"Asgard" is one of three realms in Norse mythology. Midgard is the realm in which we live; Hel is the underworld; and Asgard is the realm where the Norse gods lived in their hall, Vallhalla.

The Norse are an interesting study in human vigor and enterprise – especially with respect to their rather extreme sense of commerce. They started from a fairly concentrated home base during the late 8th century A.D. in coastal and southern Scandinavia (including what is now Denmark) and, in a surge of incredibly sustained enterprise, marked by extraordinary ingenuity, adaptability and cunning (and perhaps an overly-indulged sense of rapacity), expanded over mere decades throughout the known Northern hemisphere and beyond. In addition to settling Iceland and Greenland, they were probably the first Europeans to set foot on North America. In Europe, they raided from Ireland to Rome, from Russia to Spain and North Africa. They staffed the elite Varangian Guards of the Emperor in Constantinople. Their progeny soon became the ruling blood lines in England, France, Russia, and Sicily and Italy as well throughout Scandinavia. And finally, by only a century or so later, outside of their homelands this spectacular population then quickly melded into the peoples they had conquered.

A concise description of the Norse Asgard can be found on page 271 of Johannes Brondsted’s “The Vikings” (Oxford University Press, 1968). A lengthier treatment can be found from page 317 of Gywn Jones’ “A History of the Vikings” (Pelican). One of the most fascinating aspects of North mythology is the concept of Ragnarok - the inevitable end of the world, when even the gods must perish. It inspires a sense of humility and vulnerability that investment professionals are well advised to keep in mind.