Vanir

## Description

### Size

Larger than a Vanhar, but much smaller than the Aesir and Lakelanders. Long, thin wings and slightly webbed talons

### Feather Colors

Black, gray, brown, white, pale, dove-brown, rose-pink

### Misc.

Descendants of the Vanhar, ruled by Aesir kings for ten years

The **Vanir** are a breed of gryfons living in the Silver Isles.

## The Pride

### Description

Compared to the dragon-blooded Aesir and the Winderost Aesir, the Vanir have dull/cold colors that include black, gray, brown and white. They are similar to the Vanhar in religious ideas and diet, but vary slightly. Their feathers grow longer up their legs in the winter due to the colder conditions. They have longer, thinner wings than the Aesir which makes them better fliers. The fish they eat makes their feathers more oily, which lends them a greater ability to swim.

#### Feather colors

The Vanir have cold, wintery colors such as:

* Shades of black or gray
* Shades of brown
* White or pale colors

#### Eye colors

Like their feathers colors, the gryfons have pale and colder color eyes suck as:

* Shades of green
* Shades of gray
* Shades of brown

### Culture

The Vanir worship Tyr and Tor and live in peace in the Isles, relying on fish for food. They almost never got into any conflicts with other predators, and were friends with the wolves. However, once the dragon-blooded Aesir came to the Isles, they conquered the Vanir and nearly eradicated their entire culture.

### Personality

Respectful of the earth, the Vanir are peaceful gryfons who don't like to get into needless fights. While they like their harmony, they will fight if they have to, unlike the Vanhar who always look for peace.

## Pride History

The Vanir were formed by Jaarl back in the Second Age, thus making them descendants of the Vanhar. Jaarl and a group of other Vanhar flew to the Silver Isles, where their descendants eventually evolved into what is now the Vanir. For hundreds of years, the Vanir lived in peace with all creatures of the isles, hunting only from the sea. Eventually, the Conquering took place. The Vanir lost this war, and were forced under the tyrannic rule of The Red Kings for ten years. Many of the Vanir kits and mate of the females were killed, with some gryfons taking their kits and fleeing the Isles. Sigrun took the little prince Rashard and begged Per to spare him, claiming that the kit was hers. He spared Shard, who later grew up and learned of his heritage. Shard and his wingbrother Kjorn eventually began to work together in order to take back Kjorn's kingdom in the Winderost, and free the oppressed Vanir.

## Known Royalty

### King Jaarl

Said to be the first ruler of the Silver Isles. He was originally from the Winderost, but left with a group of loyal Vanhar. They created a pride in the Silver Isles, and eventually evolved into the Vanir.

### Queen Freja

A queen who ruled the Silver Isles. She died trying to save a kit from drowning.

### King Asbjorn and Queen Unnr

Not much is known about these two, only that they are the parents of Baldr. Asbjorn was said to be wise, as he gave Stigr and Baldr advice, and Unnr used to lead the Long Night celebrations before Ragna.

#### Prince Baldr

During his time as a prince, Baldr spent his days exploring the isles with Sigrun, Stigr and Ragna. They were inseparable, and the best of friends. It is unknown if he mated with Ragna before or after he became king, although it can be assumed it was after.

### King Baldr and Queen Ragna

The last pure-blooded Vanir rulers before the Conquering. Baldr became king when he was twelve years old, and mated with Ragna. The two of them had the kit Rashard, who was only weeks old when the Aesir conquered. Baldr was said to be a peaceful king who ruled wisely, and was killed by Per when he conquered them. He was only fifteen years old when he died. Ragna was spared, only because killing her would incite rebellion, and lived at the edges of the pride, waiting for the day she and the Vanir would rise up.

#### Prince Rashard

Shard was never aware of his heritage growing up, instead believing that he was the son of Sigrun and an unnamed gryfon who was killed in the Conquering. He was raised by Caj, and tried to be as loyal to Sverin as possible. However, he soon met the she-wolf Catori and his uncle Stigr, who taught him the ways of the Vanir and the old pride. Stigr unintentionally revealed Shard's true heritage, and the young prince decided that he would work hard to restore peace to the Isles. He flew to the Winderost to discover the truth of the Conquering, fell in love with Brynja, and raised a young dragon kit named Hikaru before going to the Sunland and restoring peace to the Isles with his wingbrother Kjorn.

### King Per

Per conquered the Silver Isles ten years before the first series series began. He killed Baldr and tossed his body into the sea, and ordered his warriors to kill the full-blooded Vanir kits. He spared Rashard due to Sigrun's pleading, and eventually died at least three years after the Conquering. Var did not rule the Silver Isles with him as she died during the journey to the Silver Isles.

#### Prince Sverin and Elena

It has been implied that Sverin did not want the Conquering to take place, and that if he wasn't scared of his father, he would have possibly spoken out against it. Elena was constantly trying to prove herself to Per, who did not want his son to mate with her.

#### Prince Kjorn

Kjorn was just a kit when the Aesir conquered the Silver Isles.

### King Sverin and Queen Elena

Elena died shortly after Sverin became king. This caused the red gryfon to become maddened and hate the Vanir and isles. Ragna has noted that Elena brought out the best in Sverin, and that her death shook him more than it should have. Over time, Sverin eventually went mad, suppressing Vanir ways and any talk of the past. He was said to be a great king, but keeping his secrets eventually wore him down. He went mad and fled from the Sun Isle, giving up his kingship in the process. After Caj restored him, Sverin became a prisoner of the Vanir and eventually died protecting his son Kjorn.

#### Prince Kjorn and Thyra

Kjorn became the wingbrother of Rashard after his mother died in the ocean when he was a kit. He was beloved of the entire pride, Vanir and Aesir alike, as both valued his compassion for them. He eventually fell in love with Thyra, Rashard's nest-sister and the daughter of his father's wingbrother, and the two mated. After Shard's betrayal, Kjorn was distraught over his "death", but after finding out he was a live, Kjorn immediately flew to the Winderost to find his wingbrother and reconcile. After doing so, Kjorn did his best to restore order to the Winderost and take his throne back, all while trying to fight the shadows of his father's cowardice. He eventually took most of his pride back home, becoming king.

### King Rashard and Queen Brynja

Not much of Shard's reign has been shown, although Brynja has said that peace and harmony have been the main ideals. It is shown that Rashard often doubts his place as king, as he doesn't want to become a tyrant like Sverin or Per, yet he deals with all of his subjects as fairly as possible.

## Trivia

* The Vanir breed is named after a group of Norse gods.
	+ The Vanir also went to war with the Aesir in Norse mythology.
* The Vanir Race are descendants of the Vanhar Race.
* Their name is pronounced "Van-nyurr"

## References

1. ↑ In *Skyfire*, it is said that 50 gryfons is half of the pride in the Silver Isles. The Vanir Shard gathered in the Outlands numbered around 50, and the number of Vanir that returned with Dagr and Vidar is unkown, although it is possible that it could be the same amount. The number of Vanir that returned with Maja was at least a dozen. This would have a pride total of at least 212. However, most of the Dragon-Blessed Aesir returned to the Winderost, so the number of gryfons would most likely number around 150. Most of the Vanir, however, were bred out. So their numbers would possibly be reduced to around 100.
2. ↑ Stigr is a black gryfon. Rashard and Baldr are gray gryfons.
3. ↑ Vidar, Frar, Toskil and Toskil's mother are all brownish colors.
4. ↑ Ragna is a white gryfess and Istra and her brother Istren are described as being pale. Keta and her mother Ketil are described as having rosy-pink and gray feathers.
5. ↑ Stigr, Ragna and Rashard all have moss-green eyes.
6. ↑ Baldr is described as having stone-gray eyes.
7. ↑ Sigrun, Toskil and Toskil's mother have brown eyes.