of the word ghost is gāst as the same source giest originally applied in the sense of "stranger" as a common root for both the words gust as in a sudden movement of air, and guest as someone to be treated with proper hospitality and respect.

 

1. It is from the association with air or wind that it also has been used as an alternative for the word spirit which also means wind, air and also used as a term meaning breath, and also holds concepts such as a "presence" or "power" rather than the concept of personality.

2. It’s within the concept of Ghost that the personality element is shared with the connection to guest.

3. It didn't originally apply to but did come to include a concept of the mind, memories and personality of the dead that somehow has a continued existence after death of the base bodily form.

4. It’s much later still that the addition concept of an apparition or appearance came into play.

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Giant: This isn’t even an unknown one. It comes from Gigant as a short from of the plural Greek Gigantes from the base giga akin to mega, both of which are Greek and have the meaning of huge, big or large. All of this is of course said to be pre-Greek though what source is deputed.

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Gnome: The word gnome is from Medieval Latin gnomus used by the 16th-century Swiss alchemist Paracelsus in reference to the term pigmy (in Latin as pigmaei) that he also referred to as gnomi. It's more likely, considering his association of this character with "earth" in the sense of land, rock and soil, that he used the more Greek sense of genomos, which is often translated roughly as earth dweller, though it is inaccurate.  ​​

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Goblin: This word is actually derived from the 1540s Irish word gob meaning "mouth," and thus related to the other English noun gob, and akin to 'gab' used for 'idle talk,' though it originally was used in the sense of taunt or mock. The "-lin suffix is like the 'ing' suffix, a reduction of 'ling.' 

 

1. Usually, it is used an indication of "descent" as an offspring or in the sense of "belonging" and as such in the sense of "species."

2. The main thing Goblins are associated with as such is greed and gluttony, however, there are some examples where they are also associated with cannibalism and even used at times as an alternative term for such as Ettin or simply "devourer" in general.   

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Ogre: One of the most common questions tends to be “why Ogres are always or mostly represented as green giant type characters?” It’s literally in the name. It comes from the same source as agri, agre and agro from Greek and Latin into French ogre meaning field as in an open field of green grasses and shrubs. 

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1. Sometimes this also applied to marshlands and swamps which clarifies some of the other later more fantasy-based additions.

2. It is not related to Latin Orcus which comes from Older Latin arca where the word ark comes from and means a box or chest, though it also applied to the sense of a casket holding the remains of the dead.

3. . It’s also known an orca and the word arcane meaning hidden, secret and obscured are shared before Orca was used as a name for a type of whale.

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Troll: The oldest source of Troll is the same as Thrall with the simple and base meaning of capture and captive. It is akin also to trawl.

 

1. Trolling is a term used in such a context with fishing using "dragnets" and the term "enthrall" meaning to 'capture one's attention.

2. It has often been confused with the source words from trail and track resulting in such as trolley being applied.

3. Troll and Thrall also share in being used as old terms for slave and servant as someone who is taken captive and reduced to little more than cattle, and sometimes less than cattle.

4. It's often confused with the word Trow which actually is another spelling of the word meaning true, and alternatively spelled Drow. Of course, all versions of the word true also are akin to tree in a generic sense and not a specific species of tree as has been claimed in the past. 

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The Tuatha De Danann/Danu: It actually means "People of the Danes."

 

Dane originally meant Danish tongue or language and was used to describe the ancient seafaring warriors and colonists from Scandinavia who founded the Kingdom of Denmark. Danann is an Old Saxon form of a plural which is also Danu = to Latinized Dani = Danes. The whole context meant foreigners who speak the Danish/Scandinavian languages. 

 

• It is a combination of Old Irish tuotha, which evolved into Old Lithuanian tauta, Old Prussian tauto, Oscan touto, which is an adaptation of Latin Teutoni, Gothic þiuda, Old English þios/theod = Those, thias = this/these and eventually theg = they, and thiu, thou/you.

• This directly links to þessi, Middle Dutch dese, Dutch deze, Old High German deser, German dieser, and disir and not a term or word for female entities as many sources like to be deceitful about. In fact, the words are barely mentioned. It's a later assumption based on hypothetical nonsense.

• Disir is a masculine word and the feminine would have been along the lines of disynjur which all indicate a very different and more figurative usage. De' is another Latin into meaning "of the/of/from." ​

• Disir and Dani, also become Danar and Danir, which in turn is used as the actual inspiration for the word play of the invented Vanir by simply changing the D to a V but playing off the same basic theme of "foreign invaders or rivals."

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This last part was well understood because when you compare all this also with the Aesir vs. Vanir fiction, you can see the whole basis behind British colonists of India inspiration for inventing a fake history the Aryan = Aesir invasion of the so-called Vanir = Dravidians, and the preoccupation with trying to proclaim even the language of Sanskrit originated from European sources instead of internation between India and Ancient Rome for example lending Hindi words from Sanskrit to such as Latin and others, making the reverse in this case the fact. But the whole point of that was for other ulterior motives of British Imperialism. ​

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Valkyrie: The claimed meaning of Valkyrie as "chooser of the slain" is in fact false as the word for slain alone is actually 'sla' just as sua/swa is the source of the word sway, which was also spelled sweg to name some variations. I am personally of the opinion that the alternative actual prefix is from Valk preserved in Dutch and was applied as Valkr (confused with Volk and Folk) which would mean 'falcon' and have the feminine/female indicative suffix as Valk-yrie to simply mean a female falcon. This makes the most sense for several reasons. 

 

• Falconry was a very important concept among many European cultures and a common sign of royalty.

• There are images of Falcons being sacrificed and offered as companions for the heroic and royal dead.

• There have been found Falcon remains buried with people within these same cultures along with other items. 

• Valkyries are most commonly associated with the dead and with royalty as well as choosers of heroic dead.  

• Valkyries, like Facons, are often shown to be companions of particular heroes and heroic royalty.   

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The only other sensible translation that is more consistent with the language sources is Val, a source of the word fall, being combined with Kyr (a common source for the words car and cart) with a base sense of carry and hence it also being used for cow, would be combined as Val-kyr and then have the -ie suffix as a feminine/female indicative, wherein this sense it can mean "carrier of the fallen" rather than "choosers of the slain." 

 

• Considering all the associations, I would be open to considering both the associations with a falcon and as a carrier of souls would make sense, because another usage of falcons, as with other trained birds, was to carry messages (rather than souls in a more literal sense), which pigeons later became more commonly used for, while falcons tended to be used more commonly as hunting companions. 

• As to those associated most with said Valkyries, that brings us to the so-called Einherjar. This is a feminization imposed as a veiled insult as the word itself actually means 'One of the Harii' as Anharii or Anharan. Harii does not mean "army." It has been used in that way figuratively but is inaccurate. In fact, Harii is Latin, based on Hara, the source of the word Hare and where the word Harrier originates. It's base meaning is presumed to mean Grey, and though later sources assume it has some association with a species related to Rabbits called a Hare, it is more likely it was a reference to Grey Wolf pelts as part of the clothing of such a clan or tribe.

 

They are referenced by a Germanic tribe attested by Tacitus in his 1st century CE who states:

 

As for the Harii, quite apart from their strength, which exceeds that of the other tribes I have just listed, they pander to their innate savagery by skill and timing: with black shields and painted bodies, they choose dark nights to fight, and by means of terror and shadow of a ghostly army they cause panic, since no enemy can bear a sight so unexpected and hellish; in every battle the eyes are the first to be conquered.

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Noting in any of this specifies coloring themselves as in "painted their bodies" with this or that. However, it is well known among many ancient cultures, including some tribes as recent as the 1800s from North America and modern Canada, that those wearing wolf hides also painted their bodies and faces black with soot from fires to hide their scents from the animals they were hunting, and often some sort of prior ceremonial rite and dance was part of the preparations a means of asking for a successful hunt. Painting black around one's eyes is also known to actually help with seeing but also has an effect to make one's eyes, especially lighter colored ones, to stand out, which can unnerve some people. However, that is simply an observation.   

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I have found more often than not so many words and concepts such as these were mistranslated on purpose by more than one source again by those who involved themselves with intentionally misleading readers and students with what seems to be shoddy scholarship at best. However, it becomes apparent at this point when we cross reference these things, we can see specific Latin trained authors, new and old were and are imposing fictionalized divisions as presumed cultural distinctions that are not truly as distinct as far too many have been led to believe because of this. The reason is obvious:

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• If people don't know their roots, others can control their present and future who do. 

• A people without knowledge of roots that are shared in common with others around them are disconnected and vulnerable to intentional division and conquest, are easily inundated with fear and paranoia. 

• Once the fear and paranoia set in, superstition can be imposed upon the heirs of the conquered which makes them easily redirected to hate their neighbors.

• When they hate one another to keep their numbers down so they won't revolt against those who inherited the reins of their own suppression and oppression will be easily directed to destroy one another by the same.

 

The rest was and is historically a bunch of childish 1-ups as smear campaigns of men against other men and women, women against men and other women, others still with all manners of racist garbage then and now, and all not giving any real care or concern about how their nonsense would impact the future because, after all, they'd be dead already. A few are noted for more or less saying as much rather directly. Only fools would then assume they could get anything reliable out of those sources.   

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As A Closing Note:

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The so called Nine Worlds model often claimed to be Norse/Germanic tradition which stems only from Icelandic texts as already mentioned that do not make such a limitation, is mostly modern invented contexts. There is no such 'standard' model or clarification in such 12th century CE sources. In fact, the so called Nine Worlds model is based on two main things; the 8 directions of the compass and its center; and an attempt to tie it into the so called Nine Angelic Hierarchies, albeit very loosely.

 

In fact, the associated so called "World Tree" that contains such "worlds or realms" isn't even described as to how it came to be, when it came to be, how it came to contain such worlds, and who arranged such connections in the first place. Furthermore, one will find many of the so-called Norse/Germanic "lore" of the so called Eddas to be nothing more than re-written works from Greek and Roman mythologies given a more Icelandic, but disorganized spin. It's just a set of facts regardless of who can accept it or not. It's irrelevant of the objective and impersonal truth of it all. 

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ALWAYS RESEARCH; DON'T JUST STUDY:

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Just because one group or another claims certain things to be central to whatever claimed beliefs they perpetuate, always dig deeper. If a given claimed meaning is applied, see of the etymology matches the proposed language branch as often one will find the claims are actually false regardless of what the cause of the fallacies were or can be demonstrated. It is enough to dig deeper and always remember that 'research' means 'look again.' It is not just "study" as a practice though the word itself simply means "eager" funny enough. Study is also not the same as proper 'education' which had the original meaning of "bring up" as in bringing out and forth one's potential as well as train more or less; not brainwash or indoctrinate. It's just like the word Government literally means "rule the mind" so it's up to you who governs yours.