The Origin of the World According to Norse Mythology

     How was the Origin of the World According to Norse Mythology? Creation is a very relevant Theme and many civilizations, religions (and science) try to explain it, but until today, nothing concrete, check it out.

Creation in Nordic Mythology:

     First there was Chaos, which was the Nothing of the World, and that was all there was to it. Neither Heaven nor Sea nor Earth, none of it was. Only three realms coexisted: the Ginnungagap (the Great Void), primitive and void abyss, situated between Musspell (also called Muspelheim) - the Fire Realm - and Niflheim (the Misty Land), land of darkness and icy mists. For many eons it went on, until the mists slowly rose from the depths of the Niflhein and formed in the ghastly abyss of Ginnungagap a gigantic block of ice.

Ymir, the primitive creature:

     From the abominably torrid heights of the Musspell, hot air descended, and this meeting of the descending heat and the cold rising from Niflheim began to cause the immense block of ice to melt. After a few thousand more eons - since time, then, was not measured by the very brief years of our busy calendars, the ice was melting and dripping and leaving a glimpse, once icy solution and thick white cover, a form of a giant.

     Ymir was her name, and because she was a primitive creature, endowed only with instincts, Manichaeism immediately named her bad (Manichaeism: explanations of reality in naming good and bad). Ymir slept through all these ages, while the ice that covered him slowly melted, drop by drop, until, under the effect of Musspell's scorching heat, which never ceased to descend from the heights, he began to sweat.

     The sweat that flowed copiously from his body thus joined the ice water that flowed from his mighty limbs, and this life-giving sweat gave rise to the first living beings. From under his arm a couple of giants appeared and from the union of their legs another being of the same species, called Thrudgelmir, came into the world. These three giants were the first creatures, which arose from Ymir; later, Thrudgelmir would spawn Bergelmir, who would give rise to all the offspring of the giants.

During Creation:

     However, from the melting ice there had also emerged, in addition to the aforementioned monstrosities, a prosaic cow named Audhumla, from whose prodigious teats flowed four rivers, which fed the giant Ymir. Audhumla was nourished by the salty ice, which continually licked from the surface, and from this ice the hair of a being appeared on the first day; in the second, his head; and finally, in the third, the entire body. This creature from the ice was called Buri and was the progenitor of the gods. Their first son was called Bor, and since father and son recognized each other, they began to fight the giants, who harbored an uncontrollable hatred and jealousy for them.

     This was the first war the universe had ever heard of and countless eons followed without anyone gaining supremacy. Finally, Bor married the giantess Bestla, and from this union emerged three notable gods: Odin (also called Wotan), Vili, and Ve. Of the three the most important was Odin, who will one day become the greatest of all gods. And because it will be like that one day, he himself said to his brothers:

-Let us join Bor and destroy Ymir, the evil father of the giants!

     The four together then defeated the mighty giant, and with his death almost all of the others of their kind ended up drowned in Ymir's blood. One couple, however, escaped the massacre: Bergelmir and his companion, who built a boat out of a dug log and took refuge in Jotunheim, the land of the giants, where they spawned many others. Since then, enmity has definitely been established between gods and giants, each living freely in their territory, but always on the alert against the enemy.

     From the remains of the corpse of the gigantic Ymir, Odin and his brothers molded Midgard (Middle Earth): from their flesh, was made the earth; while from his bones and his teeth were made stones and mountains. Ymir's abundant blood ran throughout the land and gave rise to the great river that surrounds the universe.

"Let us now put Ymir's skull in the sky," Odin said to his brothers, after they had completed the first task.

The Creation of the World was Idealized by Odin!

     Odin had four dwarves hold the skull suspended in the sky, each at one of the cardinal points. Then, from the sparks of Musspell's fire, sprang the sun, moon, and stars; while, from the brain of the giant, they were engendered like clouds, which cover the entire sky.

     However, after stirring the giant's flesh, with which they molded the earth, the three gods discovered in it a large nest of worms. Odin penalized these creatures then decided to give them another abode, other than Midgard. The subhuman beings, who seemed a little more turbulent than the others, were called Dwarves and were given their abode in the dark depths of the earth (Svartafheim). The rest, who seemed to have a nobler way of proceeding, were called Elves and were given an abode as mild regions of Alfheim.

     Once the creation of Midgard was completed, one day, Odin, Vili and Ve were walking on the earth to see if everything was perfect, when there were two large pieces of logs fallen to the ground, near the ocean. Odin had been watching them for a long time, until at last he had another great idea:

-Brothers, let's make one of these trunks a man and the other a woman!

     And so it was done: he was called As (Ash) and she was called Embla (Olmo). Odin gave them life and encouragement; Vili, intelligence and feelings; and Ve, the senses of sight and hearing. This was the first couple, who walked the earth and gave rise to all the human races that would inhabit successive ages in Middle-earth.

     After Midgard and the men were done, Odin decided it was necessary that the gods also have an exclusive abode for themselves:

- Let's make Asgard and let there be the home of the gods! he exclaimed, who, as it turns out, was a god of inexhaustible energy and will.

Check: Creation in Greek Mythology

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