The Aesir – never subtle – were outraged by this arrogance. That the Vanir should have chosen a woman to deliver their challenge was already insult enough, but her insolence and pride (both qualities I respect and admire) were enough to make Odin and his men lose control of what wits they had. They grabbed hold of Gullveig and threw her into the massive fireplace that burned in Odin’s banquet hall, forgetting that she was a child of the Fire, and couldn’t come to any harm.

Shifting to Fire Aspect, she laughed and mocked them from the flames and spat and promised retribution. Three times they tried to burn her up before the idiots realized the truth, by which time it was pretty clear that their chance at peace was over.

And yet the transition from dog to god is only a revolution away, and Odin was just getting started. The more he heard about the runes, the more he wanted them for himself, and the more frustrated he became. Because, as Gullveig had shown them, the runes were so much more than just a means of writing history. They were fragments from Chaos itself, charged with its fire and energy. The very language of Chaos was in those sixteen symbols; and with it, an awesome power.

Power to change the Worlds; to shape; to build; to rule; to conquer. With runes and the right kind of leadership, the Vanir should have made short work of Odin and his little band of revolutionaries. But they were Chaotic by nature, and had no proper leadership, while the Aesir had Odin as General, whose ruthlessness was almost as great as his cunning.

For decades the two sides were at war without either one gaining the upper hand; between them they scorched the Middle Worlds and reduced Asgard’s walls to rubble. Gullveig saw the futility of waging war with the Aesir and left, with a handful of renegades, to establish herself in the mountains. She had no intention of ever sharing the runes with Odin and his people and so she went to the Ice Folk, who lived in the far North of Inland, and threw in her lot with them instead.

The Ice Folk were a savage race, directly descended from Ymir. They hated all the Aesir, who had driven them into the Northlands and stolen their birthright – the new World, built from Ymir’s legacy. They hated the Vanir almost as much, but they respected Chaos, the fire of which ran through their veins, and when they heard Gullveig’s proposal, they accepted it eagerly. Unlike the Aesir they were a matriarchal people and they had no problem accepting a woman’s authority. Gullveig gave them a share in her glam and in exchange they taught her everything they knew about hunting, fishing, weapons, boats and survival in the cheerless North.