//EDIT : Corrected and added some stuff.//
The home :
The Vanir inhabit the country of Vanaheim, which along with Asgard to the east make up the region of Nordheim, the northernmost part of all Hyboria. It borders Cimmeria and the Pictlands to the north. Vanaheim is a somber country, mostly a bleak tundra plain that is snow-covered through the long winters. Swampy taiga forests clothes its high southern regions thinly. Glaciers creep down from the Eiglophian Mountains in the south and the Blue Mountains on the frontier with Asgard. Far to the north are more mountains, crowned with a permanent ice cap that grows larger as the climate changes. Fierce storms come from the Western Ocean as well as the icy north.
The people :
The Vanir people, being Nordheimers, are of like blood and language as the Aesir of Asgard. As such they are tall and blue-eyed, yet where the Aesir have fair coloured hair, the Vanir sport blood-red. They are great ale drinkers and fighters; they fight all day and drink ale and roar their wild songs all night. They are wild and wayward and fierce. They own no over-lord, but each settlement has its king, the Jarl. The Vanir are known to be exceptionaly aggresive in their warfare, and there is continual war on their borders. Often they will invade their Aesir neighbours to the west and the Cimmerians to the south, seeking plunder and riches. They are industrious and enterprising, and they are amongst the finest metalworkers in all of Hyboria. In battle their warriors will wear horned helmets and ringmail, use horsehide shields and brandish swords, spears, hammers and axes. They make use of the dreaded longships, providing them with unparalleled transportation during raids and invasions. The most inhabited part of Vanaheim lay along the western coast. There are numerous villages there where the people eke out a living by beachcombing, fishing, and hunting marine and land mammals. Children collected seabird eggs from the rugged cliffs of the seacoast. The lands there are less barren of life than those of the interior are since the sea moderates the climate. The Eiglophian uplands of southern Vanaheim harbor a considerable population, because Cimmerians and Aesir conduct raids there. The Vanir live in snow-covered lands and are winter-bound throughout the majority of the year. During the warmer season they venture from their homes to prey upon the barbarian tribes around them. In this fashion, they believe, year by bloody year, they will eventually purge the world of their blood enemies, the Cimmerians, Aesir and Hyperboreans. They despise each race with equal passion. Vanir raids are known to be especially brutal. The Vanir are famed for burning all they cannot carry away with them. Vanir dislike intrusions into their territories and will always destroy any settlements which come within several days’ march of their villages. Vanir men have only a single mate, although they seek sexual relations with all women who are not of Vanir blood. To the Vanir, this type of sexual activity is not considered adultery and is perfectly acceptable, even to the Vanir women.
The God and the afterlife :
Their god is Ymir, Father of all the Frost-Giants and lord of Storms, War, Strength and Destruction. His domain is the vaulted halls of Valhalla, a snowy, shadowy place that is home to all warriors who fall fighting bravely in battle in his name. Ymir's daughter, Atali, is said to appear to dying warriors as the harbinger of their journey to her Father's realm. She will play tricks on them, luring them into the lands of Her brothers, the Frost-Giants, who will slay them and place their smoking, still beating hearts before Ymir on his table. Legends say that Ymir lives in the northern mountains of Vanaheim.
Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:00 pm