3: THE AESIR-VANIR WAR

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The first great God-Giant war took place in a large scale combat. The world tree nearly collapsed under the pressure. The giants were led by Bolthorn to overthrow the rule of the gods but was unsuccessful and got killed. 

Odin also lost both of his brothers in the war. But Ve had left descendants behind. The gods won the war at a great price.

Odin adopted Loki who's family had been killed in the war. Loki's father was a giant but his mother is unknown. They now lived in Asgard.

Ve had two children( before he died ), Nijordr and his unnamed sister. Nijordr married his sister and had twins, Freyja(female) and Freyr(male).

They lived separate from the Asgardians, in the place called Vanaheimr.

And the two tribes of gods, The Aesir and Vanir, were created.

The Rise of War:-

The Vanir goddess Freyja had always been the foremost practitioner of the art of magic.

She eventually came to Asgard, the home of the Aesir. The Aesir were quite taken by her powers. For unclear reasons they attempted to murder her. Three times they tried to burn her, and three times she was reborn from the ashes.

Because of this, the Aesir and Vanir came to hate and fear one another and soon they erupted into war.

The gods (that we know of) involved:

AESIR: Odin, Loki, Mimir

VANIR: Nijordr, Freyja, Freyr

The Aesir fought by the rules of plain combat, with weapons and brute force, while the Vanir used the subtler means of magic. The war went on for some time, with both sides gaining the upper hand by turns.

Eventually the two tribes of divinities became weary of fighting and decided to call a truce.

The Vanir had beheaded Mimir during the war and sent the severed head back to Asgard, where Odin chanted magic poems over the head and embalmed it in herbs. Thus preserved, Mimir's head continued to give advice to Odin in times of need.

After the war the two tribes finally merged into one large tribe.

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