Víðbláinn (Vidblain)

“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.”

Víðbláinn is the third heaven in Snorri’s picture, set above Andlangr, which is itself above and to the south of the first heaven. Asked what will shelter Gimlé when Surtr’s fire comes, Hár says Gimlé is thought to be in this highest heaven. Anderson adds that the light-elves alone are thought to live in it now. Blackwell says the Elves of Light are thought to abide “in it” now, which reads most naturally of the same place.

The wording is cautious: “we think”, “we believe”, “we deem”. Gimlé is dealt with in its own entry. The passage does not say that Víðbláinn belongs to Álfheimr, and the poems translated by Thorpe do not mention it.

Blackwell’s glossary gives the name as “expanded azure (lit. Wide-blue)”. The texts used here say no more about its formation.

As with Andlangr, the heavens form a simple stack in Snorri’s telling. The same answer gives Gimlé to the highest and light-elves as its present occupants, and the sources do not explain how this relates to the elves’ place in the poems, such as Álfheimr in Grímnismál.