"The Tenth World is in a mess," Eris told him, "and the Council of the Aesir are still trying to figure out what to do about it. They'll probably end up sticking some poor jerk with going there and finding out as a Trial of Ascension." <remainder snipped>

Later, Corwin and Utena have the following exchange about his parentage:

"No. Literally. She's a -real- goddess. Skuld Ravenhair is the youngest daughter of Odin Winterbeard, the All-Father, ruler of all the Aesir and Vanir. Mom is the Norn of Tomorrow, the Norse goddess of the future. We live on Tomodachi most of the time, but we have a place in the Golden City of Asgard too."

"So... you're... what, a demigod?" asked Utena, showing - feeling! - no indication that she failed to believe what he'd just told her.

"At the moment. I'm being trained for full godhood; in another year or so, I'm not sure exactly when, I'll be called upon to face my Trial. If I succeed, I take a place in the pantheon of the Aesir."

It appears that the Aesir are the Norse pantheon of gods (yes?), but who are the Vanir?

As for Corwin's "dream girl":

"You OK?" asked Utena, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Corwin replied, wiping his hands down his face. "I'm just a little out of it. I had a really weird dream this morning."

<snippage of Zoners "pickle dream">

"So w-what -was- it ab-b-bout?" Kate asked.

"I... don't really remember," said Corwin, still looking confused. "There was this girl... I dunno who she was. Not really my type, but beautiful, and... " He shook his head. "It's slipping away. I can't remember... "

I'm not going to come right out and say what I suspect is going to happen, because I'm already dropping some pretty big hints. Besides, I've already been told by the author at least once that I was reading more into events in these stories than was intended. However, how much am I pushing it to ask if the girl Corwin describes in his dream has already appeared in SOS, either by name alone, or perhaps physically?

Regards,
Jeanne

http://www.jhedge.com
http://go.compuserve.com/Anime

Jeanne

The Vanir are sort of second-string Norse gods. Basically (and this is a bit of an oversimplification, but so is UF's cosmology), the Aesir are the direct descendents of Odin, and the Vanir are another clan, so to speak, of Asgardians. Frey and Freija are the most prominent Vanir I can think of; I think Njord (god of the sea) is a Van as well.

The Norns were not Aesir in the actual Norse mythology; they were their own deal, sort of outside the whole system. It's pretty obvious in Oh My Goddess! that Fujishima's Norns are Odin's daughters, though, and since that's where the UF cosmology takes its starting point, they are in UF as well, and thus Aesir, which means that Corwin is by blood an Aes as well.

The "Council of the Aesir" is a slight misnomer - there are several Vanir sitting on it at any given time - but over time the word has come to serve as a sort of shorthand for all the gods of Asgard in some contexts. Kind of like the way nobody ever mentions Providence Plantations (the full name of the 13th state is "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations", and indeed, the Providence Plantations part is the bigger part, since Rhode Island proper is just that island with Newport on it). :)

>I'm not going to come right out and say what I suspect is going to
>happen, because I'm already dropping some pretty big hints. Besides,
>I've already been told by the author at least once that I was reading
>more into events in these stories than was intended. However, how much
>am I pushing it to ask if the girl Corwin describes in his dream has
>already appeared in SOS, either by name alone, or perhaps physically?

mmmm...

... hmm...

Nah. I'm saving that.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

The Aesir and Vanir are the two races of gods in the Norse sagas. Generally speaking, the Vanir are the elder race, but of lesser overall power. In ancient days the two races warred against each other for dominance, but now they live in harmony and even intermarry. Njord Seafarer is the mightiest of the Vanir, God of the Oceans, and his children are Frey and Frejya, God of Weather and Goddess of Healing. In addition to their "official" Asgard job descriptions, Frey and Frejya have great power in nature and in fertility; they are also known in certain ancient Earth religions as 'the Lord and the Lady.'

Remember, however, that being born Aesir or Vanir, even pureblood, does -not- make one a god. Godhood involves a level of power no less than an order of magnitude higher than that birthright granted to an Aes or Van. In order to attain official position as a god in the court of Asgard, a young godling must pass a ritual test, which is difficult in proportion to the powers and responsibilities of the post. As a general rule, Aesir specialize in man-made concepts, while Vanir specialize in natural realms. An unambitious Aes might be the God of Jam Sessions, and a similarly modest Van might be the God of the River Cam.

Demigods (those with mortal parentage) have it even more difficult; only rarely do they attain full godhood.

Finally, it is -theoretically- possible for a mortal to gain apotheosis, but we don't know of any who have managed it, save for the Valkyrior.

Redneck

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