Æsir

The Æsir are the golden-haired people of Asgard, one of the two great Nordheimer nations of the Hyborian Age. Alongside their bitter rivals, the Vanir of Vanaheim, they dominate the northern lands, their culture built around raiding, plundering, and slaughtering their enemies. Yet for all their mutual hatred, the two nations share a singular, unifying passion: the love of Pit fighting. It was not unusual to see tribesmen from both nations, who had busily savaged each other the month before, mingling in the Pit fight sheds, slapping backs, exchanging bear hugs, and trading toasts and wagers. This shared blood sport would prove decisive in shaping the young Conan's path from slave to warrior.

Identity and the Culture of the Pit

The Æsir are defined by their martial culture and their central role as patrons of the Pit. When Conan was first dropped into the Pit in the town of Skaun, a Vanir settlement, he found himself surrounded by a ring of Vanir chieftains, not Æsir. But the two nations' shared love of the arena meant that the Æsir were never far from such spectacles. The chieftains who gathered to watch the fights sat on crude benches, guzzling ale from cups of horn, their red manes and ruddy faces gleaming in the fitful torchlight, their bracelets and pectorals of gold and silver embellished with uncut gemstones. They laughed, hooted, drank heavily, and bawled obscene jests, but they eyed the fighters shrewdly before placing bets, displaying bars of gold, precious jewels, and fine weapons as earnest of their wagers. The Pit itself was a high-roofed, barn-like structure, ten paces long, five wide, and as deep as the height of a man, its edges hung with crudely-figured shields and standards of hide painted in cranberry red, cerulean blue, and raw earth tones.

The Æsir's enthusiasm for the Pit was not merely passive. When Toghrul found his takings dwindling in Vanaheim, he moved his people and animals eastward into Asgard, home of the golden-haired Æsir. There, the young Cimmerian's reputation grew. At every stopping place on the long journey east, first the Æsir and later the Hyperboreans gathered to admire Toghrul's champion, who had become famous for his exploits and gigantic strength. On these occasions, the Pit master, a showman to the core, would strip the young barbarian and display him naked on a revolving platform from which four iron chains extended upward to the slave collar that he wore. Nordheimers and their women gladly paid their copper coins to stare with curious, appraising eyes at Conan's magnificent physique. Conan returned their stares with stolid indifference, hating them all, determined to deny them even the small pleasure of witnessing his arousal by the seductive smiles and sidelong glances of the women.

The Æsir and Conan's Rise

The Æsir's love of Pit fighting provided the arena in which Conan transformed from a dehumanized slave into a man-slayer. The life of a Pit fighter was not quite the worst of lives, Conan grimly discovered. To face an adversary and kill him was to enjoy, for a fleeting moment at least, the illusion of freedom. It was, in a way, to be a whole man again. The gruelling torment of the Wheel had dehumanized him; the fierce battles of the Pit restored something of manhood and self-love. The Æsir, as eager spectators and bettors, were the audience for this restoration, their bloodlust feeding the very institution that gave Conan back his sense of self.

The Æsir also indirectly shaped Conan's martial education. Toghrul, fearing that his youthful champion would one day be pitted against a swordsman of comparable strength but superior skills, took his troupe far to the east, across the bleak plains of Hyperborea to a town called Valamo, near the farthest reaches of that land. There dwelt a master swordsman, a Hyrkanian named Oktar, whom Toghrul meant to hire to teach the Cimmerian more skilful handling of his blade. The two-month journey took them through lands where the Æsir and later the Hyperboreans gathered to admire the famous champion, cementing his reputation across the northern nations.

The Æsir in the Wider World

Beyond the Pit, the Æsir's presence in the wider Hyborian world is felt through the conflicts that define the age. The northern nations, including the Æsir, are part of a landscape of constant warfare and raiding, a world where strength and steel are the only currencies that matter. This ethos stands in stark contrast to the decadent, snake-worshipping south, where King Osric of Zamora laments the corruption of his kingdom. The king's words reveal a world where the old virtues of heroism have decayed: "When I was young, boys strove to be heroes, not parasites and destroyers." The Æsir, with their love of Pit fighting and their martial culture, represent a more primitive, vital force in this world, one that Conan, a Cimmerian, instinctively understands and embodies.

The Æsir's significance lies in their role as both audience and patron of the violence that forges Conan's identity. Their cheers, their wagers, their gold and jewels all fuel the institution of the Pit, which in turn gives the young barbarian his first taste of freedom and manhood. They are the backdrop against which Conan's legend begins, the northern peoples whose bloodlust and love of combat provide the crucible for his transformation from slave to champion. In a world of decaying civilizations and corrupt cults, the Æsir stand as a reminder of the raw, primal energies that Conan carries within him, energies that will ultimately carry him to vengeance against Thulsa Doom and to the throne of Aquilonia.