Inside Helheim, there is another world or the lowest level where only the wicked dead will go, called Nilfhel.Īlso located in Niflheim, there is the place where the ice giants lived, but there are no references to where exactly they are living. The world of the dead is also called Helheim after the goddess who rules over this world called Hel, the daughter of Loki. Warriors will be going to Valhalla, and most nobles will go to another place called Helgafejl or Holy mountain. In general, it is the place where all the dead that were not noble or warriors will be going when they die. This is also called Hel and Helfeim, but in some writings, it is reported that most people are going there. The first and most prominent world found in the Niflheim realm is the world of the unworthy dead, like criminals and such. There are nine realms located or linked with the world tree in Norse mythology, and Niflheim is more or less at the lowest level.Īccording to Norse mythology, Niflheim is one of the oldest realms of the Norse worlds, along with Muspelheim, the world of fire. In the old Viking belief, when you say north, it means down, and south means going up, so Niflheim is at the bottom. Somewhere in this world of mist is the world of the dead where all unworthy men will go when they die. This miserable world is also called by another name, the world of mist or the Mist-World. Niflheim consists of mist, cold, and darkness. The world of the dead is ruled by the goddess, Hel. Niflheim is also the world of the dead, a place where evil men passed into when they reached the region of death. This forming of the two first realms took eons and will still take more, and then at some point cease to exist again. The one to the north was Niflheim, which consisted of only ice, snow, frost, a cold and dark place where nothing could grow. Then, suddenly two worlds were starting to form, one to the north and one to the south of the great void. Before the cosmos was created, there was only Ginnungagap, which was the great void of emptiness.