Study › Runes & Norse › The Nine Worlds
Norse mythology counts nine worlds, held together in the World Tree, Yggdrasil: the homes of the gods, the giants, the elves, the dwarves, humans and the dead, and the two first worlds of ice and fire.
What are the nine worlds?
Norse cosmology counts nine worlds cradled in Yggdrasil. They are not stacked like floors so much as bound together by the tree, some above, some below, some across the sea or mountains from one another. Together they hold every kind of being: gods, giants, elves, dwarves, humans and the dead.
The nine worlds, one by one
They are Asgard, home of the Aesir gods; Vanaheim, home of the Vanir; Alfheim, the world of the light elves; Midgard, the world of humankind; Jotunheim, the land of the giants; Svartalfheim (also called Nidavellir), the realm of the dwarves; Niflheim, the primal world of ice and mist; Muspelheim, the primal world of fire; and Helheim, the shadowed world of the dead. The two primal worlds, fire and ice, existed before the rest and gave rise to creation itself.
They are Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Midgard, Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, Niflheim, Muspelheim and Helheim, all in Yggdrasil.
Questions
What are the nine worlds of Norse mythology?
Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Midgard, Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, Niflheim, Muspelheim and Helheim.
Which worlds came first?
Niflheim, of ice, and Muspelheim, of fire.