Aesir are members of the family of gods that live in Asgard. They are not immortal, but they have special abilities, strength and objects that enhance their forces. Their youth is gained by eating the apples guarded by one of the goddesses - Idunn.
The father of the Gods and the breath- giver to all men is Odin, and there are twelve gods besides him in 'high-seats': Thor, Njord, Frey, Tyr, Heimdall, Bragi, Vidar, Vali, Ull, Hoenir, Forseti and Loki. The Ansyur ('Goddesses') are Frigg, Freya, Gefjun, Idunn, Gerd, Sigyn, Fulla and Nanna. All of them appear under different names in different regions of Europe, and in some cases a couple is combined in single deity - for instance, even Freya and Frigg, two main female deities, are often united. The same refers to Odur, who might be no more than one of the appearances of Odin.

ODIN
Odin is the oldest and highest of all the gods. He is often referred to as the Allfather, because he is the creator of all things. His parents are Bor and Bestla. His brothers Vili and Ve, who are mentioned in the creation myths, are probably only appearances of Odin. The three of them were the ones who created the world out of the body of giant Ymir, and shaped first man and woman out of two trees.
He is often called the God of the hanged, because of the legend of his self-sacrifice for knowledge of runes. He hanged for nine days from the world tree until the secrets were revealed to him. He gained the world knowledge by sacrificing his eye for a drink from Mimir's well. This is why he is also called the one-eyed god. Freya of the Vanir showed him the ways of shapeshifting and magic known to the gods of Vanaheim. Therefore, he is the wisest of all the Gods.
Odin is the possessor of the ring Draupnir, that produces eight rings alike every ninth night. He placed that ring on his son Balder's funeral pyre, but Balder sent it back to him by his messenger to rest his father's thoughts.
He possesses the eight-legged horse Sleipnir, the fastest creature, an offspring of Loki. He is also the owner of the spear Gugnir, which passes through all barriers.
Sometimes, he is envisioned as a wonderer dressed in a dark blue cloak.
One of his names is the Valfather - the father of the slain, for after each battle, the warrior maidens Valkyrs bring the bravest fallen warriors to Valhall - the hall of the slain - one of his abodes. The fallen warriors train there each day for the final fight at Ragnarok, and at night they feast.
Odin gained the poetry gift by drinking the mead of poetry. When Aesir and Vanir had their peacemeeting, they shaped Kvasir, the wisest of all, to teach the men. The dwarves Fjalar and Galar killed him and let his blood into two vats named Son and Bodn, and a kettle Odrerir. Thus, they produced mead that makes a skald ('poet')of a drinker. The dwarves gave the mead to a giant Suttung as reconciliation for killing his parents. He placed it in Hnitbjorg cave, and his daughter Gunnlod was meant to watch over it. Odin, presented as Bolverk ('Evildoer'), spent three nights with Gunnlod in exchange for three draughts of the mead, but in these three draughts he emptied Odrerir, Bodn and Son - he took it all, and afterwards gave it to the Aesir and a part to certain men.
Therefore, Odin is the protector of the warriors, poets, runemasters, magicians and wonderers.
He has two ravens - Huginn ('Thought') and Muninn ('Memory') who fly around the worlds during the day and at the end of each day they inform Odin of what they had saw and heard. This is why he is often called the Raven-God.
He also has two wolf-companions - Geri ('Ravener') and Freki ('Greedy') whom he gives his own food during the feasts at Valhall.
His highseat Hlidskalf in the hall Valtskjalf is a place within the land of light elves from which he can view all over the nine worlds and see each corner of the cosmos. His third hall is Gladsheim, the land of gladness.
Odin's day is Wednesday.

THOR
Thor is probably the most worshipped of all the Nordic Gods. He is depicted as red-bearded, holding his hammer Mjollnir in the iron - gloves (without which he wouldn't be able to catch the great hammer that would always return to his hand), and the girdle of might that increases his strength. Thus the Vikings often used to wear the belts with the belt-bucket in the shape of Thor's hammer. As the dwarves slightly failed in making it, it has a rather short handle. When Baldr's funeral pyre was lit, Thor blessed it with his hammer and this brought us a custom of blessing by making a sign of a hammer. Mjollnir is the greatest weapon against the giants for it never missed them. It produces thunder when it hits the target - Thor is, for this reason, called the thunder god.
His hall is Bilskirnir. It has 540 rooms, and is placed within his realm Thrudvangar.
Thor has a chariot that was pulled by two he-goats Tooth-gnasher and Tooth-gritter. He also has two bondservants, Thjalfi and Roskva. They are children of a man who once welcomed Thor and Loki into his house. They all ate Thor's goats, but Thjalfi accidentally split the thigh-bone of one of them when he should have cast the bones. So, when Thor hollowed and resurrected his he-goats and discovered that one of them had a broken leg, he knew instantly that it was Thjazi's fault and he took the children in atonement.
Thor is the strongest of all the Gods and there are many stories that glorify his power. For example, once he went to Midgard to oppose Jormungard, the Midgard serpent. He went to giant Hymir, disguised as a young lad and convinced him to take him fishing. For bait, Thor took of the head of the largest Hymir's ox, Himinbrojt, and with it he caught the Midgard serpent, crashed its head with Mjollnr, and plunged Hymir overboard. Jormungard still lives sleeping in the sea, and the day when it shall awake shall be the scariest of all. Hymir, on the other hand, awaits that same day to raise the sails of Naglfari.
Thor is the first son of Odin. His mother is Erda. His wife is Sif, with whom he has a son Trudr, but he also has two sons with giantess Jarnsaxa - Modi and Magni. They shall return after Ragnarok and they shall inherit Thor's strength and his hammer.
Thor is defender of Gods and men. A talisman in the shape of his hammer was worn around a neck before the christianization. One other proof of his importance as a deity is that precisely his statue was in the center of the famous temple at Uppsala, Sweden.
Thor's sacred day is Thursday.

TYR
This son of Odin is often called the one-handed God for he is famous as the only one who dared to give his hand in the wrong oath, but for the right purpose. When the Gods wanted to tie up Fenris the wolf, they persuaded him twice to put on a strong fetter, but none of them resisted the strength of Fenris. Finally, the dwarves made the fetter Gleipnir, almost invisibly thin, but unbreakable. This time, they had to give a pledge for the wolf to allow them to 'test his strength', so Tyr put his arm in his mouth, and lost it when Fenris couldn't set himself free, and discovered that neither the Gods had the plans to let him go. The custom of raising the right hand in an oath derives from this very legend.
Tyr is the god of justice, law, and of rightful battles. In some regions, he is known as Ullr, and the characteristics of these two deities are combined.
Tyr's sacred day is Tuesday.

HEIMDALL
Heimdall is the guardian of the Gods. He stands by the flaming Bifrost bridge and has a Gjallarhorn whose sound shall announce Ragnarok. His dwelling by Bifrost is Himinbjorg.
Heimdall is son of nine mothers. These maidens are the daughters of wizard Aegir, ruler of the sea, and Ran, mistress of the rain. Their names are Himingleva ('That through which one can see heaven'), Dufa ('The pitching one'), Blodughadda ('The bloody hair'), Hefring ('The riser'), Udr ('Frothing wave'), Hronn ('Welling wave'), Bylgja ('Billow'), Drofn ('Foam-fleck') and Kolga ('Cool-One').
Heimdall is known as the foe of Loki, because he was the one who chased him when it was discovered that Loki had stolen Freya's necklace. Heimdall realized that Loki was hidden in the shape of a seal, so he took the same shape, fought him and returned the necklace to Asgard.
Heimdall has an ability to see equally well both day and night. He can hear the grass growing.
His sword is called Head, because it is pierced through a skull.

BRAGI
Bragi is the God of wisdom, word-skills and eloquence. He is called the maker of poetry and he is depicted as very long-bearded. His wife is Idunn.

VIDAR
Vidar is the silent God. He is almost as strong as Thor, and therefore shall be the slayer of Fenris-wolf in the times of Ragnarok. He possesses the iron-shoe that shall help him in that quest. He shall be one of the gods that shall rule after the final battles.
His mother is giantess Gridr.

VALI
Vali is son of Odin and Rindr, and he, too, shall come to take over the rule, along with Vidar, after the Ragnarok shall be finished. Vali is the avenger of Baldr, because he slew his blind brother Hodr who killed him.

ULL
Ull is son of Sif and stepson of Thor. He is the bowman God, very swift on snowshoes. People used to call for his help in single combats and hunting.

HOENIR
Hoenir might be one of the appearances of Odin, because he is confused with Vili, one of the three creators of worlds. But the Eddas tell us that Hoenir was the one God of Aesir that was brought to live in Vanaheim as a trust hostage when Vanir and Aesir made peace, just like Frey and Freya came to live in Asgard.

FORSETI
Forseti is son of Baldr and Nanna. His hall is Glitnir. He is the God of law-suits. He has the ability to reconcile the opponent sides of any case. While Tyr is the God of righteous outcome of law suits, Forseti is the God of peaceful justice and reconciliation.

LOKI
Loki is the sly - god, the God of mischief. He is the foe of all Gods. He harmed the Gods in many ways, but his worst deed was contriving the death of Baldr. After this occurred, the Gods angered with Loki furiously. He ran away and hid in a form of a salmon in Franangr-falls. The Aesir managed to find him and catch him, and they punished him: he was taken to a cave with three flat stones with a hole drilled in each. Loki's and Sigyn's son Vili was changed to a wolf and he tore apart his brother Narfi. The Gods bound Loki with Narfi's entrails over the three stones, and then turned the bonds to iron. Skadi fastened a serpent over him so that venom should drip into his face, but Sigyn holds a basin under the drops of venom, and only when it is filled and Sigyn takes it away to pour it out, the venom drips on Loki's forehead causing tremendous pain and his screams and tremble then cause earthquakes. Loki shall be there till the Ragnarok, when he shall be loosened, along with other monsters. His destiny is to kill Heimdall and get killed by him.
His role at Ragnarok is even greater when we consider that he is the father of the greatest foes of Gods - Fenris and Jormungand. Although he is the father of wicked monsters, one of his children is the greatest of all horses, Sleipnir. He was born out of his relations with a stallion Svadilfari: the Gods made a trade with a giant that he would be able to build them a citadel in one winter with no help from his kind, only with his horse Svadilfari. If he would manage to do that, he could take Freya. Of course, the Gods thought that it couldn't be possible for a single giant to do, but the horses help was enormous. The evil advice for accepting the giant's proposition came from Loki, so the Gods demanded from him to stop the giant from executing his work when he was almost finished. Loki shifted his shape into a mare and the stallion wouldn't do his work as hi did before, because he was too busy with playing with his new female friend. Loki managed to obstruct the building of the citadel, but out of his relation with Svadilfari, Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse, was borne.
Loki is sometimes called Loptur. He is father of falsehoods. His famous mischiefs are stealing Sif's hair, Idunn's apples and Freya's necklace.

BALDR
Balder the beautiful, son of Odin and Frigg and husband of Nanna, was the fairest and brightest of all the Gods. His hall was Breidablik. He was so beautiful and good. Light shone out of him. But his story is tragic and introduces the destructive events of Ragnarok:
Baldr dreamed perilous dreams regarding his life. So, Frigg took oaths from everything alive that they wouldn't hurt Baldr. Afterwards, the Gods united to celebrate his safeness. Everybody threw all sorts of weapons at him, and he indeed couldn't be hurt. Unfortunately, Frigg didn't ask little mistletoe that was growing westward to Valhall. She thought it was too young to be asked the oath of. Loki knew this and guided Hodr, blind brother of Baldr, to throw mistletoe wand at Baldr, who fell dead after he was hit.
It is said that his magnificent funeral is the first funeral pyre ever, and the custom of such pyres lasted until middle ages. Baldr was placed on his ship Hringhorni, the best ship of all, with pyre, and only the giantess Hyrrokkin was strong enough to push it. Nanna died of grief seeing the pyre, and joined her loved one in Hel. Thor hallowed the pyre with Mjollnir. Many races visited the burning - the Gods, Valkyrs, even some giants. Odin laid his ring Draupnir on the pyre.
The Aesir asked from Hel to let Balder come home, and she agreed if every single creature would weep for him. But Loki, disguised as a giantess Thokk, was the only creature that would not cry. Loki was punished afterwards, but Baldr and Nanna remained in the realms of the goddess Hel.

ODUR
Odur is the husband of Freya and the love of her life. Their love story is sad, because she betrayed him when she was misguided into wanting the gold too hard and when she gave herself to four dwarves to gain the most beautiful necklace of all.
Marriage of Odin and Frigg represents the harmonious and faithful institution of domestic type, while the one of Odur and Freya represents the sensual and passionate love. Both goddesses are protectors of marriage, so it is assumed that different names only refer to different kind of love that a couple is exchanging in different situations, while there is only one duo involved - Odin or Odur and Frigg or Freya.

HODR
Hodr is the blind brother of Baldr who represents the opposite of all the characteristics of the Beautiful one. Loki persuaded him to throw the mistletoe at his brother, and so he slew him because the mistletoe was the only living creature that could hurt Baldr. He is the God that can bring conflict. He stands for blind powers.