Asgard Realm

GodWorld,

Golden Realm,

Heaven's Realm,

The Nine Worlds,

The Realm Eternal

## Overview

Asgard properly refers to the land in which the Aesir reside, but is used as a blanket term for the entire world inhabited by the Norse gods, including specific locales such as Valhalla or Skarnheim.

It is considered a small "pocket" dimension.

## History

Drawn directly from Norse mythology, Asgard is the home of a powerful pantheon of gods, including Thor. It is a small, otherdimensional planetoid (its surface area being about the same as the continental United States), whose nature and physics are different from those of planetary bodies in the Earthly dimension. Asgard is a part of the so called Nine Worlds.

Asgard is not a sphere like the Earth, but a relatively flat landmass suspended in space. Asgard does not rotate about its axis, nor does it revolve around a sun. Asgard does have intervals of night and day (of undisclosed duration), so some object or force functions as a sun. There is no evidence of changing seasons, however portions of Asgard are in perpetual winter while others are in perpetual summer.

Asgard's gravity apparently radiates from somewhere below it (assuming gravity works there as it does here): there is a "top" and a "bottom" to Asgard. At the edges of Asgard's landmass, a being or object can fall into a void, but some unknown force apparently keeps the edges themselves from eroding.

The same force also prevents the bodies of water along Asgard's boundaries from pouring into the void and prevents Asgard's atmosphere from escaping. Asgard has been described as floating on a "Sea of Space." This sea apparently has a surface, one that is navigable by Asgardian ships, which resemble Viking longboats. The exact nature of space within the Asgardian dimension is unknown.

While Asgard's gravity is roughly analogous to Earth's, common matter is considerably denser on average. For instance, a chair made of Asgardian wood is heavier and stronger than a chair made of Earthly wood. Rock, water, flesh, bone, steel: all matter is denser and thus more durable.

The Asgardian dimension includes other areas. The inhabitants refer to the totality as the Nine Worlds. Four of them are located on the main landmass: Asgard, home of the Aesir; Vanaheim, home of their sister race, the Vanir; Nidavellir, home of the Dwarves; and Alfheim, home of the Light Elves. The others are in nearby (i.e. easily accessible) dimensions. (For the sake of creating a comprehensible diagram, the Nine Worlds of Asgard are placed in a multi-leveled configuration. These levels do not represent any real physical distances or relationships.

Instead, they represent the interdimensional relationships between the realms. Jotunheim, the home of the Giants, is a flat ring-shaped realm with high mountains along its inner edge. Svartalfheim, home of the Dark Elves, is another planetoid, smaller than Asgard. There are several dimensional portals between the mountains of Jotunheim and Svartalfheim and the mountains of Asgard, permitting easy passage by denizens of each realm. These portals make Jotunheim and Svartalfheim seem like "underworlds" of the Asgardian continent itself. Muspelheim, land of the Fire Demons. In Asgardian cosmology, Muspelheim and Nifflheim existed first, separated from one another by Ginnungagap, the Yawning Void.

Another of the Nine Worlds is Hel, realm of the dead, and its sister realm, Niffleheim. In the Asgardian afterlife, heroes and the honored dead go to Valhalla, a special region of Asgard; the common dead go to Hel; and the dishonored dead (murderers and other evildoers) go to Nifflheim.

The Continent of Asgard has many region such as Nornheim, Gundersheim, Varinheim, Ringsfjord, Thryheim, Hindi, Skornheim, Gymirsgard, Nastrond. There are also smaller Kingdoms such as Harokin and Jolena.

Asgard is honeycombed with portals to the other parts of the Nine Worlds, making the worlds (with the exception of Earth) sometimes seem like they are on a contiguous plain; indeed, early cartographers of Asgard mapped it this way. The only permanent portal to Earth, Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge, has recently been shattered, severing Asgard's connection with Earth and making passage between realms difficult. There is a special passageway from Asgard to the extradimensional realm of Olympus, home of the Greek gods. Since Olympus is not a part of the Asgardian cosmology, this portal is believed to be an artificial rather than natural phenomenon. Another unique feature of Asgard is the Cave of Time, an apparently natural phenomenon through which passage to other times is possible.

Midgard, Earth, does not appear to be physically affected by the motions of any of the other physical bodies in the Asgardian cosmology, although Earth's axis (the imaginary pole around which it rotates) is in alignment with one of the roots of Yggdrasil, the cosmic ash tree that stands in Asgard.

Somewhere in Asgard's outlying Sea of Space there may be floating portals to Earth's space, because Earth beings have been able to travel from Earthly to Asgardian space. There may also be an edge to Asgard's Sea of Space, perhaps at the perimeter of the "Dome of the Sky" extending from the outer edge of ringed Jotunheim. At the edge of the Sea there would exist "Dimensional borderlands" which serve as transitional areas between discrete dimensions.

Asgard and its sister realms are populated by six distinct humanoid races, described under Asgardians. Besides these, there are several singular creatures that exist in the Nine Worlds. The first is the Jormungand the Midgard Serpent, an immense snake or dragon whose body encircles the inner edge of the mountains of Jotunheim closest to Midgard. The Midgard Serpent lies at the very edge of the dimensional boundary between Jotunheim and Midgard and prevents easy passage between dimensions. The second is the winged dragon Nidhogg, who lives in Nifflheim and gnaws at one of the roots of Yggdrasil. The third is the giant wolf-god Fenris, who was responsible for the war-god Tyr losing a hand. Fenris is imprisoned in the distant land of Varinheim. The fourth creature is the primordial ice giant Ymir.

After Thor's return to Earth following the events of Ragnarok, the God of Thunder recreated the capital city of Asgard on Earth itself.

The Asgardians later returned to the realm briefly during the war of the Serpent, led by Odin to be prepared to confront the Serpent. However, after the Serpent was killed, Odin exiled himself in Asgard, leaving the rest of the Asgardians on Earth, where they would rebuild the fallen City of Asgard into Asgardia.

By manipulating the Angels from Heven, Loki made available once more the passage from Midgard to Asgard, and found the self-exiled Odin on the now-decrepit City of Asgard.

## Points of Interest

* City of Asgard - The capital of the realm with which it shares name.
	+ Hlidskjalf - Odin's Throne Room.
* Bifrost - The rainbow bridge that connects Asgard with Midgard.
* Halls of Fear - The chamber where the Unknown can be summoned.
* Nornheim - The Asgardian province where dwell the Three Norns and Karnilla.
* Sea of Mist - The body of water connecting Asgard with the Isle of Silence.
* Tower of Solitude - The building where the Grand Vizier was confined by Odin.
* Plains of Ida The center of Asgard.
* Vingolf
* Gladsheim
* Realm Below - Place of the insanely-savage Rock Trolls.
* Valhalla - Place of the honored dead.

## Nine Realms

* Muspelheim - Home of the (Muspeli) Fire Demons.
* Alfheim - Home of the Ljósálfar (Light Elves).
* Vanaheim - Home of the Vanir who are the sister race of the Asgardians.
* **Asgard** - Home of the Æsir (Asgardians).
* Midgard - is the Earthly realm. Home of the Humans.
* Jotunheim - Home of the Jötunn (Frost Giants).
* Nidavellir - Home of the Dvergr (Dwarves).
* Svartalfheim - Home of the Svartálfar (Dark Elves).
* Niffleheim - Realm of the dead who are neither honored nor dishonored. The region of Hel is located there.