As one of the founding Avengers, Marvel's Thor is embraced as a major figure within the cultural zeitgeist. It's easy to see why so many people love him. With his miraculous strength and mighty hammer Mjolnir, Thor was a popular god of the common folk in the Viking Age, just as he's a popular figure in the age of comics and big-budget blockbusters.

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While many people think of Thor in terms of comic books, the thunderer is inspired by Norse myths - myths important to the current religious practices of many people today. The various realms in the comics such as Asgard, Midgard, and Jotunheim are recorded in the Norse Eddas. So, with all due respect to the original material and those who honor its traditions, here are the 10 realms of the comic books, ranked:

10 Heven

While the original Norse cosmology had only nine realms, the crossover event Original Sin revealed a plethora of hidden secrets in the backstories of most Marvel characters. In the case of the Thor comics, the story introduced a tenth realm, Heven. As might be obvious, this comic book realm of Heven is very loosely based on the Abrahamic religious plane of "heaven."

Heven is a realm of angels, fascistic winged warriors who seethe with embittered rage after being cursed in aeons past after losing a war. In fact, they've built their entire culture and civilization around this curse. Marvel's Heven has angels aplenty, but they're sure not a beatific choir.

9 Niffelheim

Niffelheim is a cold misty realm inspired by the realm named "Nieflheim" in the Old Norse sources. In the Marvel cosmography, this is the place that contains Hel, the realm of those dead souls who were not chosen to spend eternity in Valhalla. The goddess Hela reigns over Hel.

While Hel is not enjoyable, it's also not as bad as the realms of Hell (yes, the distinction matters). That said, Niffelheim contains the serpent Nidhogg who gnaws on the corpses of cowards and oath-breakers. It is not exactly hospitable to the living.

8 Muspelheim

Muspelheim is a realm of flames and is one of the nine worlds connected to one another by the World Tree, Yggdrasil. Among those who reside there are Sindr the Queen of Cinders and the fire giant Surtur.

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This place is portrayed a lot like the Christian version of Hell (notice the second L, as it's basically the opposite environment of the Norse Hel). Surtur is even drawn with demon-like horns. Generally, anyone who does not enjoy being on fire should probably not spend much time in Muspelheim. The same goes for folk who don't want to get smote by fire giants.

7 Jotunheim

The realm of the frost giants in Marvel, Jotunheim is a world of eternal winter. The giants (or jotunns) who live here are portrayed as warlike tribal killers who respect raw strength and are driven by an uncompromising sense of hatred toward their enemies (which is to say anyone within striking distance, or really whoever a jotunn happens to be thinking about at a given moment).

Humans can survive here for a while, so long as they don't die of hypothermia or get squashed by any of the local inhabitants. Interestingly, the character Loki is the child of the giant Laufey, who in Marvel is the King of Jotunheim (though, like Loki, the original sources about Laufey depict the giantess quite differently from her interpretation in the comics).

6 Svartalfheim

Svartalfheim is the land of the dark elves ("svartalfar," being Old Norse for "swarthy elves"). The comics usually show the geography of Svartalfheim to be filled with deep dark forests and dank boglands, while the warlike dark elves are depicted as experts on hunting and black magic. Many of the residents of this land are seen living in abject poverty, while their leaders casually inflict suffering on the populace.

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The most famous dark elf in this land is the character Malekith the Accursed (who is not based on older sources but is a completely original character created by Walter Simonson). Malekith enjoys torturing his own people, torturing his enemies, and riding winged tigers into battle.

5 Midgard

Midgard is just the Old Norse name for Earth (literally the "Middle Realm"). Frankly, Earth is a really not-nice place in the main Marvel Universe.

There are supervillain attacks every half hour or so, widespread anti-mutant racism, violent religious cults, and legitimately recognized governments run by fascist organizations like Hydra. Major metropolitan cities are blown up annually while evil oil companies like Roxxon are actively destroying the world without consequences. Alien armies have repeatedly tried to save the cosmos from the threat of this underdeveloped world. On the other hand, there's Odin Burger, the Avengers, and the Stark Tech apps on smart phones, so it's still noticeably better than living in a place where everything is on fire.

4 Alfheim

Alfheim is the home of the light elves, a world of enchanted forests and rich bountiful growth. The light elves of Marvel are a joyous lot, though when it comes time for war, they are as ready to fight as any group in the realms. In peace time, they enjoy drinking firefly wine and have domesticated both unicorns and giant winged cats to ride. Plus, sugary desserts literally grow as forms of candied plant-life, which strongly implies that elves must be immune to diabetes given their diet.

They are ruled by Queen Aelsa Featherwine, whose subjects also seem to include the pixies and mermaids of the world. Like the fey of Celtic lore, light elves are harmed by iron.

3 Nidavellir

What could be better than a realm of elves, unicorns, and domesticated flying cats? Why, the land of dwarves, where the mead horn is never far from one's lips and the fire of the smiths' forges are capable of creating just about any modern miracle! During the event Fear Itself, dwarves even worked with Tony Stark to make him a new Iron Man armor.

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Genearally, dwarves are portrayed as stoic, stubborn, thick-headed, and industrious, as well as some of the only folk who drink more mead than the average Asgardian.

2 Vanaheim

There are two groups of gods in Norse religious cosmology: the Aesir and the Vanir. The Vanir are the nature gods who live in the realm of Vanaheim.

In the Marvel Universe, Vanaheim is one of the three highest realms on the World Tree, Yggdrasil (the other two being Asgard and Alfheim). Nature deities like the sea god Njord are known to reside here. Ruins of its past greatness dominate the landscape, though it still has a presence in current events, as was seen when Vaneheim sent two senators to represent the realm as part of the Congress of Worlds.

1 Asgard

Asgard is the realm of the gods, the home of such deities as Odin, Thor, and Frigga. Ever since Jack Kirby first drew this realm in the pages of Journey Into Mystery #85 back in 1962, this has been a place of splendor, its magnificent gilt halls hosting feasts fit for the gods.

Asgardians can travel between the realms by using the Rainbow Bridge. They also have vaults stocked with magical artifacts that can assist them in the miracles they perform. There is good reason why this is generally the most celebrated of all the realms, for the place where the gods make their home is truly a realm of unearthly delights.

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