THE WORLD OF HUMAN BEINGS
The cosmos is portrayed as a number of concentric regions. The centre of the universe is constituted by the mighty ash-tree Yggdrasil, sometimes also called Mimameidr or Laeradr (Vsp 19).
The world of the gods, Asgardr, is situated around its stem. Beyond lies the region of Midgardr (often anglicized Midgard), the world inhabited by humans. Farthest out is Utgardr, the world of giants and ogres. This three-ringed horizontal disc is surrounded by a great ocean and is kept together by the enormous Jormungandr or Midgardsormr, a serpent biting its own tail (this serpent is known in Greek as the Oroborous, but is already depicted in Bronze Age Egypt). Beneath this world lies the underworld, called Hel and probably conceptualized as a gigantic grave. The mistress of this realm, the pallid and gloomy deity Hel, was a late poetical construction (Simek 1996: 138).The relation between men and gods was upheld by rituals, especially prayers, vows and sacrifices. In return, the gods gave their worshippers luck, good harvests and victory in battle. The contacts were normally uncomplicated, as long as people did not blaspheme or abandon their deities (Turville-Petre 1964: 251-62; Clunies Ross 1994: 191-7). The gods were thought to punish people for their breach of faith (Hallfredar saga ch. 6).
An individual usually had a deep relation (fulltrui) to one of the deities, a special god or goddess. They were thought to give their worshippers different gifts such as courage in battle, fair wind and riches (Hdl 3). Many people felt a strong attachment to their old gods and sacrificed to them secretly, even after they had nominally become Christians. There are tales of godless men who only believed in their own power. However, these people were always struck by some personal catastrophe (Turville-Petre 1964: 263-8).