Norse Creation Myth

• The Norse tribes inhabited Northern Europe, specifically Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.
• Historically, the Norse were known as "Vikings."
• The Norse were famous for raids along the British Isles and continental Europe.

Creation Myth

• In the beginning, there was nothing but an empty void.
• From this void, two primordial realms emerged: Muspelheim and Niflheim.
• Muspelheim was the realm of fire with intense heat and flame.
• This realm was inhabited by fire giants, including Surtr.
• Niflheim was the realm of ice and eternal frost and cold, standing in stark contrast to Muspelheim.
• Ymir, the progenitor of the frost giants, and the cosmic cow Audhumla resided there.
• Niflheim had icy landscapes and rivers.
• The fiery blasts from Muspell melted the icy mountains of Niflheim.
• Ymir, the first being of the vast Ginnungagap, emerged.
• Next to Ymir emerged a cow from the ice.
• The cow licked salt from the icy mountains, and Ymir drank the cow's milk.
• The cow licked away entire mountains of ice, revealing the god Buri and his wife, the goddess.
• Buri and the goddess had a son named Bor.
• Bor's son, Odin, became the king of the gods.
• Ymir was cruel and brutal.
• Odin and the other gods killed Ymir due to his evil acts.
• Ymir's body formed the earth.
  • His blood became the sea.
  • His flesh became the land.
  • His bones became the mountains.
  • His hair became the trees.
• Odin and the gods formed the sky with his skull.
• The skull was held up by four towering pillars.
• Odin gathered sparks from the fiery depths of Muspell.
• Odin created the sun and moon and set them in the sky.
• As the sun and moon shone over the new world in the Ginnungagap, the ice began to melt, and plants and trees began to grow.
• The greatest tree of all was Yggdrasil, it grew in the earth's center.
  • Its roots penetrated into the bottom of creation
  • Its leaves reached the very top of the sky.
• Odin was satisfied and named the new world Midgard, 'The Middle Land'.
• On one of his walks, Odin found two fallen trees, an ash and an elm,.
• He lifted them from the mud and turned them into the first man and woman.
• Odin breathed life into them, giving them feelings, hearing and sight.
• He named the man Ask and the woman Embla.
• From these two sprang the human a.
• Humans had looking after Midgard, while the gods ascended to Asgard(their home in heaven).
• Ymir's giant sisters mourned his loss and planned their revenge.
• They gathered at the foot of Yggdrasil and started carving lines into it.
• Each line was a human life, filled with twists and turns, beginning with a man's birth, and ending with his death.
• They made sure humans could never be as powerful as the gods.
• Thus, Yggdrasil became known as 'The Tree of Life' and humans knew death an suffering in the world.