Creation 17
The Chasm There were no Sun , no Moon , no stars , no land or sea . There was only a great yawning void called Ginnungagap .
To the north of Ginnungagap was Niflheim , land of cold mists ; to the south was Muspellheim , the land of fire . From Niflheim ’ s spring , Hvergelmir , flowed the 11 poisonous rivers of the Elivagar . They emptied into the chasm , froze , and filled it with venomous ice . From Muspellheim came sheets of fire that turned the ice into mists and dense fog .
For millions of years fire and ice interacted with each other until at last there came sparks of life . The first life took the form of a huge , proto-giant , Ymir , and a gigantic cow , Audhumla , that nourished Ymir with her milk . She in turn licked the salty stones around Ginnungagap for nourishment .
As Audhumla licked at the icy , salty stones , she uncovered the hairs of a man ’ s head . Soon she uncovered the entire head and finally the whole body of a handsome , manlike creature . He was Buri , the ancestor of the gods .
Buri produced a son named Bor , who married a giantess , Bestla , who gave him three sons , Odin , Vili , and Ve , the first gods .
Meanwhile , as Ymir slept , hordes of hideous giant children sprouted from his body . They were the Hrimthurssar , also known as the rime-giants or frost giants .
Odin and his brothers , the sons of Bor , quarreled with the unruly gang of giants . Finally , they attacked and killed Ymir , the father of them all . Immense floods of blood spurted from the fallen giant and drowned all the rime-giants except Bergelmir and his wife , who rode out the flood on a hollowed tree trunk .
Odin , Vili , and Ve dragged Ymir ’ s huge body to Ginnungagap , and there they set about creating the worlds . They made the earth from his flesh , mountains and hills from his bones , and rocks and boulders from his teeth . His curly hair became leafy trees and all vegetation . The lakes and seas and oceans were made from his blood .
Sky Then they made the sky ’ s dome from Ymir ’ s skull and flung his brains aloft to make the clouds . Snorri says the four dwarfs Nordi , Sudri , Austri , and Vestri held up the four corners of the sky . The four points of the compass — north , south , east , and west — are named after these dwarfs . The gods took sparks and embers from Muspellheim ’ s fires and made the Sun , Moon , and stars .
Jotunheim The new gods , the sons of Bor , gave to the new generation of giants , known as the Jotun — the race founded by Bergelmir — the land named Jotunheim . They asked that the giants stay there .
Midgard Then they put Ymir ’ s eyebrows around a green piece of land , forming a pleasant enclosure they called Midgard , or Middle Earth .
Night and Day Once the gods had created the world and placed the Sun and Moon in the sky , they made night and day .
Nott ( Night ) was a beautiful giantess with a dark complexion and hair of midnight black . She was the daughter of Narfi , one of the first giants . She married three times . Her first husband was Naglfari , father of Aud . Her second was annar , father of Jord . With her third husband , Delling , she had a son named Dag ( Day ).
The gods sent Nott and Dag into the heavens in horse-drawn chariots to ride around the world . They created darkness and light , as one followed the other through the skies .
Nott drove first , with her lead horse , Hrimfaxi . The froth from his bit fell to Earth as dewdrops . After Nott came Dag with his horse , Skinfaxi . His golden glow lit up the heavens and the Earth .
Sun and Moon The gods placed the Sun and the Moon in chariots , also drawn by splendid horses . The horses were driven by Sol and Mani , the daughter and the son of a man from Midgard whose name was Mundilfari .
Sol ’ s horses were Arvakr and Alsvid . A shield , Svalin , in front of Sol ’ s chariot protected her from the Sun , whose brilliant rays would have burned her to a cinder . Mani ’ s horse was Aldsvider .
Mani , the man of the Moon , stole two Earth children to help him drive his chariot . Their names were Bil and Hjuki .
Sun and Moon could never pause in their journeys across the heavens , for they were forever pursued by the terrible wolves Skoll and Hati Hroduittnisson . Each month Hati , it was said , took a bite out of the Moon and tried to gobble it up . But the Moon escaped and grew whole again . In the end the wolves devour both Sun and Moon and cast the world into darkness at ragnarok .
The First Humans The first man was Ask ( Ash ) and the first woman , Embla ( Elm ). The first three Aesir gods , Odin , Vili , and Ve , created them .
The gods were walking along the seashore when they saw two tree trunks lying at the edge of the