2.4.3 The Creation of the world
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This article is from the Nordic countries FAQ, by Antti Lahelma and Johan Olofsson, with numerous contributions by others.
2.4.3 The Creation of the world
The tree formed a link between the different worlds. We are never told
of its beginning, but of the creation of the worlds of which it formed
a centre there is much to tell. In the beginning there were two
regions: Muspell in the south, full of brightness and fire; and a
world of snow and ice in the north. Between them stretched the great
emptiness of Ginnungagap. As the heat and the cold met in the midst of
the expanse, a living creature appeared in the melting ice, called
Ymir. He was a great giant, and from under his left arm grew the first
man and woman, while from his two feet the family of frost-giants was
begotten. Ymir fed upon the milk of a cow called Audhumla, who licked
the salty ice-blocks and released another new being, a man called
Buri. He had a son called Bor, and the sons of Bor were the three
gods, Odin, Vili, and Ve. These three slew Ymir the ancient giant, and
all the frost-giants save one, Bergelmir, were drowned in his surging
blood. From Ymir's body they formed the world of men:
... from his blood the sea and the lakes, from his flesh the earth,
and from his bones the mountains; from his teeth and jaws and such
bones as were broken they formed the rocks and the pebbles.
From Ymir's skull they made the dome of sky, placing a dwarf to
support it at each of the four corners and to hold it high above the
earth. This world of men was protected from the giants by a wall, made
from the eyebrows of Ymir, and was called Midgard. The gods created
inhabitants for it from two trees on the sea-shore, which became a man
and a woman. They gave to them spirit and understanding, the power of
movement, and the use of senses. They created also the dwarfs,
creatures with strange names, who bred in the earth like maggots, and
dwelt in hills and rocks. These were skilled craftsmen, and it was
they who wrought the great treasures of the gods. The gods caused time
to exist, sending Night and Day to drive round the heavens in chariots
drawn by swift horses. Two fair children, a girl called Sun and a boy
called Moon, were also set by them on paths across the sky. Sun and
Moon had to drive fast because they were pursued by wolves, who meant
to devour them. On the day when the greatest of the wolves succeeded
in swallowing the Sun, the end of all things would be at hand.
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