This article contains lore based on real-life sources from Norse mythology as introduced from the God of War Norse era.
Niflheim, also known as Niflheimr, is one of the Nine Realms of the World Tree. It is an optional location in God of War (2018), and it returns as a secondary location in God of War: Ragnarök.
Norse Mythology[]
According to the Norse story of creation, Niflheim was the first of the Nine Worlds to be brought into being. Before the worlds were created, there was only an empty void known as Ginnungagap. In the north of Ginnungagap there was a spring called Hvergelmir. The northern reaches were so cold, however, that the water of Hvergelmir froze. This frozen land became Niflheim. It was a frozen world of frost and mist. The south of Ginnungagap was hot. As it grew hotter it, too, formed a primordial world. This was Muspelheim, the land of fire.
Little of Muspelheim's heat reached Niflheim, but the slight amount that did caused the ice to drip into Ginnungagap. The droplets of water heated as they fell toward Muspelheim, forming a cloud of vapor in Ginnungagap. This vapor eventually coalesced into a form. This was Ymir who was a great jötunn, a word often translated into English as “giant.” When Ymir was killed his body was used to create Midgard, the world of men. Hvergelmir continued to drip into the Nine Worlds. The spring in Niflheim was said to be the source of all rivers.
The Norse people did not believe that all people went to the same world after they passed on. Exceptional warriors went to Valhalla, other noble deaths went to Frigg's hall at Fólkvangr, and those who died by drowning were carried into the sea by Ram. Others, however, were sent to the realm of Loki's daughter, Hel. In some sources, Hel's hall was the destination for all those who lived and died in unexceptional ways. In others, criminals, outlaws, oathbreakers, and other ignoble sinners were sent to Hel.
The world of Niflheim was the primordial realm of ice and mist on the northern edge of Ginnungagap. Its water had combined with the heat of Muspelheim, the world of fire, in the creation of Midgard and the other worlds.Niflheim is also thought to have been the location of Hel, the realm of the dead. This joyless world was sometimes said to be the place for criminals and outcasts, but was more broadly believed to house the souls of all but the most noble men.
Odin himself travelled to Hel to consult a wise woman and learn hidden wisdom. There, he learned not only about the creation of the world but also about its destruction. At Ragnarök, Loki and his daughter would lead the dead out of Hel. They would be joined by frost giants, the counterparts of Muspelheim's fire giants, and the other monsters who inhabited Niflheim. The gods who had been sent to Hel would also emerge, however. Baldr and his blind brother would rebuild the world and become leaders of a new race of gods. Niflheim was a desolate place, but the Norse people believed that they could give their loved ones a more comfortable experience by sending them with grave goods. The gold, jewelry, tools, and even vehicles that people of the Viking Age took with them to Niflheim have provided the artifacts that let us understand both life and death in the Norse world.
Description[]
Niflheim is known as the "Realm of Fog" being largely a place of endless snow, wind, ice and mist.
Before the realm has been cursed mist, The Realm of the Ice is land of cold and darkness. Unlike the Helheim, The realm possesses covered clouds covering the bluish skies, the fields has covered fog and mist, and mountains of ice. The only known type of plant life that is able to grow in Niflheim appears to be Raven Tree, a giant tree with covered the trunk-like frozen, suggesting that native life is possible though none of the faunas are lived in the realm of ice. The Mist Fields has also several structures including the Nordic stone statues and the metallic female statue covered the snow, far from the canyons where an enormous skeletal corpse pieces of Primordial Cow laid and final resting places over the edge of canyon.
Within the vicinity of Ivaldi's Workshop, the mist has been transformed into a foul-smelling fog that will kill anyone who stays within it for too long. The snow and ice are nowhere to be seen, the wind doesn't blow anymore and the now fatal mist releases a foul smell. Fortunately, this mist can be avoided at higher altitudes, and armor constructed from Ivaldi's creations can prolong the time one can breathe in the fog. After a certain distance, the realm returns to its original frigid state.
As of the sequel, the realm of fog itself returns itself as original state.
Plot[]
God of War (2018)[]
At some point, an ambitious Dwarf alchemist named Ivaldi decided to settle a workshop in the land of mist. There, he found a way to harness all the frosty power of Niflheim, creating works of marvel that shocked the realms of both men and Gods. Unfortunately, Odin saw Ivaldi's creations as a threat to his power and thus intervened. The Dwarf retaliated in fury, but in doing so meddled with forces he shouldn't have, cursing the mist within and around his workshop into a poisonous fog that claimed Ivaldi as its first victim.
God of War: Ragnarök[]
For a time, the Fimbulwinter has triggered, all the realms including Niflheim affects the environment resulting the cursed mist disappear and returned to its original state.
When Atreus translated the Mask to Odin, he reads about "Cry of the Cold Breath" but Atreus speculated in Helheim, but non-avail. When Atreus returned to Asgard, Odin gave the mask and translated none other than "Cry of the First Breath" resulted Odin knew the mask was in fact located in Niflheim.
Upon arriving, Atreus noticed the realm has changed since he visited it years ago and eventually finds a final piece of Mask. Odin congratulated and praised Atreus instead of his son, Thor.
After the Ragnarok, The Remnants of Asgard fell apart and scattered across all the realms, including Niflheim. Kratos and Freya ventured into the Niflheim and found the icy ravens. After solving riddles they learned about the Raven Keeper, who served Odin and was responsible of keeping the icy ravens as spies for him to use.
Eventually, they found real Tyr, who was actually imprisoned by Odin all along.
Story Quest[]
God of War (2018)[]
The Journey (Main Story Quests)[]
There are no Story Quests in Niflheim.
Favors (Side Quests)[]
Kratos and Atreus can collect all the Niflheim Ciphers in Midgard in order to access the mist world and traverse the now abandoned workshop to retrieve the realm's exclusive materials like Mist Echoes and Niflheim Alloy.
The Valkyrie Hildr was imprisoned in one of the chamber's of Ivaldi's workshop.
God of War: Ragnarök[]
The Path (Main Story Quests)[]
Atreus and Thor travel the Niflheim to retrieve the third piece of the Mask of Creation
Favors (Side Quests)[]
(The Broken Prison) Kratos and Freya discover an Aesir Prison crashed within Niflheim, Inside the Prison they discover Tyr and free him from his cell
(The Eyes of Odin) Kratos free's the Ravens from around the Realms and claims their rewards at The Raven Tree then destroys The Raven Keeper after freeing all of Odin's Ravens
Collectibles[]
God of War (2018)[]
God of War: Ragnarök[]
Locations[]
God of War (2018)[]
God of War: Ragnarök[]
- Aesir Prison Wreckage
- Frozen Caverns
- Mist Fields
- Pale Meadows
- The Eternal Chasm
- The Raven Tree
Bestiary & Bosses[]
God of War (2018)[]
- Fierce Ogre
- Ogre
- Fierce Wulver
- Nightmare
- Revenant (Poison)
- Revenant (Summoner)
- Soul Devourer
- Wulver
- Hildr (Boss)
God of War: Ragnarök[]
Trivia[]
- The rune of Niflhiem is "naudiz" (ᚾ) in the Elder Futhark, which represents the letter "N" and the concept of "hardship."
- The earliest point that Niflheim can be accessed is after Kratos and Atreus escape from Helheim. This applies even in New Game+, where the chest in the peak that normally has the cipher code for the realm will be turned into a useless enhancement to ensure that players won't unlock the realm too early.
- The Realm travel door to Niflheim depicts an abandoned city or workshop, the wind blowing through the empty place and old vines growing through the rubble. On both sides of the mural are Dwarves, however these may either be two different statues which have decayed over time or perhaps a before and after depiction of the head Dwarf Ivaldi as he was the first to die from the poisonous mists he released.
- After Odin sends Atreus to look for the mask in Niflheim, he mentions it looks much, much different to the maze he saw many winters ago. This is due to the fact that Atreus and Thor travelled through Odin's ravens, and not the Temple of Týr. The temple leads you to Ivaldi's Workshop, where all the cursed mist still remains. Though, it can be seen the Silhouette of three monuments, it is likely the poisonous mist has no more in Ivaldi's Workshop by effects of Fimbulwinter, or other than Sinmara's.
- Among the Nine Realms, Niflheim is the world that has the least relevant role in the main story, only being visited once during Atreus' quest to obtain the final mask with every other visits to the realm (such as killing The Raven Keeper) being done as a side quest.
Gallery[]
Concept Art[]
