The Nine Worlds

The Prophecy of the Volva

Necklaces had I and rings from Heerfather, Wise was my speech and my magic wisdom; Widely I saw over all the worlds.

Voluspá, (29) Ljóða Edda

The Voluspá is the first poem of the Poetic Edda and is considered the most important in understanding Norse mythology.
The prophecy begins with the discourse of the seer to Odhinn, where she declares to know the origin of Odhinn’s omniscience, telling and explaining the secrets of the Ásgarðr gods.
Odhinn recognized the prophetic gift of the Volva and gave the seer gifts and necklaces; he gave her wise advice and conferred upon her the power of prophecy. Her eyes now saw beyond the confines of the world, in the deepest past and the distant future.
The Volva tells of past events, from the creation of the Nine Worlds and the people that populate them. The sacrifice of Ymir in the war between Æsir and Vanir that ended the golden age of peace, and of future events, such as the assassination of Baldur and the rebellion of some of the Gods and many of the Jøtnar.
Volva concludes her prophecy by announcing the twilight of the Gods, the Ragnarok, when the Nine Worlds will be overwhelmed by the violence of fire and water, when the Gods will fight their last battle and face their destiny, describing the personal suffering of each divinity. All the Gods will see their end and Odhinn himself will die in the mouth of the wolf Fenrir.
From the ashes of the dead and total destruction, a perfect world of abundance and prosperity will rise, where Baldur will live again.

The Nine Worlds

The Yggdrasill ash tree is the most imposing and best of trees, with its immense trunk, branches and roots over which clear waters flow. It supports all Nine Worlds. The tree rests on three roots, which in turn, point in three different directions, guaranteeing it’s nourishment.
The first root sinks into Niflheimr and slips into the well of Hvergelmir, sinking to the abyss of Helheimr where it holds the snake Níðhoggr and his bloodline prisoner.
The second root extends to Jotunheimr, slipping into the spring of Mímisbrunnr, where wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
The third root rests on Midgardr, feeding off the spring of Urðarbrunnr, where swans live. Here the Æsir gather in council and the caretakers of the tree, the three Norns, live. The location of the source of the Urðarbrunnr is located in a place unknown to the people of Midgardr and beyond their reach.

Death in the Nine Worlds

When a character dies in the Nine Worlds, the Æsir will immediately judge them within one minute. Once their fate is sealed, the Valkyries take them to the eternal feast in Valhalla or they throw them into the abyss of Helheimr and the clutches of Hel.

“The fifth is Glathsheim, and gold-bright there Stands Valhall stretching wide; And there does Othin each day choose The men who have fallen in fight.”

GRÍMNISMÁL (8-9) Poetic Edda
The body of the fallen and all their earthly belongings are then recreated in the appropriate afterlife.For this reason it’s impossible to resurrect a character after one minute from his death.

Top of Yggdrasill

Asgardr

On the high branches of Yggdrasill, is the world of Asgardr (or Ásaheimr), the realm of the Æsir, bathed by the light of the stars, full of luminescence reflected by the Infinite Ice and strong brightness of the Primal Fire. Here the predominant magical force is the result of the friction between the Initial Forces, that arcane spark that arises when ice and lava meet: there are no half measures in the forces that permeate this world, only absolutes in the abode of the Æsir. There are no echoes of the Initial Forces: in Ásgarðr, it is only the distant memory of the creation of the Nine Worlds.

Ljosalfheimr

Before reaching the land of men, descending along Yggdrasill, there is Ljosalfheimr (also called Alfheimr), the reign of the Ljósálfar, the elves of light. Located above the clouds of Midgardr, created from the brain of Ymir, this hyperuranium World is a place of high thought. Here lies energy derived from blocking friction between the Initial Forces, and which the highest of the kingdoms are composed. The description of these forces is mediated by their proximity to the kingdom of men. Here, there is no echo of the initial great emptiness or even that of the Superior Entities who existed at the beginning of time.

Middle of Yggdrasill

Midgardr

Located at the center of the universe, the place where Men live, is now the prey of the Fimbulvetr, the great winter that precedes Ragnarok. In this unholy situation, with Worlds colliding with each other and the limits placed on the use of magic by the gods gradually fading, divine and arcane forces invade this realm. Being in the center of the world all magical sources are present. However, since some of the limits set by the Gods are still in force, spells are weaker than they should be.

Outside Middle of Yggdrasill

Niflheimr

Located north of Midgardr is Niflheimr, the World of Mist that comes from the Infinite Ice, the realm of cold and ice that existed from the beginning of time. In this place reside the hrímþursar, the last few Frost Giants who survived the drowning of their lineage, posted to guard the dwelling of the dishonorable dead. Far from the Primal Fire, this kingdom is dominated by dry cold and the absence of flame, but also by the crystallized fluidity of the ice: everything flows, out from this realm. There are no archetypal forces of the Gods at work in this world, since it existed before the arrival of all things.

Muspellsheimr

To the South lies the World of Muspellsheimr, the other Kingdom that has existed since the beginning of time, the place of origin of Primal Fire. This Initial Force permeates this World making it fiery, deafening, hot and dry. Here reside the sons of Fire, the Fire Giants, the Muspeli Jötunn. There are no archetypal forces of the Gods at work in this world, since it existed before the arrival of all things.

Jøtunheimr

To the east is Jotunheimr, where the giant Bergelmir escaped to with his family, here the offspring of the Ice Giants, the Jøtnar, were born. The flow of the Infinite Ice, mediated by its proximity to “Middle-earth”, this place is the solidification of ideas, where the earth and ice meet. Ruled by cold and hardness, far from the fluidity of water (destined to freeze), it is the emblem of stiffness and stubbornness. There are no archetypal forces of the Gods in this World, for their perfection has no place in this frozen realm. The World of Jotunheimr is separated from Midgardr by a mountain range where lies the fortress of Utgardr, built to prevent the Jötunn from invading the realm of Men.

Vanaheimr

To the west is Vanheimr, the kingdom of the Vanir, the minor Gods, and a world of emanations of the Primal Fire and illuminated by the light of Ljosalfheimr. In this place lies dynamic thought and Nature in its cyclic emanation: the great wheel of life watched over and ruled by the divine beings that reside there. Here, there is no place for the stillness of the great initial emptiness or even for the Superior Entities that existed at the beginning of time.

Bottom of Yggdrasill

Svartalfheimr

Below Midgardr, among the roots of Yggdrasill, is Svartalfheimr, a kingdom situated in the shade of the World Tree. Far from the friction of the Initial Forces, this plain is inhabited by the Døkkálfar (the Dark Elves driven out of the upper realms, they worship a false World Tree made from the original stone of this Kingdom. Here, natural magic is absent, as well as that of the Gods, the wickedness of Helheimr its only resonance. This realm is surrounded by darkness and Hell, that part of the world where Musphellsheimr fire flows is the only exception. The two Worlds are near where rises Nidavellir, the realm of the Dvergar and their renowned forges. Only in this place, unlike the rest of Svartalfheimr, it is possible to find the archetypal force of the Gods.

Helheimr

In the depths of the Cosmos, beneath the roots of Yggdrasill is the reign of the giant daughter of Loki, Hel, who with divine powers rules over the dishonorable dead, the sick or diseased, in a place called Náir. This marshy moor, lashed by the wind and rains, is the ancestral emanation of the stillness of the ice, that stasis at the end of a life without the flame of honor and virtue. In this world, the magic is permeated by cold death, one without memory, name or future. Only the echoes of the archetypal forces of the Gods and the ancient force of the Superior Entities have power in this kingdom.