The Jekyll Legacy by Jaye Michael & Levanah Greene Appendices What the Heck?

Victorian alchemy meets modern science and magic.
What could possibly go wrong?

There’s no story so long or tedious
that it can’t be improved by a few appendices.

 — Levanah Greene, Collected Aphorisms 2012

 

Cast of Characters
and Gazetteer

Ásagrimmr

Another name for Óðinn.

Æsir

Old Norse, God, áss (ás, plural ásir; feminine ásynja, plural ásynjur), a group of Gods and Goddesses, particularly Óðinn, Frigg, Thor, Njord, Heimdallr, Loki, Sigyn (Loki’s wife), Bragi, (Blind) Hoder, Baldr, Tyr, Vidar, Ale or Vale son of Óðinn and Rindr, Forseti (son of Balder and Nanna, Nep’s daughter),

The Ásynjur, Ás Goddesses:

Frigg is the first; she possesses the right lordly dwelling which is called Fensaler.
The second is Saga, who dwells in Sokvabek, and this is a large dwelling.
The third is Eir, who is the best leech.
The fourth is Gefjun, who is a may, and those who die maids become her hand-maidens.
The fifth is Fulla, who is also a may, she wears her hair flowing and has a golden ribbon about her head; she carries Frigg’s chest, takes care of her shoes and knows her secrets.
The sixth is Freyja, who is ranked with Frigg. She is wedded to the man whose name is Oder; their daughter’s name is Hnos, and she is so fair that all things fair and precious are called, from her name, Hnos. Oder went far away. Freyja weeps for him, but her tears are red gold. Freyja has many names, and the reason therefor is that she changed her name among the various nations to which she came in search of Oder. She is called Mardol, Horn, Gefn, and Syr. She has the necklace Brising, or Brisingamen, and she is called Vanadis, which means ‘The Spirit of the Vanes.’
The seventh is Sjá¶fn, who is fond of turning men’s and women’s hearts to love, and it is from her name that love is called Sjafne.
The eighth is Lofn, who is kind and good to those who call upon her, and she has permission from Alfather or Frigg to bring together men and women, no matter what difficulties may stand in the way; therefore ‘love’ is so called from her name, and also that which is much loved by men.
The ninth is Var. She hears the oaths and troths that men and women plight to each other. Hence such vows are called vars, and she takes vengeance on those who break their promises.
The tenth is Vör, who is so wise and searching that nothing can be concealed from her. It is a saying that a woman becomes vor (ware) of what she becomes wise.
The eleventh is Syn, who guards the door of the hall, and closes it against those who are not to enter. In trials she guards those suits in which anyone tries to make use of falsehood. Hence, the saying “Syn is set against it,” when anyone tries either to assert or to deny ought that they should not.
The twelfth is Hlin, who guards those men whom Frigg wants to protect from any danger. Hence the saying that ‘he hlins’ who is forewarned.
The thirteenth is Snotra, who is wise and courtly. After her, men and women who are wise are called Snotras.
The fourteenth is Gna, whom Frigg sends on her errands into various worlds. She rides upon a horse called Hofvarpner, that runs through the air and over the sea. Once, when she was riding, some Vanir saw her faring through the air and were amazed.
Sól and Bil are also numbered among the goddesses, but their nature has already been described.

Óðinn

Odin, chief God of the Æsir, the All-Father. Also called Óðr,

Þórgerðr

Þórr in woman’s form. The suffix means ‘fenced-in,’ or ‘chaste,’ which implies a certain feminine modesty and retiring nature that he doesn’t normally possess.

Þórr

Thor, the most famous son of Óðinn, he is fierce-eyed, red-haired, and red-bearded. His weapon is the mighty Mjölnir, a war hammer that only he could lift and which probably represents the thunderbolt, roughly the same as the lightning wielded by Zeus or Jupiter.

Þjazi

A Jötunn, father of Skaði.

Akcuanrut

Wizard, Dean of the Emperor’s College of Wizards.

Almilón

"Elm," Selene’s eight-legged mare.

Alvís

King of the Dvergar, the Dwarves, also known as the Black Elves, a reference to their jet black hair, not their skins, which are very pale and pasty white.

Ambiló

"Vine," Rhea’s eight-legged mare.

Baldr

The Shining One, supposedly the most noble of the Gods, if something of an idiot. Baldr was killed through the trickery of Loki, and his death was the first great tragedy to afflict the Gods and Goddesses, the first loss that led to the doleful events of the Ragnarök. His hall is named Breidablik, the ‘The Sparkling Expanse,’and his ship Hringhorni, the ‘Ship of the Circle.’ At the End of Days, he may return to life and lead the Gods and Goddesses to new glory, with humanity reborn and the nine worlds renewed, or not.

Bil

One of Sól’s daughters by either Glenr or Glaur or Viðfinnr, an agricultural Goddess. The name means “Appropriate” and may refer to the proper times for planting on a lunar calendar. For this reason, she is often described as ‘following’ the Moon, Máni. Her brother is Hjúki, “One who returns to health,” and represents the cyclical phases of the Moon from New Moon to Full Moon and back again.

Dökkálfar

Dark Elves, ‘Fallen Angels,’ so to speak, the inhabitants of Hel.

D’Larona-Elvi, Empress of Myriad & Mistress Sorceress and Scryer

Empress of Myriad & Sorceress of the College.

D’lon-Ra,

Emperor’s Champion.

D’Shalika-Saar, Mistress Sorceress and Scryer

A Sorceress of the College.

D’Sigorni-Padwan

First Empress of Myriad.

Dr. Emily Lanyon

Hastie’s mother. Later the Centaur Stallion Thundercloud.

Dr. Herbert Lanyon VI

Hastie’s father. Later the Centauress Wildflower.

Eir Menglöð

The Goddess who chooses the slain for Gefjon (Freyja). Something like the Valkyries, but smarter, better, and more powerful.

Emperor Elvi of Myriad

The Emperor.

Fenrir

One of the sons of Loki, a gigantic wolf who will slay Óðinn, and will be slain in turn by Óðinn’s son Vá­ðarr.

Freyja

Old Norse ‘Lady,’ the Goddess of love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. She owns the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot driven by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvíni, possesses a cloak of falcon feathers, and, by her husband Óðr (Old Norse ‘Frenzy’) the God of poetry and song, is the mother of two daughters, Hnoss and Gersemi, both of whose names mean ‘treasure’ in Old Norse. Along with her brother Freyr (Old Norse ‘Lord’), her father Njörðr, and her mother (Njörðr’s sister, unnamed in sources), she is a member of the Vanir, a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom and the ability to see the future. Freyja has numerous names, including Gefn or Gefjon (‘Giver’), Frigg (Beloved), Hörn (Flaxen), Mardöll (Sea-Brightener), Skjálf (‘Shaker’), Sýr (Sow), Valfreyja (Lady of the Slain, i.e. The Queen of Heaven), and Vanadís (The Spirit of the Vanir).

George Utterson

Jack Utterson’s father, later Sarah.

Höðr

The Blind (or The Brave, the translation is ambiguous), the brother of Baldr. Through the trickery of Loki, Höðr kills his own brother and is then murdered through the machinations of Óðinn, who fathered both of them. After the Raganrökk, when many of the Gods and Goddesses are killed, the reconciliation of Höðr and Baldr on the Splendid Plain, Iðavöllr, is the key that allows the worlds to be rekindled and humanity to be reborn into a new era of peace and prosperity.

Herbert ‘Hastie’ Lanyon VII

A High School Quarterback, somewhat cocky and rash, but likable. Later Rhea, Blonde Barbarian Warrior Princess. Six feet even. Rhea is the Greek form of the ancient name Ro-Ja [ Linear-A and Linear-B 𐀫𐀊 ], the Mother of everything living. In Greek thealogy, the daughter of the sky god Uranus and the earth goddess Gaia, mother of the Olympian Gods.

Iðunn (Ever Young)

Iðunn is a goddess associated with apples, youth, and possibly fertility.

Jörmungandr

The World Serpent, one of the sons of Loki, Jörmungandr is huge, big enough to encircle all the Nine Worlds with room to spare. At the time of the Ragnarök, Thor is fated to kill Jörmungandr, yet is poisoned by the serpent’s venom and dies immediately thereafter.

Jack Utterson

A High School Center and Defensive Tackle, Hastie’s much more sensible and responsible friend. Later Selene, Redheaded Barbarian Warrior Princess. Six feet even. Selene is the Greek Goddess of the Moon, the equivalent of Roman Luna.

Kvænhofr

See Kvænhöllr

Lögmaður

A Law-speaker, an individual responsible for reciting the law and rendering judgement in cases where no agreement could be reached privately. Since the law-speaker had to be paid to render judgement, most cases were settled privately, since most crimes had predefined costs involved. The murder of a thrall, for example, demanded a wergeld of twelve ounces of silver. Killing a free man, on the other hand, required the payment of four hundred ounces of silver, while an ‘important’ man’s life was worth twice that.

Ljósálfar

Light Elves, the immortal souls of both humans and the Gods who prove themselves worthy.

Loki

A trickster God, or Giant, the son of Laufey, an Æsynja who was sometimes called Nál (needle) because she was very thin.

Lucille Utterson

Jack Utterson’s mother, later Alice.

Máni

The Moon God, brother of Sól, Goddess of the Sun

Master Wizard Amonrat

A Wizard of the College.

Níðhöggr

The dragon which gnaws at the root of Yggdrasil, the immense ash tree that supports the Nine Worlds.

Na-Noc

Protean Creature of Pure Evil, the Blob, Ex-Emperor’s Champion.

Nanna

A Goddess, the wife of Baldr and lover of Höðr, or vice versa, depending on who’s telling the story; she may be related to the Sumerian Innana, sometimes called Nana, or Nin, Nin-Ana, the Lady of the Sky, who is roughly synonymous with Ishtar, all Goddesses of sexual love, fertility, and war. As Venus and Aphrodite, she served much the same functions for the ancient Greeks and Romans, although her warlike attributes were mostly captured by Mars/Ares.

Njörðr

A God among the Vanes. He married Skaði.

Padwan of Myriad

First Emperor of Myriad.

Phil Cohn

Philip Avraham Cohn, High School Quarterback (replacing Hastie), Wizard’s Apprentice, Selene’s heartthrob. Six foot six, light-complected, deep green eyes, and a rather prominent ‘Jewish’ nose.

Philip’s Wives

Selene, Rhea, Gefjon, Larona, Eir Menglöð, ….

Queen Gefjon

Her name means ‘The Giver’ and she’s the ever-virgin Goddess of Agriculture and ploughing, although also associated (like Demeter and Persephone) with death and the afterlife, so the Divine Order, the sacraments of marriage, the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death may well fall within her purview as well. She’s also reported to be the Goddess of the Sea, like Tiamat, who may represent either Creation or Chaos, since they are essentially similar, and whose name probably means ‘The Abyss,’ from which sprang all of life, for real. She may well be identical with Freyja, also named Frigg, both of which names mean simply ‘Beloved,’ although it’s difficult to say with Goddesses, which entries please see.

Sól

The Goddess of the Sun, who rides across the sky in a chariot drawn by two supernatural horses, Árvakr (Old Norse “early awake”) and Alsviðr (Old Norse “very quick”) which pull Sól’s chariot, Álfröðull (Old Norse “Elf glory”), across the sky each day. As is common in Norse culture, Sól is also known by the name of her most prominent artefact, her chariot, Álfröðull, or perhaps the chariot is known by an alternate name for Sól. She was married to Glenr, or Glaur, or Viðfinnr, by whom she had two children, Bil and Hjúki.

Selene’s Sisters

Those red-headed clones of Selene created when the Wizard Akcuanrut resurrected many victims of the Dark, who had been trapped in slow and agonizing stasis for varying lengths of time.

Sessrúmnir

See Kvænhöllr

Sinmœra

A Goddess, Loki’s daughter, whose name means ‘Pale Mare,’ and who is loosely associated with Surtr and may or may not have a more intimate relation with him. She forged the fiery weapon Hævateinn that Surtr will use to drive all before him at the world’s ending and holds it in safekeeping for him. She is the regent of Hel, the most terrible region of Niflheimr. She also bears the name Hel, possibly in reference to her domain, or vice versa.

Skaði

A Jötunness. She married Njörðr and bore Freyr and Gefjon to him. Later, she married Óðinn and bore many children to him, but they seemed to have passed into obscurity, since their names are unknown in the present day.

Sleipnir

"Slippery," Eir’s eight-legged stallion.

Surtr (Black)

King of the Fire Jötnar (Giants). In the Ragnarök, Surtr will kill Freyr, who is unable to fight effectively because of his foolish gift of the sword which fights on its own volition to his servant Ská­rnir.

Svartálfar

Black Elves, another name for the Dvergar, or those of them as have not fully embraced the Dark.

The Voice

A Dark God - the Dungeon Master?

Utgard-Loki

A Jötun

Vanir

The Fair Folk, a group of Gods and Goddesses associated with fertility, wisdom and the ability to see the future. Also called ‘Vane’ in the singular, and sometimes plural ‘Vanes.’

Windflyer

Native Centaur Stallion.

Places and Things

Avalon

A mysterious island in the Far West, from the Welsh word afal, apple. Avalon is ruled by women, notably Morgan le Fay, and is the land in which Excalibur (Caliburn) was forged. Geoffrey of Monmouth describes Morgan le Fay as the chief of nine sisters (Moronoe, Mazoe, Gliten, Glitonea, Gliton, Tyronoe, Thiten and Thiton), but these names are fairly obvious inventions.

Brísingamen

(from Old Norse brisinga ‘flaming, glowing,’ plus men, ‘jewellery, ornament’

Brenðr

The magical sword originally owned by Freyr, the Vanish God exchanged as a hostage to the Æsir after the Æsir-Vanir War. He gave it to his servant Skírnir in a successful effort to win the Jötunn Gerðr as his bride, to whom he’d sent a gift of eleven ‘golden apples,’ although Skírnir wound up using vile magical coercion to achieve his goal, including a threat to afflict Gerðr with sexual perversity and unnatural lusts. In Old Norse, the word Brenðr means ‘Firebrand,’ ‘Sword,’ or ‘Flaming Sword,’ although it’s also the source of the feminine name Brenda, which possibly refers to red hair, although it could as easily imply bright beauty, since the Vikings loved their swords.

Elysian Fields, or Elysium

The final destination of those especially chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic, where they would live on after death in blessed happiness. The Elysian Fields are located on the western edge of the Earth.

Excalibur

Welsh: Caledfwlch. The archetypical enchanted sword, the gift of ‘The Lady of the Lake,’ who may or may not be Morgan le Fay, or Freyjr.

Fólkvangr

Freyja’s meadows, from Old Norse ‘people’s field,’ or ‘army’s field,’ the home of the honorable dead, to which noble heroes and heroines are transported in Freyja’s ship, Sessrúmnir, which is also the name of her beautiful hall, located within these spacious meadows. See: Elysian Fields, or Avalon.

Galdr

A spell or incantation performed through chanting, singing, or shouting.

Hævateinn

The weapon forged by Sinmœra, who is also called Hel, after the land she rules.

Iðavöllr

The Splendid Plain, the Paradise to which the Gods repair after the Ragnarok, where Baldr and Höðr, who both loved the Goddess Nanna are finally reconciled, Höðr’s Hall there is named Breiðablik.

Kvænhöllr

Queen Gefjon’s enormous ship and hall, large enough to accommodate at least five thousand warriors in full battle dress, plus their servants and horses, but the full size of it seemed curiously vague, because the hall seemed to be much larger on the inside than it was on the outside, so large that one couldn’t clearly see the regions near the prow.

Inside the hall, the deck and shape of the hull is supported by many hundreds of wooden pillars, ribs, and cross-members fashioned from fir, each carved with intricate patterns reminiscent of Celtic knots, but more clearly representative of snakes, since the heads and tails were visible if one looked carefully for them.

The pillars are an average of four feet in diameter at the base, tapering slightly towards the roof, which is pierced with inset deck prisms for light, as well as many hatches which serve both as light sources and smoke outlets for the many glowing fires on raised iron braziers that hold blazing smaller chunks of firewood and coals for heat, and and added source of light after sunset, one presumes, although there are also unlit torches in sconces which are placed along the walls at regular intervals, and which ring most of the pillars.

A portion of the hall near the stern, far from the main entry, is partitioned off into the Queen’s apartments and council chambers, but overnight guests doss down in the hall itself, simply unrolling their bedrolls on low shelves that run between the pillars along the length of the hall.

The Queen herself has a large dais and feasting table at the end of the hall, just before the doors into her private rooms, but there are also tables in two long rows running up the center of the hall, all of them about twenty feet long, with broad aisles between to accommodate servitors and passage from one side of the hall to another.

Kvænhöllr is also called Sessrúmnir (The Seat Room) or Kvænhoff (The Queen’s Shrine)

Portal

A Gate between the worlds, although our adventurers’ modern study of the ancient Centaur Temple teaches us that they’re somewhat more flexible than that.

Seiðr

A spell performed using a wand or staff, in some cases involving sexual energy and practices, although the wand or staff, sometimes explicitly phallic, may have been used symbolically rather than practically. Although male practitioners of seiðr existed, they could be and often were accused of ergi, a type of effeminacy and unmanliness that often caused loss of social status, and could only be refuted through winning a peculiar form of duel, although Óðinn was purported to be an adept, but then so was Freyja, who is said to have introduced the practice from Vanaheim.

Sessrúmnir

Freyja’s Hall, from Old Norse ‘seat-room’ or ‘roomy seats,’ also her ship, wherein she transports one half of those slain in battle, or otherwise die honorably, to the Fólkvangr

Spæ

Oracular trance or prophesy performed by a spækona, a prophetess. The word is cognate to English ‘spectacle’ or ‘spy,’ and thus a rough equivalent to seer.

The Lost Temple of Zampulus

A temple, recently discovered but lost for thousands of years, originally built by the centaur people but subverted so anciently by ancient servants of the Heart of Virtue, dedicated to the service of the Heart, and thus evil, that its true origins had been lost to history, although we’re presented with a hint in the rampant centaurs which guard its main gate.

Sanctification

Kiddushin

Sanctification, Betrothal, the offer and acceptance of a gift of known value to a prospective bride, the offer and acceptance of a ketubah, or contract of marriage, and/or a virgin’s sexual intercourse with her suitor, in ancient times with or without her consent. Note that any of these occurrences establishes a marriage, so the omission of any two has no effect upon the validity of marriage, nor upon the necessity of divorce if either of the parties wish to separate. The first two elements of a marriage are usually combined in one ceremony, but this is not a requirement.

Ketubah

A (usually) prenuptial agreement of writing or contract which details the wife’s rights and the husband’s obligations in their marriage, as well as the sums payable to her upon the death of her husband or if a divorce is obtained. A husband is inherently responsible for providing his wife with food, clothing, and sexual relations, as well as anything else specified in the ketubah, but the obligation is not mutual. A husband has no ‘right’ to sexual relations with his wife unless she desires it, whilst a wife has the right to insist to a certain minimum level of sexual satisfaction which varied (historically) by profession, so that men whose work was physically exhausting, or demanded long periods of travel, such as sailors and traders, were allowed more ‘consideration’ than a lawyer, for example, or a shopkeeper.

Nisuin

Elevation, the formal entry of the bride into the husband’s protection and home. The mutual or complementary obligations created by the marital relationship do not take full effect until nisuin is complete, but the marriage is valid even without the bride’s elevation, which is often symbolized by her entry into the space beneath the chuppah, the canopy often seen during Jewish marriage, but in some communities may be supplemented by the couples symbolic withdrawal from their guests and entry into any private space for a period of time sufficient for sexual intercourse to have occurred. Their actual entry into their physical home is a requirement of Jewish law, however, no matter when or where it happens.

Worlds of the Nine Worlds

Álfheimr

One of the Nine Worlds, the home of the Ljósálfar (’light elves’)

Útgarðar

The Frontiers of Jötunheimr, The Outer Gardens, sometimes confused with Jötunheimr itself, because the borderlands are the first (and quite often the last) things one sees. Sometimes overspecified as a particular city or settlement within Jötunheimr, the home of a giant named Loki.

Bilröst

Sometimes called Bifröst, the rainbow bridge that spans the gulf between Miðgarðr, the world of Men, and Ásgarðr (also called Goðheimr), the homeworld of the Æsir

Goðheimr

One of the Nine Worlds, the home of the Æsir, one pantheon of the Gods and Goddesses in this universe. This world as also called Ásgarðr, which is properly the main settlement or Capital within Goðheimr, much as Washington, DC, is often conflated with the United States of America in casual speech.

Helheimr

The World of the Goddess Hel (the realm of the unworthy dead) usually seen as located somewhere within or very near Niflheimr.

Hrímthur

Frost giant, a type of Jötunn, an inhabitant of Niflheimr: World of Nifl (arctic ’mist’ and ice, in the furthest north).

Jötunheimr

One of the Nine Worlds, the home of the Jötnar, ’giants’.

Læraðr

A tree in Norse mythology, often identified with Yggdrasil. It stands at the top of the Valhöll. Two animals, the goat Heiðrún and the hart Eikþyrnir, graze its foliage.

Mímameiðr

Mímameiðr (Old Norse ‘Mimi’s tree’[1]) is a tree whose branches stretch over every land, is unharmed by fire or metal, bears fruit that assists pregnant women, and upon whose highest bough roosts the cock Víðópnir. Mímameiðr is solely attested in the Old Norse poem Fjölsvinnsmá¡l. Due to parallels between descriptions of the two, scholars theorize that Mímameiðr may be another name for the world tree Yggdrasil, which may also be called Hoddmímis holt, a wood within which the sole human survivors, Líf and Lífthrasir are foretold to take refuge during the events of Ragnarök.

Múspellsheimr

One of the Nine Worlds, the home of the Fire Jötnar, ’giants,’ the so-called Sons of Múspell. Surtr (Blackness) is their King, and is destined to bring on the Ragnarök, the end of the world when everything is burnt into black cinders. His wife, Sinmœra (Pale Mare), the ghastly Giantess, Loki’s daughter, who rules in Niflheim as Hel, keeps his fiery weapon locked in an iron chest until the world’s ending.

Manheimr

World of the Maðr (’humans’), another name for Miðgarðr, or Midgard.

Miðgarðr

Midgard, the world of Men. Miðgarðr anchors the far end of Bilröst, the rainbow bridge that spans the gulf between Miðgarðr and Ásgarðr, the homeworld of the Æsir.

Niflheimr

World of Nifl (arctic ’mist’ and ice, in the furthest north) Home of the Hrímthurs, or Frost Giants.

Ragnarök

The Fate of the Gods; essentially the end of the world and the cyclical rebirth of a new world, in which many of the Gods are killed, and almost the entirety of humanity. It involves a great battle which is fated to end in the death of a number of major figures (including the gods Óðinn, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki, who is killed in mutual combat with Heimdallr), the destruction of Surtr, Fenrir, the Midgard Sepent Jörmungandr, all the Jötnar (Giants), the occurrence of various natural disasters, including an almost universal conflagration which destroys most of the universe, and the subsequent submersion of what’s left of the world in a flood of water. Eventually, the world will be reborn and renew its fertility, after which the surviving and/or reborn gods will meet, and then the world will be repopulated by the two human survivors, Líf and Lífthrasir.

Svartálfheimr

One of the Nine Worlds, the homeland of the Dvergar, the Dwarves, sometimes called the Black Elves, or Svartálfar.

Vanaheimr

One of the Nine Worlds, the homeland of the Vanir (Old Norse, ‘Fair Folk’), one pantheon of the Gods and Goddesses in this universe.

Yggdrasil

The ash tree upon which the Nine Worlds are rooted. It holds a central place in the ancient Norse cosmology. Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree that is considered very holy. The gods go to Yggdrasil daily to assemble at their things (assemblies or folkmoots). The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir, and another to the well Mímisbrunnr. Creatures live within Yggdrasil (as opposed to the worlds it supports), including the wyrm (dragon) Níðhöggr, an unnamed eagle, and the stags Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór.

Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002 Jeffrey M. Mahr — All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2012 Levanah Greene — All Rights Reserved