Book 3: 'Arrow Odd'

APPENDIX A: HELGI 'ARROW ODD' ERIKSON; GLOSSARY OF TERMS

fleer--to mock or make fun of.

flygting--argumentive or abusive poetry.

Freya--Vanir goddess of fertility.

Freyr--Vanir god of fertility.

Fridleif--early king of Denmark; King Frodi III's father.

Frigg--Aesir goddess; wife of Odin.

Frodi III--legendary king of Denmark; conqueror of Russia, according to Saxo.

fylgja--female spirit that accompanies each person.

ginungagap--the great abyss into which everything was created.

Greek fire--an incendiary mixture of petroleum spirits and chemicals that bursts into flame, possibly on contact with air. A secret weapon of the Byzantines.

Ghuzz Turks--Turkic tribe found between the Aral and Caspian Seas.

hamingja--fortune or luck.

Havamal--poem telling the words of the high one (Odin); Possibly written by Bragi the Old.

holmgangr--island duel.

howe--burial mound.

Huns--Turkic tribe migrated from Western China into Europe(c.370 A.D.), attacking the Gothic Empire of Eormanrik and threatening the Roman Empire. Their leader, Attila, was poisoned by the Roman Emperor and the Huns moved on to Gaul. They were defeated at Chalons(451 A.D.) and retired back into Asia, apparently joining the Khazar Empire and settling north of the Caucasus Mountains.

Hymir--sea giant with whom Thor fished for the Midgard serpent.

Ibn Fadlan, Ahmad--Arab geographer and diplomat of the tenth century who recorded a trip up the Volga in which he met Varangian settlers.

Iconoclast--anyone against the veneration of religious pictures or icons.

Kara-Khazars--Black Khazars of the Khazar Empire.

kenning--metaphor or metaphorical rhyme.

Krivichi--Slav people of the upper Moskva River.

Kufa--silver coin of the Arab Caliphate.

Kvasir--god who invented mead.

Loki--Aesir god of mischief.

Magyars--Turkic tribe migrated from Western China to present day Hungary circa 830 to 890 A.D.; also, Turkoi; members of the Khazar Empire.

mead--alcoholic drink made from fermented honey.

mead-words--poetry.

Midgard Serpent(Worm)--snake that encircles the world, deep within the sea.

monoxyla--dugout bottomed ship with built up side strakes.

ness--headland or promontory.

nith-song--curse casting or derogatory poem.

norns--three female spirits representing the past, present and future, and controlling the fates of men.

Odin--chief god of the Aesir; god of hosts and battle.

Onogur--Turkic tribe of the Khazar Empire.

Permians--Finno-Ugric tribe of Northern Asia.

Poljane--Slav people of the middle Dnieper River.

pyre--bonfire used to cremate the dead.

Raes, Hraes'--theoretical nickname of Erik Bragi, from which the names Rus and Rhos may have been derived.

Radimichi--Slav people between the Dnieper and Desna Rivers.

Ragnar Lothbrok--early king of the Danes who slew a dragon in the east; his sons attacked England.

Ragnarsdrapa--ninth century poem by Bragi Boddison dedicated to Ragnar Lothbrok (or possibly Ragnar Sigurdson?).

Regin--blacksmith who helped Sigurd attack Fafnir.

ran--large Scandinavian house.

Rhinegold hoard--treasure robbed from the dragon Fafnir by Sigurd, who slew the dragon on the advice of Regin. It is an eastern tale with a possible Black Sea locale, but the name of the treasure is, oddly, Germanic. Perhaps Hraes' gold evolved into Rhine gold as the tale moved west.

Rhos--early Greek name for Norsemen and Slavs of Russia.

ring-giver--king or prince.

runes--alphabetic characters of early Germanic writing.

Rus or Rus'--early Slavic name of Norsemen, from which is derived the names Ruthenians and Russians.

sark--shirt or kirtle.

Saxo-Grammaticus--Danish historian of the twelfth century who wrote The First Nine Books of Danish History aka Gesta Danorum; Erik's Saga Bragi is based primarily on the fifth book about King Frodi III and Erik Disertus. Books three and four of his History also contain the tale of Amleth, the earliest form of Hamlet.

Scald or skald--poet; also, thul.

scorn pole--pole carved with runes and topped with the head or skull of a horse meant to cast a curse.

shaman--priest or mystic of Shamanism, the spiritual religion of Northeast Asia and native America.

Sigurd the Volsung--slayer of Fafnir the Dragon for which he won the Rhinegold treasure.

Skaldskaparmal--Snorri Sturluson's 'Words of the Skalds', a collection of ancient poems demonstrating kennings; second half of the Prose Edda.

skerries--reefs or sandbars.

Snorri Sturluson--twelfth Century Icelandic author of the Prose Edda and possibly Egil's Saga.

sound--marine passage connecting two bodies of water.

Sovar--Turkic tribe of the Khazar Empire.

strait--narrow passage between two bodies of water.

strake--a row of planks running the length and forming the sides of a ship.

strand--seashore or sandbar off a coast.

thing--assembly (see althing).

Thor--Aesir god of thunder; possible son of Odin.

thrall--slave.

trireme--ship having three banks of oars on each side.

troll--giant; also, etin.

Tyr--Aesir god of justice.

Valkyries--handmaidens of Odin who selected those to die in battle. Also, may have been women who fought in early Germanic battles or worked behind the battle lines slaying the wounded enemy.

Valhall--dwelling place of Odin, where those slain in battle are rewarded.

Vanir--southern gods in constant conflict with the northern Aesir.

Varangians--early Greek and Slavic name for Norsemen in Russia. May have been derived from Varangers, possibly meaning way-ranger or way-wanderer.

Viatichi--Slav people of the upper Don River.

Vik--bay area of present day Oslo.

Vikar--legendary Norwegian king who was sacrificed to Odin by the warrior giant Starkad.

wain--wagon.

Wends--a main branch of the Slavic peoples; also Poles.

withy--plaited willow twigs used as rope.

worm--dragon or snake.

Ygg--nickname of Odin.