My story begins in Jotunheim, the realm of the Ice Giants, it is a cold realm of tall trees and even taller mountains, it was the refuge of Bergelmir, son of Thrúdgelmir, and the first king of the giants when the blood of his grandfather Aurgelmir spilled forth from his corpse and became the very ocean of Midgard and I could give less of a fuck about it because my real home lies in Járnviðr, known as Ironwood to the men of Midgard. 

It is a great forest inhabited by female Jotnar and giant wolves who have made it their sanctuary, to protect themselves from Thor’s furious wrath, I care not for the Jotnar women seeking to protect themselves but I do care about the giant wolves as most of them are descended from Hróðvitnir, my eldest brother and through them my mother Angrboða. In fact, it is with two of his pups that I am playing with right now. 

Their names are Skoll and Hati, which means "One Who Mocks" and "One Who Hates," respectively. These are unusual names for a mother to give to her children. Usually, I am not one to go against the wishes of a dying mother and though she was a nameless she-wolf, she died giving birth to my brother’s children, and for that, so she deserves at least that much respect. 

Anyway, as I was playing with my nephews in the snow-covered forest of Járnviðr, I noticed that the old and world-weary eyes of my mother Angrboða, the former leader of the settlers of Járnviðr watched us, perhaps if she were younger she would have joined us, but that is no longer possible. 

As I thought of my mother’s age, an old woman appeared and it seemed that time had stopped, in that brief moment only, my mother and I knew that she was there, we did not need to ask the old woman her name, all beings knew her, instinctually, she is the fate of all living beings as they live their lives, she is Elli, she is old age and no one escapes her forever, only Aesir cheat her by eating the golden apples of Idunn to stay young escape her, then as quickly as she arrived Elli disappeared and uncomfortable thoughts flooded my head. 

I knew that at some point I would have to bury her and tell my siblings of the news which would be the first time that I would meet them after they had been separated across the nine realms by the Aldaföðr. 

I know that it will be an awkward conversation but as the Nornir have weaved it to be, it will be had and I have prepared for it as best as I can.

But my mother has not yet reached Hel and though she is no longer in her prime, I still learned a great deal from her and with the skills that she taught me in her younger years I would certainly lead an easier life than most would ever live. 

First, she taught me how to defend myself. Second, she taught me how to use magic. Last but not least, she taught me about the mysteries of the soul. Each of these skills are important, and they all have moments of focus in my story, but now is not their time. 

Right now is the time for play and under the light of the yellow Ever-Bright, driven by Sol across the nine realms and pulled by her two horses, Árvakr and Alsviðr and Dagr who brightened the nine realms upon his white stallion Skinfaxi pursued her, and those two were among the many beings who are unseen to most except the rare few who have the talent for magic. 

Of course, I carefully watched my nephews while we played and patiently waited for them to ask who the young boy on the white horse was, who that woman in the sky was, what they were doing, and why they were there. But the questions never came, which saddened me, as I could not be a mentor to my nephews. 

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However saddened I was, I did not let it distract me from spending time with my nephews and I continued to play with them though they mostly played with each other, both of them trying to reach the impossible goal of getting tired, of course, I failed but I can proudly say that I last longer than any man of Midgard and perhaps even some of Aesir and Vanir, so I simply watched them play until the pups had completed their once impossible task of getting tired and they had fallen asleep and it seemed that our exhaustion was the only sign that time had passed. 

And with a smile on my face, I carried their heavy bodies to a cave, the very same cave where their father had once lived when he was younger, or at least that was what Angrboða told me, of course, due to my late addition to their family I cannot prove nor disprove what she told me and since she has been with him the longest her word is the closest thing to the truth and if it is not then I would have to get the answer from Hróðvitnir to it. While I do not dislike taking her at her word due to her experience and age, there are just some things that I want to confirm for myself. 

But that did not matter as after I had left the pups to sleep in peace in their father’s cave, I found myself going back to my mother who when I last saw her was in front of the hut that she had made for us to live in, watching us but when I got there it was like she had vanished but I know my mother better than that. 

Whenever she wanted to be by herself she would vanish in the middle of the snow and as the concerned son it was my duty to find her but in my current human shape and the environment we lived in it would be impossible. Still, I can change one of those things and it is not the environment. 

I took a deep breath and braced myself for pain as I changed my shape into that of a wolf but my attempt did little as my loud human screams that echoed through this forest had slowly transformed into quiet wolfish whines. 

I quickly coughed up a small amount of blood, revealing my inexperience with this skill and also staining the pure white, otherworldly snow with my blood. Shortly after that, I used my newly enhanced sense of smell to find her. I found a trace of her, and I followed it for such a long time that the pale light of the hastener driven by Mani, Sol's brother, lit my snow-covered path. 

Soon, even the pale light of the hastener grew too dim to see, and The Lightless, mother of Dagr and known as Nott to the men of Midgard began her journey over the nine realms upon her dark horse Hrimfaxi blanketing the nine realms in darkness. However, I did not need my sight; I only needed my mother's scent to find her. Still, this trekking made me wonder what she could be doing, and I quickly discovered the answer to my question as I grew closer. 

I hid behind a tree, watching my mother walking up a small hill reaching the base of a large tree, and stopping as soon as she had reached her destination, and she put her hand on the tree to catch her breath which was curious as while this journey was a tiring affair for me but for her, it should have been a stroll but if she was this exhausted, then it was once again a reminder of her advancing age. 

But soon, all thoughts of her age flew to the wayside as I watched her slowly enter a trance, in which she would gain a glimpse into the fate that the Nornir has woven for all beings, perhaps changing it for the better. 

This powerful ability is called seidr, and it is one that women seem to have an unnatural ease learning, probably because in most rituals a distaff, which is a tool for spinning fiber into yarn which is used to make clothes but my mother is so skilled in this magical art that she does not need mediums anymore though since I am not as skilled I will need several mediums to attempt what she is doing without risk. 

Though unskilled as I am, I have a figure that I aspire to be like in Óðinn the Aldaföðr, the most powerful being in all the nine realms caring for my mother has stifled this foolish dream of mine somewhat, but still I take the time to increase my skills whenever I have the chance. 

But that is irrelevant as my mother always escapes into a defenseless trance whenever she uses seidr. I would have to protect her from whatever wild, dumb beasts dwell in the forest, and with a sigh, I came to realize that I truly am a loyal son.