Between the 8th and 11th centuries AD, the Norse Scandinavian Tribes, also known as the Norse and Vikings, terrorized Western Europe. A war-based seafaring society, they attacked and pillaged villages across the coast and surrounding islands without mercy, killing men, women, and children for their resources and land. Through their conquests, the Norse set up many kingdoms, including modern day Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. They prided themselves in their skill as warriors, and this was presented in their beliefs of the afterlife. It was believed that only those that died fighting in the glory of battle were allowed entrance into the heavenly realm of Valhalla, where they would then party and fight alongside the gods forever. This mindset made the Norse fearsome warriors to be reckoned with, as they would charge into battle with no fear of death.

The Norse were also renowned for their skills as explorers and traders. Norsemen sailed across Europe and Asia, trading jewelry, metals, and foods. They invented new means of navigation and discovered new lands as well. They discovered and named the islands of Greenland and Iceland, and it was in fact the Norse that were the first Europeans to rediscover the Americas during the 11th century. Because of their vast network of travel through conquest and trade, the tales of the Norse Gods have imbedded themselves across Europe.

Norse religion was primarily passed down through oral tradition, with the occasional angular symbols called runes acting as a basic written language. Because of this, the first and most in-depth writings on the Norse religion came from The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic Christian historian and poet. Another great source of information on the Norse belief system came from The Poetic Edda, written by an unknown author. These books written during the 13th century tell the tales of great gods and monsters.

The Norse believed that earth was not the only world that existed but instead it was just one realm amongst nine connected to the cosmic World Tree Yggdrasil. The Nine Realms include: Asgard, realm of the gods known as the Aesir; Alfheim, realm of the light elves; Jotunheim, realm of the Jotunns and frost Jotunns; Midgard, realm of man; Muspelheim, realm of the fire Jotunns; Nidavellir, realm of the dwarves; Niflheim, realm of ice and the dead; Svartalfheim, realm of the dark elves; Vanaheim, realm of the gods known as the Vanir. These worlds are filled with all manner of mystical creatures, including dragons, trolls, dwarves, elves, undead warriors, the giant octopus Kraken, and much more. It is these nine realms and their inhabitants that were under the divine watch and protection of the Aesir, the ruling gods of the Norse cosmos. Their arch enemies were the Jotunn, who were primordial deities of pure chaos who sought to conquer the Nine Realms for themselves. The Aesir, however, would not allow their reign to end so easily and would battle relentlessly for the safety of humanity and the Nine Realms.

The Norse prophesized that the Nine Realms and the gods who inhabited them would not last forever but would meet their untimely end at the battle of Ragnarök, that will see almost all life in the Nine Realms wiped out. Not even the gods themselves will be spared when the time comes.