Niflheim: meaning and mythology

Niflheim or Niflheimr is one of the nine worlds of the Nordic mythology . R epresenta cold matter in opposition to Muspelheim or hot matter, according to one of the cosmogonic myths of the Scandinavian mythology of creation. In this kingdom lives the dragon Níðhöggr, a being dedicated to incessantly gnawing the roots of the perennial ash tree or tree of life, Yggdrasil.

According to this myth, the world was born from the clash of these two forces in the magic space, called Ginnungagap. That is, the space or gap that separated Niflheim from Muspelheim before creation. In Norse mythology, the world is a flat disk that is located in the branches of the tree of life.

The dragon Níðhöggr incessantly gnaws the roots of the tree of life.

What does the name of Niflheim mean?

Niflheim ('Nylfheim' or 'NielHeim') means Home of the fog . In Norse mythology it is known as the kingdom of darkness and darkness, which remains enveloped by a perpetual fog.

The word is composed of several roots. Nifl ( from where) that united to the Anglo-Saxon Nifol means dark. Nevel in Dutch and Nebel in German, they mean fog. Niflheim is pronounced"NIF-el-hame", from the old Norse niflheimr, or"world of fog".

Niflheim was the kingdom of cold and ice, which is crossed by the frozen rivers of Élivágar and the well of Hvergelmir. From there all rivers are born, according to the first section of the book of Scandinavian mythology, Youngest Edda .

Under this gigantic, dark and icy kingdom of darkness, is the kingdom of the dead, called Helheim. In it, the goddess Hela reigns, with her dog Garm.

Helheim is one of the darkest and darkest areas of this gigantic and icy world. There reigns the powerful goddess or giant Hela, daughter of the trickster god Loki.

The two fundamental kingdoms were Niflheim, the world of cold, and Muspelheim, the world of fire. By uniting the two kingdoms, that is, the cold and the heat, creation begins through the"creative vapor". Then, the world of Niflheim became the abode of the goddess Hela.

According to the story of the Nordic creation of the Icelandic Christian - medieval historian, Snorri Sturluson, the first created being was the giant Ymir. This was born of the violent fusion of the cold of Niflheim and the fire of Muspelheim in the middle of Ginnungagap, the abyss that separated them initially.

Niflheim or Niflheimr?

The word"Niflheim"is only described in the works of Snorri. It is used indiscriminately as"Niflhel", which becomes a"poetic embellishment"of the world of the dead"Hel".

On the other hand, the word"Niflhel"is found in poems from the old Nordic language that is older than the works of Snorri. It is likely then that the term"Niflheim"is actually a linguistic invention of Snorri.

It is impossible to know exactly if it is a word of late origin or is an old term. The only source of information on the mythology of Nordic creation comes precisely from the works of Snorri.

In the poem Hrafnagaldr Óðins, Niflheimr is briefly mentioned as a place in the north:

"The powers rose

the illuminator of Alfs

to the north before Niflheim

He persecuted the night."

The world of the dead

Niflheim is also the world of the dead and is ruled by the goddess Hel. It is the last of the nine worlds, where evil men passed after arriving in the area of ​​death (Hel).

Originally, Hel was called to the world of the dead, but later it will mean the goddess of death. It is located under one of the roots of Yggdrasill, the tree of the world and in the north direction. In Niflheim lives the dragon Níðhöggr that gnaws the roots of the tree of life, which holds the nine worlds.

After the Ragnarök or the battle of the end of the world, the dragon would travel the world to devote himself to torment the souls that remain.

Niflheim or the World of Darkness, was divided into several sections, one of which was Náströnd, the edge of the corpses. Where stood a castle with a view to the north, full of the venom of snakes.

In this fortress murderers, perjuries and adulterers suffered torments and the dragon Nidhogg sucked the blood from their bodies.

This mention appears in an early poem by Niflheim.

The Nine Worlds of Scandinavian Mythology

These nine worlds are mentioned in a poem of the Poetic Edda or Minor Edda. However, no source of information on Norse mythology offers a complete and accurate list of the nine worlds.

Some authors based on the types of creatures and beings found in Scandinavian mythology and the reference made to their homeland in various literary sources, have made the following tentative compilation:

1. Niflheim , the primordial world of ice, is ruled by the goddess or giant Hela.
2. Muspelheim, the primordial world of fire, is inhabited by the Fire Giants.
3. Midgard , the world of men, created by the god Odin and his brothers, Vili and Ve.
4. Jotunheim , the world of the giants from which the men of Midgard and the gods of Asgard are threatened.
5. Svartalfheim , the world of the dwarves, in the dark elves live.
6. Asgard, the world of the Aesir tribe of gods and goddesses. It is governed by Odin and his wife Frigg.
7. Vanaheim , the world of the Vanir tribe, which is one of the two clans of gods and goddesses existing in Norse mythology.
8. Hel , the world of the goddess of the same name Hel and the dead. It is located in the deepest and darkest part of Niflheim.
9. Alfheim, the world of the elves: the luminous elves (ljósálfar) and the svartálfar (dark elves that live inside the mountains).

With the exception of Midgard, all these worlds are primarily invisible. However, they can sometimes manifest themselves with some visible characteristics of the world.

For example, Jotunheim can overlap with the physical desert, Hel with burials or tombs (ie the"underworld"below the ground) and Asgard with the sky.

References

1. Niflheim Retrieved on March 1, 2018 from britannica.com
2. Niflheim Consulted by norse-mythology.org
3. Mc Coy Daniel: The Viking spirit: an introduction to mythology and Nordic religion. Consulted by norse-mythology.org
4. Niflheim Consulted on es.wikipedia.org
5. The 9 Worlds. Retrieved from mythologias.readthedocs.io
6. Nordic Mythology (II). The creation of the Universe Consulted by steemit.com