Yggdrasil and the Nine Realms

Hello readers!

I realized when I was talking about Freyr being a Vanir that I haven’t really talked about the different races and realms that can be found in Norse mythology. With this post, I hope to rectify that.

All of Norse mythology is tied around a giant tree named Yggdrasil - the World Tree.  The tree-cities of the Night Elves in World of Warcraft are based upon this. Yggdrasil is an enormous ash tree upon which all of the realms can be found. Each realm is a different plane of existence, in which beings of various races reside.  All of these realms are tied together via the branches of Yggdrasil. The tree has three wells that water it, one of which is tended to by the Norns.

My favorite part about Yggdrasil? In its branches sits a huge eagle; around its roots curls an evil dragon. These two beings hate one another, and send messages of their disdain to each other. These messages are carried by a huge squirrel named Ratatosk. I’m not sure why this makes me as happy as it does. I think it’s because I picture a squirrel dashing between a dragon and an eagle, both of which would gladly eat it, and yelling “Neener neener!” with its cheeks stuffed full of nuts.

Anyway! Lets move on to the realms themselves.

The first and most important realm in Norse mythology is Asgard. This is the home of the gods - called the Æsir - , and where quite a few of their adventures take place. Valhalla, the hall where valiant dead warriors have an eternal party, resides in Asgard. The rainbow bridge known as the Bifrost has a gate in Asgard.

Next comes Vanaheim. Vanaheim is the home of the Vanir - Freyr’s race, if you recall. While these beings are also gods, few of them are famous. Freyr and his sister Freya are the two best known.

The Vanir and the Æsir had once been at war, leading to the construction of a giant wall between Asgard and Vanaheim. The events surrounding this wall being built led to Loki giving birth to a horse - good luck getting that image out of your head!

I don’t know very much about the next realm, Alfheim, save that it is the home of the elves. Freyr was made king of this realm, despite his being a Vanir instead of an elf.

(Looks like Rivendell to me!)

Midgard is the realm we can probably most relate to - after all, Midgard is Earth! It was here where humans roamed in the tales of the gods. Odin often took off for adventures on Midgard, appearing to help mortals in need by giving them cryptic clues and aid. Other Æsir interact with the mortals of Midgard as well, though none so frequently as Odin. Circled around the realm of Midgard is Jormungander, the giant serpent who is a child of Loki and will rise up during Ragnarok to devour his enemies.

Interestingly enough, Midgard translates to “Middle Earth”. The runes (and many of the names) that Tolkein used for his dwarves come straight from Norse mythology - so, one might assume that the name for his epic land in The Lord of the Rings found its origins in Midgard!

Thor often visited another realm - Jotunheim. This land was cold and fierce, and was the home of the giants (called Jotun in the stories.). It was here that Thor challenged their kings to drinking contests, was baited into traps by Loki, and cross-dressed. Fun times, right?

Svartalfheim was the land of the dark elves - so you can blame Dritz on Norse mythology as well! Curiously, the dark elves are actually referred to as dwarfs. These dwarfs were master craftsmen who could make just about anything out of precious gems and metals. Examples include Odin’s spear, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, Sif’s hair (Loki shaved her while she slept, so the dwarfs made her a wig out of gold), and Freyr’s boar and ship. The dwarfs are described to be ugly and small; the gods were revolted when Freya slept with them.

Nidavellir, the next realm, is also said to be the home of the dwarfs. This realm isn’t always mentioned; sometimes there are only eight realms, with Nidavellir left off of the list. It is sometimes considered to be a subsection of Svartalfheim.  Because of this, I don't have a picture of it for you.  Sorry!

The most dreaded of the realms is Muspelheim. This realm, like Jotunheim, is the home of giants - but these giants belong to the fire instead of the frost. When Ragnarok comes, the doom of the gods will come from Muspelheim in the form of Surtr, leader of the fire Jotun. He is prophesied to kill Freyr in the final battle. Then Surtr and his fire Jotun will burn Yggdrasil - it’s the end of the world as we know it!

Last up is Niflheim, a frozen realm covered in fog. This realm is almost as feared as Muspellheim, for it is here that the dead reside - those who are not good enough to go to Valhalla. Niflheim is ruled over by Hel, queen of the dead and daughter of Loki. During Ragnarok the dead will rise up and take up arms against the gods. Lovely place for a vacation!

 

(Yeah, I'm totally joking about the vacation part.)

There you have Yggdrasil and the nine realms upon it! I hope this was interesting. It does intrigue me that there’s so little information about Alfheim. I’ll definitely have to look into it more!

Sorry this post went up so late in the day. Things are still a bit crazy between my grandma’s health and me having allergy attacks. I’ll try to do better next week!

Anyone got any requests for a post? Any questions or comments? Post below or email me! I’ll see you next time!