- "In the north, golden-haired, blue-eyed barbarians, descendants of the blond arctic savages, have driven the remaining Hyborian tribes out of the snow countries, except the ancient kingdom of Hyperborea, which resists their onslaught. Their country is called Nordheim, and they are divided into the red-haired Vanir of Vanaheim, and the yellow-haired Æsir of Asgard."
- ―The Hyborian Age.
In the uppermost north are four true lands: Cimmeria, Hyperborea, and Nordheim — this last includes both Asgard and Vanaheim, split asunder by a rivalry that goes back to generations beyond counting. Though the Nordheimer are alike save for their enmity, the three distinct strains of northern barbarians cannot be more different. Nordheimer are just as savage and barbaric as the others, but theirs is a joyful and prideful barbarism, while the Cimmerians are dour and sullen, unruly and withdrawn. Where a Nordheimer is boisterous and loud, a Cimmerian glowers. The Hyperboreans, on the other hand, are a fey race and possess a rough brutality, lacking any respect for the sanctity of life. Though they are the most civilized by virtue of their city-building, they are the most remote from their neighbors in Asgard and Cimmeria.
This category addresses these countries in some detail, though any civilized person that claims to understand the barbaric soul is no doubt as touched in the head as is Old Gorm, who speaks to the spirits. In Nordheim and Cimmeria, the Hyperboreans are thought to be brutal yet civilized, while to Aquilonia, Nemedia, and other Hyborian kingdoms, Hyperboreans are no less savage, and more detestable for their practice of slavery.
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