Ran (Old Norse: Rán; means "theft, robbery") is the goddess of the drowned in Norse mythology. She is the wife of the jötunn Ægir. Rán is known as the sinister aspect of the sea.
Biography[]
Rán and her husband, Ægir, are the parents of the Nine Daughters who are the personification of the waves. Rán and Ægir live in a golden hall in the deepest depths of the sea, named Aegirheim. Rán spends her days catching and dragging drowning sailors with her huge fishing net down into her realm on the bottom of the sea. These souls then live in her hall. She is also the maker of all sea-storms in the northern oceans. She is blamed for shipwrecks, drownings, and disappearances at sea.
Rán appears as a delicate-looking woman with blue-green skin and long black hair. Her hair is magically linked to all the seaweed that grows in all the northern oceans. She can appear in the form of a mermaid, or appear with legs in a human form. Rán is beautiful, but her teeth are sharp and pointed and her fingers are clawed. Rán is on good terms with Hel, the Goddess of Death, and prefers the company of the older gods. Rán and her husband enjoy an overwhelmingly friendly relationship with the gods, who are apparently regular guests at their magnificent feasts.
Description[]
- Symbol: fishing net
- Color: sea green
- Offerings: gold coins, shells
- Time to Honor: before sea voyage
In Vikings[]
In the opening credits, Rán is seen bringing the drowned Viking to her hall. Her Nine Daughters are also seen.
In Vikings: Valhalla[]
As Leif Eriksson sends off his deceased fellow Greenlanders after the Battle of London, he tells them, "May you sleep in the embrace of Ran and be reunited with your departed loved ones."