noatun 73
a mountain range in the underworld, a place from
which the dragon Nithog flew, carrying corpses in
his claws.
The other interpretation, from the works of
Snorri Sturluson, is that Nidafjoll was the shining
land that survived the devastation of Ragnarok, the
final battle between the Aesir gods and the giants. In
this land stood the magnificent hall known as Sindri.
The righteous people who survived the conflict
would dwell in Nidafjoll, a new world.
N iflheim (World of Fog)
A vast waste of frozen
fog, brutal cold, and endless night. Niflheim was
the lowest region of the underworld. From its
poisonous fountain, Hvergelmir, flowed 11 ice-cold
rivers, the Elivagir. The rivers poured into the huge
chasm, Ginnungagap, and froze. Fiery clouds from
Muspellheim melted the ice and turned it into mist.
From the whirling mist and fire came the first proto-
giant, Ymir (see creation).
The goddess Hel ruled over this land of the dead.
Niflheim was the home of the dragon Nithog and
other serpents. They nibbled on one of the roots of
the World Tree, Yggdrasil, that reached into the
underworld.
After Midgard (Middle Earth) was created, the
gods pushed Niflheim deep into the ground so its
terrible cold would not freeze the Earth.
N ine W orlds In Norse mythology the Nine
Worlds connected by the world tree, Yggdrasil,
were broken into three levels.
• At the top level were Asgard, the home of the
Aesir; Vanaheim, the home of the Vanir; and
Alfheim, the home of the light-elves.
• At the middle level, and connected to Asgard by
Bilrost, the Rainbow Bridge, were Midgard
(Middle Earth), the home of humans; Jotun-
heim, the home of the Jotun, or giants; and
Svartalfheim, the home of the dark-elves.
• At the bottom level, the underworld, were
Niflheim, world of the dead, cold, and misty,
whose citadel was Hel (2), home of Hel (1),
queen of the dead; and Muspellheim, world of
fire, presided over by the fire god, Surt.
In some tellings of the myths, there was also
Nidavellir at the middle level; it was cited as the
home of the dwarfs and may have been part of
Svartalfheim.
From his high seat, Hlidskjalf, the great god
Odin could see what was happening in all Nine
Worlds and with the help of his ravens Hugin and
Munin learned each day the events happening in
them. (See also raven.)
N ithog (N iÐhoggr ;
N ithogg ; Corpse
Tearer) The dragon that lived in Niflheim at the
foot of the World Tree, Yggdrasil, and gnawed at
its roots. The squirrel Ratatosk brought gossipy
messages between the eagle at the top of the tree and
the dragon at the roots. As well as feeding upon the
roots of the sacred tree, Nithog fed on the corpses
washed down from Nastrond into the bubbling
cauldron of Hvergelmir. At Ragnarok, the end of
the world, Nithog would harvest many corpses and
survive to live in the new world. The Eddic poems
G rimnismal and V oluspa describe Nidhogg’s roles
in the myths, and Snorri Sturluson adds details in
G ylfaginning .
N jord (N iord ) The Norse god of the sea and
seafarers, and also a fertility god. Njord was a Vanir
god. He went to live in Asgard after the Aesir/Vanir
War. He took with him his twin children, Frey and
Freya, both fertility gods. In some tellings, Njord’s
first wife and the mother of the twins was Nerthus,
his sister. As the Aesir did not approve of marriage
between brother and sister, Njord had to leave
Nerthus behind. According to Snorri Sturluson,
Njord’s second wife was Skade, goddess and giant-
ess of winter. Njord’s home was Noatun, a bustling
shipyard, noisy with the sound of the wind and the
sea and the seabirds. Skade and Njord could not
live happily together, for Skade hated the cheerful
shipyard, while Njord felt unhappy at Skade’s grim,
cold mountain home. After spending nine nights
together in each other’s lands, the two decided to
live apart.
N oatun (B oathouse ; Ships’ Haven) Home
of the Vanir god Njord after he came to live in
Asgard. Noatun stood on the seashore and was made
of great timbers. Njord, god of seafarers, loved the
sound of the waves, the seabirds, and the noises of
the shipyard.
In a story told by Snorri Sturluson in G ylfagin -
ning , the giantess Skade chose Njord as her husband
by looking at his feet only. When the time came to
live with her husband, they each agreed to spend
nine nights in the other’s realm, but Njord missed
the sounds of the sea and Skade could not abide the