Vili

Midgard lay empty behind the wall that Odin, Vili and Vé had made from Ymir’s eyelashes. The wall enclosed the middle of the world and kept the giants at bay. The lands were beautiful, but nobody crossed the meadows, fished in the waters, climbed the mountains or looked into the sky. The three gods travelled through the world in search of people, but found none.

At the rocky shingle beside the sea, they found two objects cast ashore by the tides. Völuspá names them Ask and Embla, while Snorri’s Gylfaginning describes them as trees or logs. The gods took them up and fashioned two human beings, one male and one female. Vé carved the male form from one object and the female form from the other.

The first god gave the figures spirit and life. The second gave them understanding and the power of movement. The third gave them form, speech, hearing and sight. The two figures thus received the qualities needed to live and understand the world around them.

The gods made clothes for the man and woman. The clothing covered them and kept them warm in the sea spray on the shore. They then gave them names. The man was called Ask, and the woman was called Embla. They remained in Midgard, protected by the wall from giants, monsters and the dangers beyond it. The inhabitants of Midgard, and the whole human race, descended from them.

Ice-cold rivers from Niflheim met the flames of Muspelheim in Ginnungagap. The ice melted, and life appeared in the waters. Ymir emerged, immense beyond comparison. He was both male and female, and became the ancestor of the giants. A vast cow also came into being. She was called Audhumla and lived by licking salt from the ice. Her milk flowed from four udders and nourished Ymir as he grew.

Audhumla licked a person from the ice. On the first day, the hair appeared. On the second, the head was revealed. On the third, the whole man emerged. He was Buri, the ancestor of the gods. Snorri’s Gylfaginning gives this account. A different account describes Ymir as born from melted drops of vapour after Fimbultyr moved over the abyss. Ymir was not a god, but the father of the giants.

When Odin, Vili and Vé had grown to maturity, they attacked Ymir. They stabbed him, and blood poured from his wounds in a flood. It swept through Ginnungagap and drowned the frost giants. Bergelmir and his wife survived by escaping in a boat made from a hollowed tree trunk. Bergelmir vowed revenge against Odin and his brothers, and his descendants continued the feud with the gods.

The gods carried Ymir’s body into Ginnungagap and made the earth from his flesh. His blood became the seas, lakes and rivers. His bones formed the rocks, while his teeth, jaws and broken bones became stones and pebbles. His ribs became mountains in one account. They made the sky from his skull and clouds from his brain. They used glowing sparks from Muspelheim for the sun, moon and stars. His eyebrows became the defensive boundary of Midgard. Dwarfs were placed beneath the four corners of the skull to support the sky. They were called East, West, North and South.