Niflhel

Niflhel ("Misty Hel"; Nifel being cognate with Nebel, a German and Latin root meaning cloud) is the name of a location in Norse mythology which appears in the eddic poems Vafþrúðnismál and Baldrs draumar, and also in Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning. Niflhel overlaps with the notions of Niflheimr and Hel.
==Prose Edda==
===Gylfaginning===
In Gylfaginning by Snorri Sturluson, Gylfi, the old king of Scandinavia, receives an education in Norse mythology from Odin himself in the guise of three men. Gylfi learns from Odin (as Þriði) that Odin gave the first man his spirit, and that the spirits of just men will live forever in Gimlé, whereas those of evil men will live forever in Niflhel:
==Poetic Edda==
===Vafþrúðnismál===
In Vafþrúðnismál, Odin has wagered his head in a contest of wits with the giant (jotun) Vafþrúðnir. Odin asks Vafþrúðnir whether he can tell all the secrets of the gods and giants, and Vafþrúðnir answers that he can do so since he has been to all the nine worlds, including Niflhel:
:Vafþrúðnir kvað:
:43. "Frá jötna rúnum
:ok allra goða
:ek kann segja satt,
:því at hvern hef ek
:heim of komit;
:níu kom ek heima
:fyr Niflhel neðan;
:hinig deyja ór helju halir."Vafþrúðnismál at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad», Norway.	
:Vafthruthnir spake:
:43. "Of the runes of the gods
:and the giants' race
:The truth indeed can I tell,
:(For to every world have I won;)
:To nine worlds came I,
:to Niflhel beneath,
:The home where
:dead men dwell."The Ballad of Vafthruthnir in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.	
===Baldrs draumar===
Though not a part of the Codex Regius, in the poem Baldrs draumar, Odin makes a visit to Niflhel himself in order to enquire about the bad dreams of his son Baldr:
:Upp reis Óðinn,
:alda gautr,
:ok hann á Sleipni
:söðul of lagði;
:reið hann niðr þaðan
:niflheljar til;
:mætti hann hvelpi,
:þeim er ór helju kom.Baldrs draumar at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad», Norway.	
:2. Then Othin rose,
:the enchanter old,
:And the saddle he laid
:on Sleipnir's back;
:Thence rode he down
:to Niflhel deep,
:And the hound he met
:that came from hell.Baldr's Dreams in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.	
==References==
Category:Norse mythology
Category:Afterlife