A further look at one of the particular nines that came up in my article 7 and 9. Two actually – crossing into each other in my ideas, and then something else tagged itself onto it. But we shall start with the Norse Nine. The nine worlds were Asgard, Midgard, Jotunheim, Niflheim, Muscenters, Helheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, and Vanaheim

Asgard, – “enclosure of the Aesir,” the Aesir being some of Gods.

Midgard – Middle Earth – the realm of human beings.

Jotunheim – Giants Land, as you can imagine, was inhabited by giants. And have areas today where it is said there were giants, so is it just that a mythology built up around stories and legends, and then became part of traditions? Or they were based on what they knew to be going on?

Niflheim – Misty/Gloomy Lands

Muscenters – world destroyer, land of fire giants – made me think of the tip of South America that used to look like it was attached to Antarctica, named as Tierra del Fuego, back then and today. Land of Fire. Just below the Patagonia region, where it is said there were giants.

Helheim – World of the Dead, the goddess of death. Again most ancient cultures have underworlds and lands of the dead, with various stories, Gods and myths surrounding them.

Alfheim – Elf Land

Svartalfheim – Dark Elf Land

Vanaheim – another group of Gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future.

It’s quite a complex structure of thought, as are most of the myths and legends, with intricate, elaborate and very detailed descriptions of everything. But then so is the other thing I thought of, The Lord of the Rings. With that mention of Middle Earth too, with a burning hellish place, elves and realms. So one could argue that fiction can be extremely detailed and seem real, and of that story, the author was quite knowledgeable with languages, maps and the creating an entire world and timeline of history. But was known to be very interested in Norse mythology, so is it that it wove its way in? Or do we just have different retelling of the same story over and over, through different epochs and levels of comprehension. In some cases, needing to be presented as ‘fiction’ for it to make it through to the mainstream. Like the flood story, told across different cultures, beliefs and histories. Of a time that once was, handed down as fragments and ideas, retold and reimagined, woven into fiction and changed, and then in turn, the fiction woven back into ‘fact’.

The second nine I thought it, is as the picture below, and one I have mentioned a few times here and there. The nine circles of hell as depicted in the poem A Divine Comedy, of Dante’s Inferno and journey to and through hell.

And when I also look at the Norse ideas, it also seems to have parallels to the biblical Enoch stories, of Gods, Angels, Nephilim and Man, and that epic story, so is it all one tale? As the flood story is suspected to be? There is also another nine that comes to mind too, 9 Choirs of Angels / 9 Orders of Angels. Which I haven’t looked into too much yet I’ll admit, but it’s the representation of it as a painting by Francesco Botticini that made me include it. I have turned the image upside down for full effect.

It seems there is much to work through and understand. To try and know what is and what was, and of course, what is to come…

(c) K Wicks