Vanir

thumb|A depiction of Freyja. Within Norse paganism, Freyja was the deity primarily associated with .

thumb|300px|17th-century Icelandic illustration of Njörðr

thumb|The Rällinge statuette from [[Södermanland, Sweden, believed to depict Freyr, Viking Age]] In Norse mythology, Freyr (Old Norse: "(the) Lord") is the god associated with kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, fair weather, and good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden and seen as an ancestor of the Swedish royal house. According to Adam of Bremen, Freyr was associated with peace and pleasure, and was represented with a phallic statue in the Temple at Uppsala. According to Snorri Sturluson, Freyr was "the most renowned of the æsir",

thumb|333px|Freyja by John Bauer (1882–1918) In Norse mythology, the Vanir (; Old Norse:, singular Vanr) are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future. The Vanir are one of two groups of gods (the other being the Æsir) and are the namesake of the location Vanaheimr (Old Norse "Home of the Vanir"). After the Æsir–Vanir War, the Vanir became a subgroup of the Æsir. Subsequently, at least some members of the Vanir are at times also referred to as being Æsir.

In Norse cosmology, Vanaheimr (Old Norse for 'home of the Vanir') is a location associated with the Vanir, a group of gods themselves associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future.

In Norse mythology, Kvasir (Old Norse: ) was a being born of the saliva of the Æsir and the Vanir, two groups of gods. Extremely wise, Kvasir traveled far and wide, teaching and spreading knowledge. This continued until the dwarfs Fjalar and Galar killed Kvasir and drained him of his blood. The two mixed his blood with honey, thus creating the Mead of Poetry, a mead which imbued the drinker with skaldship and wisdom, and the spread of which eventually resulted in the introduction of poetry to mankind.

thumb|300px|Nerthus is led along her procession in "Nerthus" by Emil Doepler, 1905 In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with a ceremonial wagon procession. Nerthus is attested by first century A.D. Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work Germania.

in Norse mythology, the first war in the world between the Æsir and Vanir

thumb|The Æsir lift Gullveig on spears over fire as illustrated by Lorenz Frølich (1895)

In Norse mythology, Gersemi (Old Norse: "relic") is the daughter of Freyja and Óðr, and the twin sister of Hnoss. She is the goddess of beauty, adoration and freedom.

thumb|right|Heimdall and the little Hnoss in: how all things came to be by [[Willy Pogany (1920).]] In Norse mythology, Hnoss (Old Norse: "treasure") is the daughter of Freyja and Óðr, and the twin sister of Gersemi. She is the goddess of wealth, friendship and happiness.