VALHǪLL is the hall of Óðinn (Odin) in Norse mythology. The fullest descriptions of it are found in the Prose Edda (c. 1220–1230) of the Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson and in the Eddic poem Grímnismál...

(Low German Wodan; south German Wuotan) Germanic god, described in the Edda as the chief of the Aesir (→ As) the husband of → Frigg. He is god of war, patron of heroes and ‘father of the dead’ (Walvater). He is served by the...

Odin or Odinn (Old Norse/Icelandic Óðinn, also known as Oden, Woden or Wodan), is considered the chief god in Norse mythology and Norse paganism. Like the Anglo-Saxon Woden it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wōđinaz or *Wōđanaz. His name is...

What's a huge plastic Santa Claus doing among palm trees in a seaside town in Turkey? The mayor's answer is simple: He's back home. Suleyman Topcu put up the statue in the Mediterranean town of Demre to honor its favorite son _ St. Nicholas, the...

Norway plans to buy greenhouse gas quotas for public officials when they fly aboard to help curb global warming, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.In his annual News Year's Day speech Monday evening, Stoltenberg said the proposal would probably make the Norwegian government the first in...

Norway's government on Friday proposed lifting a national ban on using human embryonic stem cells for research, saying the change might help find cures to a broad range of diseases.Embryonic stem cells have the ability to become any tissue in the body, leading scientists to...

Norway's government proposed lifting a national ban on using human embryonic stem cells for research, saying Friday that the change might help find cures to a broad range of diseases.Embryonic stem cells have the ability to become any tissue in the body, leading scientists to...