Vanaheimr

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For the imprint see Aardvark-Vanaheim.

In Norse mythology, Vanaheimr is the home of the Vanir, one of the two clans of gods besides the Æsir. The name appears in the Ynglinga saga by Snorri Sturluson. In that work, the gods appear as euhemerized heroes of the past, and the name of their realm is linked to the earthly river Don. It is therefore disputable to count Vanaheimr as one of the nine worlds of Norse cosmology.

Snorri introduces Vanaheimr thus:

Thus it is known that a great sea goes in at Nörvasund [ Straits of Gibraltar ], and up to the land of Jerusalem. From the same sea a long sea-bight stretches towards the north-east, and is called the Black Sea, and divides the three parts of the earth; of which the eastern part is called Asia, and the western is called by some Europa, by some Enea. Northward of the Black Sea lies Svíþjóð the Great, or the Cold. [...] On the south side of the mountains which lie outside of all inhabited lands runs a river through Svíþjóð, which is properly called by the name of Tanais [ Don River, Russia ], but was formerly called Tanakvísl, or Vanakvísl, and which falls into the Black Sea. The country of the people on the Vanakvísl was called Vanaland, or Vanaheimr; and the river separates the three parts of the world, of which the eastermost part is called Asia, and the westermost Europe. [1] [2]

See also: Scythia

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