Down in Niflheim (The land of snow, fog and ice), is the third well; Hvergelmir. The third root hangs above the boiling well and its venomous steam. In Hvergelmir, lives the terrible dragon Nidbite. His terrible mounth is gnawing at the root and hurts it.
Together with Nidbite, in the well Hvergelmir, are many snakes which breathe venomous-clouds on the suffering root. Some of the snakes names are Venomtooth, Gravewolf and Rootgnawer.
Actually, there are so many forces of evil trying to destruct Yggdrasil that it is not worth trying to tell you.
For example, there are four enormous deers, which eats from Yggdrasil's branches with leaves and tear the bark of itīs stem in order to hurt it.
In the highest bransh of Yggdrasil, an eagle is sitting. His beak is so big that a hawk has settled down on it. The hawk is called Weatherfölne and he is the highest situated creature in the entire universe. The eagle on who he is sitting is very wise but sullen. A squirrel called Ratatosk is scampering between the dragon Nidbite in Niflheim and the eagle to exchange abuses.
The story about how the tree got the name Yggdrasil is frightening. Yggdrasil means Ygg's horse, and Ygg is one of Odin's many by-names, this one means "the terrifying". Maybe you have heard, that the gallows tree sometimes is called the hanged man's horse?...
Well, this was how it happened:
Odin wanted to learn the secret of the runes, these magic signs from which the art of writing grew. But such a secret demanded a great sacriface from the one who wanted it and Odin had to hang by his neck for nine days and nine nights over the endless pit. He also had a spear which stung him. While he was hanging there, he carefully spyed down into the gulf and caught the runes that came by him by the winds of the gulf.
After this torture he got to know nine powerful secrets about the runes and then he offered his services to the other Æsir (gods) and the people.
Yggdrasil's name before this happened was the tree of Mimir, which tells us what a great As (god) Mimir once had been...
Cosmography: (Description of the World and Universe)
Highest in the universe is the ash Yggdrasil and it stands upon Ymir's cranium which is the cupola of heaven. It is on this cupola as the Sun and Moon is riding, chased by wolves and it is here that the stars are laying.
This cupola is being held up by four dwarfs, one in each quarter.
Under this sky dome is the Earth.
Now imagine three "rings", we will start in the centre:
The innermost ring of the three is the Æsirs' Kingdom - Asgard. This kingdom is surrounded by a sturdy stone-wall for protection.
The "ring" in the middle is the Humans' Kingdom - Midgard. Outside it is the world-sea.
In this ocean, a big serpent is living, it is so big that it reaches all around the worlds and is able to bite in its own tail. This serpent is known as the Midgards-serpent.
The last ring is called Outgard and is very cold and mountaineous. This "world" contains many other worlds, for example the home of the Giants, the home of the Dwarfs and the Black-Elves etc. One of Yggdrasil's root leads to here, to the well of Mimir.
Below all this, below the worlds and the mountains and the ocean, below the heaven and Yggdrasil, are still more worlds to explore...
Somewhere deep down there is Ginnungagap and on each side of that yawning gap is the two contrary worlds, Niflheim, the home of ice, and Muspelheim, the home of fire.
We know that one of Yggdrasil's roots have gone this deep, and found its way into Niflheim, where it is being tormented by horrible creatures of evil.
Close to Niflheim lays Hel - the Kingdom of Death where the Queen Hel prevails.
Now a short overview of all the worlds:
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The foremost of them all is Asgard (The home of the Æsir - the gods).
This world is situated in the centre of the universe, and is surrounded by a strong wall. Around it lays Midgard(THE MIDDLE WORLD / THE HOME OF THE HUMANS) and these two worlds are connected via a bridge -Bifrost(THE RAINBOW), also called the shivering way. It looks very fragile, but as it was built by the gods, it wasn't. All the gods, except Thor, rides across Bifrost to their deliberation at the well of Urd, every day. Thor gets there by foot, as he is followed by thunder and lightening, from his carriage. And it would disturb the fine balance of the bridge.
In the center of Asgard were the joyful Idahills and the Idameadows. They were decorated with beautiful castles, one of them was Breidablick, uncomparable, and another one was Glitni, with walls of solid gold and roofs of heavy silver. And there was the stronghold Himinbjörg, which guarded one end of Bifrost.
The castles in Asgard are wonderful buildings. First of all, the gods built Gladsheim, which is the most beautiful building ever made. In Gladsheim are their twelve thrones, of which one is bigger than the others, Odin's.
Everything on the inside and on the outside are made of shining gold. The gods also built a castle for the godesses, also very beautiful, called Vingolf. Then they made a workshop and all their artifacts were made of pure gold. Therefore, this time is called the Golden Age.
The Æsir met - at Idahills,
Timbered high - halls and altars;
Built fonges - smithed gold,
Made tongs - and hand-made tools.
-Völuspá, The Poetic Edda
- Then there is the home of the Vanir, a race related to the gods. They had their own "heaven", called Vanaheim, situated East of Asgard with its border next to Asgard's border.
The Light-Elves didn't live far from Asgard and Vanaheim. It is possible that they are the same as the Vanir.
- The Humans live in Midgard(MIDDLEWORLD) which is situated outside Asgard's wall. Midgard is surrounded by a big ocean, the World-sea and in it, the great Midgards-serpent swims. This beast is so enormous that he reaches all around the wolrd and bites his own tail...
Midgard is connected to Asgard via the rainbow, called Bifrost.
- The outermost "world" on earth is called Outgard and is filled with mountains and fjords.
- The Giants live in Jotunheim(GIANTHOME) which is situated in Outgard. Thor often travels to Jotunheim in order to kill Giants.
- The Dwarfs lived in holes, caves and tunnels under the ground aswell. These tunnels and holes are found somewhere in Outgard's mountains. It is a possibility that the Dwarfs and the Black-elves actually are the same race with two names...
The Black-Elves lived under ground, probably next to Nifelheim's ice-areas, which the entries from Outgard.
This world is most referred to as Black-Elfheim.
- The next two worlds are each other's contraries, first we have Niflheim(THE HOME OF SNOW, ICE AND FOG) which is situated under the Earth.
This is a dead place, only inhabited by glaciers and wild snow-storms.
- The other world is called Muspelheim(THE HOME OF HEAT AND FIRE) and is situated next to Niflheim. The yawning Ginnungagap divides these two worlds.
- As far down with Yggdrasil's roots that it's capable to imagine, lays Hel (The world of death). The ways to Hel are down, always down, sinking, diving down, roads which are clinging to the black, steeping cliff-walls. Every part of the roads are filled with freezing cold winds, coming up from Nifelheim (The home of the snow, fog and ice).
The entry to Hel, Gnipahellir, is a big, black den among precipicing rocks and ravines. Snow are coming out from it and it is guarded by a gruesome wolf with blood all over his chest, Garm. He is chained, because if he wasn't, he would run up into the other worlds and attack humans and gods.
All ways to Hel goes down, no matter if they start in Asgard, Midgard or Jotunheim.
In Hel, are not only the spirits from humans, but also from gods and giants. Almost every human-soul goes there, and the souls from the bad gods.
Those humans who deserves punishments get it. There is an island in Hel, called Nastränder (The shores of corps), and there is a big torture-chamber, a terrible place. The chamber is never ever touched by sunlight and the doors are located to the North, where darkness prevails. The chamber's walls and seiling seems at the beginning to be plaited work, but soon you realize that it is made of backs from snakes and from the snakes mounths, the venom drops down on those who are being tormented beneath.
I told that Nastränder was an island, and the water surrounding it is called Slid, and Slid is also filled with knives and swords. The criminal men who are being taken to Nastränder, has to vade through Slid, and many of them dies a second death.
She saw a hall - far from the Sun,
on Nastränderna - with the door faced to the North;
Through the smoke - fell venom drips,
the walls were plaited - with killer-serpents' backs.
She saw in the heavy stream - men wade there,
Evil murdurers - and malefactors;
and the men who seduced - other mens' wifes.
Nidbite the Dragon sucked - the blood of corpses,
the wolf slaughtered men - do you know yet or not?
-Völuspá, The Poetic Edda
There is a shipyard on Nastränderna, where a frightening ship is being built. It is Naglfari (Nailtravel), the dead mens' nail-ship, built since the time's beginning of toe- and fingernails from those, who hasn't had their nails properly cut when they had died.
This ship will be used in Ragnarök (The judgment day). Therefor, all men who wish to put off that day, should keep their nails short and nice. Ha, ha...
The queen of this world was also named Hel. Her plate was called Hunger and her knife and fork Starving. Her two servants names were Ganglate (He who was too lazy to walk) and Ganglata (She who was too lazy to walk). They moved so slowly that no one ever could see them move.
On her doorstep, Fallfördärv (Destruction to meet) guards.
Half of Hel's skin is normal and the other half is death-pale, so she is really horrible to watch.
The one in Asgard is called Urd, after the most powerful of the three sisters who guard it. The sisters are relatives to the Moon, and their influence over mens' life is without limit. They are called the Norns, and they sit around the well, crouching down and wrapped in their grey shawls. Nobody have ever seen their faces, as they are hidden in shadows. Nobody knows if they are young and beautiful or old and wrinkly.
