Gollinkambi Kindred
PO Box 435
Bedford, VA 24523
gollinka
Niflheim is a primordial world of mist, thus its name, “mist home.” This is presumably a place of cold mists and ice as it is metaphorically opposed to Muspelheim in Gylfaginning. It is due to the heat of Muspelheim that the ice of Niflheim melts, allowing Ymir to take shape (Gylfaginning 17). The flows from Niflheim are described as both “yeasty” and “venomous” as well as “salty.” Clearly, Niflheim is not a place of simply frozen water or mist, but rather seems to be more akin to a frozen or partly frozen ocean with cold mists about the waters and ice.
There are virtually no other references to Niflheim by name outside of the Gylfaginning, although it appears to be described in reference to the nine worlds elsewhere, particularly the Voluspa, with a character consistent with that described in Gylfaginning.
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Gollinkambi Kindred
PO Box 435
Bedford, VA 24523
gollinka