Aesir – one of the two groups of Viking gods, including Thor, Odin, Loki and Tyr
Berserkr (pl. berserkir) – lit. ‘bear shirts’. The berserkers of Viking fame who were overtaken by battle madness in the name of Odin
Draugr (pl. draugar) – the zombie-like restless dead, occupying graves and guarding their treasure jealously
Dromon – a Byzantine warship powered by sails or by banks of oars akin to the Roman trireme or Ottoman galley
Excubitores – an elite Byzantine regiment with an origin as imperial bodyguards, by this time part of the garrison of Constantinople
Freyja – the most powerful goddess of the Vanir, whose realm includes magic, fertility, war and the gathering of the slain to her land of Fólkvangr
Gotlander – one of the three peoples of modern Sweden, the Goths occupied the island of Gotland
Holmgang – an official, ritual form of duel between two opponents
Jarl – a noble of power (the derivation of the English ‘earl’) who receives fealty from all free men of a region
Karl – a free man. Neither a noble, nor a slave
Katepan – regional governor of the Byzantine empire
Loki – a trickster god, a shape-shifter, who is destined to fight alongside the giants against the other gods at the end of days
Miklagarðr – Viking name for Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, now Istanbul
Mjǫllnir – Thor’s hammer
Norns – the female entities who control the fates of both men and gods
Odin – most powerful of the Aesir, the chief god and father of Thor, who gave an eye in return for wisdom and who has twin ravens and twin wolves, and an eight-legged horse
Ragnarok – the end of the universe, including a great battle between gods, giants, monsters and the slain who have been gathered by Odin and Freyja
Rakke – A Viking version of a mast parrel, the sliding wooden collar by which a yard or spar is held to a mast in such a way that it may be hoisted or lowered
Rus – the descendants of the Vikings who settled Kiev and Novgorod and areas of Belarus and Ukraine, from whom the name Russian derives (Rusland)
Sax – a short sword or long knife of Germanic origin, known to the Saxons as the seax
Seiðr – a form of magic that flows around men and gods, which can be used and understood by few, the source of divination
Svear – one of the three peoples of modern Sweden, the Svears occupied the northern regions of Sweden, around Uppsala
’Tafl – a Viking board game akin to chess or go, where one player has to bring his jarl piece to the edge of the board
Theotokos [Pammakaristos] – lit. ‘Mother of God’. Greek terms of Mary, mother of Jesus
Thor – son of Odin, the god of thunder, one of the most powerful of the Aesir
Thrall – a slave with no will beyond that of his master, often a captive of war
Valknut – a symbol of interlocked triangles believed to bind an object or person to Odin
Varangian – the Byzantine imperial bodyguard, formed of Northmen
Varangoi – Greek term for the Varangian Guard
Völva (pl. völvur) – a wise woman or witch or seeress with the power of prophecy and the ability to understand and manipulate Seiðr