Helheimr: Beyond the Bridge, Among the Dead For nine nights, Hermóðr rides through valleys so dark and deep that he can’t see his way. He travels on Sleipnir with a task given to him by grieving gods: find Baldr and discover whether there’s any way to bring him home. Eventually he reaches the river Gjöll, […]

Before there is a winter landscape, there is cold. Not snow-covered fields, frozen forests or households waiting for spring, but something much older, more primordial. In Snorri’s account, Niflheimr exists before the earth has been shaped. At its centre lies Hvergelmir, a great spring from which rivers flow outward into the darkness. Those waters don’t […]

Múspellsheimr: The Fire Before the World Before there are fields, forests, homes or even an earth beneath anyone’s feet, warmth reaches into the gap. In Snorri’s creation account, Ginnungagap lies between the cold spreading from Niflheimr and the heat of the southern region called Muspell. Frost gathers from one direction, while sparks and glowing embers […]

The trouble begins with Sif’s hair. Loki cuts it off, and Þórr’s reaction makes it very clear that this particular joke needs fixing quickly. Loki promises to replace what he has taken, but ordinary hair won’t do. He must find craftsmen capable of making hair from gold that will grow upon Sif’s head as naturally […]

Álfheimr: A Gift to Freyr, a Glimpse of the Elves A child’s first tooth might seem an unlikely place to begin a story about one of the Norse realms, yet that small milestone gives us one of our clearest glimpses of Álfheimr. In Grímnismál, we are told that the gods gave Álfheimr to Freyr as […]

Vanaheimr: The Homeland of the Vanir We first catch sight of Vanaheimr through a question about a god who has made his home somewhere else. In Vafþrúðnismál, Óðinn asks the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir where Njörðr came from. Njörðr holds an honoured place among the gods, yet he wasn’t originally one of the Æsir. Vafþrúðnir answers […]

By the time Þórr reaches the stronghold of Útgarða-Loki, his journey has already become decidedly strange. He and his companions have spent the night sheltering in what they thought was a building, only to discover the next morning that it was an enormous glove. Now they stand before a fortress so tall that they have […]

Along a shoreline, three gods find two pieces of wood. They don’t speak or breathe, and they have no understanding of the world around them. Then the gods begin to give them what they lack: breath, awareness, movement, senses and the qualities that turn lifeless material into living human beings. They are named Askr and […]

Ásgarðr: The Gods’ Enclosure Behind the Rainbow Before Ásgarðr had its great defensive wall, a builder arrived with an offer. He would raise a fortification strong enough to protect the gods against their enemies. In return, he wanted Freyja, the sun and the moon. In Snorri’s telling, the gods agreed to a bargain they believed […]

When Gylfi asks how anyone travels between earth and heaven, his mysterious host seems almost surprised that he needs to ask. Surely he’s seen the bridge already? The gods call it Bifröst. Gylfi would know it as the rainbow. It’s one of those wonderful moments in Gylfaginning where something completely familiar suddenly becomes part of […]