There are nine worlds in the Tree:
the loftiest world is Asgard of Odin and the Aesir;
west of Asgard is Vanaheim of the Vanir;
below the gods are -
sea-encircled Midgard of men;
worlds of elves and dwarves;
north of Midgard, Jotunheim of the jotuns or thursir.
That seems to be only six worlds? I have found lists here and here. I have also seen a list that differentiated between light elves and dark elves but I think that the latter were identified with dwarfs? The Wiki article differentiates three abodes of the dead:
Niflheimr for the dishonorable;
Valhalla in Asgard for dead warriors;
Hel for everyone else -
- but also says that Hel could be regarded as part of Niflheim. And there is yet another hereafter: Aegir's Hall for drowned sailors.
The Aesir are lords over -
sky
wind
weather
sun
moon
stars
the Winterway
the Northern Lights
They hunt, breed horses and kine and marry.
The Vanir are gods of -
earth
sea
harvest
fishery
plow
ship
love
birth
the dark and lawless
They do not marry and their women are often witches.
Jotuns, the oldest race, sprung from Ymir, include:
giants
trolls
monsters
some human-like, even comely
They remember that Odin and his brothers killed Ymir.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And the Eddaic legends also say Aesir created the dwarves from the flesh and blood of Ymir.
Sean
Sean,
Or simply that the dwarves emerged from Ymir's flesh in the way that it was believed that maggots emerged from dead bodies?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I looked up my copy of Lee Hollander's translation of THE POETIC EDDA to see what "Voluspa," Stanza 9 says. And this is what I found: "Then gathered together the gods for counsel,/the holy hosts, and held converse:/who the deep dwelling dwarfs was to make/of Brimir's blood and Blain's bones."
Nothing there about the dwarves being created like maggots in dead bodies. Obviously, a different story is meant. One I'm not familiar with.
Sean
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