Miðrvegr Religion

Current Midvegr religion centers around the Yggdrasil ("World Tree") and a triple goddess known as Yrsa. In addition to Yrsa, the Midrvegr pantheon includes Frey and Freya, Njordr, Tyr, Fenrir and Grimnar. Ancestor worship is a strong part of the people's belief and most farms and most villages include a Vårdträd, a sacred guardian tree.

World Tree

There is one core belief for those of Midrvegr, which is that the World Tree is real and represents the Midrvegrian view of life and the other worlds. Such world tree beliefs can be found in the lore of many travelers to Sanctuary, in Midvegr it is most commonly known as Yggdrasil. The priests of the Thorn King would attempt to convert the Midrvegrians away from this core concept, and it will work for a time, but the noble houses will soon find that the commoners never give up their basic tree worship and their loyalty fails when such traditions are not kept.

A Northern Pantheon

A post Ragnorok alternate pantheon

In a world much like that of earth, there came a young goddess by the name of Yrsa. She was born of two Vanir, Freyr (The Lord) and Freya (The Lady), the children of Njord, a northern sea god. Yrsa, a young godling, fond of the Alfar to whom she was their princess, and the Jotunn by whom she was secretly raised, came to hate the cruel treatment done to Tyr, the god of law, once the father of all. She was a very young girl when his hand was bitten off by Fenrir, chained by Odin, and she wept that the great beast was shackled and chained.

She was only fourteen summers when she led those of the Alfar and the Jotunn east of the sun and west of the moon, far into northern frozen Helheim. Tyr, the lawful one, went with her, and when she, Yrsa, was trapped in Helheim by the goddess Hel, Tyr lead their people down into the new lands of where they settled.

Yrsa, still a child would grow into her power in the lands of Helheim, she would eventually trap and overpower Hel, binding the power of two death goddesses together. Her mother’s legacy gave the young godling the right to claim half of those fallen in battle. With the union forged in Helheim, Yrsa now a grown woman would truly become battle maiden and crone. Hel/Yrsa would take on their iconic image of half beautiful woman and half aging hag.

In her role as Hel, Yrsa she returned to the lands of the Aesir to free Fenrir from his chains, thus bringing about Ragnarok in those lands. She would put the chains on Odin, and call him Grimnar, the shadow one, so that Fenrir might drag the Aesir All-Father about as he wished. She would pass again through Helheim, and come down into the lands of Midrvegr to rejoin her people.

She would take to her bed Njordr, the reborn sea-god, and the ancient-lawful-one Tyr, as husbands. With the power of Fenrir, and the chained Grimnar she would come fully into her power as battle maiden, fertility mother, and death crone.