Niðavellir

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In Norse mythology, Niðavellir (Dark fields) is a land inhabited by the dwarves. It is mentioned in the Völuspá: Stóð fyr norðan, / á Niðavöllom / salr úr gulli / Sindra ættar ("North, on the Niðavellir, stands the dwelling place of Sindri's kin, Covered with gold"). Sindri was a famous dwarf. It might be related to the later mentioned Niðafjöll (the Dark Fells), a mountain chain in the underworld. Niðavellir has often been interpreted as one of the nine worlds of Norse cosmology. As such it might be identical to the Svartálfheim mentioned in the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson; as svartálfar (black-elves) are generally thought by scholars to be a synonym used only by Snorri for dvergar (dwarves).

Svartálfheim is mentioned in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman as a place where ravens wait for war.

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