Adapted from D’Aulaires’ Norse Gods and Giants

“Early in the morning of time there was no sand, no grass, no lapping wave. There was no earth, no sun, no moon, no stars. There was Niflheim, a waste of frozen fog, and Muspelheim, a place of raging flames. And in between the fog and the fire there was a gaping pit – Ginungagap.”

Niflheim

Ginungagap

Muspelheim

Embers from Muspelheim and crystals of ice from Niflheim whirled together, until a spark of life arose.

Ymir the frost giant, the first of the race of jotuns, was the ugly shape that rose roaring from Ginungagap.

Audhumla, Ymir’s hornless ice cow, came from the pit as well.

They lived together on the rim of Ginungagap.

Ymir the jotun did not want for food, for 4 rivers of snow-white milk flowed frothy and delicious from the enormous cow’s udder.

Ymir drank and drank and grew to a towering height.

Audhumla nourished herself by licking the salty brim of Ginungagap.

For a long time, there remained only Ymir and Audhumla; that is, until a male and female came to life (while Ymir slept) in the warmth of his armpit and a troll with six heads sprouted from his feet.

The jotuns and trolls grew quickly and had offspring of their own.

Audhumla, on the other hand, gave life to an altogether new and incredibly handsome creature life by licking the brine with her warm tongue.

The jotuns

trolls

Audhumla brings about life

This new, handsome creature had a son who was even more handsome, and the son took for himself a beautiful jotun maiden wife (sometimes an ugly giant would have a beautiful wife).

She bore her husband three sons who were so fair that a radiance spread from them and lit up the darkness.

They were the first of the Aesir gods: Odin, Hoenir and Lodur – Spirit, Will and Warmth.

They were high and holy and had the power to create a world.

The Aesir gods’ first order of business, though, was to get rid of the frost giant Ymir.

They killed Ymir and pushed his hulking mass into Ginungagap.

Brine flowed from his wounds and flooded over the rim of Ginungagap.

Audhumla drowned , along with Ymir’s offspring, with the exception of a very strong jotun and his (probably even stronger) mate.

They clambered onto an ice floe and went to live on the outer shores of the sea that was created from Ymir’s brine.

This realm became known as Jotunheim and the Aesir neither pursued them nor visited.

Odin, Hoenir and Lodur

YMIR’S

DEATH

The Aesir raised Ymir’s body from the sea and made Midgard, the earth, from it.

Ymir’s flesh became the soil, his bones the mountains, his teeth boulders and stones.

They pushed Niflheim deep underground where its icy fog could not freeze the earth.

Ymir’s huge skull was set over land and sea as the dome of the heavens.

This prevented the sparks from the fires of Muspelheim from setting the new world ablaze.

They caught some of the sparks and fastened them to the dome that was Ymir’s skull: these became the sun, moon and stars.

Odin, Hoenir and Lodun made two teams of horses, put the moon, sun and stars into a cart behind them, and set the horses trotting across the sky.

First came the moon. The manes of his horses were covered with frost, which spread a silvery light over Midgard.

Then came the sun. She was so bright that she bathed the earth with a golden light, and she was so hot that the Aesir tied bellows to the flanks of her horses to keep them from being burned.

Jotuns and trolls are creatures of darkness. They could change their shape at will, so two of them disguised themselves as wolves and chased after the sun and moon in an attempt to devour them. The sun and moon ran for their lives.

They ran round and round the sky, always with the wolves at their heels, never daring to pause.

And so there were noon and dusk and dark and dawn on earth.

Related to the Aesir gods were the Vanir gods, who lived in Vanaheim.

They ruled over rain and soft winds and sent gentle showers to the earth.

As the rains fell and the warm rays of the sun shone on Ymir’s bones, the stubble of his beard sprouted as green grass and spread over the valleys and glens.

His hair grew into deep forests. Birch, ash, and oak unfolded their

leaves, and forests of pine and fir grew dense and dark.

It was a beautiful, fresh, green earth and the Aesir began to people it.

Nice job, Aesir!

First they made the light elves, shining creatures, bright as sunbeams and light

as leaves. Their homes were not on earth, but high up in

the air in the shimmering world of Alfheim, which the Aesir made just for

them.

There were worms burrowing deep underground in Ymir’s ore-laden veins.

The Aesir changed them into gnomes and gave them tools to mine precious metals.

Gnomes were not friendly: they were grumpy and tricky little men who hobbled along and spoke with shrill, echoing voices.

But, they were marvelous miners and smiths, and they kept the Aesir well-supplied with gold, silver and iron.

Then the Aesir made sprites and spirits to inhabit the land and sea and care for every hillock, every mountain, every lake and every waterfall.

And last, they made the fish to swim in the sea, birds to soar in the sky, and animals to run about and prowl in the field and forests.

The Aesir were pleased with their hard work.

But there was something missing: they had no one to worship them . . . so they decided to create man!