Vili and Vé
Norse gods
In Norse mythology, Vili ( VILL-ee; Old Norse: [ˈwile]) and Vé ( VAY; O.N.: [ˈweː]) are the brothers of the god Odin (from Old Norse Óðinn), sons of Bestla, daughter of Bölþorn; and Borr, son of Búri.
In Gylfaginning (Prose Edda), Odin, Vili and Ve created the world from the primordial giant Ymir. Afterwards they create the first human beings, Ask and Embla, from two trees found at the seashore.
In Völuspá, the names Hœnir and Lóðurr are mentioned instead of Vili and Ve. As Snorri Sturluson knew Völuspá, it is not unreasonable that Hœnir was another name for Vili, and Lóðurr would be Ve.
Name
The Old Norse theonym Vé (or Véi) is cognate with Gothic weiha ('priest'), both stemming from Proto-Germanic *wīhōn, itself from the adjective *wīhaz, meaning 'holy' (cf. Goth. weihs, Old High German wīh). A related noun, *wīhan ('sanctuary'), can also be reconstructed on the basis of Old Norse vé ('sanctuary'), Old English wēoh ('idol'), and Old Saxon wīh ('temple').
Vili transparently means 'will' in Old Norse.
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