Q1. When I played Heroine's Quest for the first time, I was naturally struck by the unique portrayal of Ratatosk, 'the Doom Squirrel'. I always thought he was a joke character, and indeed, he was very funny.
So imagine my surprise... I'm currently reading a book of Norse myths... and I came across a squirrel called Ratatöskr, whose duties seem to be to run up and down Yggdrasill the World Tree, bearing news from the dragon Níðhöggr at the tree's base to the eagle and four harts at the tree's top, and back again.
All right, along the way, Ratatosk (or Ratatöskr, to give him his old name) also gnaws on the tree - but then, the dragon Níðhöggr also chews away at the tree's roots, and the harts at the top nibble on the tree's leaves - so I don't think that the squirrel can claim to be a particular herald of 'doom', because all the animals on the tree do it.
So my question is this: was the decision to make Ratatosk into a 'Doom Squirrel' just for laughs? 
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Q2. (Phew!) I'm also wondering about the pronunciation of certain words and letters (esp. ð, ö, ó and Þ). The book I'm reading gives examples, but they don't make much sense to me.
In brief, these letters occur again and again in Norse names, and I'm wondering how to pronounce them - e.g.:a. Ratatöskr - should the ö be pronounced as 'er', so 'Ra-ta-ter-skr'? Again, Thor's hammer is named 'Mjölnir' - so 'M-yerl-nir'?
b. Níðhöggr - the 'ð' is 'eth' as far as I know, so should it be 'N-eth-her-gr'?
c. Þórr is the Old Norse name for Thor, and I know that Þ (or 'thorn') is pronounced 'th'... but is the 'ó' a long or short dipthong? So would it be 'Thor' or 'Thooo-rr' (i.e. a long emphasis on the 'o' syllable)?
The biggest obstacle I'm facing is the difference in pronunciation between the 'ð' syllable and the 'Þ' one, because they are both pronounced 'th' (as far as I know). Can anyone help, please?
