Niflheim

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

in the old Scandinavian cosmogony, was a place consisting of nine worlds reserved for those who die of disease or old age. Hela, or death, there exercises her despotic power. In the middle of Niflheim, according to the Edda, lies the spring called Hiergolmer, from which flow twelve rivers. See Anderson, Norse Mythology (Chicago, 1875, 12mo), p. 187 et al.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

n the Norse mythology the primeval northern region of cold and darkness, in contrast with Muspelheim, or Brighthome, the primeval southern region of warmth and light, the two poles, as it were, of the Norse world.