Snorri Sturluson's Edda tells how the world was built from the body of Ymir, how the gods descend from Buri and how the giants descend from Ymir. In this chart the Aesir and the Vanir, the gods and the giants, are intertwined. Odin's mother is a giantess, Thor's mother is the Earth and Loki is the son of a giant.
Tap a name and its parents, partners, children and the chain running back to Ginnungagap open up. The gods who gave their names to the days of the week are here too: Tyr gave his name to Tuesday, Odin to Wednesday, Thor to Thursday and Frigg to Friday.
163 figures12 Aesir9 worlds21 lineages and groups
Key facts
The first beings are the giant Ymir and the cow Audhumla, born in Ginnungagap, and Audhumla licks the first god Buri out of the ice.
Odin, Vili and Vé are the sons of Borr and the giantess Bestla, and they build the world from Ymir's body.
The Aesir (Odin, Thor, Frigg, Tyr, Baldr) and the Vanir (Njörd, Frey, Freyja) are separate lines, and the Vanir come to Asgard as hostages after the war.
Loki's children by Angrboda are Fenrir, Jörmungandr and Hel, and as a mare he bears Sleipnir.
Tuesday belongs to Tyr, Wednesday to Odin, Thursday to Thor and Friday to Frigg. The chart's source is Snorri Sturluson's Edda.
Main line: from Ymir to the grandchildren
The chart runs left to right: Ginnungagap, Ymir and Audhumla, Buri and Borr, the generation of Odin, the children of Odin and Loki, and the grandchildren. Giants (Jötnar) and gods share one tree, because Odin's mother Bestla and Thor's mother Jörd are both of giant stock. Large clans appear as dashed group boxes. Tap a box to open its list below. Drag to pan, Ctrl/⌘ + wheel or the buttons to zoom.
Heimdall is born of nine mothers, commonly taken to be the wave-daughters of Aegir. Tyr is Odin's son in Snorri but the son of the giant Hymir in Hymiskviða. The Vanir gods Njörd, Frey and Freyja have no blood tie to the Aesir. They come to Asgard as hostages after the war.
Lineage explorer: who is whose child?
Type a name or tap a box in the chart. The card that opens shows the parent, partner and child links recorded in the Eddas. "Not recorded" means no link is drawn for that figure in this chart, not that none exists in the sources.
Close kin: grandparents · parents and partners · figure and siblings · children
Lineages and groups
All 163 figures in the chart are listed here by lineage and group. The chips above filter by type. Tap a name and the explorer opens that figure.
According to Snorri, in the beginning there is only the abyss Ginnungagap. Where the ice of the north meets the fire of the south, the first giant Ymir and the cow Audhumla who suckles him are born from the melting drops. Audhumla licks the first god Buri out of the salty ice. Buri's son Borr marries the giantess Bestla, and Odin, Vili and Vé are born of this marriage.
What is the difference between the Aesir and the Vanir?
The Aesir are the gods of Asgard descended from Buri, among them Odin, Thor, Frigg, Tyr, Baldr and Heimdall. The Vanir are a separate group of gods linked to fertility and magic, namely Njörd, Frey and Freyja. The two sides go to war, exchange hostages when peace is made, and the Vanir gods settle in Asgard. In the chart the Vanir have no blood tie to the Aesir.
Who are Loki's children?
By the giantess Angrboda Loki has three children: the wolf Fenrir, the Midgard serpent Jörmungandr and Hel, who rules the land of the dead. By his wife Sigyn he has Narfi and Vali. In the shape of a mare he bears the eight-legged horse Sleipnir to the stallion Svadilfari. Loki himself is the son of the giant Farbauti and Laufey, and he is Odin's blood brother.
Who is Thor's mother?
Thor's mother is Jörd (Fjörgyn), the personified Earth. Jörd is the daughter of Night (Nott) and the giant Annar, so Thor's maternal side is of giant stock. Thor has a daughter, Thrud, by Sif, a son, Magni, by the giantess Járnsaxa, and another son, Modi. Ull is Sif's son from an earlier union, and so Thor's stepson.
What sources is this family tree based on?
The main source is Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda (Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál), together with the poems of the Poetic Edda (Völuspá, Vafþrúðnismál, Hyndluljóð, Lokasenna, Rígsþula). The heroic lineages come from the Völsunga Saga. Where the sources diverge, for example on Tyr's father, Bragi's mother or Idun's father, both accounts are noted.
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The days of the week bear these gods' names
Tuesday Tyr, Wednesday Odin (Woden), Thursday Thor, Friday Frigg: as the planetary days travelled north, these gods took the place of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus. Planetary hours and days are the foundation of classical astrology.