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Niflheim, here viewed as the land of the dead who died without honor. Source: Zaleman / Adobe Stock

Niflheim in Norse Mythology: Land of the Dead and Home to Lady Hel

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In Norse cosmology, the universe was made up of nine distinct realms. Each had its unique inhabitants and mythology, but some played bigger parts in the Norse mythology than others. One of the most popular in western pop culture is Niflheim, making its way into the Marvel movies and video games like God of War. But how accurate are these depictions and how much do we actually know about Niflheim in Norse mythology on the whole?

What was Niflheim?

Of the nine realms in Norse mythology, we know more about some than others. For example, we know substantially more about Midgard (Earth) and Asgard (home of Aesir gods like Odin and Thor) compared to Svartalfheim (home to the dark elves).

Niflheim is one of the realms which we know more about, although sources tend to contradict each other. It was usually portrayed as being a dark, unforgiving realm characterized by brutal cold. Whilst this is largely true, the actual mythology isn’t that simple. Niflheim was made up of more than one area, each with its own environment.

Niflheim was one of the more important realms in Norse mythology, so it is unsurprising it was one of the more thoroughly recorded. The realm’s importance was threefold.

Niflheim, Land of the Dishonored Dead

Broadly speaking Norse mythology divided death into two categories, honorable and dishonorable. How a person died decided which kind of death they had, which in turn decided where they ended up after they died.

If a Viking died in battle, with his weapon in his hand, it was considered to be an honorable death and he went to Valhalla. Valhalla is usually represented as residing in the heavens, a great hall surrounded by beautiful fields. Within this hall mortal souls could feast with the gods and help prepare them for the final battle, Ragnarok. Some cultists also believed if they sacrificed themselves to their god or died in service of their god but outside of battle, they would also go to Valhalla.

If a Viking had a dishonorable death, they ended up in Niflheim. Which part of Niflheim depended on how bad a Viking they had been. Most people would end up in Helheim, which was ruled over by one of Loki’s children, Hel. Helheim as a place was most likely not all that bad, more analogous in Norse writing to the Christian idea of purgatory rather than Christian hell.

The worst was saved for the souls of oath breakers, murderers, and adulterers. These souls were sent to Nastrond which was situated next to Helheim but still within Niflheim. Nastrond was a dark, nightmarish place, described as a hall made up of the spines of snakes. If Helheim was purgatory, then Nastrond would be the Norse version of hell.

Nastrond as depicted by Lorentz Frölich, 1895 (Public Domain)

Nastrond as depicted by Lorentz Frölich, 1895 (Public Domain)

However, being in the land of the dead came with one major perk. It was sometimes referred to as the repository of all knowledge as it held the vast majority of mortal souls. When the gods, especially Odin, sought advice or help it was often the souls in Niflheim they contacted. This positive take on Niflheim has largely been lost in modern interpretations.

The cosmos in the Norse mythology included a number of realms with Neflheim near the bottom as depicted here in an image from “Histoire des peuples du nord, et des Danois et des Normands” by Henry Wheaton. The original and its digitized versions belong to the British Library. (Henry Wheaton / British Library / Public domain)

The cosmos in the Norse mythology included a number of realms with Neflheim near the bottom as depicted here in an image from “Histoire des peuples du nord, et des Danois et des Normands” by Henry Wheaton. The original and its digitized versions belong to the British Library. . (Henry Wheaton / British Library / Public domain)

Niflheim and the Norse Creation Myth

The second reason for Niflheim’s importance is that it played a key role in the Norse creation myth. As Norse religion was largely an oral tradition there is no definitive version of the Norse creation myth. Instead, scholars have had to take surviving snippets of stories and poems and try to weave them together to get as close as they can to one version of the story.

Broadly speaking at the beginning of time there was only the  Ginnungagap, the great empty void. Without warning (and for reasons unbeknownst to us), two worlds began to form, one to the north of the Void and one to the south. The northern world was Niflheim, a land of ice, cold, and darkness. To the south was Muspelheim, a world of raging fires.

It took the two planets eons to fully form. Eventually, once they were fully formed, the ice of Niflheim and the fire of Muspelheim clashed. The flames melted the ice, and the first pool of water was formed. From this pool rose Ymir, the first living being in Norse Mythology.

Ymir would later be killed and dismembered by Odin and his brothers. These body parts would then be used to create Midgard, the realm of mankind. As such, Niflheim does not just play an important role in the Norse creation myth in general but is also directly linked to the creation of Midgard.

If we know one thing about Niflheim in Norse mythology, then it’s the utter cold of the place that isn’t that different from purgatory in the Christian tradition. SW Greenland Fjord and Mountain On April 8, 2011, taken by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / CC BY 2.0)

If we know one thing about Niflheim in Norse mythology, then it’s the utter cold of the place that isn’t that different from purgatory in the Christian tradition. SW Greenland Fjord and Mountain On April 8, 2011, taken by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / CC BY 2.0)

Niflheim and Yggdrasil

In Norse Mythology the nine realms are held together by Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil was usually portrayed as a giant ever-green ash tree. If Yggdrasil were ever to fall, all of creation would fall too, making it Yggdrasil, the tree of life.

Whilst all the realms had a strong connection to the tree, some had stronger connections than others. Niflheim had a particularly strong bond with Yggdrasil as the great tree’s roots were set in Niflheim. Then, Yggdrasail’s base was said to be in Midgard and its upper branches flowered in Asgard and Vanaheimi, the realms of the gods.

An important aspect of Norse religion was the cycle of life, death, and rebirth which Yggdrasil represented. In this cycle death was represented by Niflheim, making it a keystone of the Norse religion.

Conclusion

Today Niflheim is most closely associated with freezing cold and as being home to the dead. Whilst this depiction is broadly true it isn’t 100% accurate. The Nordic people likely had a much more positive view of Niflheim.

Niflheim and Helheim’s confusing etymology is likely largely to blame for the realm's negative representation. When Christian scholars began trying to record the history of Norse traditions it is likely that Niflheim and Helheim were conflated with Christian ideas of hell.

In fact, Niflheim was key to the Norse cycle of life, death, and rebirth. They understood better than most that without Niflheim there could be no Ymir and no world tree. In short, they believed that death was not something to be feared, there could be no life without death and no death without life.

Top image: Niflheim, here viewed as the land of the dead who died without honor. Source: Zaleman / Adobe Stock

By Robbie Mitchell

References

Bycock. J. 2005.  Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda. Penguin Books

Lindow. J. 2002.  Norse Mythology. Oxford University Press

Orchard. A. 1997.  A Dictionary of Norse Mythology and Legend. Hachette UK

 

Comments

IronicLyricist's picture

Personality dies soul survives. So the lake of fire (suns red giant expansion) would be only for those that have either conpletely destroyed their humanity thru repeatedly choosing iniquity, or cain descendants, who are soulless, the chaff.. the concept of a burning hell is the worst a human mind could come up with.. but the reality would be much more than excurucating constant pain.. it is NOTHING.. the absence of the mind and energy that oervade the multiverse.. the e class asteroids(enochs souls repositories, also escape pods from tiamat the water world that the asteroid belt is the remains of).. as long as the war continues and this solar sytem is blockaded.. whats scary is the weapon that caused that devastation still exists as well as evidence that this is a possibility..(cough iapetus).. in any case it is useful to studu myth and legend.. vecause there is truth within.. whether literal or in the sense of about humanity itself n how their bias' can cause such error

infinitesimal waveparticles comprise what we call home the earth
manipulatable by thought ability supressed in humans since birth

Pete Wagner's picture

Almost certainly, the mythology is misinterpreted/mis-represented, intentionally or not.  Probably, when you die, you’re just dead and gone.  It’s all about what makes the most sense to us NOW, as the logic of the mind DOES NOT CHANGE over time.  But maybe there is something to see, e.g., giants or the bones of them, INSIDE the planet's hollow shell?  Who would know?

Nobody gets paid to tell the truth.

Hi All,

Midgard is Earth
Asgard Aeisr Home of the Deities
Svartafheim The Home of The Dark Elves?
9 Realms in existence?

Okay, These Ancient Origins articles with every single scholarly piece is proving Enoch Right.

Somehow in The Germaniac language The Word Niflheim is used to describe a Place of existence; while, The Hebrew Word is used Nephilim, Being's identified as Nephilims children of The Fallen Angel's those Watcher's.

Enoch 2 The Book of The Secret's of Enoch 10 Heaven's are Revealed out of these 10 Heaven 2 & Heaven & 5th Heaven are described being Hell.

The Fallen Angel's The Watcher's told our Ancestors 9 Realms exists? They're telling our Ancestors where They Came from but specifically left out the 10th Heaven that's God's Country, no doubt about that intriguing reveal.

Part of the oral stories pertaining too Those Watcher's Angel's who invaded Earth is that a few of Them escaped from one of The Hells in fact as I recall an article right here on Ancient Origins mentions the Ancient Egyptians wrote of the existence 12,000 Hells.

Wonder which Realm is Niflheim?

This is the most exciting article too Read detailing The Realm Niflheim in Norse Stories.

I'm fairly certain that Realm mentioned is Not of Earth.

Then where do the Dark Elves come into play? Not sure but it helps The Prophet of Old Enoch revealing in Enoch 2 that he wrote 366 Book's so where are All of Them?

All around Us They are hereby Classified as Myth's.

Since the Ancient Writings reveal's Monster's do exist's we feel much safer Identifying them as Mythology.

Maybe there not?

Oh before I forget.

Access to Earth and from Earth through Heavenly Portal's Windows in The Heaven's All Entrances, All Exits, All Door Ways were effectively shut down.

There's a good chance The quote Norse gods operated above Earth for a while in fact thanks too The Aztecs/Mayans/Olmecs and other Indigneous People's in The America's Venus is one possible beam in beam out.

So effectively everything is Shut Down nothing non-human has any access to anything not even into other Dimensions and Universe's.

This is all I wish to share on this subject, I look forward too this Discussion to come I enjoyed reading this article very much wouldn't change it for the World.

So until next Discussion Everyone, Goodbye!

Hi All,

Midgard is Earth
Asgard Aeisr Home of the Deities
Svartafheim The Home of The Dark Elves?
9 Realms in existence?

Okay, These Ancient Origins articles with every single scholarly piece is proving Enoch Right.

Somehow in The Germaniac language The Word Niflheim is used to describe a Place of existence; while, The Hebrew Word is used Nephilim, Being's identified as Nephilims children of The Fallen Angel's those Watcher's.

Enoch 2 The Book of The Secret's of Enoch 10 Heaven's are Revealed out of these 10 Heaven 2 & Heaven & 5th Heaven are described being Hell.

The Fallen Angel's The Watcher's told our Ancestors 9 Realms exists? They're telling our Ancestors where They Came from but specifically left out the 10th Heaven that's God's Country, no doubt about that intriguing reveal.

Part of the oral stories pertaining too Those Watcher's Angel's who invaded Earth is that a few of Them escaped from one of The Hells in fact as I recall an article right here on Ancient Origins mentions the Ancient Egyptians wrote of the existence 12,000 Hells.

Wonder which Realm is Niflheim?

This is the most exciting article too Read detailing The Realm Niflheim in Norse Stories.

I'm fairly certain that Realm mentioned is Not of Earth.

Then where do the Dark Elves come into play? Not sure but it helps The Prophet of Old Enoch revealing in Enoch 2 that he wrote 366 Book's so where are All of Them?

All around Us They are hereby Classified as Myth's.

Since the Ancient Writings reveal's Monster's do exist's we feel much safer Identifying them as Mythology.

Maybe there not?

Oh before I forget.

Access to Earth and from Earth through Heavenly Portal's Windows in The Heaven's All Entrances, All Exits, All Door Ways were effectively shut down.

There's a good chance The quote Norse gods operated above Earth for a while in fact thanks too The Aztecs/Mayans/Olmecs and other Indigneous People's in The America's Venus is one possible beam in beam out.

So effectively everything is Shut Down nothing non-human has any access to anything not even into other Dimensions and Universe's.

This is all I wish to share on this subject, I look forward too this Discussion to come I enjoyed reading this article very much wouldn't change it for the World.

So until next Discussion Everyone, Goodbye!

Robbie Mitchell's picture

Robbie

I’m a graduate of History and Literature from The University of Manchester in England and a total history geek. Since a young age, I’ve been obsessed with history. The weirder the better. I spend my days working as a freelance... Read More

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