InNorse mythology,Andlang (alsoǪndlangr) is described as the second heavenly realm which stretches between the first, containing the halls of the gods, and the third, namedVídbláin.[1] In all there are nine heavens according toSnorri.[2] Andlang will serve as a shelter and dwelling place for the souls of the dead during and after the destruction ofRagnarök.
Holtsmark (1964) noted that Snorri's Andlang derived fromandlegr himinn ("spiritual heaven") in the medieval Icelandic version of theElucidarius, creditingHjalmar Falk for this inspiration,[3][4] adding her own insight that theand- heading made the term readily associable withandi "spirit" (Norwegian:ånd) which was in a way synonymous "elves,"[5] which fits in with the fact that Snorri describeslight elves as denizens of the third heaven, Vídbláin.Rudolf Simek (1995), in similar line of inquiry, explores a functional connection between Andlang and theCoelus Spiritualis (the "spiritual heaven" in the original Latin version of theElucidarius).[6]
Other attempts at interpretation include "long-" or "far-breathing" (Magnusen 1828) and "limitless aether" (Weidenbach 1851),[7] which identify the stemönd- "breath". It has also been glossed as "endlessly long" (Eduard 1843), consistent with the gloss "extended" or "very long" given in Anthony Faulkes's translation of theProse Edda.[8]