Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

6. Under the third (subterranean) root
dwell frost-giants. Under this root is the
fountain Hvergelmir, and the realm of
the frost-giants is Niflhel (Niflheim).
Under Niflhel are nine regions of torture.
7. The sister of the Midgard-serpent and
of the Fenris-wolf was cast by the gods
into the regions of torture under Niflhel,
and received the rule over the places
where the damned are punished.
8. The name Hel can be applied to the
whole lower world, but particularly
means that region of bliss where Urd's
fountain is situated, since Urd is the
personal Hel. The Loki-daughter in
Niflhel is her slave and must obey her
commands.
6. Under the third (and only
subterranean) root dwell the souls of
sinners and those who have died from
sickness and age. Under this root is the
fountain Hvergelmir and the whole
lower world. The lower world is called
Niflhel or Niflheim, and contains nine
places of torture.
7. The sister of the Midgard-serpent and
of the Fenris-wolf was cast by the gods
into the regions of torture under Niflhel,
and received the rule over the whole
lower world, which consists of Niflhel
with the nine regions of torture.
8. As Hel means the lower world, and as
the sister of the Midgard-serpent governs
the whole lower world, she is meant by
the personal Hel.
Gylfaginning does not stop with the above results. It continues the chain of its
conclusions. After Hvergelmir has been selected by Gylfaginning as the only fountain in
the lower world, it should, since the lower world has been made into a sort of hell, be a
fountain of hell, and in this respect easily recognized by the Christian conception of the
Middle Ages. In this new character, Hvergelmir becomes the center and the worst place
in Gylfaginning's description of the heathen Gehenna. No doubt because the old dragon,
which is hurled down into the abyss (Revelation, chap. 20), 1 is to be found in the hellfountain
of the Middle Ages, Gylfaginning 52 throws Nidhogg down into Hvergelmir,
which it also fills with serpents and dead bodies found in Grímnismál (34, 35), where
they have no connection with Hvergelmir. According to Völuspá 38, 39 it is in Nastrond
that Nidhogg sucks and the wolf tears the dead bodies (náir). Gylfaginning follows
Völuspá in speaking of the other terrors in Nastrond, but rejects Völuspá's statements
about Nidhogg and the wolf, and casts both these beasts down into the Hvergelmir
fountain. As shall be shown below, the Hvergelmir of the mythology is the motherfountain
of all waters, and is situated on a high plain in the lower world. From there its
waters flow partly northward to Niflheim, partly south to the Elysian fields of
heathendom, and the waves sent in the latter direction are shining, clear, and holy.
1 Rev. 20: 2-3 "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound
him for a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit." King James Version.