On the Supposed Immunity of the Aesir to Cold

Aesir do not feel cold less because they are brave. They feel it less because they are large, a distinction which has somehow escaped generations of storytellers, perhaps because “surface-area-to-volume ratio” does not sit comfortably in heroic verse.

The Aesir body conserves heat extraordinarily well. Their mass is substantial, their peripheral circulation is efficiently regulated, and their traditional northern clothing is considerably more sophisticated than the fur-draped costumes favoured by theatrical productions. An Aesir standing comfortably in weather that leaves a Human shivering is not demonstrating supernatural hardiness. He is demonstrating physiology, insulation, and the good sense to dress appropriately. He can nevertheless suffer hypothermia and frost injury, and the idea that he cannot has killed more than one young Aesir determined to demonstrate ancestral toughness after consuming ancestral quantities of alcohol.

There is also an irritating reciprocal myth among the Aesir that Humans are constitutionally fragile in winter and must be continually wrapped, fed, and moved closer to fires. This is likewise untrue, and I have survived several northern winters without supervision. Admittedly, they were not wrong about the fire.