Andlangr

“We are told,” replied Har, “that towards the south there is another heaven above this called Andlang, and again above this a third heaven called Vidblain. In this last, we think Gimli must be seated, but we deem that the Elves of Light abide in it now.”

“It is said that to the south and above this heaven is another heaven, which is called Andlang. But there is a third, which is above these, and is called Vidblain, and in this heaven we believe this mansion (Gimle) to be situated; but we deem that the light-elves alone dwell in it now.”

Andlangr appears in one passage of Gylfaginning, where Gangleri asks what will keep Gimlé safe when Surtr’s fire burns heaven and earth. In reply, Hár says that, to the south, there is another heaven above the first, called Andlangr, and above that a third, called Víðbláinn (Vidblain in the translations used here). Nothing more is told of Andlangr: no inhabitants, rulers or buildings are named for it.

The answer is hedged throughout. Anderson has “It is said” and “we believe”, Blackwell has “We are told” and “we think”, and where the light elves live is a plain “we deem”. Gimlé is described in its own entry. The passage does not call Andlangr part of Álfheimr.

Blackwell’s glossary derives the name from aund, spirit or breath, and langr, long. That is one proposed reading and the translators give nothing firmer. Andlangr sits in a short list with Víðbláinn: three heavens stacked one above another, the highest being where Snorri thinks Gimlé stands.

This three-heaven scheme is found in Snorri’s account, and the poems translated by Thorpe have no matching passage. Where the elves of light live is one of the unclear points of the passage, so this page does not assign Andlangr to them or to Álfheimr.