Niffleheim

**Niffleheim** was one of the Ten Realms connected to Yggdrasil, being one of the first along side Muspelheim. Niffleheim and Muspelheim would be responsible for the creation of seven of the Ten Realms, and Niffleheim is were life for the Ten Realms (sans Midgard which is the greater universe) originated from. After life began to migrate out of Niffleheim, it would become a realm of renegades, mist, and shadows. Niffleheim would also become the realm of the dead, as life began there so it would return.

## History

### Creation

Niffleheim was created through unknown means as a pocket dimension connected to Earth. Niffleheim was full of nothing but ice and water, with the spring Hvergelmir in the center of the realm. The water of Hvergelmir would form twelve rivers of ice which connected with the rivers of magma of Muspelheim through Yggdrasil and created the other realms.

### Start of Life

From the ice of Niffleheim came the first Ice Giant, Ymir. Ymir sculpted the rest of his species from the ice and ruled them as their king. At some point, Buri, the first Aesir, emerged from the ice. Buri intrigued the Ice Giants who allowed him to live and grow. Buri then took an ice giantess as a wife and had several children with her, those being: Bor, Mimir, and Njord. More Aesir would be born from the ice, and though few in number there was enough for a tribe to form, with Buri serving as chieftain.

### Aesir Migration to Greater Asgard

Bor would challenge his father for authority of the tribe, and bested him. Bor would then lead the Aesir out of Niffleheim for the realm of Greater Asgard, though he would marry an Ice Giantess known as Bestla. The Ice Giants would then dominate Niffleheim once more, however they were enraged that they were stuck living in the frozen wastelands. The Ice Giants often raided other realms which would incite conflict.

### Aesir-Ice War

When Cul, the son of Bor, was attacked by Ice Giants on Earth the Aesir declared war on the Ice Giants. Bor and his children Odin, Vili, and Ve led the Aesir army into Niffleheim for revenge. Bor would die in battle against the Ice Giants, leaving Odin to succeed him. Odin would wage a war of extermination killing Ymir and nearly every single member of the Ice Giants. Only the giant Bergelmir and his spouse survived.

### Return of the Ice Giants

Following the war, Niffleheim was mostly devoid of life as the Aesir returned to Asgard, and Bergelmir and his wife escaped to Jotunheim. Bergelmir and his new family, which resurrection the Ice Giant species and brought in new species of giant (though these new species remained in Jotunheim), returned to Niffleheim in an attempt to recreate the Ice Giant nation.

### Land of the Dead

The dead would be brought to a specific region of Niffleheim. The Asgardian known as Hela would be given governance of Niffleheim and thus became the Queen of the Dead, using the giant hound Garm as the guardian of the land, and creating a region known as Hel (or Helheim) to be the resting place of the dead. From this Hel was the realm of the dead, Niffleheim became the realm of the dishonorable dead, and Valhalla (which was in actuallity part of Asgard however it seemed that it could be accessed from Hel) would be the realm of the honorable dead.

## Geography

Nifflehiem was filled with moutains of ice, and rivers of ice. There were 12 rivers of ice which derived from Hvergelmir a fountain of forzen water in the center of the Realm. According to a map of Niffleheim there were several different regions and landmarks that were situated in the Realm.

### Regions

According to the map of Niffleheim, the major regions of Niffleheim were as follows

* **Hel**: Hel, also known as Helheim, is the most notable region of Niffleheim. Hel is the region that Hela ruled from and the region worked as the general afterlife for those who lived in the Ten Realms (although for humans there were several afterlives that were accessible depending on a person's religious beliefs). Hel can take several forms that are dependent on what Hela wants. Hel itself is not a place for punishing evildoers (it seems that evildoers are casted out of Hel into greater Niffleheim) but is just a place that the dead reside. It seems that the honorable dead are taken from Hel into Valhalla which is a remote part of Asgard.
* **Nastrond**: Nastrond is a coastal part of Niffleheim on the river Gjoll of Hel. Long ago, Nastrond was a kingdom of rogue agents, however it was wiped out by Odin. When Hela took over, Nastrond became a place for the wicked. When the wicked souls reach the bridge Gjallerbru, Modgud would throw them into the river where they would be carried to Nastrond. The dragon Nidhogg, was near the coast of Nastrond and made sure none escaped, as if they tried they would be eaten and their second death would cause them to cease to exist.
	+ **Midhogg**: Midhogg was a sub-region of Nastrond for the worst of the worst souls and for monsters.
* **Elysium**: Elysium was a part of Niffleheim. Elysium was originally the North Wing of Hel, however when Angela overthrew Hela as Queen of Hel to serve as the afterlife for the Engels. When Hela got control of Hel once again, she agreed to keep Elysium as a separate realm.

### Landmarks

Some notable landmarks in Niffleheim are

* Greater Niffleheim
	+ **Hvergelmir**: Hvergelmir is a spring/fountain of water from which all life is sourced from, at least according to the legend.
	+ **Gnipalhellir**: Gnipalhellir was a cave in Niffleheim that was the starting place for Helvegr which was the road to Hel. the cave was guarded by Garm the Hel-Hound who prevented the dead from escaping.
	+ **Helvegr**: Helvegr was the road to Hel. It took 18 days to get to the end.
	+ **Gjoll**: Gjoll was one of the twelve rivers of Niffleheim. Gjoll acted as a boundary between the dead and the living. It was guarded by Modgud who made sure that none strayed from the path on the road to Hel, none attempted to escape from Hel, and that no outsiders entered. The Bridge Gjallerbru spanned across the river on the Helvegr, the trail to Hel. The wicked would be thrown into the river and carried into Nastrond.
	+ **Bridge Gjallerbru**: Gjallerbru was a bridge on Helvegr. Gjallerbru spanned across the river Gjoll and was guarded by Modgud and acted as a check way point for the travel to Hel.
	+ **Valgrinor**: Valgrinor, or Fence of the Fallen, was the wall that surrounded Hel that kept the dead inside.
* Hel
	+ **Hall of Plague**
* Nastrond
	+ **Cave of the Ancients**: The Cave of the Ancients was a cave in Nastrond. When the Kingdom of Nastrond was destroyed, its ruler Fafnir took refuge there. It was here that he found a pool that turned him into a dragon.
	+ **Eljudnir**: Eljudnir was a prison for the most dangerous and evil dead in Niffleheim that was situated close to the river Gjoll. For those too dangerous to be punished with the ice and monsters of Nastrond, Eljudnir would be there to contain them. Nidhogg sat near the prison consuming the excess energy of Yggdrasil, if any attempted to escape the prison they would be attacked and eaten by Nidhogg.

## Governments

* **Ice Giant Tribe**: Ymir and his progeny, the Ice Giants, were born in Niffleheim. The group seemed to have a tribal system of government with Ymir acting as King. The Ice Giants were destroyed by the Aesir at the end of the war, however they would rebuild.
* **Aesir**: The Aesir were born on Niffleheim, however they spent an undisclosed amount of time in the realm before leaving.
* **Hela's Kingdom**: Hela was given control of Niffleheim as a whole as she was given control of the dead. She seemed to spend most of her time in Hel rather than Niffleheim as a whole.