Vanaheim- Norse LocationLocation · Realm
Also known as: Vanaheimr
Domains
Description
One of the Nine Worlds of Norse cosmology, the ancestral home of the Vanir gods. Little described in the sources, Vanaheim is defined chiefly by the Æsir-Vanir War and the hostage exchange that sent Njörðr, Freyr, and Freyja to live among the Æsir.
Mythology & Lore
The Æsir-Vanir War
Vanaheim, "home of the Vanir," is one of the Nine Worlds on Yggdrasil and the ancestral realm of the Vanir gods. The sources describe almost nothing of its geography. What they describe is the war that emptied it of its greatest figures.
The Völuspá tells how the conflict began: Gullveig came to Asgard and was killed and burned three times by the Æsir. Each time she was reborn. The Vanir demanded compensation. The Æsir refused. War broke out between the realms, and neither side could defeat the other.
Peace came through an exchange of hostages. The Vanir sent Njörðr, Freyr, and Freyja to live among the Æsir. The Æsir sent Hoenir and Mímir to Vanaheim. The exchange went poorly for the Æsir's envoys: the Vanir realized Hoenir could not make decisions without Mímir's counsel, and they beheaded Mímir in anger. Odin preserved the head through magic and consulted it for wisdom ever after.
Vafþrúðnismál 39 records that Njörðr was created in Vanaheim and will return there at Ragnarök, slipping away from the Æsir before the end.
Sveigðir's Journey
In the Ynglinga saga, Snorri tells of Sveigðir, an early Swedish king who traveled to Vanaheim searching for the old gods. He married a woman there and fathered a son, Vanlandi, before continuing his journey. He never returned.