Niðafjöll
Location in Norse mythology
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In Norse mythology, Niðafjöll (Old Norse: Niðafjǫll, [ˈnɪðafjɔlː]; lit. 'niða-fell') is a location in the northern underworld. Niðafjöll is the site from which the dragon Nidhogg comes. According to Snorri Sturluson, the good and virtuous people will live here in a golden palace after Ragnarök, despite its proximity to Hel.[1][2]
Niðafjöll is mentioned in Völuspá (verse 66) from the Poetic Edda:
Þar kømr inn dimmi dreki fljúgandi, naðr fránn, neðan frá Niðafjǫllum. Berr sér í fjǫðrum —flýgr vǫll yfir— Níðhǫggr nái—
There comes the dim dragon flying, a gleaming adder, below from the Nida-fell. Carrying in between the feathers —flying the land over— Nidhogg corpses does—.
Etymology
Fell (Old Norse: fjǫll) is an old word for mountain and highland, but the prefix niða- is unclear. A direct cognate is unknown, but it is speculated to be related to Swedish: nedan, the "waning" face of the moon, as opposed to ny ("new"), the "emerging" face of the moon. Thus a potential direct translation could be "waning mountains", or rather, "mountains of waning". Other suggestions have been something like "dark mountains".