Home›Open Questions›Which nine realms did the Old Norse sources' phrase "nine worlds" originally denote?Open QuestionsWhich nine realms did the Old Norse sources' phrase "nine worlds" originally denote?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Which nine realms did the Old Norse sources' phrase "nine worlds" originally denote?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/open-questions-index/which-nine-realms-did-the-old-norse-sources-phrase-nine-worlds-originally-denote.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Which nine realms did the Old Norse sources' phrase "nine worlds" originally denote?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/open-questions-index/which-nine-realms-did-the-old-norse-sources-phrase-nine-worlds-originally-denoteCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-which-nine-realms-did-the-old-norse-sour, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Which nine realms did the Old Norse sources' phrase "nine worlds" originally denote?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/open-questions-index/which-nine-realms-did-the-old-norse-sources-phrase-nine-worlds-originally-denote}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionThe Eddas refer to nine worlds without ever enumerating them in one place. The lists that circulate today are modern reconstructions assembled from names scattered across the Poetic and Prose Eddas, not a set any medieval text sets out as such.What would resolve this A systematic philological collation of every Old Norse cosmological realm named in the Poetic Edda (Voluspa, Grimnismal, Vafthrudnismal among them) and the Prose Edda, checked for internal consistency, by an Old Norse philologist.OpenOld Norse philologyMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Encyclopedia of ReligionCross-Tradition ConnectionsDiscipline NeededOld Norse Philology, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)tier 1Question OnNine worlds, Doctrines Well-attested Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)tier 1SourcesEncyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005art. Germanic ReligionView the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year