Myrkviðr

Myrkviðr, anglicised to Myrkvidr or Myrkvid, is the name of a "dark wood" in Norse mythology. It is located somewhere between Asgard and Muspelheim. In the Lokasenna, Loki makes a small reference to Myrkviðr as the "dark forest":

"With gold thou boughtest

Gýmir's daughter,

and so gavest away thy sword:

but when Muspell's sons

through the dark forest ride,

thou, unhappy, wilt not

have wherewith to fight."

The Myrkviðr has been identified with various forests across the Germanic world such as:

• The Kolmården in Sweden
• The Maeotian Swamp in Russia
• The Lunsen forest in Sweden
• A forest separating the Huns from the Burgundian tribe

In Popular Culture

The Mirkwood from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

• J. R. R. Tolkien used the anglicised "Mirkwood" as the name of two distinct locations in Middle-earth (itself based on Miðgarðr).

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