Tyr was the ancient Germanic god of battle and glory, and he was the king of the gods, possibly predating the two clans of the Aesir and Vanir, but he was probably one of the Aesir (a sky god of war and death). The most important story about Tyr is about Fenrir, the demon wolf. The gods were unable to kill Fenrir, so Odin made a chain to shackle him, but the wolf would only agree to this if he had a hostage. Tyr agreed to be the hostage and put his right hand in the wolf’s mouth. When the chain proved strong enough to hold the wolf, Fenrir bit off Tyr’s hand. This injury meant Tyr was no longer physically fit to command the gods and made way for Odin to become king. But Tyr remained a respected deity of justice.

In the novel Freya the Huntress, “Bloody” Tyr was a violent god of war who reveled in killing and terrified the other gods and humans. During the battle with Fenrir, Woden seized the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. He shackled the wolf’s jaws shut around Tyr’s arm, forcing the king to lose his hand and thus allowing Woden to replace him.

Fun fact: The word “Wednesday” is derived from “Woden’s Day”.

Odin, as portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins in THOR

He rides an eight-legged horse and has a pair of wolves, a pair of ravens, and a magic spear. To master the runes and magic, he sacrificed himself on a tree for nine days and nights. He also sacrificed one of his eyes for wisdom. He is often depicted as an old man with a wide-brimmed hat (to hide his missing eye) who travels the world telling tales and playing riddle games. (He was the archetype for the wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.) Odin was also unique for his mastery of magic, which was considered the domain of women.

In the novel Freya the Huntress, Woden is the king of the Yslander gods, one principally concerned with death and magic. The witches, or “valas”, appeal to Woden for wisdom and guidance. Legend tells that Woden sacrificed himself on the island of Delver to gain wisdom, and that he battled with the ravens for their knowledge of the runes. He also made war on the demons of the earth so that humans could live in Ysland.

Freya (or Freyja) was the Norse goddess of fertility. She was a member of the Vanir, the Germanic gods of the earth and life (as opposed to the Aesir, the sky gods of war and death). Freya was young and beautiful, had a twin brother Freyr, and she had lots of cool toys. She owned the magic necklace Brisingamen, a chariot drawn by a pair of cats, a wild boar, and a cloak of falcon feathers. Not only that, but she gets half of all the souls who die in battle (Odin gets the other half).

In the novel Freya the Huntress, Freya is a young woman living with her husband and sister in western Ysland (Iceland). Her quiet life of hunting deer is shattered when a strange beast, a giant fox demon, comes down out of the snowy hills to attack her sister. And thus the story begins as Freya sets out to find a cure that will save her sister from transforming into a fox demon herself.