Archimandrite: A senior rank in the Knights of the Holy Trinity, just below that of a bishop. Derived from the person who is in charge of a number of monasteries.
Arm-ring: also temple-ring. Well-attested pagan religious item. A heavy ring worn above the elbow. Some of these were "consecrated" and worn by the priest-chieftains, and solemn oaths were sworn upon them.
Aesir: The principal ruling pantheon of Norse gods. Some sources divide these into Aesir and Vanir.
Alfar: Elvish.
Altmark: Kingdom to the north of Telemark.
Aqua fortis: Nitric acid.
Aqua regia: Nitrohydrochloric acid. Very corrosive, will dissolve metals including gold.
Aurvangar: (wet-gravel plains) Place where dwarves live.
Bakrauf: Troll-wife name.
Balefire: (evil fire) Ritual fire kindled with certain hard fungus.
Bautarstein: (driven stone) Upright stone monument.
Bifröst: (the shimmering path) Bridge between the lands of gods and men. Sometimes interpreted as a rainbow.
Björnhednar: (bearskins) Shape changers into bears.
Brisingamen: (the flaming necklace) Freya's most precious possession.
Brynhild: The Valkyrie whose mistaken marriage to Gunnar gave rise to the tragic events in the Völsung saga. She casts herself onto the pyre of the man she wished to marry. One of the "examples" held up to Signy.
Disir: Goddesses associated with the dead.
Dokkalfar: Dark elves.
Draupnir: (dripper) Arm-ring. A legendary one from which other rings (or wealth) were supposed to fall.
Draug: Ghosts or walking dead. Literally corpses that walk. The only way to "kill" a draug is to cut its head right off, place the severed head between its buttocks, and cremate it.
Draugar: Plural of draug.
Eldr: (fire) Giant name. The Scandinavian skaldic culture had a wonderful tradition of "kennings," plays on words, with multiple layers of meaning. Anthropomorphism of natural forces and objects was the norm. So it is possible that eldr was both a giant and the personification of fire. Eddic poems were expected to be multilayered and were appreciated for that.
Fimbulthul: River, "terrible/mighty Thul."
Fjells: Sharp or rounded peaks.
Franklin: A freeman who is not a noble (archaic term, 14–15th century).
Frey: Chief fertility god. One of the Vanir. Usually portrayed with an enormous erection.
Freya: The sister of Frey, her province is love and sex. Her most infamous exploit was sleeping with four dwarves in order to obtain the Brisingamen.
Fylgjur: (fetch) Protective spirit.
Futhark: Runic script.
Galdr: Chants—spells.
Garth: Enclosed courtyard.
Gjallarbru: Bridge between Midgard and the underworld.
Godar: Both chieftains and priests.
Gimlé's halls: The halls of alfar.
Götar: Occupants of Southern Sweden before the Danish invasions.
Gjöll: lit. "Scream"—a mighty river dividing the Midgard from the underworld.
Hag of Járnvid: Hag of Ironwood, a giantess who fosters the wolf who will one day devour the sun.
Hati: Troll-name, meaning "hateful."
Hjorda: The king of Rogaland to the west of Telemark.
Hlauttein: Aspergillum.
Iron vitriol: Hydrated ferrous sulphate, which was then distilled to produce sulphuric acid.
Jarl: Earl.
Járnhauss: Troll-name (lit., iron-skull).
Joulu: Yule, an ancient pagan festival, long predating Christmas, which Christmas has usurped, taking many of the customs. The date is taken as the point at which the sun begins to win against winter (the winter solstice). Customs relating to the kindling of fires, often wheel-shaped ones to symbolize the sun, or phallic ones, occur across the length and breadth of Europe.
Jötunheim: The realm of Giants, bordered by Járnvid.
Kobold: An underground-dwelling Germanic/Nordic gnome, known to give miners a hard time.
Lesbos: An island in the Aegean, near to the coast of Turkey. Its claims to fame are that the term Lesbian originated from there, via the poet Sappho, and that it was the original home of the Barbary corsair Brother-Captains Aruj and Khayr (Cair).
Martinmas: The 11th of November—Saint Martin's Mass, by which time the winter slaughterings were to be done and salted away.
Midgard: The one of the nine worlds that Norse myth believed men lived in. All of the worlds are interlinked "places" and not "worlds" in the way we think of them as globes hanging in space. The Norse world was a multidimensional place.
Moonling: One who has been moonstruck. The moon was believed to cause lunacy. Often applied to those whose wits were a little lacking.
Needfire: Fire kindled by friction, without the use of any metal, believed to be necessary for certain magics.
Oferlundar: Sacrificial glade.
Pease: A generic middle ages term for any form of bean or pea.
Seid: Black magic only practiced by Odin and women.
Signy: Another tragic heroine, who eventually burns willingly with her husband King Siggeir, although she was unwillingly wed to him.
Sjár: (sparky) Dwarf name.
Skald: Bard or court poet. A revered person in Norse society.
Svear: Generic term for the Swedish pagans.
Troll: (giant or monster) Not the sort that lived under bridges and ate billy-goats. Huge, powerful, and capable of assuming "seemings."
Thrall: Slave.
þekkr: Spelled with its proper thorn, which isn't "just an English th" and never should be substituted with such. Editors who want to change it shouldn't blame the copy editor or typesetter—they know better and cringe when they see a thorn substituted with "th" by mistake or misunderstanding. Thorns are pronounced as a "hard" th, as in that.
Ulfhednar: (wolf-skins ) Shape changers to wolves.
Vanir: Fertility gods who fought a war with the Aesir, exchanging hostages, and becoming part of the Norse pantheon. It seems that the Germanic tribes spreading across Europe and Scandinavia absorbed and incorporated older and different religions into their own. This myth possibly has its origins in an actual war between two tribes of believers in different gods.
Vé: Sacred grove.
Vidd: High plateau.
Vitr: (smart) Dwarf name.
Völund: Legendary smith who was captured and hamstrung and imprisoned on an island from whence he escaped by constructing a pair of wings.
Wanderjahre: Journeyman years.
Woden: also Odhinn, Woutan, Wotan. Woden was the Danish way of naming the king of the Aesir; known as Odin among the Norse.