Eric Flint: Pyramid Power

Oku-Thor: "Charioteer Thor."

Ragnarok: "Fate of the Gods." The final battle that will destroy the world.

Ran: A sea giantess in charge of the drowning department. It was she who helped Loki with the net that the?sir used to capture Andvari to pay the blood-price for accidentally killing Otr.

Ratatosk: The squirrel that lives in the world-tree Yggdrasil, and carries little messages of spite and hatred between the eagle at the top and the serpent at the bottom. As he says: it's a job.

Roskva: The sister to Thjalfi and serving maid to Thor.

Seid: A kind of magic, not very savory but very powerful, which only women and Odin are allowed to practice.

Sif: Thor's wife. Shorn one night of her blond hair by Loki in an act that looks very suspiciously like payback for sexual coquetry (Sif also played the field a bit), Thor then forced Loki to do something about it. He went to the Sons of Ivaldi (dwarf artificers) and had real gold made into hair that actually grew on her head.

Sigfrida: A Valkyrie trapped behind the ring of fire for angering Odin and not choosing for death those he wanted… in part of a Norse saga. The next bit is lost and then the name seems to be Brynhild. It's all very confusing. Maybe there was a selection of Valkyries.

Sigurd: A hero who at the instigation of the dwarf Reginn killed Reginn's shape-changing brother, the dragon Fafnir. From the hoard of the dragon, Sigurd took various treasures, among them the cursed ring of Andvari. It was Sigurd's horse that jumped the ring of flames protecting the Valkyrie Brynhild/Sigfrida sleeping within. Sigurd is supposed to have woken her before going off to make a complete mess of his life and hers, thanks to the cursed ring.

Sigyn: "Victorious girlfriend." The wife of Loki and a goddess in her own right. Mother of two children by Loki, both abused by Odin to punish Loki. Vali was turned into a rabid wolf to kill his brother Narfi, whose entrails were then used to bind Loki. The epitome of loyalty in a mythology not known for it, Sigyn shields her husband from the venom of Skadi's snake.

Skadi: Giantess daughter of Thjazi, estranged wife of Njord. She is a patron of hunters and also seems to have slept with Loki and later Odin. It is she who hangs the snake that spits at the captive Loki.

Skirnir: The rather shifty and unpleasant servant of the god Frey who acts as a threatening go-between for the light of Frey's fancy, the giantess Gerd. He also ran errands for Odin, notably fetching Gleipnir, the chain that eventually bound Fenrir.

Sleipnir: Odin's eight-legged horse. The offspring of Loki in the form of a mare.

Surt: "Black." The fire demon from the flaming South.

Svarthofdi: "Black head." The father of all sorcerers.

Tanngnjost: "Tooth gnasher." Thor's magical goat that draws his chariot. He can slaughter them and eat them at night, and reanimate them from the bones.

Tanngrisnir: "Tooth gritter." The other goat.

Thjalfi: Thor's bondsman, taken in exchange for cracking one of the goat's bones at the evening goat barbeque. This was absolutely forbidden as the goat was then reanimated with a broken limb.

Thor: The thunder-god was the son of Odin and the giantess Jord. He was the mightiest warrior and strongest of the?sir. He has a belt of strength, Megingjord, that doubles his already formidable strength, iron gauntlets and the famous thunderbolt hammer. Very popular among warriors, less so among nobles; rival armies would often dedicate themselves to one or the other god. Not subtle or of any great intelligence, Thor was still the second greatest of the?sir. Married to Sif of the golden hair and the father of three children: Modi, Magni, and Thrud.

Thrud: "Power." Thor's daughter.

Thrudvangar: The power plains; lands belonging to the god Thor.

Ull: The archer god.

Valholl: "The hall of the fallen." More commonly known in its English spelling of Valhalla. Odin's hall where fully half of the warriors slain in battle feast and fight and wait to serve Odin in the final conflict.

Vidolf: The mother all witches.

Vrigid Plain: The plain on which the great battle of Ragnarok will take place.

Yggdrasil: The world tree, an ash, whose branches extend over the whole world and whose roots go down to the deepest part. It is big enough for stags to feed on its branches.

From Pyramid Scheme:

Arachne: Daughter of Idmon of Colophon (a city in Lydia), a weaver of great renown, who had a run-in with Athena. In the weaving competition between them, Arachne wove as her theme the philandering and sordid tricks of the gods. Her weaving was flawless. Athena with the justice, generosity, and nobility of spirit which was characteristic of the Olympians tore the work in shreds, destroyed the loom and turned Arachne into a spider, doomed to weave forever, and draw her thread from her own body. A good loser, Athena.

Bes: A dwarf-god, the protector of man against evil spirits and dangerous beasts. He is always portrayed grinning and bearded, with a topknot adorned with ostrich plumes and a leopard-skin cloak. Fond of fighting and dancing, his symbol was used to protect against dangerous beasts, and evil spirits that haunted dreams. He presided over marriages, and the make-up and adornment of women, as well as protecting pregnant mothers. Revered in Punt and Carthage as well as Egypt, the little hell-raiser was definitely one of the good guys.

Bitar and Smitar: Two winged dragons from Colchis.

Circe: The sorceress from the Odyssey. The daughter of Helios and sister to Aeetes, and aunt to Medea. She lived on the island of Aeaea, attended by four nymphs, in a house or castle of well-built stone. In the glades around the castle roamed wild beasts, boar, wolves, leopards and lions-all apparently tame.

Medea: One of the most villainous characters described in Greek mythology. Medea the sorceress was a princess and priestess of Hecate, living in the kingdom of Colchis (on the Black Sea, present day Georgia). She fell in love with Jason, leader of the Argonauts and it was only with her help that Jason was able to accomplish the "impossible" tasks set by Aeetes, King of Colchis, and gain the golden fleece. In return Jason promised to marry her. In their flight from Colchis, Medea and Jason were trapped by Absyrtus, Medea's stepbrother. Under the flag of truce Medea and Jason murdered Absyrtus, and in their subsequent flight delayed Aeetes by casting the pieces behind them for the king to gather up for burial. On their route back to Hellas, Medea and Jason stop at Aeaea, the isle of the enchantress Circe, who is Medea's aunt and sister to king Aeetes. Circe gives them forgiveness for the blood-debt. On their return, Medea is supposed to have contrived the murder of King Pelias by his daughters (by convincing them that the aging king could be restored to youth by chopping him up and boiling him with certain herbs). After living for some time with Jason at Ephyra, and bearing him two children, she is told by Jason that he is going to set her aside and marry Glauce, the daughter of the king of Corinth. This is perfectly permissible as she is a non-Hellene and has no rights. Medea is then supposed to have contrived the death of Glauce (with a dress of gold cloth and a coronet), accidentally killing her father too. Medea is then supposed to have killed her children and fled Corinth in a winged chariot drawn by dragons.

Throttler: The name of the Theban sphinx.

Tyche: The goddess of chance. Her attribute is abundance, and she is the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. One is prompted to wonder if this is why fishing and luck should go hand-in-hand.