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Niflheimr or Niflheim ("Mist
Mist

Mist is a phenomenon of small droplets suspended in air. It can occur as part of natural weather or volcanic activity, and is common in cold air above warmer water, in Exhalationd air in the cold, and in a steam room of a sauna....
 Home", the "Abode of Mist" or "Mist World"); Nifl being cognate with the Old English Nifol ("dark") and Nebel
Nebel

Nebel is the Germany word for fog and stellar nebula. It is related to the Latin nebula and to the Russian "???? " . It may refer to:Prominent people...
, a German and Latin root meaning cloud
Cloud

A cloud is a visible mass of Drop or frozen crystals floating in the Celestial body atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body....
) is a location in Norse mythology
Norse mythology

Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
 which overlaps with the notions of Niflhel
Niflhel

Niflhel is the name of a location in Norse mythology which appears in the Poetic Edda Vaf?r??nism?l and Baldrs draumar, and also in Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning....
 and Hel
Hel (realm)

In Norse mythology, Helheim, the location, shares a name with Hel , a female figure associated with the location. In late Iceland 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....
. The name Niflheimr only appears in two extant sources and they are Gylfaginning
Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning, or the Tricking of Gylfi , is the first part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda after Prologue . The Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Norse gods, and many other aspects of Norse mythology....
 and the much debated Hrafnagaldr Óðins
Hrafnagaldr Óðins

Hrafnagaldr ??ins or Forspjallslj?? is an Icelandic language poem in the style of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved only in late paper manuscripts....
.

According to Gylfaginning, it was one of the two primordial realms, the other one being Muspelheim
Muspelheim

In Norse mythology, M?spellsheimr , also called M?spell, is a realm of fire. It is home to the fire J?tunn, and Surtr. It is fire; and the land to the North, Niflheim, is ice....
, the realm of fire.






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Niflheimr or Niflheim ("Mist
Mist

Mist is a phenomenon of small droplets suspended in air. It can occur as part of natural weather or volcanic activity, and is common in cold air above warmer water, in Exhalationd air in the cold, and in a steam room of a sauna....
 Home", the "Abode of Mist" or "Mist World"); Nifl being cognate with the Old English Nifol ("dark") and Nebel
Nebel

Nebel is the Germany word for fog and stellar nebula. It is related to the Latin nebula and to the Russian "???? " . It may refer to:Prominent people...
, a German and Latin root meaning cloud
Cloud

A cloud is a visible mass of Drop or frozen crystals floating in the Celestial body atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body....
) is a location in Norse mythology
Norse mythology

Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
 which overlaps with the notions of Niflhel
Niflhel

Niflhel is the name of a location in Norse mythology which appears in the Poetic Edda Vaf?r??nism?l and Baldrs draumar, and also in Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning....
 and Hel
Hel (realm)

In Norse mythology, Helheim, the location, shares a name with Hel , a female figure associated with the location. In late Iceland 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....
. The name Niflheimr only appears in two extant sources and they are Gylfaginning
Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning, or the Tricking of Gylfi , is the first part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda after Prologue . The Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Norse gods, and many other aspects of Norse mythology....
 and the much debated Hrafnagaldr Óðins
Hrafnagaldr Óðins

Hrafnagaldr ??ins or Forspjallslj?? is an Icelandic language poem in the style of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved only in late paper manuscripts....
.

According to Gylfaginning, it was one of the two primordial realms, the other one being Muspelheim
Muspelheim

In Norse mythology, M?spellsheimr , also called M?spell, is a realm of fire. It is home to the fire J?tunn, and Surtr. It is fire; and the land to the North, Niflheim, is ice....
, the realm of fire. Between these two realms of cold and heat, creation began. Later, it became the location of Hel
Hel (realm)

In Norse mythology, Helheim, the location, shares a name with Hel , a female figure associated with the location. In late Iceland 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....
, the abode of those who did not die a heroic death.

Gylfaginning

In Gylfaginning by Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was two-time elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing....
, Gylfi
Gylfi

Gylfi, Gylfe, Gylvi, or Gylve was the earliest king in Scandinavia present in Norse mythology. The traditions on Gylfi deal with how he was tricked by the gods....
, the king of Sweden, receives an education in Norse mythology from Odin
Odin

Odin , is considered the chief ?sir in Norse paganism. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxons Woden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wodanaz or *Wodanaz....
 himself in the guise of three men. Gylfi learns from Odin (as Jafnhárr) that Niflheimr was the first world to be created after Muspelheim
Muspelheim

In Norse mythology, M?spellsheimr , also called M?spell, is a realm of fire. It is home to the fire J?tunn, and Surtr. It is fire; and the land to the North, Niflheim, is ice....
: Odin (as Þriði) further tells Gylfi that it was when the ice from Niflheimr met the flames from Muspelheim
Muspelheim

In Norse mythology, M?spellsheimr , also called M?spell, is a realm of fire. It is home to the fire J?tunn, and Surtr. It is fire; and the land to the North, Niflheim, is ice....
r that creation began and Ymir
Ymir

In Norse mythology, Ymir, also named Aurgelmir among the giants themselves, was the founder of the race of J?tunn and an important figure in Norse cosmology....
 was formed:

In relation to the world tree
World tree

The World Tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the earth, and, through its roots, the underground....
 Yggdrasill, Jafnhárr (Odin) tells Gylfi that Niflheimr is located under the third root, where Ginnungagap (Yawning Void) once was:

Gylfi is furthermore informed that when Loki
Loki

File:Loke og Sigyn by Eckersberg.jpgIn Norse mythology, Loki is a ?ss or j?tunn . Loki's relation with the gods varies by source. Loki assists the gods, and sometimes causes problems for them....
 had engendered Hel
Hel (being)

In Norse mythology, Hel is a being that presides over a realm of the Hel , where she receives a portion of the dead. Hel is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson....
, she was cast into Niflheimr by Odin: Hel thus became the mistress of the world of those dead in disease and old age. One last mention of Niflheimr appears where it is the last destination of the jotun who were killed by Thor
Thor

Thor is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Germanic mythology and Germanic paganism, and its subsets: Norse paganism, Anglo-Saxon paganism and Continental Germanic mythology....
 after he had built Asgard
Asgard

In Norse mythology, Asgard is the country or capital city of the ?sir surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning....
:

Hrafnagaldr Óðins

In Hrafnagaldr Óðins, there is a brief mention of Niflheimr as a location in the North, towards which the sun (Alfr's illuminator) chased the night as it rose:
Riso raknar,
rann álfraudull,
nordr at niflheim
nióla sótti;
upp nam ár Giöll
Úlfrúnar nidr,
hornþytvalldr
Himinbiarga.
The powers rose,
the Alf
Elf

An elf is a creature of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of minor nature and fertility deity, who are often pictured as youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty living in forests and underground places and caves, or in wells and springs....
s’ illuminator
northwards towards Niflheim
chased the night.
Up Argjöll
Élivágar

In Norse mythology, ?liv?gar are rivers which existed in Ginnungagap at the beginning of the world. The Prose Edda relates:The eleven rivers traditionally associated with the ?liv?gar include the Sv?l, Gunnthr?, Fj?rm, Fimbulthul, Sl?d, Hr?d, Sylgr, Ylgr, V?d, Leiptr and Gj?ll , although many other additional rivers are mentioned by name i...
 ran
Ulfrun´s son
Heimdall

Heimdall is one of the ?sir in Norse mythology. Heimdall is the guardian of the gods and of the link between Midgard and Asgard, the Bifrost Bridge....
,
the mighty hornblower,
of heaven's heights.