Norse Mythology - What Are The 9 Realms?

The nine realms of Norse mythology, in the list most modern books use, are Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Midgard, Jötunheim, Svartalfheim (Nidavellir), Muspelheim, Niflheim and Helheim. The medieval sources do speak of nine worlds, and Snorri Sturluson says the goddess Hel was given power over nine worlds, but no medieval text names the nine. The list is put together from place-names scattered through Snorri's Edda and the Eddic poems, and the picture of nine realms stacked in the branches and roots of the world-tree Yggdrasil is a modern diagram.

• Asgard, realm of the Aesir gods, home of Odin and Valhalla.
• Vanaheim, home of the Vanir, the family of gods that Njord, Freyr and Freyja came from.
• Alfheim, realm of the light elves.
• Midgard, the world of humans, inside the sea where the serpent Jörmungandr lies.
• Jötunheim, land of the giants (Jötnar).
• Svartalfheim (Nidavellir), home of the dwarven smiths.
• Muspelheim, the realm of fire, guarded by the giant Surtr.
• Niflheim, the realm of ice, mist and cold.
• Helheim, the land of the dead, ruled by Hel.

The 9 realms are important to understand if you want a clear understanding of Norse mythology. These realms lay the context for the existence of Norse gods, human beings, the Jötunn (giants), and all other beings.

These nine realms help us understand the battles, evolution, and development of the saga of Norse mythology. In addition to being an integral aspect of the old Norse religion, the nine realms tie us to an understanding of Norse cosmology in the Viking Age. In other words, the realms help us to better understand the way old Norse religion understood the creation of the universe.

This article explores everything that a beginner needs to know about each one of the nine realms. We'll also cover the creation of the world, and what the sources actually say about each realm, as told by the Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson and the Eddic poems.

Let's take a closer look.

The Nine Realms of Norse Mythology

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Where the List of Nine Realms Comes From

The number nine is old. In the poem Völuspá (stanza 2) the seeress says she remembers nine worlds, níu heima, and the glorious measuring-tree below the earth. In Vafþrúðnismál (stanza 43) the wise giant Vafþrúðnir says he has been to every world, nine worlds beneath Niflhel, where men go when they die out of hel. Snorri Sturluson, writing his Gylfaginning around 1220, says Odin cast Hel into Niflheim and gave her power over nine worlds, and that the wicked go to Hel and on to Niflhel, "down in the ninth world".

None of these texts names the nine. The list most modern books use is assembled from place-names that turn up here and there in Snorri and the poems. The nearest thing to a roll-call is the poem Alvíssmál, where Thor asks the dwarf Alvíss what the earth, the sky and the moon are called "in every world", and the answers give the words used by men, gods, Vanir, giants, elves, dwarves and those in hel. Those are peoples, though, not a map.

Snorri's own picture of the world is mostly level. The earth is round, with the deep sea lying around it. Along the shore the gods gave land to the giants; further in they built a wall against them and called it Midgard. Then they built themselves a stronghold in the middle of the world, Asgard. Snorri also places Alfheim and several halls of the gods in heaven, and never fits the two pictures together.

Yggdrasil has three roots, but the two main sources do not agree on where they go. The poem Grímnismál (stanza 31) says Hel lives under one, the frost giants under the second and human beings under the third. Snorri (Gylfaginning 15) puts one root among the Aesir, one among the frost giants, where Ginnungagap once was, and one over Niflheim; a few lines later he says a root stands in heaven, with the well of Urðr beneath it. The tree's branches, he says, spread over the whole world and stand above heaven. Neither text sets nine realms on the tree in tiers.

Before we look at each of the realms, it's worth discussing the creation of the universe. It's impossible to understand the context of the realms without knowing how they came to be and where they're situated in the cosmos.

Before the earth was made, Snorri says, there were the empty gap Ginnungagap, the cold world Niflheim to the north, and the hot, bright world Muspelheim to the south. You can think of the fire and ice realms sitting opposite one another with Ginnungagap in between. This was the primordial world, before the first giant or the gods.

Snorri does not say when the world-tree Yggdrasil came to be. In his account it is the gods' chief holy place, where they hold their court every day, and its branches spread over the whole world. Yggdrasil is often called the "tree of life," although its name most likely means "Odin's steed". How the nine worlds relate to it, the sources never say.

We'll look at what the sources say about each realm's place in the sections below.

Ice, Fire and Ymir

In Snorri's account the two worlds never move. Rivers called Élivágar carried a venom that hardened into ice, and rime built up layer on layer in the northern part of Ginnungagap. The southern part met the sparks and glowing embers that flew out of Muspelheim. Where the rime met the warm air it melted and dripped, and from the drops came the first giant, Ymir.

A cow called Auðhumla formed from the dripping rime as well, and Ymir fed on the four rivers of milk that ran from her udder. She fed herself by licking the salty rime-stones, and over three days she uncovered a man, Búri, the grandfather of Odin.

Source Texts and Origins

There's some confusion about the emergence or original existence of the Yggdrasil and the realms. This challenge is a result of the fact that Nordic people had predominantly oral cultures during the Viking Age.

As a result, there isn't a lot of primary source material to give us the fine details. No text says when Yggdrasil first grew, though Völuspá 2 has the seeress remember the measuring-tree below the earth, which some read as the tree before it grew. The Poetic Edda and Prose Edda are our main written sources for these gods, origins, and creation stories.

Both are Icelandic. The Prose Edda was written by the aforementioned Snorri Sturluson around 1220. The Poetic Edda is a collection of anonymous poems whose main manuscript, the Codex Regius, was copied around 1270, although many of the poems are older than that copy.

In any case, both were written down more than two centuries after Iceland accepted Christianity around the year 1000. While the myths and stories still had a heavy presence in Nordic culture, the nuances of the origin story might not have been as accessible in the 13th century.

Functional Mythology

Further, Norse mythology is supposed to have been integrated into culture rather than preached and learned through study. It was functional mythology, utilized in everyday life.

In light of that, it makes sense that someone might not know whether Yggdrasil came before the meeting of ice and fire in Ginnungagap. People would be more concerned with the Gods as they existed in the context of their lives rather than knowing the particulars of the origin story.

As a result, we may never know the exact origin story. The same goes for the nine worlds themselves, which the sources count but never name.

We know a lot about the dynamic saga of Norse mythology, but we might never know everything. Let's go through the nine realms of the modern list one by one, with what the medieval sources actually say about each place.

1. Niflheim

Niflheim (Old Norse Niflheimr, "mist world") is one of the two worlds that existed before the earth. Snorri says it was made many ages before the earth was shaped.

Its name comes from nifl, "mist" or "darkness". In Snorri's account everything cold and grim came from Niflheim, and the northern part of Ginnungagap, the side facing it, filled with ice and rime.

In the middle of Niflheim lies the spring Hvergelmir, and from it flow the rivers Snorri names one by one, from Svöl and Gunnþrá down to Gjöll, which runs closest to the gates of Hel. Hvergelmir lies under the root of Yggdrasil that stands over Niflheim. More serpents live in it than any tongue can count, and the dragon Níðhöggr gnaws the root from below.

Niflheim is also tied to the dead. Snorri says Odin cast Hel into Niflheim, and he names a deeper place, Niflhel, where the wicked end up.

So, although Niflheim is gloomy, it served an important purpose in the creation of life: without its ice there would have been no Ymir. The frost giants, though, Snorri places by another root of the tree, where Ginnungagap once was.

2. Muspelheim

Muspelheim (Old Norse Múspellsheimr, though Snorri often calls it simply Múspell) was Niflheim's counterpart in the early days of the universe. In fact, these two realms are opposites in many ways, and Snorri says Muspelheim existed first of all.

It lies in the south. Snorri calls it bright and hot, all flame and burning, and impassable for anyone who does not belong there.

Its guard is Surtr, who sits at the edge of the land to defend it, holding a flaming sword. Surtr plays a very important role in the grand scheme of the Norse myths.

At Ragnarök the sons of Múspell ride out with Surtr at their head, and the bridge Bifröst breaks under them. Surtr fights the god Freyr, who falls because he had given away his good sword, and then Surtr flings fire over the earth and burns the whole world.

Just because it's burning, Muspelheim isn't exactly the Norse version of "hell." It's not the most pleasant place for gods or humans, but the closest realm to hell will come later in our list.

3. Midgard

Midgard (Old Norse Miðgarðr, "the middle enclosure") is the realm of humans. Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé made the world from Ymir's body, and Midgard itself, Snorri says, was a wall they built from Ymir's eyebrows to keep the giants out.

After slaying Ymir, the brothers transformed different aspects of his body into aspects of the visible world. His flesh made the land, his blood the sea, his bones the mountains and his skull the sky, and his brains were thrown up into the air to make the clouds.

His hair became the trees. The first humans, Askr and Embla, were made from two trees the brothers found on the seashore, and their descendants were given Midgard to live in.

Midgard Serpent

There's also a great ocean that encircles all the lands. This ocean is occupied by Jörmungandr, a giant Midgard serpent. Jörmungandr is one of Loki's three children by the giantess Angrboða.

He was cast into the sea by Odin and grew until he lay around every land, biting his own tail. Snorri calls him Miðgarðsormr, the Midgard Serpent; in English he is often called the World Serpent.

At Ragnarök (the end-time), Snorri says, the serpent turns in giant fury and comes up onto the land, and the sea surges over the earth. Thor, whom Völuspá calls Midgard's defender, kills him, walks nine steps and falls dead from the serpent's poison. The idea that Ragnarök starts when the serpent lets go of its tail is modern.

4. Asgard

The Aesir are the main family of gods in Norse mythology. Many of the key gods such as Thor, Odin, Baldr, Frigg and Týr are amongst the Aesir. Freyja, her brother Freyr and their father Njord came from the Vanir.

Asgard (Old Norse Ásgarðr, "enclosure of the Aesir") is the stronghold of the Aesir gods. Snorri says the gods built it in the middle of the world after they had made the first humans, with the plain Iðavöllr at its heart, and that Odin could see over all worlds from his high seat Hliðskjálf. No medieval text sets it at the top of Yggdrasil. Its best-known hall is one that many people are familiar with: Valhalla.

Valhalla

Valhalla exists inside of Asgard. The name "Valhalla" means "hall of the slain," and it receives half of those who fall in battle; Snorri and Grímnismál give the other half to the goddess Freyja.

Odin sends his Valkyries to every battle, Snorri says, and they choose who is to die and decide the victory.

When someone dies in battle, they're carried away to Valhalla by the Valkyries to meet Odin. This glorious aspect of Norse mythology is often confused for the only type of "heaven" that a person could go to.

It was not the only destination for the dead. Freyja, whose dwelling is Fólkvangr, takes the other half of the slain, and those who die of sickness or old age go to Hel.

5. Vanaheim

Vanaheim (Old Norse Vanaheimr) is the home of the second family of gods, the Vanir. The name is rare in the sources. The poem Vafþrúðnismál (stanza 39) says Njord was made in Vanaheim by wise powers and given to the gods as a hostage, and Snorri says the same: Njord was raised in Vanaheim, and the Vanir handed him over as a hostage in exchange for Hœnir.

Snorri connects the Vanir with wealth and growth. Njord rules the wind and calms the sea and can give wealth in land and goods, and Freyr rules rain and sunshine and the fruits of the earth.

The two families of gods once fought a war. Völuspá (stanza 24) calls it the first war in the world and says the wall of the Aesir's stronghold was broken. The peace was sealed with an exchange of hostages.

No source says where Vanaheim lies or what it looks like.

Innangard and Utangard

Modern scholars often describe the Norse world with a pair of terms, "innangard" ("inside the enclosure") and "utangard" ("outside the enclosure").

In that model the fenced, settled world stands for order, and the wild land outside it for chaos. It is a modern reading, not a scheme the medieval texts lay out.

It draws on the place-names that end in -garðr, "enclosure".

Asgard and Midgard are the enclosures of gods and of humans. Utgard, the "outer enclosure", is the stronghold of the giant Útgarða-Loki that Thor visits in Snorri's stories, and modern writers often use the name for the giants' world as a whole. In the model it is the wild outside, not part of the ordered inside.

Read this way, the outside is not simply evil: the gods take wives, wisdom and treasures from the giants.

The necessity of chaos and uncertainty is reflected in old Norse myths as well as in other gods and goddesses that behave in morally ambiguous ways.

6. Jötunheim

Jötunheim (Old Norse Jötunheimr; Snorri usually uses the plural, Jötunheimar) is the home of the giants. The first being, Ymir, was a giant, and many of the gods share blood with giants: Odin's mother Bestla was a giant's daughter.

For example, Loki's father Fárbauti was a giant, yet Loki is counted among the Aesir.

Snorri gives no map of it. The gods gave the giants land along the shore of the sea that rings the earth, and in the stories Jötunheim lies to the north or east: Gefjun brings her oxen "from the north out of Jötunheimar", and Thor travels "east into Jötunheimar". The Jötunn weren't necessarily "monstrous," dopey, or evil as they're often portrayed in other contexts.

Misunderstood Giants

Some giants were certainly huge and terrifying, but others didn't look much different from the gods. Some were also very smart, capable, and wise.

For example, Vafþrúðnir is a giant so wise that Odin travels to his hall to test him in a contest of knowledge, and it is this giant who says he has been to nine worlds beneath Niflhel.

The well of wisdom owned by Mímir, where Odin pledged an eye for a single drink, lies under the root of Yggdrasil that reaches toward the frost giants, according to Snorri.

7. Alfheim

Alfheim (Old Norse Álfheimr, "elf world") is home to the light elves. Snorri lists it among the places in heaven and says the light elves who live there are fairer than the sun to look at, while the dark elves live down in the earth and are blacker than pitch.

Alfheim is linked to the god Freyr. Grímnismál (stanza 5) says the gods gave it to him in the early days as a tooth-gift, the present given to a child when it cuts its first tooth.

That is nearly all the sources say about the place.

8. Svartalfheim

Svartalfheim (Old Norse Svartálfaheimr, "world of the black elves") is the home of the dwarves. The name appears only in Snorri's Edda, and only in passing: Odin sends Skírnir down into Svartalfheim to some dwarves to have the fetter Gleipnir made for the wolf Fenrir, and in another story sends Loki there to the dwarf Andvari. Snorri also says the dwarves live in the earth and in stones.

Nidavellir (Old Norse Niðavellir) comes from a single stanza. Völuspá 37 says that to the north, on Niðavellir, stood a hall of gold belonging to the kin of Sindri. Snorri, for his part, puts a red-gold hall called Sindri on Niðafjöll as a home for good people after Ragnarök. Modern books merge Nidavellir with Svartalfheim as the dwarves' realm; the poem itself does not say so.

These are relatively standard dwarves in terms of how dwarves get portrayed in most cases. They're important members of the Norse universe, although they don't get a lot of credit.

They're excellent craftsmen, and they're responsible for the creation of some of the most important artifacts in Norse mythology.

For example, Odin's spear and Thor's hammer Mjölnir were both crafted by the dwarves. See all our Thor hammer items.

9. Helheim

Helheim is the modern name for the realm of the dead. The medieval texts hardly use it; they almost always call the place simply hel, the same word as the name of its ruler.

This place is ruled by the daughter of Loki, Hel, sister of the wolf Fenrir and the World Serpent. Snorri says Odin cast her into Niflheim and gave her power over nine worlds, to share out lodgings among those sent to her: people who die of sickness or old age. Grímnismál 31 says she lives under one of the roots of Yggdrasil.

Hel isn't quite as torturous as "Hell." Her hall is called Éljúðnir, her walls are very high and her gates huge, and the road there runs down and to the north. When the god Baldr died, Hermóðr rode nine nights to the bridge over the river Gjöll and leapt Hel's gate, but Hel would let Baldr go only if everything in the world wept for him. One giantess refused, so Baldr stayed with Hel; Snorri says he comes back after Ragnarök.

The Three Wells at Yggdrasil's Roots

Snorri sets a well or spring under each of Yggdrasil's three roots:

• Urdarbrunnr (Urðarbrunnr), the Well of Urðr, often called the Well of Fate, under the root in heaven. The gods hold their court there every day, and the three Norns who live by it shape the lives of men and water the tree.
• Mimisbrunnr (Mímisbrunnr), the Well of Wisdom, under the root that reaches toward the frost giants. Its owner is the wise Mimir, and Odin gave one of his eyes for a single drink from it.
• Hvergelmir, the roaring spring in Niflheim, under the root that stands over it, and the source of the cold rivers. The dragon Nidhogg (Níðhöggr) lives there and gnaws the root from below.

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The Nine Realms, FAQ

How many realms are there in Norse mythology?

Nine, according to the poems Völuspá and Vafþrúðnismál, and Snorri Sturluson says Hel was given power over nine worlds. None of these sources names the nine, so the number is old but the familiar list is modern.

What are the nine realms of Norse mythology?

The list most modern books use is Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Midgard, Jötunheim, Svartalfheim (or Nidavellir), Muspelheim, Niflheim and Helheim. It is put together from place-names in Snorri's Edda and the Eddic poems; no medieval text gives it as a list.

Which realm do humans live in?

Midgard. Snorri Sturluson says Odin and his brothers made the world from the body of the giant Ymir and built Midgard from Ymir's eyebrows as a wall against the giants. The serpent Jörmungandr lies in the sea that surrounds all lands.

Where are the nine realms located?

The sources give no map of the nine. Snorri describes a mostly level world: a round earth ringed by the sea, giants along the shore, Midgard inside and Asgard in the middle, with some halls of the gods in heaven. The poem Grímnismál says Hel, the frost giants and human beings live under the three roots of Yggdrasil. The picture of nine realms stacked on the tree is modern.

What is the Norse realm of the dead?

Hel, which modern books call Helheim. Snorri says Hel, the daughter of Loki, receives those who die of sickness or old age; those who fall in battle go to Valhalla in Asgard or to the goddess Freyja.

Explore the realms one by one: Asgard, Midgard, the world-tree Yggdrasil, the Bifröst bridge, Hel and Muspelheim, and the hall of Valhalla, or shop Norse jewelry.