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In G ylfaginning , Snorri Sturluson adds to the
story, naming Gimle as the hall itself and telling poets
that it lies at the southern end of Heaven. Gimle is
the most prominent of the halls in this world. Other
new halls include Nidafjoll, which is made of red
gold and stands in Sindri, and Brimer, which is in
Okolnir. (See “Regeneration” under Ragnarok.)
G innungagap (Yawning
Void) A great void;
the nothingness at the beginning of time. In his
depiction of Ginnungagap, the 13th-century poet and
historian Snorri Sturluson draws on sources still
known to scholars today, such as the P oetic E dda ,
and contemporary sources that have not survived the
passage of time in order to give a vivid picture of this
aspect of the creation myth.
In Snorri’s portrayal, Ginnungagap lies between
Niflheim, a place of misty ice, and Muspellheim,
a place of raging fire; both are as timeless as the
great void. Ginnungagap had mild, calm air, even as
the rising heat of Muspellheim met the falling ice
of Niflheim. Into this emptiness the venom from
the rivers of Elivagar dripped to form Ymir, the
oldest of the rime-giants. From him came other
giants.
The gods Odin and his brothers came from
the blocks of salt licked by the cow Audhumla,
who also resided in Ginnungagap. They, in turn,
destroyed Ymir, throwing his body parts into
Ginnungagap to form the heavens and Earth and
the seas and mountains. They took embers from
Muspellheim and threw them into the great void to
make the stars.
Linguists who study the Old Icelandic language
of Snorri’s writings suggest that the meaning of Gin-
nungagap suggests a realm of great magical power.
G jallarhorn (Ringing
Horn) The trumpet
horn of the god Heimdall that sounded throughout
the Nine Worlds. Heimdall found the horn hidden
under Yggdrasil. He sometimes left Gjallarhorn
beside Mimir’s Well. At Ragnarok, the end of the
world, the sound of Gjallarhorn would summon gods
and men to battle.
Gjallarhorn is usually pictured as a lur, the ancient
bronze trumpet of Scandinavia, dating back to
about 1000 b.c. Lurs were made in pairs, twisting in
opposite directions so that the two held side by side
looked like the horns of a large animal. Some lurs
have been excavated from the peat bogs of Denmark
and can still be played.
Golden horns of Gallehus in the National Museum
in Copenhagen (Photo by Jan Mehlich/Used under a
Creative Commons license)
G jallarbru (G iallarbru )
The bridge that
crosses the river Gjoll (2) and connects the worlds
of the living with the worlds of the dead. The god
Hermod must cross the Gjallarbru to rescue the
spirit of the recently deceased Balder, son of Odin
and Frigg.
G joll (1) (G jöll ; G ioll )
The great rock
that the gods found deep in the earth and to which
they fastened the chain Gelgja. Gelgja was then
attached to the silken strand Gleipner, which would
eventually hold the wolf Fenrir. Snorri Sturluson
in G ylfaginning pro vides the proper names for these
magical binding objects.
G joll (2) (G ioll )
The river that divides the
worlds of the living from the worlds of the afterlife.
The bridge Gjallarbru crosses this river. The god
Hermod crossed the Gjoll over Gjallarbru as he
hurried to rescue the spirit of Balder, Odin’s son,
shortly after Balder’s death.
G ladsheim
Either the land in which Odin’s
great hall Valhalla was built or the most beautiful
hall in the world and one of Odin’s homes.
According to the poem G rimnismal , Gladsheim
is a region in Asgard, as are Thrudheim, Thor’s
kingdom, and Thrymheim, Thjazzi’s home.
In Snorri Sturluson’s G ylfaginning , however,
Gladsheim is a great hall built by Odin on the plains
of Idavoll. Here Odin established the thrones, or
high seats, of all the Aesir gods. Gladsheim was made
from one solid piece of gold.