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Niflhel
Niflhel ("Misty Hel"; ''Nifel'' meaning ''fog'') is a location in Norse mythology which appears in the eddic poems ''Vafþrúðnismál'' and '' Baldrs draumar'', and also in Snorri Sturluson's ''Gylfaginning''. According to Snorri Sturluson's work, Niflhel could be interpreted as the lowest level of Hel, but Niflhel and sometimes Hel are conflated with the concept of Niflheim, a term which originates with Sturluson. Prose Edda ''Gylfaginning'' In ''Gylfaginning'' by Snorri Sturluson, Gylfi, the old king of Scandinavia, receives an education in Norse mythology from Odin himself in the guise of three men. Gylfi learns from Odin (as ''Þriði'') that Odin gave the first man his spirit, and that the spirits of just men will live forever in Gimlé, whereas those of evil men will live forever in Niflhel: Poetic Edda ''Vafþrúðnismál'' In ''Vafþrúðnismál'', Odin has wagered his head in a contest of wits with the giant ( jotun) Vafþrúðnir. Odin asks Vafþrúðnir whether ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niflheim
In Norse cosmology, Niflheim or Niflheimr (Old Norse: ; "World of Mist", literally "Home of Mist") is a location which sometimes overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name ''Niflheimr'' appears only in two extant sources: ''Gylfaginning'' and the much-debated ''Hrafnagaldr Óðins''. Niflheim was primarily a realm of primordial ice and cold, with the frozen rivers of Élivágar and the well of Hvergelmir, from which come all the rivers. According to ''Gylfaginning'', Niflheim was the second of the two primordial realms to emanate out of Ginnungagap, the other one being Muspelheim, the realm of fire. Between these two realms of cold and heat, creation began when its waters mixed with the heat of Muspelheim to form a "creating steam". Later, it became the abode of Hel, a goddess daughter of Loki, and the afterlife for her subjects, those who did not die a heroic or notable death. Etymology ''Nifl'' ("mist"; whence the Icelandic '' nifl'') is a cognate to the Old E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hel (location)
Hel (Old Norse: ) is an afterlife location in Norse mythology and paganism. It is ruled over by a being of the same name, Hel. In late Icelandic sources, varying descriptions of Hel are given and various figures are described as being buried with items that will facilitate their journey to Hel after their death. In the ''Poetic Edda'', Brynhildr's trip to Hel after her death is described and Odin, while alive, also visits Hel upon his horse Sleipnir. In the ''Prose Edda'', Baldr goes to Hel on his death and subsequently Hermóðr uses Sleipnir to attempt to retrieve him. Etymology The Old Norse feminine proper noun ''Hel'' is identical to the name of the entity that presides over the realm, Old Norse ''Hel''. The word has cognates in all branches of the Germanic languages, including Old English ''hell'' (and thus Modern English ''hell''), Old Frisian ''helle'', Old Saxon ''hellia'', Old High German ''hella'', and Gothic '' 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰''. All forms ultimately derive f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hel (realm)
Hel (Old Norse: ) is an afterlife location in Norse mythology and paganism. It is ruled over by a being of the same name, Hel. In late Icelandic sources, varying descriptions of Hel are given and various figures are described as being buried with items that will facilitate their journey to Hel after their death. In the ''Poetic Edda'', Brynhildr's trip to Hel after her death is described and Odin, while alive, also visits Hel upon his horse Sleipnir. In the ''Prose Edda'', Baldr goes to Hel on his death and subsequently Hermóðr uses Sleipnir to attempt to retrieve him. Etymology The Old Norse feminine proper noun ''Hel'' is identical to the name of the entity that presides over the realm, Old Norse ''Hel''. The word has cognates in all branches of the Germanic languages, including Old English ''hell'' (and thus Modern English '' hell''), Old Frisian ''helle'', Old Saxon ''hellia'', Old High German ''hella'', and Gothic '' 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰''. All forms ultimately d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norse Cosmology
Norse cosmology is the study of the cosmos (cosmology) as perceived by the ancient North Germanic peoples. The topic encompasses concepts from Norse mythology, such as notions of time and space, cosmogony, personifications, anthropogeny, and eschatology. Like other aspects of Norse mythology, these concepts are primarily recorded in the ''Poetic Edda'', a collection of poems compiled in the 13th century, and the ''Prose Edda'', authored by Icelander Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, who drew from earlier traditional sources. Together these sources depict an image of Nine Worlds around a cosmic tree, Yggdrasil. Time and space Concepts of time and space play a major role in the Old Norse corpus's presentation of Norse cosmology. While events in Norse mythology describe a somewhat linear progression, various scholars in ancient Germanic studies note that Old Norse texts may imply or directly describe a fundamental belief in cyclic time. According to scholar John Lindow, "t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garmr
In Norse mythology, Garmr or Garm (Old Norse: ; "rag") is a wolf or dog associated with both Hel and Ragnarök, and described as a blood-stained guardian of Hel's gate. Name The Old Norse name ''Garmr'' has been interpreted as meaning "rag." The etymology of the name remains uncertain. Bruce Lincoln brings together Garmr and the Greek mythological dog Cerberus, relating both names to a Proto-Indo-European root ''*ger-'' "to growl" (perhaps with the suffixes ''-*m/*b'' and ''-*r''). However, Daniel Ogden notes that this analysis actually requires ''Cerberus'' and ''Garmr'' to be derived from two ''different'' Indo-European roots (*''ger-'' and *''gher-'' respectively), and in this opinion does not establish a relationship between the two names. Attestations ''Poetic Edda'' The ''Poetic Edda'' poem '' Grímnismál'' mentions Garmr: The best of trees , must Yggdrasil be, Skíðblaðnir best of boats; Of all the gods , is Óðinn the greatest, And Sleipnir the best of st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afterlife Places
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies between belief systems; it may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit of an individual, which carries with it and may confer personal identity or, on the contrary, nirvana. Belief in an afterlife is in contrast to the belief in oblivion after death. In some views, this continued existence takes place in a spiritual realm, while in others, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again, likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or otherworld. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gylfaginning
''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Æsir and many other aspects of Norse mythology. The second part of the Prose Edda is called the ''Skáldskaparmál'' and the third ''Háttatal''. Summary The ''Gylfaginning'' tells the story of Gylfi, a king of "the land that men now call Sweden", who, after being tricked by one of the goddesses of the Æsir, wonders if all Æsir use magic and tricks for their will to be done. This is why he journeys to Asgard, but on the way he is tricked by the gods and arrives in some other place, where he finds a great palace. Inside the palace he encounters a man who asks Gylfi's name and so King Gylfi introduces himself as Gangleri. Gangleri then is taken to the king of the palace and comes upon thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vafþrúðnir
Vafþrúðnir (Old Norse: ; "mighty weaver"Orchard (1997:170).) is a wise jötunn in Norse mythology. His name comes from ''Vaf'', which means weave or entangle, and ''thrudnir'', which means strong or mighty. Some interpret it to mean "mighty in riddles". Du Chaillu, P. B. (1889). It may be anglicized Vafthruthnir or Vafthrudnir. In the Poetic Edda poem ''Vafþrúðnismál'', Vafþrúðnir acts as (the disguised) Odin's host and opponent in a deadly battle of wits that results in Vafþrúðnir's defeat. Characterization A small portion of Poetic Edda provides some context and description of Vafthrudnir. While contemplating his visit to the giant, Odin's wife Frigg offers a warning for him to be wary of this particular giant because, "Amid all the giants an equal in might, To Vafthruthnir know I none."Vafþrúðnismál, tr. Henry Adams Bellows, at Wikisource At this point however Odin has already insisted, And Vafthruthnir fain would find; fit wisdom old with the giant wise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Locations In Norse Mythology
In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ambiguous boundary, relying more on human or social attributes of place identity and sense of place than on geometry. Types Locality A locality, settlement, or populated place is likely to have a well-defined name but a boundary that is not well defined varies by context. London, for instance, has a legal boundary, but this is unlikely to completely match with general usage. An area within a town, such as Covent Garden in London, also almost always has some ambiguity as to its extent. In geography, location is considered to be more precise than "place". Relative location A relative location, or situation, is described as a displacement from another site. An example is "3 miles northwest of Seattle". Absolute location An absolute locati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poetic Edda
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic medieval manuscript known as the '' Codex Regius'', which contains 31 poems. The ''Codex Regius'' is arguably the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends. Since the early 19th century, it has had a powerful influence on Scandinavian literature, not only through its stories, but also through the visionary force and the dramatic quality of many of the poems. It has also been an inspiration for later innovations in poetic meter, particularly in Nordic languages, with its use of terse, stress-based metrical schemes that lack final rhymes, instead focusing on alliterative devices and strongly concentrated imagery. Poets who have acknowledged their debt to the ''Codex Regius'' include Vilhelm Ekelund, August S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baldr
Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was known in Old English as , and in Old High German as , all ultimately stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym ('hero' or 'prince'). During the 12th century, Danish accounts by Saxo Grammaticus and other Danish Latin chroniclers recorded a euhemerized account of his story. Compiled in Iceland during the 13th century, but based on older Old Norse poetry, the '' Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' contain numerous references to the death of Baldr as both a great tragedy to the Æsir and a harbinger of Ragnarök. According to '' Gylfaginning'', a book of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Baldr's wife is Nanna and their son is Forseti. Baldr had the greatest ship ever built, Hringhorni, and there is no place more beautiful than his hall, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Codex Regius
Codex Regius ( la, Cōdex Rēgius, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; is, Konungsbók) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it is made up of 45 vellum leaves. The work originally contained a further eight leaves, which are now missing. It is the sole source for most of the poems it contains. In scholarly texts, this manuscript is commonly abbreviated as for Codex Regius, or as for Konungsbók. The codex was discovered in 1643, when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skálholt in Iceland, who in 1662 sent it as a gift to King Frederick III of Denmark; hence the name. It was then kept in the Royal Library in Copenhagen until April 21, 1971, when it was brought back to Reykjavík, and is now kept in the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. Because air travel at the time was not entirely trustworthy with such preciou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_The_Cosmos_in_the_Norse_mythology.jpg "Click for more on -> Niflheim")
_by_Johannes_Gehrts.jpg "Click for more on -> Garmr")
