Compiled by Tony Lewis from Translations of the Original Sources
The Creation Myth of the Æsir
Before the Earth was made, there was only the Great Void, which we call Ginnungagap, between the two worlds of ice and fire. The world of ice, Niflheim, lay to the north, and within it was the fountainhead from which all rivers flow. To the south was Muspelheim, the world of fire. In the Void, the heat from the south and the north’s cold cancelled each other out, creating a temperate region of swirling mists. One of the rivers out of Niflheim, called Elivagar, was not made of water—it was pure venom. And as the venom froze in the intense cold, it crusted over with salty rime-frost, creating great chunks of poison ice. These were carried into Ginnungagap, where the heat from Muspelheim began to melt them, making a toxic mist that then fell as venom-rain. This eroded the ice chunks further, until they formed the shape of a man. The heat and sparks that drifted in from Muspelheim gave the figure life, but he had an evil nature due to the venom in his veins. This was Ymir, first of the wicked Frost-Giants.
When Ymir awoke, he was hungry. Yet there was nothing to eat in Ginnungagap, not even grass. In search of food, he walked to the very edge of Niflheim, but found only a barren wasteland of ice and snow. He then wandered to the borders of Muspelheim, but found only a land of hot coals, lava, and slag that no traveler could cross. In despair, he returned to the center of the Void, where the icy rivers were melting, and from the ice emerged a big fat cow called Audumbla. From her udders ran four streams of milk, so Ymir ran to her, threw himself on the muddy ground, and sucked on her teats until his belly was full.
Having gorged himself on Audumbla’s warm milk, Ymir soon passed out on the ground and slept. A warm breeze was blowing in from the south, and Ymir’s body got sweaty as he tossed and turned. The sweat in his armpits congealed into a daughter and a son—the mother of all witches and the father of all warlocks. As Ymir slept, his stinky feet had sex with each other, producing another son—the father of all seers and soothsayers. These vile offspring also suckled on Audumbla’s udders, and she soon grew skinny and weak.
With no grass or other food fit for a cow, Audumbla could only lick the large blocks of ice along the riverbank, which she found to be salty and yeasty. She licked one tall shaft of ice all day long, and by the time evening came, a man’s golden hair was visible inside the top of the column. The next day, Audumbla licked and sucked on the icy pillar again, and by evening, she could see the man’s beautiful face, looking as if he were sleeping peacefully. The third day, her tongue moved all around the icy shaft, quick as lightning, until the man’s whole body was exposed. His sky-blue eyes opened and he took his first breath, and Audumbla marveled at his tightly muscled frame. This was Búri, Father of the Gods.
Ymir and his filthy children feared the powerful Búri, so they withdrew to some dank caves close to Niflheim, where the ranks of the Frost-Giants grew. Búri roamed far and wide across Ginnungagap, gaining in strength and wisdom, which he then imparted to his son Bor. In time, Bor became the scourge of Ymir’s kin, and after defeating a craven giant named Bölthorn, he demanded the villain’s comely daughter as his mate. Thus, Bor and Bestla were wed, and she provided him with three mighty sons: Odin, Vili, and Vé.
The sons of Bor set out to rid the world of Ymir and his wicked brood. Together, they struck down Ymir, and when he fell, a raging tide of blood gushed forth from his body and drowned all the Frost-Giants, save two—through sheer luck a giant called Bergelmir clung to his workbench, which floated on the waves and carried him and his wife to safety. They were banished to the wilderness of Jötunheim, and from them are descended the lesser races of giants. Triumphant, Odin, Vili, and Vé took Ymir’s corpse and used it to fashion the Earth. From his broken bones and teeth they made the rocks and mountains; from his pulped flesh they made the land, and from his blood and sweat they made the salty sea. The gods took Ymir’s skull also and, emptying out his brains, they set it above the Earth to serve as the vault of the heavens. It was held aloft by four Dwarfs who were called North, South, East, and West. The gods captured the sparks drifting out of Muspelheim and thus created the stars and the planets. Finally, they took Ymir’s lumpy gray brain matter and used it to make storm clouds. The gods called this world Midgard, and it would come to be the verdant abode of mortals.
The Creation Myth of the Jötnar
Before the Earth was made, there was only the Great Void, which we call Ginnungagap, between the two worlds of ice and fire. The world of ice, Niflheim, lay to the north, and within it was the fountainhead from which all rivers flow. To the south was Muspelheim, the world of fire. In the Void, the heat from the south and the north’s cold cancelled each other out, creating a temperate region of swirling mists. One of the rivers out of Niflheim, called Elivagar, was salty and brimming with yeasts and peat, and as it froze in the intense cold, it built up with layer upon layer of rime-frost, creating floating white mountains. These were carried into Ginnungagap, where the heat from Muspelheim began to melt them, making a thick mist that then fell as a warm rain. This eroded the ice further, until it formed the shape of a man. The heat and sparks that drifted in from Muspelheim worked upon the enriched ice and brought the figure to life. The child of hot and cold, this was Ymir, Father of the Gods.
Ymir rose to his feet and surveyed his domain. He traveled to the very edge of Niflheim, which he saw was a barren wasteland of ice and snow. He then walked to the borders of Muspelheim, but found only a land of hot coals, lava, and slag that no traveler could cross. Satisfied, he settled in the verdant center of Ginnungagap, where the icy rivers were melting. Desiring companionship, Ymir called forth from the rushing waters the beautiful goddess Audumbla, and she became his wife.
Ymir and Audumbla loved each other with a great passion, and they were soon blessed with a daughter and a son—Vitholf, the Forest Wolf, who would become the mother of all sibyls and wise women, and Svarthofthi, the Black Head, who would become the father of all sorcerers and alchemists. In due course, they had a third child—Vilmeith, the Wish-Tree, who would be the father of all seers and soothsayers. When her babies were fussy, Audumbla would give them small chunks of the salty river ice to suck on. As the ice chunks melted, the babies would find inside them the tiny, pale forms of gnomes and spit them out. The first of these gnomes was called Búri, and Audumbla and her children laughed at his foolishness. However, Ymir was not amused, and so he banished the gnomes to the muggy swamps near Muspelheim.
As time passed, Ymir and Audumbla produced a mighty race of gods, but they were endlessly plagued by the craven Búri and his wretched offspring. His deceitful son, Bor, took the goddess Bestla as his wife by tricking her father, Bölthorn, and this shameful union produced the three villainous brothers, Odin, Vili, and Vé, who would bring woe to Ymir’s kin. When they were grown, these hoodlums ambushed Ymir and stabbed him in the back. As Ymir’s powerful frame crashed to the ground, a torrent of blood raged forth and washed away all that lived in the Great Void—all save clever Bergelmir, who foresaw the gnomes’ treachery and had built a wooden raft that carried him and his wife to safety. They sailed to a paradise that they called Jötunheim, and there they produced the many races of the Jötnar—the Frost-Giants, the Storm-Giants, and the Mountain-Giants.
In the Great Void, Odin, Vili, and Vé desecrated Ymir’s body—grinding up his bones and teeth to make the rocks for a new world, pulping his flesh to make new land, and mixing his blood, sweat, and tears into a new ocean. They took his skull and set it up as the dome of a new sky, to be held up forever by four slaves called North, South, East, and West. The villains then captured the sparks drifting out of Muspelheim and thus created their own stars and planets. Finally, they took Ymir’s brains and hung them in the sky as storm clouds. The gnomes called this corpse-world Midgard, and it would come to be the frightful abode of mortals.
