Eric only felt more confused by Vala's explanation. "How do you know of the Norse pantheon?" he asked. "You're not even from Earth. Why would you bother to learn about the gods of a dead civilization on a foreign planet? And what do you mean by the Aesir being protectors?" He supposed Odin was a protector of sorts; he had never lost a battle, after all. Generally, however, he didn't think of his gods as the protective sort.