The Creation Myth
The ancient Norse culture built on this tradition, creating a mythology to explain the natural world. The Norse people believed that in the very beginning of time there was an enormous void or chasm called Ginnungagap. To the north of Ginnungagap lay Niflheim, the home of mist and darkness, while to the south lay Muspellheim, the home of fire and light. The mist from Niflheim drifted into the vast chasm of Ginnungagap and became blocks of ice. At the same time, sparks flying from Muspellheim fell onto the ice blocks and more steam rose and was formed into blocks of ice. In time, these blocks of ice completely filled the great void.
There also sprang two creatures, Ymir, the first of the ice giants and father of all evil beings, and the cow, Audumla, mother of goodness. From the perspiration of Ymir sprang two giants, and from his feet came the six-headed Thrudgelmir.
In early times,
When Ymir lived,
Was not sand nor sea,
Nor cooling wave;
No earth was found,
Nor heaven above;
One chaos all,
And nowhere grass.
Segmund's Edda
At the same time, Audumla, licking the ice to survive, uncovered Buri, a divine creature and father to all that is good in the universe. Through the use of magic, Buri produced a son, Borr. For a very long time war raged between good and evil, and neither side could gain ascendancy.
In time, Buri met and married Bestla, and they had a son, Odin, the greatest and strongest of all the giant peoples. When Odin came of age he led his brothers against the giants and slew the evil Ymir. The other giants were so stunned a Ymir's death that they stood stock still and were drowned in Ymir's gushing blood. Only two giants escaped: Bergelmir and his wife. They fled to the farthest corner of the universe and set up home, calling it Iotunheim.
Odin rolled Ymir's body into the chasm and from it he created the universe. In the centre of the universe he created Midgard, the home of men, from Ymir's flesh. The hills and mountains were made from Ymir's bones, the stones and rocks from his teeth, and the grass, trees and shrubs from his hair. Midgard was surrounded by a sea of Ymir's blood, and the whole world was protected by a fence made from Ymir's eyebrows. Over this world, to create a sky, Odin placed Ymir's skull supported by four strong dwarves - north, south, east and west. As a final gesture, Odin scattered Ymir's brains inside the hollow of the skull to become white clouds.
But this world was still dark. To create light Odin took hold of some sparks from Muspellheim, the home of fire and light, and hurled them into the sky, creating stars. At the same time, he decided to differentiate night from day. He took two large sparks from Muspellheim and set them in golden chariots to become the sun and moon. The chariot of the sun he gave to a beautiful young woman who had the power to see that the light of the sun shone clear and bright. In the other chariot he placed a handsome young man who had responsibility for the moon.
For a time both sun and moon were visible in the sky simultaneously. However, then the giants exiled in Iotunheim saw these wondrous developments and determined that Midgard should be plunged back into darkness. So they sent two wolves, Skoll and Hati, to devour both the sun and moon. The two chariots fled from the wolves and, according to ancient Norse legend, will do so for ever more - moving continuously across the sky just in front of the ravening wolves.
Having achieved all this, Odin and the other gods decided to survey their work. The first thing they saw was that maggot-like creatures - black ones and also white ones - had infested Ymir's body. Ever creative, Odin and the other gods transformed the white maggots into elves of light who would henceforth take care of everything that grew and who would live in Alfheim - between the earth and the sky. The black maggots were turned into elves of darkness, who were to live beneath the ground and be highly skilled in mining and in the crafting of all materials (similarly to the dwarves of Tolkien's Middle England).
Odin went walking through Midgard with the gods Honir and Loki. They came across two beautiful trees and decided to create new life from them: Ask and Embla, the first human beings from whom all others are descended. Odin's work was almost done. Finally he created the great ash tree, Yggdrasill. This giant of a tree had three roots - one in Midgard, one in Niflheim and one in Asgard - and was of such a size that its branches hung over Odin's halls in Asgard. It was from Yggdrasill that Odin first saw the runes and was able to reach down and grab them, giving the tree a special place in the mythology of the runes.
The Runes
Horik Svensson
ISBN 1-56619-964-6
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