Ymir – Primordial Norse Giant Whose Body Parts Formed The World

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Norse creation myth in the Poetic Edda tells how the gods were born and how the earth was created.

It is said that there was nothing, only an empty void without any existence at the beginning. It was the Ginnungagap.

Credit: Adobe Stock - Alejandro

Ymir, was the primeval giant and the first living creature that appeared before the earth had been created. He emerged from melting ice in the gulf of Ginnungagap, located between Niflheimr, the land of ice and shadows in the north, and Muspellsheimr, the realm of fire in the south.

Ymir represents a significant figure in the Norse cosmogony.

Emergence Of The First Norse Giants

According to “Vafthrudnismal”, which is part of the Poetic Edda, Ymir was the ancestor of the frost giants, who also call him Aurgelmir. He gave rise to the race of giants. While he slept, he began to perspire, and a man and woman were born from his left armpit, and one of his feet created a giant son. Ymir fed on the milk of the cow Audhumla (Auðumla), who was also born from the melting ice.

To nourish herself, the cow licked the ice, and after three days of licking, she caused the emergence of a strong and very handsome man named Buri.

God Odin with his trusted ravens, Hugin and Munin. Credit: Adobe Stock - Kalleeck

Like the giant Ymir, also Buri was able to reproduce, and he had a son, Burr (or Borr), who married Bestla, the daughter of a frost giant, Bolthorn. The pair had three sons: the god Odin, one of the most powerful gods in the Norse pantheon, while his brothers Vili and Vé, were known as the rulers of Heaven and Earth.

Killing Of The Giant Ymir

There was a time when the descendants of Ymir had multiplied significantly, and it was not possible to coexist with Ymir and his race in peace. The brothers Odin, Vili, and Ve had to make an important decision – to put Ymir to death and so it happened. Much blood flowed from Ymir’s body, and all but one frost giant drowned.

This giant was Belgermir, who survived Ymir’s death and the terrible flood that followed. He and his wife rode the gigantic flood on a hollowed out tree trunk that served them as a boat.

Belgermir became the progenitor of a new race of giants and other terrible creatures that survived in Jotunheim - one of the three huge roots of the World Tree, Yggdrasil.

This new race of giants was continuously troublesome, and Thor, the mighty thunder god, traveled often to Jotunheim to battle the giants.

How The World And People Were Created

From Ymir’s body, Odin and his brothers created the world. The earth was made out of his flesh; rocks from his bones; stones and gravel from his teeth; and lakes, rivers, and the sea were formed from his blood. The skull of Ymir formed the sky and was located over the earth. His brain the brothers cast to the winds and so clouds were created.

Finally, four dwarves were placed at each corner of the sky to hold it up.

Odin, Vili, and Ve did not forget about nature when they used Ymir’s hair to create flora on the earth. They also placed a gigantic sea around their newly created earth, and Ymir’s eyelashes were used to form a fortification against the giants.

Now, the realm of humans – Midgard – was established, and the brothers found two tree trunks and created people Ask and Embla and gave them a face, breath, and life, movement, consciousness, speech, hearing, and sight.

Ash and Embla gave the beginning to all those who inhabited Midgard and the killing of Ymir contributed to the creation of the world and people to live in it.

Updated on December 27, 2021

Written by A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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