Gimlé

Etymology

The etymology of Gimli is likely "the place protected from fire" based on two Old Nordic elements : gimr "fire" and hlé "protected place".

In scholar Lee M. Hollander's view it is more likely it means "gem-roof".

Descriptions

Within Asgard, the realm of the gods, Gimlé is a golden-roofed building where righteous people go when they die. In the Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson places it in Víðbláinn, which he describes as third heaven currently inhabited only by light elves. In "Völuspá", which he quotes in one of his accounts of Gimlé, the hall is on Gimlé, presumably a mountain, rather than being itself called Gimlé.

Snorri presents Gimlé as a pagan heaven. Scholars including Hollander and Rudolf Simek have seen the description of Gimlé as influenced by the Christian Heavenly Jerusalem. Ursula Dronke suggested that while the concept of a heaven in which "hosts" of the righteous lived together was based on the pagan Valhalla, the "Völuspá" poet or his associates invented the name "Gimlé" with reference to its protecting the blessed from the fires both of Surtr at Ragnarök and of the Christian Hell.

References

References

1. Dronke, Ursula. (2001). "The Poetic Edda". Oxford University-Clarendon.
2. [https://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Gimlé Nordic Names : Gimlé]
3. Hollander, Lee M.. (1988). "The Poetic Edda". University of Texas.
4. Davidson, H. R. Ellis. (1990). "Gods and Myths of Northern Europe". Penguin.
5. Simek, Rudolf. (2000). "Dictionary of Northern Mythology". D. S. Brewer.
6. Bellows, Henry Adams. (1923). "The Poetic Edda". [[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]].
7. Lindow, John. (2002). "Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs". Oxford University.