| Norse paganism |
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Vígríðr · Bifröst · Fólkvangr · Ginnungagap |
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Norse paganism
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The cosmology of Norse mythology has 'nine homeworlds', unified by the world tree Yggdrasill. Mapping the nine worlds escapes precision because the Poetic Edda often alludes vaguely, and the Prose Edda may be influenced by medieval Christian cosmology. The Norse creation myth tells how everything came into existence in the gap between fire and ice, and how the gods shaped the homeworld of humans.
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A cosmic ash tree, Yggdrasill, lies at the center of the Norse cosmos. Three roots drink the waters of the homeworlds, one in the homeworld of the gods, the Æsir, one in the homeworld of the giants, the Jǫtnar, and one in the homeworld of the dead. Beneath the root in the world of the frost giants is the spring of Mimir, whose waters contain wisdom and understanding.
The root in the Æsir homeworld taps the sacred wellspring of fate, the Well of Urðr. The tree is tended by the Norns, who live near it. Each day, they water it with pure water and whiten it with clay from the spring to preserve it. The water falls down to the earth as dew.
Animals continually feed on the tree, threatening it, but its vitality persists evergreen as it heals and nourishes the vibrant aggression of life.[1] On the topmost branch of the tree sits an eagle. The beating of its wings cause the winds in the world of men. At the root of the tree lies a great serpent, Niðhǫggr, gnawing at it continuously. The squirrel Ratatosk carries insults from one to the other. Harts and goats devour the branches and tender shoots.
In the beginning, there were two regions: Muspellsheimr in the south, full of fire, light and heat; and Niflheimr in the north, full of arctic waters, mists, and cold.[2] Between them stretched the yawning emptiness of Ginnungagap, and into it poured sparks and smoke from the south and layers of rime-ice and glacial rivers from the north. As heat and cold met in Ginnungagap, a living Jǫtunn, Ymir, appeared in the melting ice. From his left armpit, the first man and woman were born. From his legs, the frost jötnar were born. Ymir fed on the milk of the cow Auðhumla. She licked the blocks of salty ice, releasing Buri.
Buri's son Bor had three sons, the gods Óðinn, Vili and Vé. The three slew Ymir, and all of the frost giants but Bergelmir were drowned in the blood. From Ymir's body, they made the world of humans: his blood the seas and lakes, his flesh the earth, his bones the mountains and his teeth the rocks. From his skull they made the dome of the sky, setting a dwarf at each of the four corners to hold it high above the earth. They protected it from the jötnar with a wall made from Ymir's eyebrows. Next they caused time to exist, sending Night and Day to drive around the heavens in horse drawn chariots. They also set a girl Sun and a boy Moon on paths across the sky. These two must drive fast to outrun the wolves who pursued them.
The realm of the Norse gods, the Æsir, is called Ásgarðr or the 'Townwall of the Ás'. The Æsir built it after the homeworld of humans, and it contains many halls.[3] Odin's hall, Válaskjálf, is roofed in silver. He can sit within it and view all the worlds at once. Gimli, a hall roofed in gold, to which righteous men are said to go after death, also lies somewhere in Asgard. Valhalla, the hall of the slain, is the feast hall of Odin. Those who died in battle are then raised in the evening to feast in Valhalla. Two important gods, the brother and sister, Freyr and Freyja, are citizens of Ásgarðr but actually exchange-hostages from Vanaheimr. Heimdall, the god's warden, dwells beside Bifröst, the rainbow bridge. Each day, the gods ride over Bifröst to their meeting place at the Well of Urd.
The phrase 'nine homeworlds' is Níu Heimar in Old Norse. Relating to another term heima meaning 'home' or 'homestead', the term heimr means a 'place of abode' in the sense of a homeland or 'region', or in a larger sense a 'world'.[4] These nine homeworlds include the earth, called Miðgarðr, the homeworld where humans as a family dwell.
In the Poetic Edda, the phrase Níu Heimar occurs in the following Old Norse texts.
In the Prose Edda, the phrase occurs here.
In the Poetic Edda, the poem Alvíssmál has a stanza that lists six worlds, clarifying each 'homeworld' (heimr) is the realm of a different family of beings. Þórr asks: What is the wind named 'in every world' (heimi hverjum í)? Álvíss answers:
Thus there are at least six worlds, each being the homeworld of a particular family of beings. Inferrably, they correspond to the following place names mentioned elsewhere in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda.
The homeworld of the Dvergar is missing from the above list. Elsewhere, the poem mentions the Dvergar separately from the other families of beings. For example, Alvíssmál 14 lists the Dvergar as distinct from the Álf. Moreover the two place names, Álfheimr and Svartálfaheimr, confirm there are two separate heimar or 'homeworlds', one for each family. The byname Svartálfar or 'Black Elves' refers to the Dvergar.[5] and likewise Svartálfaheimr or the 'Homeworld of the Black Elves' is the home of the dwarf Brokkr (Skáldskaparmál 46). Alternatively, the home of the Dvergar is called Niðavellir or the 'Downward Fields' (Völuspá 37). Thus, these families of beings mentioned in the poem Alvíssmál are identified with seven of the nine homeworlds.[6]
Seven homeworlds for seven families of beings. The last two of the homeworlds are less certain. Usually, the list adds the primordial realms of the elements of ice and fire, counting them as 'homeworlds'.[7][8] The place name of the element of ice, Niflheimr, means the arctic 'Mist Homeworld', suggesting it is one of the Nine 'Homeworlds'.
The above identies for the Nine Homeworlds are common. However the relationships between these and other significant realms have resulted in confusion. Precise mapping remains uncertain. For example, Hel is said to be located in Niflheim:[9]
Later scribes may have believed Hel, or at least Niflhel, was identical with Niflheimr. Properly, Niflhel is the lowest level of Hel where the evil dead suffer torment, whereas Niflheimr is the primordeal realm of icy mist, yet some early manuscripts consistently confuse these two names.[10]
The primordeal Niflheimr and the punishing Niflhel are 'equally dreadful' places, possibly identical.[12] Yet, Hel and Niflhel may remain distinct.
The list of the nine homeworlds can arrange to form a continuum, with Niflheimr in the extreme north and Muspellheimr in the extreme south. The other seven form gradations in between, with the human homeworld in the center. The following nomenclature refers to the Old Norse names for the families of beings.
The modern Norse religion, Asatru, strives to systemize evidence from the Norse texts, and may list the nine worlds as follows.[13] But this system too has difficulties:
The three worlds above the earth, in heaven:
The three worlds on earth:
The three worlds below the earth, in underworld:
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