kikori kid wrote:
Fun fact about the number '13'.
It's the number of the Valkyrie, Freja (Freya), who gets first pick of the dead's souls. Being a good entity (unless you see the Valkyrie as evil somehow), the fact that Friday is her day and 13 is her number makes those on the luckier side than the unluckier.
I'm in.
...but our irrational fear of the number thirteen (triskadekaphobia) also comes from Norse myth.
The God Baldr's death was predicted, so his mother made everything on Earth promise not to hurt him. When everything agreed, the gods threw a massive celebration in which they threw random sharp objects at him, and nothing would touch him.
The trickster god, Loki, disguised himself as an old lady, sharpened a holly twig (a plant so small and insignificant that it wasn't even asked about Baldr), and gave it to a blind god to throw. Loki guided his arm and Baldr was killed.
At Baldr's funeral there were twelve guests. The univited thirteenth guest was Loki, and his arrival marked what was essentially the beginning of Ragnarok.