What forest do Lif and Lifthrasir hide in?

Líf and Lífþrasir hide in Hoddmímis holt, usually rendered in English as Hoddmimir’s wood or forest.

The prophecy appears in the Poetic Edda poem Vafþrúðnismál and is repeated in Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda. During Fimbulvetr, the terrible winter preceding Ragnarök, the two humans shelter there and survive by eating morning dew.

After the destruction, Líf and Lífþrasir emerge and repopulate the renewed world. Their survival echoes the earlier creation of humanity from the trees Askr and Embla.

A common mix-up is Yggdrasil. Some scholars interpret Hoddmímis holt as another name for the world tree, or as a place closely associated with it, but the myth’s named hiding place is Hoddmímis holt. Myrkviðr and Ironwood are different mythological woods or forests.