Seiðr Loom

Yggdrasil and the nine worlds

The poems speak of "nine worlds" in a tree, but no medieval text lists all nine or draws a map. The diagram below is a modern arrangement of what the sources do say, and labels which source says it. Select any world, well or creature to open its page.

Roots of the tree according to
Yggdrasil and the nine worlds A schematic ash tree. Asgard sits at the top of the crown with Vanaheimr and Álfheimr beside it; Midgard is at the centre, ringed by the World Serpent, with Jötunheimr to the east; below lie Svartálfaheimr, Muspellsheimr, Niflheimr and Hel. Three roots run down to three wells. Bifröst: The bridge between earth and heaven, which Snorri identifies with the rainbow; the gods ride over it each day, Heimdallr guards it, and it breaks at Ragnarök.Bifröst Asgard: The stronghold of the Æsir, walled against the giants, full of halls such as Valhall and Bilskirnir; Snorri also identifies it, confusingly, with Troy.Ásgarðrthe Æsir Vanaheimr: The home of the Vanir, the gods of Njörðr's family; the sources mention it only as the place Njörðr came from and will return to.Vanaheimrthe Vanir Álfheimr: The home of the elves: in Grímnismál a hall given to Freyr as a tooth-gift, in Snorri a heavenly dwelling of the light-elves.Álfheimrlight-elves Midgard: The world of humans, made by Odin and his brothers from the body of the giant Ymir and fenced with his eyebrows against the giants who live around the ocean's edge.Miðgarðrhumankind Jötunheimr: The land of the giants, at the edge of the world beyond rivers and sea, usually to the east of the gods and men. Thor goes there to fight, and gods go there to court and steal.Jötunheimrgiants · east Svartálfaheimr: Snorri's 'home of the black elves', where the gods go to have dwarves forge their treasures; the name occurs only in his prose, and his merging of black elves with dwarves is debated.Svartálfaheimrdark elves Muspellsheimr: The burning world of the far south, guarded by Surtr: its sparks lit the sun and stars at creation, and its 'sons' ride out to destroy the world at Ragnarök.Muspellfire · south Niflheimr: The cold, misty world of the north in Snorri's creation story, source of the rivers and later Hel's realm; the poems know only Niflhel, a deep region of the dead.Niflheimrmist · north Hel (the realm): The underworld of the dead, ruled by Loki's daughter Hel: reached by the Hel-way and the Gjöll bridge, set down and to the north, under one root of Yggdrasil.Helthe dead Hvergelmir: The spring from which all rivers flow, fed by the dripping horns of a hart in Valhall; Snorri puts it in Niflheim under a root of Yggdrasil, swarming with serpents.Hvergelmir Urðarbrunnr: The holy well beneath Yggdrasil where the Norns live and the gods hold their daily court; its white water keeps the world-tree green.Urðr's well Mímisbrunnr: The well of wisdom under a root of Yggdrasil, kept by Mímir. Odin left one of his eyes there as the price of a single drink.Mímir's well root over Niflheimr root "in heaven", among the Æsir root among the frost-giants root over Hel root over the lands of men root over the frost-giants Veðrfölnir and the eagle: An unnamed eagle sits at the top of Yggdrasil, and between its eyes sits a hawk called Veðrfölnir; the hawk is named only by Snorri.the eagle and Veðrfölnir Ratatoskr: The squirrel that runs up and down Yggdrasil carrying words, and in Snorri envious words, between the eagle at the top and the dragon Níðhöggr at the roots.Ratatoskr ↕ The four stags of Yggdrasil: Four harts that browse the topmost branches of Yggdrasil; two of them share names with dwarves.two of the four stags The four stags of Yggdrasil: Four harts that browse the topmost branches of Yggdrasil; two of them share names with dwarves.two of the four stags Níðhöggr: The dragon that gnaws the root of Yggdrasil from below and feeds on the dead at Náströnd; at the end of Völuspá it flies up with corpses on its wings.Níðhöggr gnaws Jörmungandr: Loki's serpent son, thrown by Odin into the ocean, where it grew to encircle the whole earth; Thor's great enemy, whom he hooks once and kills at Ragnarök.Jörmungandr encircles Midgard Valhalla: Odin's vast hall of the battle-dead, roofed with shields and raftered with spears, where the einherjar feast and fight each day until they march out to meet the wolf at Ragnarök.Valhöll · Bilskirnir · Breiðablik
Original diagram, Seiðr Loom. The placement of the worlds is a modern convention: the sources give directions for some (giants to the east, Muspell to the south, Niflheim to the north) and say nothing about where the others lie.

What the sources say

The number nine. The seeress of Völuspá remembers "nine worlds … the nine in the tree" Völuspá 2, and the giant Vafþrúðnir says he has been through nine worlds down to Niflhel Vafþrúðnismál 43. Neither lists them. The usual modern list combines names from Snorri and the poems; see the nine worlds for where each one comes from.

The roots. Grímnismál puts Hel, the frost-giants and mankind under the three roots Grímnismál 31. Snorri instead has one root among the Æsir, one among the frost-giants over Mímir's well, and one over Niflheim and the spring Hvergelmir, where Níðhöggr gnaws Gylfaginning 15. The switch above shows either version.

The creatures. An eagle sits in the top with the hawk Veðrfölnir between its eyes; the squirrel Ratatoskr carries words between the eagle and Níðhöggr; four harts browse the branches; serpents gnaw the roots Gylfaginning 16 Grímnismál 32.

The bridge. The gods ride over Bifröst each day to hold court at Urðr's well Gylfaginning 15; the poems call it Bilröst Grímnismál 44.

The worlds

Asgard Ásgarðr The stronghold of the Æsir, walled against the giants, full of halls such as Valhall and Bilskirnir; Snorri also identifies it, confusingly, with Troy. Vanaheimr The home of the Vanir, the gods of Njörðr's family; the sources mention it only as the place Njörðr came from and will return to. Álfheimr The home of the elves: in Grímnismál a hall given to Freyr as a tooth-gift, in Snorri a heavenly dwelling of the light-elves. Midgard Miðgarðr The world of humans, made by Odin and his brothers from the body of the giant Ymir and fenced with his eyebrows against the giants who live around the ocean's edge. Jötunheimr The land of the giants, at the edge of the world beyond rivers and sea, usually to the east of the gods and men. Thor goes there to fight, and gods go there to court and steal. Svartálfaheimr Snorri's 'home of the black elves', where the gods go to have dwarves forge their treasures; the name occurs only in his prose, and his merging of black elves with dwarves is debated. Muspellsheimr The burning world of the far south, guarded by Surtr: its sparks lit the sun and stars at creation, and its 'sons' ride out to destroy the world at Ragnarök. Niflheimr The cold, misty world of the north in Snorri's creation story, source of the rivers and later Hel's realm; the poems know only Niflhel, a deep region of the dead. Hel (the realm) Hel The underworld of the dead, ruled by Loki's daughter Hel: reached by the Hel-way and the Gjöll bridge, set down and to the north, under one root of Yggdrasil.