- published: 27 Jan 2016
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In Norse religion, Asgard (Old Norse: Ásgarðr; meaning "Enclosure of the Æsir") is one of the Nine Worlds and is the country or capital city of the Norse Gods surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svaðilfari, according to Gylfaginning. Valhalla is located within Asgard. Odin and his wife, Frigg, are the rulers of Asgard.
The primary sources regarding Asgard come from the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Icelandic Snorri Sturluson, and the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from a basis of much older Skaldic poetry.
Völuspá, the first poem of the work, mentions many of the features and characters of Asgard portrayed by Snorri, such as Yggdrasil and Iðavöllr.
The Prose Edda presents two views regarding Asgard.
In the Prologue Snorri offers an euhemerized and Christian-influenced interpretation of the myths and tales of his forefathers. As-gard, he conjectures, is the home of the Æsir (singular Ás) in As-ia, making a folk etymological connection between the three "As-"; that is, the Æsir were "men of Asia", not gods, who moved from Asia to the north and some of which intermarried with the peoples already there. Snorri's interpretation of the 13th century foreshadows 20th century views of Indo-European migration from the east.
Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba (born 6 September 1972) is a British television, theatre, and film actor who has starred in both British and American productions. He grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including Ultraviolet and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. He is known for playing Russell "Stringer" Bell, a Baltimore drug lord and aspiring businessman, in HBO's critically acclaimed show The Wire. Elba is a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis/Big Driis the Londoner, and a hip-hop soul recording artist.
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Richard Russell "Rick" Riordan (/ˈraɪərˌdɛn/), Jr. (born June 5, 1964) is an American author best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He also wrote the Tres Navarre mystery series for adults and helped to edit Demigods and Monsters, a collection of essays on the topic of his Percy Jackson series. He helped develop the ten books in The 39 Clues series, published by Scholastic Corporation, and wrote the first book in the series, The Maze of Bones. He recently completed a trilogy that focuses on Egyptian mythology, The Kane Chronicles, and is working on The Heroes of Olympus, which is the sequel to the Percy Jackson series and focuses on Greek and Roman mythology.
Rick was raised in Texas. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School in 1982 and the University of Texas at Austin in 1986, where he double-majored in English and Social Studies. Riordan taught English and Social Studies in Presidio Hill School in San Francisco for eight years. He was awarded St. Mary's Hall's first Master Teacher Award in 2002.