Niflheim
Niflheim is one of the two primal realms that collided with each other and created the basis for all the other worlds, fire and ice, the beginning of life. This is the realm of mists, and most of it is frozen, but because of a great river Elivagar, a poisonous river that turns everything it touches to crystallized frost. Ancient mountains lie beneath the frozen wastelands, glaciers can be seen all over the place and nothing grows wherever the river and its streams spread. And who travel here must take care to protect themselves or be slowly poisoned by the mist.
When Muspellheim, the realm of fire, collided with Niflheim, the frost began to melt away in the southern parts of the realm, and from this event the frost giant Ymir was created.
Niflheim, It is a land with thick fogs, blizzards, snow storms, dense mists and occasional thunderstorms, and the river Elivagar runs in the depths of the icy realm. This realm and its ice melts where it faces Niðavellir, where the terrain is more mountainous. Most of this region is water formed by the melting ice, icebergs floating freely.
Despite the harshness of this realm, there are inhabitants in this frozen realm, including the Jalla, the decentents of Audumbla, who sustain themselves by licking the salty ice of the realm, and the Frost Jötnar who prey on them.
Niflheim was once home to a breakaway colony of Dvergr led by their great craftsman Ivaldi. A maze that constantly rearranges itself every time someone enters is the Dvergr greatest testament to their craft.
The great well called Hvergelmir lies here in Niflheim and it isn’t like the other two sacred wells. Hvergelmir is an enormous hot spring with white waters, with very turbulent waters, from which many rivers flow. This great well is the source of most rivers in the Nine worlds, unlike the regular physics of how a river flows (southwards) these rivers flow upwards, it is natural, we do have some rivers in our own world that do this, flowing through the mountainous terrain and their only escape is due north. However, here in Niflheim, it is uncertain whythe rivers flow upwards, it is an high realm indeed, the very mountains are beneath the snow and ice.
The major rivers that flow from Hvergelmir are so named: Svol, Gunnthra, Fiorm, Fimbulthul, Hrid, Sylg and Ylg, Vid, Leiptr, Sid, Vid, Sekin, Ekin, Gipul, Gopul, Gomul, Geirvimul, Thyn, Vin, Tholl, Boll, Grad, Gunnthrain, Nyt, Not, Nonn, Hronn, Vina, Veg, Svinn, Thiodnuma, Slidr and the great river Gjöll that flows into Helheim.
The watery region of Niflheim is filled with many small islands, like small mountaintops protruding up from the waters. Sometimes they are almost indistinguishable from the icebergs that also float around, sometimes the icebergs collide with them. In this area, as it is closed to Svartalfheim, osome duergar, who have wandered from their native land made their home here and the islands they inhabit actually have the names of the duergar who own them. The most famous is Lyngvi Island, which is claimed by a Dvergr named Lyngvi in the middle of a small lake called Amsvartnir. This island is used by the Æsir, with Lyngvi’s permission, to house the most dangerous prisoner in the Nine Realms, Fenrir the Great Wolf, son of Loki, God of Mischief. The water on the eastern side of the island is red with blood.
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