Norse Creation Myth

In the beginning of time only Ginnungagap existed.  The land, sea and sky had not been created.  After a long period of time two realms were created.  These realms were called Muspell and Niflheim.  Muspell was made of fire and heat and was to the south of Ginnungagap.  Niflheim was made from ice and cold and was to the north of Ginnunugagap.

Ginnungagap was between the two realms and the eleven rivers of Hvergelmir flowed from its center.  The center was mild until one day Muspell and Neflheim collided.  The ice and cold of Neflheim and the fire and heat of Muspell intermingled and caused the storm of chaos.  Life emerged from the rain in the form of Ymir, the evil frost giant.

One day  while Ymir was sleeping  a man and a woman were born from the sweat of his left armpit.  One of Ymir's legs mated with the other and a son was born.     The ice on Ginnungagap continued to melt and from the melting ice the giant cow, Auohumla, was born.  Milk flowed from her four teats to feed Ymir and his family.  Auohumla fed on the ice that surrounded her.  As she licked the ice a man slowly emerged.  The man's name was Buri the strong.  Buri had a son named Bor.  Bor was married to Bestla, the daughter of a frost ogre.  They had three sons Odin, Villi, and Ve.  The three sons of Bor were gods.       Odin, Villi, and Ve hated Ymir and planned to kill him.  When the three sons of Bor acted on their plans it resulted in a flood of Ymir's blood.  The flood killed all of the frost ogres.  Bergelmir and his wife and family were the only giants to escape.    The gods then took the body of Ymir to the center of Ginnungagap where they created the earth from his body and the oceans from his blood.  They took his bones and made the mountains.  They took his teeth and turned them into rocks, boulders, and pebbles.  The sons of Bor took Ymir's skull and turned it into the sky.  From the maggots on Ymir's rotten body the gods created four dwarves to hold up the sky.  The dwaves were placed at the four corners of the sky which became the directions.  The dwarves were named Nordi, Sudri, Austri, and Vestri.  They took Ymir's brains and placed them in the sky as clouds.     Odin, Villi and Ve then took embers from Muspell and made the sun, moon , and stars.  Then they shaped the earth into a sphere and surrouded it with the ocean.  Then they took Ymir's eyebrows and formed a stronghold which they called Midgard.

One day Odin, Villi and Ve came across two fallen trees, an ash and an elm.  Then Odin created the first man and woman out of the two trees and gave them life.  Villi gave the two intellegence.  Ve gave then hearing, sight, and speech.  They named the man Ask and the woman Embla.  Odin, Villi, and Ve placed the two into Midgard where they would be safe from the remaining giants.     Odin, Villi, and Ve then created time and a way to measure it.  They created night and day and put them into chariots.  The each chariot circled the earth once a day.     There was a man named Mundilfari who had a son named Moon and a daughter named Sun.  It was rumored that Sun and Moon had radiant beauty.  Odin took Sun and Moon and placed them in the sky in order to guide the celestial bodies that shared their names.

(This version of the Norse creation story was adapted from Adam-Leeming's Encyclopedia of Creation Myths and "The Germanic Myth of Creation"

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