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--- creatures [2024/03/10 18:28] – created Ron Helwig
+++ creatures [2025/06/21 19:55] (current) – Ron Helwig
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-====== Norse Creatures ======
+# Norse Creatures
-===== Farm Animals =====
-Most Norse would be very familiar with the typical animals we associate with farming in Northern temperate climates.
-**Cats** would certainly be kept around farms and housing. They are good for pest control.
+This page lists the kinds of beings one might encounter in a Norse-inspired D&D campaign. Some are rooted in historical Norse culture, while others are adapted from myth or modern fantasy. Explanations are provided where helpful or where real mythology differs from typical D&D assumptions.
-**Chickens** are a staple that most houses would have.
+---
-**Cows** provide dairy. Cheese is a great way to store milk for later consumption. Since cows require a lot more resources to care for, they will not usually be owned by poor farmers. It might take years to save up enough money to get one.
+## Farm Animals
-**Dogs** would be at least as common as they are today. Not only are they great alarm systems, but their mere presence tends to keep predators away.
+Most Norse communities would be very familiar with the animals typically found on Northern European farms.
-**Goats** are another great source of dairy. They also eat all kinds of things, acting as waste disposals. Most farms would have a few goats.
+- **Cats** – Kept for pest control. Also sacred to Freyja, and sometimes believed to bring good luck.
+- **Chickens** – Common household livestock; eggs were a reliable food source.
+- **Cows** – Valued for milk and cheese. Expensive to maintain; typically owned by wealthier households.
+- **Dogs** – Guardians, companions, and hunters. Their barking alone kept away predators and intruders.
+- **Goats** – Hardy, versatile, and common. Provide milk and clean up food scraps. Mythologically linked to Thor’s goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr.
+- **Horses** – Rare and valuable. Used for travel, status, and ritual sacrifice. Sacred in some traditions.
+- **Pigs** – Meat and waste disposal. Sausages and bacon were food staples. In myth, Freyr's golden boar Gullinbursti is notable.
+- **Sheep** – Provided wool and meat. Their fleece was important for winter clothing and trade.
-**Horses** would be somewhat rare and owned by those with more wealth.
+---
-**Pigs** are another waste disposal and meat supply. Bacon and sausage are staples of every household.
+## Wild Animals
-**Sheep** provide wool and meat. Most farms would have some, along with simple tools to process the wool.
+These animals would be familiar to Norse communities through hunting, storytelling, or danger.
-===== Wild Animals =====
+- **Badgers**
-Badgers
+- **Bats**
+- **Bears** – Associated with berserkers; sacred and feared.
+- **Boars** – Symbol of Freyr; fierce and difficult to hunt.
+- **Deer**
+- **Eagles**
+- **Elk** – Massive and respected; often symbolic of wild strength.
+- **Foxes**
+- **Frogs**
+- **Hawks**
+- **Lynx**
+- **Mountain Lions / Puma / Panther** – Likely legendary or exaggerated through travel tales.
+- **Owls**
+- **Rabbits**
+- **Rats**
+- **Ravens** – Especially sacred. Odin's companions Huginn and Muninn ("Thought" and "Memory").
+- **Snakes**
+- **Spiders**
+- **Squirrels** – Ratatoskr is the gossiping squirrel on the world tree Yggdrasil.
+- **Turtles**
+- **Weasels**
+- **Wolves & Wargs** – Feared and revered. Fenrir is the most famous wolf in Norse myth.
-Bats
+---
-Bears
+## Monsters
-Boars
+Beings of myth and legend, often representing chaos, fate, or primal forces.
-Deer
+- **Dragons / Wyrms** – Symbolic of greed, destruction, and fate. Often associated with hoards or curses.
+- **Draugr & Gjenganger** – Undead Norse figures. Draugr guard treasure; Gjenganger return for revenge or unfinished business.
+- **Fafnir** – A dwarf transformed into a dragon by his greed; famously slain by the hero Sigurd.
+- **Gullinbursti** – A golden boar forged by dwarves; sacred mount of Freyr.
+- **Hafgufa / Lyngbakr** – Legendary sea monsters said to appear as islands. Possibly inspired later kraken myths.
+- **Hellhounds / Garm** – Garm guards the gates of Hel; destined to fight at Ragnarök. A massive, terrifying hound.
+- **Kraken** – Modern term; mythologically a merging of Norse sea monster tales like the Hafgufa.
+- **Landvættir** – "Land spirits" that protect regions; still symbolically important in Icelandic culture.
+- **Marmenill (Mermen)** – Aquatic humanoids; appear in Norse sagas as magical or treacherous beings.
+- **Nixie** – Possibly derived from the Germanic/Norse *nøkk* or *nykr*, a shapeshifting water spirit known for luring people to drown.
+- **Sea Serpent** – Could refer to Jörmungandr, the world-serpent, or lesser oceanic threats.
+- **Trolls** – Dangerous, often dim-witted giants of the wilderness. In original myths, varied greatly in size and power.
-Eagles
+---
-Elk
+## Races
-Foxes
+Many creature “races” in D&D are loosely based on Norse ideas, but often diverge heavily from original myth.
-Frogs
+### Dwarves
-Hawks
+- In Norse myth, dwarves (*dvergar*) are **master craftsmen**, often living underground.
+- There’s no clear evidence that they were short or stocky—that’s a later (possibly Christian) addition.
-Lynx
+### Elves
-Mountain Lions/Puma/Panther
+- *Álfar* (elves) are mentioned in original texts, but their nature is vague.
+- Not explicitly fey or immortal, and physically indistinguishable from humans.
+- In D&D, they typically have pointed ears and magical ancestry—acceptable for gameplay purposes.
-Owls
+### Aesir & Vanir
-Rabbits
+- Divine beings. The **Aesir** represent war, order, and rulership (e.g., Odin, Thor).
+- The **Vanir** are fertility and nature gods (e.g., Freyr, Freyja).
+- For gameplay, these can be seen as long-lived, powerful humanoids—akin to celestials or demigods.
-Rats
+### Jotuns
-Ravens - Hugin and Munin
+- The *jötnar* (often Anglicized as Jotuns or giants) are chaotic and diverse in myth.
+- Many appear humanoid in form, not necessarily massive or monstrous.
+- In D&D, we treat them as giants and group them accordingly: fire giants, frost giants, storm giants, etc.
-Snakes
+### Goliaths
-Spiders
+- A modern D&D invention.
+- For Norse-inspired campaigns, they can be described as **descendants of Jotuns**—particularly the stone giants (*Jotunstein*).
-Squirrels
+### Warforged
-Turtles
+- Originally from Eberron, these constructed beings don’t exist in Norse myth.
+- In this setting, they are creations of **Byzantine artificers** in Constantinople, used for military service.
+- After 20 years, they gain their freedom. Characters of this type should take the **Varangian** background.
-Weasels
+### Tabaxi
-Wolves & Wargs
+- Feline humanoids with no basis in Norse mythology.
+- Here, they are reimagined as **Egyptian-born wanderers**, natural enemies of gnolls.
+- Their foreign nature makes them exotic and mysterious to most Norsefolk.
-===== Monsters =====
-Dragons / Wyrms
-Draugr & Gjenganger
-Fafnir - a dwarf that was transformed into a dragon by his greed.
-Gullinbursti - a golden boar made by the dwarves.
-Hafgufa / Lyngbakr
-Hellhounds / Garm - Garm is the guardian of Hel and the largest of the hellhounds.
-Kraken
-Landvættir
-Marmenill (Mermen)
-Nixie
-Sea Serpent
-Trolls
-====== Races ======
-A lot of what we "know" about the races come from more modern interpretations and fictionalization of the old myths. Those more modern interpretations got integrated into D&D from the beginning, so we pretty much just have to live with it.
-===== Dwarves =====
-There is nothing in the original sources to indicate that the dwarves were short or stout. They might have been just like humans, and current beliefs about their stature might be due to Christian influence. They were usually skilled craftsmen though.
-===== Elves =====
-Nothing in the original sources tells us that elves, either light or dark elves, are any different than regular humans. They are definitely not fey creatures. However, for D&D purposes we can include the pointed ears and at least some sort of fey-ness.
-===== Aesir & Vanir =====
-The Aesir and Vanir seem to basically be immortal or at least very long-lived super-powerful humanoids.
-===== Jotuns =====
-There is also nothing in the original sources that says that Jotuns are any different than the Aesir or Vanir. They look just like us humans. But for purposes of D&D, we can accept that they are larger and giant-like. In most D&D worlds Jotuns **are** giants, so we will go with that and have the various giant races exist under the term Jotun.
-===== Goliaths =====
-This race is fairly new to D&D and isn't part of the Norse history or mythology. For D&D purposes we can say that they are a mortal child-race of the Jotuns. So if Stone Giants, AKA Jotunstein, exist then there should be a sub-race of goliaths that have similar traits to the stone giants.
-===== Warforged =====
-These constructed humanoids are produced by advanced artificers and wizards, so they are usually found only in the largest of cities. For our purposes they would have been built in Constantinople to serve as guards or in the military. Once their twenty years of service is up they have earned their freedom, so they can then become adventurers. I have a special homebrew background I created called Varangian that players should choose for their warforged characters.
-===== Tabaxi =====
-These cat-like creatures usually come from around Egypt. They are natural enemies of Gnolls, who typically can be found in desert areas.