The heaven of the Nordic gods of Scandinavia and the Teutonic peoples. When the gods Odin, Vili, and Ve had fashioned the earth, which they called Midgard or the Middle Abode because it is halfway between heaven and hell, they set to work to construct Asgard. They were soon joined by other gods, or Aesir, and they called their heaven Asgard, meaning Place of the Aesir. When the host of gods had completed their work, Asgard had some resemblance to the earth below. The homes of the gods provided a model for the great halls of the Vikings and other races of Midgard. A great fire burns in the centre of the hall, its smoke blackening the rafters and seeping out through the thatch. The chief gods sit around the fire, drinking mead and discussing their plans for mankind, while the lesser gods sit beyond its warmth and eat the scraps, as do the servants of earthly chieftains. Whenever the Aesir wish to visit earth they walk down the rainbow known as Bifrost: the heavenly bridge they built to link Asgard and Midgard.