Njörðr is introduced in Skáldskaparmál within a list of 12 Æsir attending a banquet held for Ægir.

( In continuity, the prose introduction says: " Ægir, also named Gymir, had made ale for the Æsir, when he had received the great kettle of which was told " ( see Hymiskviða ).

The island is a location mentioned in several instances in Norse mythology, including as the dwelling of the sea jötunn Ægir and as a feasting place of the Norse gods, the Æsir.

" In the Lokasenna, Loki kills Fimafeng during a feast for the Æsir being hosted by Ægir.

Afterwards, the earth rises again from the sea, is fairer than before, and where Asgard used to be a remnant of the Æsir gather, some coming up from Hel, and talk and play chess all day with the golden chessmen of the ancient Æsir, which they find in the grass ( Section 58 ).

The goddess Frigg asks who among the Æsir will earn " all her love and favour " by riding to Hel, the location, to try to find Baldr, and offer Hel herself a ransom.

Gangleri comments that Loki created a " pretty terrible family " though important, and asks why the Æsir did not just kill Fenrir there since they expected great malice from him.

As Ásatrú implies a focus on polytheistic belief in the Æsir usage of the term in Scandinavia has declined somewhat.

He notes that the Elder Edda couples the Æsir and the álfar, a conjunction that recurs in Old English ês and ylfe, clearly grouping the elves as a divine or supernatural class of beings, sometimes extended by the Vanir as a third class: The Hrafnagaldr states Alföðr orkar, álfar skilja, vanir vita " The Allfather Odin | the áss has power, the álfar have skill, and vanir knowledge ".

The narrative states that the Æsir foresaw his arrival and had prepared grand illusions for him, so that when Gangerli enters the fortress, he sees a hall of such a height that he has trouble seeing over it, and notices that the roof of the hall is covered in golden shields, as if they were shingles.

The interaction between the Æsir and the Vanir has provoked an amount of scholarly theory and speculation.

Traditionally, following Völuspá and Snorri Sturluson's account in the Prose Edda, scholarship on the Vanir has focused on the Æsir – Vanir War, its possible basis in a war between tribes, and whether the Vanir originated as the deities of a distinct people.

More recently, the view put forward by Georges Dumézil based on Indo-European parallels has dominated, wherein the Vanir, like the Æsir, derive from the pre-Germanic heritage of Germanic religion and embody the third of the three " functions " in his trifunctional hypothesis: chthonic and fertility deities.

While Odin states that Vafþrúðnir knows all the fates of the gods, Odin asks Vafþrúðnir " from where Njörðr came to the sons of the Æsir ," that Njörðr rules over quite a lot of temples and hörgrs ( a type of Germanic altar ), and further adds that Njörðr was not raised among the Æsir.

:: you should admit, that of the children of the Æsir,

The sons of Bor then constructed Asgard ( to be identified with Troy, Snorri insists in section 9 ) as a home for the Æsir, who were divinities.

Most of the Æsir will die and Asgard be destroyed.

As a result, when the Æsir refused to release him, he bit off Týr's hand at a location " now called the wolf-joint " ( the wrist ), causing Týr to be one-handed and " not considered to be a promoter of settlements between people.

The Æsir started to fear that they would not be able to bind Fenrir, and so Odin sent Freyr's messenger Skírnir down into the land of Svartálfaheimr to " some dwarfs " and had them make a fetter called Gleipnir.

The Æsir said Fenrir would quickly tear apart a thin silken strip, noting that Fenrir earlier broke great iron binds, and added that if Fenrir wasn't able to break slender Gleipnir then Fenrir is nothing for the gods to fear, and as a result would be freed.

The Gylfaginning tells the story of Gylfi, a king of " the land that men now call Sweden ", who after being tricked by one of the goddesses of the Æsir, wonders if all Æsir use magic and tricks for their will to be done.

:" If all things in the world, alive or dead, weep for him, then he will be allowed to return to the Æsir.

Loki tells Njörðr to be silent, recalling Njörðr's status as once having been a hostage from the Vanir to the Æsir during the Æsir-Vanir War, that the " daughters of Hymir " once used Njörðr " as a pisspot ," urinating in his mouth ( an otherwise unattested comment ).

Þrymr sees Loki, and asks what could be amiss among the Æsir and the Elves ; why is Loki alone in the Jötunheimr?

After this, " the ash Yggdrasil will shake and nothing will be unafraid in heaven or on earth ", and then the Æsir and Einherjar will don their war gear and advance to the field of Vígríðr.

According to another theory, the Vanir ( and the fertility cult associated with them ) may be more archaic than that of the more warlike Æsir, such that the mythical war may mirror a half-remembered religious conflict.

In chapter 19, ways to refer to Frigg are provided, including that Frigg may be referred to as " queen of Æsir and Asyniur, of Fulla and falcon form and Fensalir.

The two dwarfs explained to the Æsir that Kvasir died by way of “ suffocat in intelligence ”, as there were none among them who were so well educated as to be able to pose him questions.

Many items can also be bought and customized by color and effectiveness — using collectable runes — in-between levels back at the Æsir ’ s base of Asgard.

These nature spirits divide up into ' families ', including the Álfar ( elves ), Dvergar ( dwarves ), Jötnar ( giants ), and even gods, the Æsir and Vanir, who are understood to be prominent families among them.

After the gods gathered their wits from the immense shock and grief of Baldr's death, Frigg asked the Æsir who amongst them wished " to gain all of her love and favor " by riding the road to Hel.

As one of the three acts of reparation performed by the Æsir for Þjazi's death, Skaði was allowed by the Æsir to choose a husband from amongst them, but given the stipulation that she may not see any part of them but their feet when making the selection.

For their part, the Vanir send to the Æsir their most " outstanding men "; Njörðr, described as wealthy, and Freyr, described as his son, in exchange for the Æsir's Hœnir.

In the saga, Njörðr is described as having once wed his unnamed sister while he was still among the Vanir, and the couple produced their children Freyr and Freyja from this union, though this custom was forbidden among the Æsir.

During his rule, most of the Æsir die, their bodies are burned, and sacrifices are made by men to them.

When the Æsir realize that the builder is a hrimthurs, they disregard their previous oaths with the builder, and call for Thor.

At Urðarbrunnr the gods hold their court, and every day the Æsir ride to Urðarbrunnr up over the bridge Bifröst.

Given the difference between their roles and emphases, some scholars have speculated that the interactions between the Æsir and the Vanir reflect the types of interaction that were occurring between social classes ( or clans ) within Norse society at the time.

" Returning to the Indo-European origins theory, he argues that the Vanir strengthen the Æsir by contributing their relationality, their ability to absorb the other and their receptivity to sacrifice.

In contrast, continuing the same journal thread, Leszek P. Słupecki argues that the Vanir remained distinct from the Æsir — except for Freyja and Freyr, whom he follows Snorri in seeing as having been born after Njörðr became a hostage among the Æsir, and thus regards as Æsic — and therefore that Ragnarök " no importance for their world ".

Loki killed the otter with a stone and the three Æsir skinned their catch.

When the Æsir realize that the builder is a hrimthurs, they disregard their previous oaths with the builder, and call for Thor.

After the god Heimdallr awakens all the gods by blowing his horn Gjallarhorn, they will assemble at a thing, Odin will ride to the well Mímisbrunnr and consult Mímir on behalf of himself and his people, the world tree Yggdrasil will shake, and then the Æsir and the einherjar will don their war gear.

After the gods gathered their wits from the immense shock and grief of Baldr's death, Frigg asked the Æsir who amongst them wished " to gain all of her love and favor " by riding the road to Hel.

Snorri provides a euhemeristic account, in which he describes the Norse god Odin and some other Norse gods, the Æsir, as having been real people who emigrated from the area around the river Don to Scandinavia at the time of the Roman expansion into their old homeland.

In Snorri's account Gylfi is deluded by the Æsir into accepting their supposed religious beliefs, hence the name Gylfaginning ' Deluding of Gylfi '.

With reference to the number 12 in their studies on Germanic mythology a relation was drawn to " the twelve Æsir of divine kind who have ( according to the Edda ) twelve domiciles and twelve stallions " and to the " twelve rivers which flow from the fountain Hwergelmir in Niflheim ".