| Norse Cosmology |
Article Index for Norse |
Website Links For Norse |
Information AboutNorse Cosmology |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT NORSE COSMOLOGY | |
| norse mythology | |
| indo-european mythology | |
| mythological cosmologies | |
|
In the latter cases, there is always also some kind of construction with the same name centrally located in the world. Present research drawing from the oldest sources suggests that all nine worlds were originally called -''heimr'' (Miðgarðr being Mannheim, Ásgarðr being Godheim) and that the odd naming arise from authors confusing places within certain worlds with the worlds themselves. Apart from '' Miðgarðr '' (the "Middle Earth," or the world as we know it), the remaining eight worlds can be structured into pairs of opposing principles: The worlds are all connected by Yggdrasil , the World Tree . However, there is some inconsistency in the sources, as the world tree – drawing its nutrition from three wells, located in three different worlds – suggests that they are all roughly on the same level, which would indicate for instance a Niflheim in the north, a Muspelheim in the south and a Jotunheim in the east. On the other hand, the Prose Edda locates Asgard and Alfheim in "the heavens,". The underworld Hel is generally said to border or be situated in Niflheim, yielding a more layered cosmology, something like the chart below. (Rasmus B. Anderson's 1897 translation of the Younger Edda gives a slightly different layering , however.) The theory and diagram presented here only represent one possible interpretation.
|
|
|