Each chapter introduces some mythological figures (usually gods or , glossed by Gaiman as "giants") and/or tells some stories.
The players The three most common gods to feature in the stories,
Odin,
Thor and
Loki, are presented.
Before the beginning, and after From
Ginnungagap, the primordial space between the
Niflheim and the
Muspelheim, two living beings are created:
Ymir (ancestor of all ) and the cow
Auðumbla, whose milk feeds Ymir. In turn, Audhumbla creates
Búri (ancestor of all gods), whose grandchildren Odin,
Vili and Vé eventually kill Ymir. Using the various parts of his enormous body, they create the current world; they also create the first humans,
Ask and Embla, to populate
Midgard.
Yggdrasil and the nine worlds The
world tree Yggdrasil is introduced, which binds together the various worlds of the
Norse cosmology, including
Ásgarð,
Vanaheim and
Jötunheimr, the realms of, the
Æsir gods, the
Vanir gods and the respectively.
Mimir's head and Odin's eye Odin sacrifices his eye in order to be able to drink from the well of Wisdom of his uncle
Mimir. As a consequence of the
Æsir–Vanir War, Mimir is sent to the
Vanir, who eventually kill him and send his head back to Odin.
The treasures of the gods Loki cuts the hair of
Sif (Thor's wife). In order to make up for the damage, he makes a
wager between two groups of
dwarf smiths, the
Sons of Ivaldi and the brothers
Brokkr and
Eitri, who create many other treasure for the gods, including
Mjölnir (Thor's hammer).
The master builder A mysterious builder, together with his horse
Svaðilfari, offers to build a giant wall around Asgard, alone and at an extremely fast speed, in exchange for an exaggerate price: the sun, the moon and the goddess
Freya. Loki convinces the gods to accept the wager, thinking the builder will never make it in time; after they realise that the wall is almost built, Loki tricks the builder's horse by taking the form of a
mare, preventing him to complete the wall in time and denying the payment. The builder, revealed to be a in disguise, is killed by Thor, while Loki, in mare form, gives birth to
Sleipnir.
The children of Loki Loki has three monstrous children with the
Angrboða. The other gods seize them from the and try to prevent them from causing future troubles: the wolf
Fenrir is bound forever with the chain
Gleipnir (at the price of
Týr's hand); the sea serpent
Jörmungandr is tossed in the ocean; and
Hel is appointed by Odin as the ruler of the
realm of the dead.
Freya's unusual wedding After
stealing Thor's hammer, the
Thrymr asks the hand of Freya in marriage as a condition to return it to its owner. Loki helps Thor to dress as a goddess and trick the into preparing the marriage, where Thor kills Thrymr and recovers his hammer. === The
mead of poets === In order to seal their truce, the Aesir and the Vanir use their saliva to create an extremely wise being called
Kvasir. When Kvasir visits the dwarves
Fjalar and Galar, they kill him and create a magic mead out of his blood. After the dwarfs kills the
Gillingr and his wife, they are in turn tortured by Gillingr's son
Suttungr and forced to give him the mead. Odin tricks Suttungr's daughter
Gunnlöd and brings the mead back to Asgard.
Thor's journey to the land of the giants Thor and Loki spend the night at a farmers' house, sharing the meat of their
mythical goats; Loki tricks the boy
Tjalvi into eating the bone marrow and then convince Thor, who want to punish the family, to take him and his sister
Röskva as servants. They travel together to the castle of
Utgarda-Loki (already met on the way under the fake appearance of the Skrymir), where they are tricked to compete in various contests they cannot win. After explaining that everything was just an illusion, and before Thor can take his revenge, Utgarda-Loki and his castle vanishes.
The apples of immortality As a result of a fight with Loki, the
Thiazi captures
Idunn, keeper of the apples of immortality. Loki manages to bring Idunn back and is chased by Thiazi, who is killed by the other gods just before he can reach Asgard. His daughter Skadi seeks vengeance but she is appeased by the gods in several ways, including a marriage with
Njord. === The story of
Gerd and
Frey === The god Frey falls in love with the Gerð and becomes suddenly apathetic and depressed. On requests from the other gods,
Skírnir offers to help Frey in exchange of his
sword: he travels to the house of her father
Gymir and managed to convince Gerd to marry Frey in
Barri.
Hymir and Thor's fishing expedition In order to give a feast for them in his hall, the sea
Aegir requires the gods to provide him with a giant
cauldron to brew ale for all of them. On Tyr's suggestion, Thor travels to the
Hymir and goes fishing with him to obtain his cauldron. === The death of
Balder === Balder has
recurring nightmares that he will die soon. His mother
Frigg makes sure that he becomes almost invulnerable, but Loki discovers
his only weakness and tricks
Höðr into killing his brother.
The last days of Loki After a
flyting with the gods, Loki escapes but he is chased and brought to justice.
Váli, son of Loki, is turned into a wolf and made to kill his brother
Narfi. Loki is then bound with Narfi's entrails with a snake dripping venom on his face; his wife
Sigyn remains by his side and uses a bowl to catch the venom. ===
Ragnarok: The final destiny of the gods === Loki and Fenrir are freed and, together with Jörmungandr, Hel's legions and the , fight the gods in a final battle, which destroys most of the world and kill almost every participant. The only gods to survive are
Módi and Magni (sons of Thor) and
Váli and
Vidar (sons of Odin), while Balder and Hod manage to return from the Underworld. Two humans,
Lif and Lifthrasir, survive the destruction and will eventually give rise to a new generation. ==Reception==