Story · Norse Mythology · 5 chapters
The Creation of the World from Ymir
Between the ice of Niflheim and the fire of Muspelheim, in the void of Ginnungagap, the rime formed the giant Ymir and the cow Auðhumbla. From the salt Auðhumbla licked came the first god, Búri. His descendants — Odin, Vili, and Vé — killed Ymir and made the world from his body: his blood the seas, his flesh the earth, his bones the mountains, his skull the sky [S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗.
historical mythology
The beliefs are pre-Christian (attested archaeologically from the Viking Age); the written sources are Christian-era (1220–1300) and post-hoc. The gap between belief and text is part of what this section presents.
The Primordial Void
Niflheim (ice), Muspelheim (fire), and the gap between [S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗.
Sources[S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗
Ymir and Auðhumbla
The rime formed Ymir; the cow licked him free [S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗.
Sources[S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗
Búri
Sources[S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗
The Three Brothers
Odin, Vili, and Vé, sons of Borr and Bestla [S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗.
Sources[S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗
The World from Ymir
The body of Ymir became the world [S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗.
Sources[S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗
Primary sources[S1]S1 · Poetic Edda (Codex Regius)c. 1270 (preserves earlier oral poetry)textOpen source ↗ [S2]S2 · Snorri Sturluson, Prose Eddac. 1220–1235textOpen source ↗