1/2/2024 0 Comments Fire and ice norse realmsAt other times, however, his description of Hel seems to contradict this, leaving some doubt. Snorri Sturluson, the author of the Prose Edda, sometimes states that Hel lies within Niflheim. In the Prose Edda and other sources, however, Hel seems to be part of, or at least closely affiliated with, Niflheim. Niflhel is often described as the lowest level of Hel, although this tiered view of the Underworld may be adopted from other sources. Their exact relationship in ancient Norse thought is unknown. Hel, Niflheim, and Niflhel are often used interchangeably in retellings of Norse mythology. The name of her hall, Éljúðnir, is translated as “damp with sleet” or “sprayed with snowstorms.” The available descriptions of Hel and her realm further the idea that she ruled in Niflheim. One of these was Niflhel, or “Misty Hel.” This is occasionally named as Niflheim as well. The land of the dead was given other names, however. Hel’s name is often used as that of her realm, as well. In others, criminals, outlaws, oathbreakers, and other ignoble sinners were sent to Hel. In some sources, Hel’s hall was the destination for all those who lived and died in unexceptional ways. Others, however, were sent to the realm of Loki’s daughter, Hel. Exceptional warriors went to Valhalla, other noble deaths went to Frigg’s hall at Fólkvangr, and those who died by drowning were carried into the sea by Ram. The Norse people did not believe that all people went to the same world after they passed on. The land of ice is often to be considered the land of the dead as well, although this is disputed. The spring in Niflheim was said to be the source of all rivers. Hvergelmir continued to drip into the Nine Worlds. When Ymir was killed his body was used to create Midgard, the world of men. This was Ymir who was a great jötunn, a word often translated into English as “giant.” This vapor eventually coalesced into a form. The droplets of water heated as they fell toward Muspelheim, forming a cloud of vapor in Ginnungagap. Little of Muspelheim’s heat reached Niflheim, but the slight amount that did caused the ice to drip into Ginnungagap. As it grew hotter it, too, formed a primordial world. The northern reaches were so cold, however, that the water of Hvergelmir froze. In the north of Ginnungagap there was a spring called Hvergelmir. Niflheim and the Creation of the WorldĪccording to the Norse story of creation, Niflheim was the first of the Nine Worlds to be brought into being.īefore the worlds were created, there was only an empty void known as Ginnungagap. Odin’s own journey to Hel revealed to him that Niflheim and its inhabitants would have as much of a role to play in the world’s destruction as they did in its creation. The dead would not stay in Niflheim forever, though. She became the queen of a land that bore her name in the world of Niflheim, ruling over the dead in a cold and joyless realm. When Loki’s daughter Hel was born as a violent and decaying giantess, Odin banished her from the inhabited realms. From these two elemental worlds came the water and sparks that would be responsible for most of creation.Īfter the creation of the Nine Worlds, however, Niflheim still had an important part to play in the mythology of the Norse world. These worlds were Muspelheim and Niflheim, the lands of fire and ice. Seven of these had formed in the void of Ginnungagap, but the two most primordial worlds had been responsible for much of creation. In Norse cosmology, nine worlds lay along the trunk and branches of Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
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