Seiðr Loom

world

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.

Vanaheimr is the home of the Vanir, the second family of gods alongside the Æsir. It is one of the "nine worlds" in every modern list, yet the Eddas say almost nothing about it. It exists in the sources mainly as a place of origin.

In Vafþrúðnismál Odin asks how Njörðr came to the gods, though not born one of them. The giant answers that "in the home of the Wanes" the wise powers made him and gave him as a pledge, and that at the world's end he will go "home to the Wanes" again Vafþrúðnismál 39. Snorri says the same in prose: Njörðr "was reared in the land of the Vanir" and was handed over as a hostage, while the Vanir took Hœnir in exchange Gylfaginning 23. This is the peace that ended the war between the two families (see The war of the Æsir and the Vanir).

Alvíssmál supports the idea of a separate world: the dwarf gives the Vanir their own names for the earth, the wind and the sea, and twice speaks of "the world of the Wanes" Alvíssmál 32 Alvíssmál 34. That is the whole of it. No poem describes the place, names its halls or says where it lies. Freyr and Freyja, Njörðr's children, live among the Æsir in every story told about them.

Bellows translates the Vanir as "the Wanes", so readers of his Edda will find Vanaheimr only as "the home of the Wanes".

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

In the home of the Wanes did the wise ones create him, And gave him as pledge to the gods; At the fall of the world shall he fare once more Home to the Wanes so wise.
Vafþrúðnismál 39 Njörðr was made among the Vanir, given to the gods as a hostage, and will go home at the world's end.
he was reared in the land of the Vanir, but the Vanir delivered him as hostage to the gods, and took for hostage in exchange him that men call Hœnir
Gylfaginning 23 Snorri retells the hostage exchange; Hœnir goes to the Vanir in Njörðr's place.
'Growth' in the world of the Wanes
Alvíssmál 32 Alvíssmál speaks of a 'world of the Wanes' with its own words for things.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • No source describes Vanaheimr or locates it. Snorri's Ynglinga saga (Heimskringla) places a Vanaland or Vanaheimr near the river Tanais (the Don), but that belongs to his euhemerist history, not the myths.
  • Njörðr's promised return 'home to the Wanes' at Ragnarök is not mentioned elsewhere.

In modern culture

Not from the medieval sources.

Vanaheim appears in Marvel's Thor films and in God of War Ragnarök (2022), which gives it forests and a full landscape. All such detail is modern invention: the medieval sources describe nothing of the place.

Myths with Vanaheimr

The war of the Æsir and the Vanir The first war in the world, fought between the two families of gods. The surviving texts give only fragments — a witch burned three times, Odin's spear, a broken wall, a truce sealed with spittle and hostages — but they add up to the story of how the Vanir came to live among the Æsir.

Related

The Vanir Vanir The second family of gods, associated with wealth, fertility, the sea and foresight. After a war with the Æsir they exchanged hostages, and Njörðr, Freyr and Freyja came to live among the Æsir. Njörðr The Vanir god of the sea, winds and wealth, father of Freyr and Freyja. Sent to the Æsir as a hostage after their war, he married the giantess Skaði, an ill-matched union of sea and mountain. Freyr The Vanir god of rain, sunshine, harvest and peace, son of Njörðr. He gave away his sword to win the giantess Gerðr, and will fall unarmed against Surtr at Ragnarök. Freyja The Vanir goddess of love, wealth and the slain: daughter of Njörðr, owner of the necklace Brísingamen, who takes half of those who fall in battle to her hall Fólkvangr. Hœnir A shadowy god, Odin's travelling companion, who gave sense to the first humans, went to the Vanir as a hostage after their war, and survives Ragnarök to take up the prophetic wand. The nine worlds níu heimar The Eddas say there are nine worlds but never list them; the familiar list of nine realms is a modern reconstruction built mostly from Snorri's place-names. The Æsir Æsir The main family of Norse gods, led by Odin and living in Asgard: Thor, Baldr, Týr, Heimdall and others, with the goddesses called Ásynjur. They fought and made peace with the Vanir.