1. The Fog-Country and the Fire-World:
Long years before the earth existed, Niflheim
was created. In the midst of it lay
the well Hvergelmir, from which ten ice- cold venomous streams, Elivagar, had
their origin. Niflheim lay toward the
north, but southward there was a place
called Muspell, where it was light and hot,
glowing and burning, and therefore impassable
for any one who had not his home
there. At Muspell's boundary sat Surt as defender of the country, with a flaming
sword in his hand; it was he who at the
destruction of the world was to lead in the
battle against the gods and set the earth on
fire. Midway between the fog-country and the fire-world there was a yawning gulf,
Ginnungagap.
2. The Primitive Giant Ymir.
The waves
of the venomous streams soon froze to ice and the ])oisonous vapor condensed to frost,
which was met hv* tlie warm air from MusI'i'll.
From this contact came into being
the primitive giant Yinir, and lie became the
ancestor of the race of giants, as both
heaven and earth also were afterward constructed
from his bodv.if Once when he was asleep he fell into a perspiration and
from under his left arm came forth a man
and a woman ; but it was even more wonderful
that one of his feet begot a son with
the other. This sou again had a son by name Beryi-lmir.
lite Coic Autltumhi; Bar's Sons.--T\\e
congealed venomous streams continued to send out frost, and from this the cow Antltiniild
stood forth. From her udders there came four streams of milk, from which
Ymir got his nourishment, while the cow
herself lived by licking the salt, frost-cov-
< red stones. On the first dav she licked them
there came forth toward evening a man's hair, the next day a man's head, and the
third day the whole man stood there. He
was named Burl, and was fair, tall, and
mighty to look upon. Later he had a son by name Bor, who married the giant Bolthorn's
daughter Bestla. Their sons were
Odin, Vili, and Ve.
The whole story of the creation is told
explicitly in Snorri's "Edda," but is mentioned
also in the beginning of the old
poem, Voluspa, the Volva's 3.Heaven and Earth:
Bor's sons now
took Ymir and killed him. So much blood
flowed from his wound that all his progeny was drowned in it, with the exception of
his son's son Bergelmir and his wife, who
saved themselves from the streams of blood
in a boat or tree-trunk, and later became
the ancestors of a new race of giants. But
Bor's sons took the giant's body, brought it out into tin- midst of the yawning gulf, mid
formed heaven and earth from it. In one of the Kddir poems we get more
exact information as to how this came to pass:
The heaven was made fast over the earth
liy four corners; under each of these sat a dwarf who bore the same name as the cor- ner of the earth. The sparks that went out
from Muspell, the sons of Bor placed everywhere
in the sky over the yawning gulf, so
that thevi should illuminate the world. Now
it was the sun, moon, and stars which had
their places and courses appointed for men's
computation of time, while the lightning
went freely around. The earth was spher-ical in form, and out around it flowed the
great sea, along whose coast the giants
obtained land for settlement Joturiheim,
'Giants' Home.' But midway between, Odin
and his brothers constructed Mithgarth,
hedged about with the primitive giant's eyelashes
; there, men were to have their dwelling-place.
REMARK. Terms like Mithgarth, applied to the world of men, appear among the Goths, Anglo-Saxons,
and Germans. In a Danish ballad our dead Lord begs leave to return to Middelhjem.
4. Day and Night. In Jotunheim there
dwelt meanwhile a man who was named
Nor, and who had a daughter by the name
of Nat. She was dark and swarthy, like all her family. Nat was married to Delling,
of Bor's race, and with him she had a son, Dag, who was light and handsome like his
father. Odin now took mother and son and
set them up in heaven, over which they were to drive every twenty-four hours.
Nat drives first with the steed Hrimfaxi,
from whose bit foam flies down over the
earth ; this is what we call dew. Following after comes Dag with his steed Skinfa.ri,
whose mane throws radiance over air and
laud.
5. Sun and Moon: A man, bv name Mundilfari,
had two children, who were so fail- that he called the son Mani and the daughter
Sol. But the gods were offended at his
arrogance and placed both the children up
in heaven, where they have to drive the cars of the moon and sun. The sun steeds were called Arvak and Alsvitli, 'perfectly
wise'; under their bellies were two pairs
of bellows to cool them. Mani guides the course of the moon and controls its in- crease and its waning.
The reason that Sol and Mani pass so hurriedly over is that they are pursued by
wolves. Their mother is a giantess, who
dwells in the forest Janii'ith, east of Mithgartli.
The moon-wolf is also called Manage!
nn. He is satisfied with flesh of dead
men, and is to redden the seat of the gods
with blood when he swallows the moon;
but this will not happen before the destruction
of the world.
The places and courses of the heavenly bodies determine chronology and the di- visions of the year. Of seasons, only two
are named. The father of Winter is called
Vindsval, but Summer is a son of Svasuth,
'the mild.'
6. Wind and Rainbow: Hraesvelg, 'bodydestroyer,'
is a giant in eagle's form, who
sits toward the north at the end of heaven
and with the blustering strokes of his wings
sends out gales over land and people without
the wind itself ever being seen. Between heaven and earth goes the tri- colored bridge the rainbow which is called
Bif-rost or Asebro. Over this ride the gods
to their place of assembly in heaven with
the exception of Thor, who takes a shorter
route by fording the streams beneath it. If he should drive over with his wagon, Asebro
would break and take fire; but this shall not happen until Ragnarok, when
Surt rides over it at the head of Muspell's
sons. At the end of the bridge up in the
mountains of heaven dwells Heimdall, who
guards the bridge against the mountain
giants.
7. Dwarfs and Elves:In addition to giants and gods, thciv were also created
other living beings, among them dwarfs
and elves.
Dwarfs were small, ugly creatures, but
possessed great sagacity and skill. Some
of them dwelt in stones, others in the earth. According to the Eddie Poems, they were
created from the blood and bones of two
giants whom the gods had slain, while
Snorri relates that they had come into
existence like maggots in the flesh of the
slaughtered Ymir. Nothing distinct is told
of the creation of the Elves. They were
kindly disposed toward gods and men, and
so were called light elves, but in Snorri
dark elves are also mentioned, who soon came to be regarded as evil spirits.
8. The World-Tree and the Noras: In the
midst of the world stood a great tree, the
ash Ygg-drasil (Odin's horse, i.e. Odin's
gallows), at the foot of which the gods had
their place of assembly. This ash is the
largest and best of all trees: the branches
spread themselves over the whole worl.l
and rise high up over heaven. The tree has three main roots.
Snorri relates that one root stands among
the Aesir, the second among the frost- giants, and the third over Niflheim. Under
the last root, upon which the dragon
Nithhogg gnaws, the well Hvergelmir is found. Under the root among the frost- giants lies Mimir's well, in which all wisdom
and understanding are concealed. It
is owned by the giant Mimir, who dips his
drink from it every morning with the
Gjallarhorn. Odin had to pledge one of
his eyes to him for a single draught from
the well of wisdom. Under the worldtree's
third root there is a very sacred
spring, which is called Urth's Well. Here
is the gods' assembly place, where they deliberate
every day and hold their court. By the well there is a splendid hall, inwhich the Norns or Fates have tlieir dwelling.
These deliberate about destinies in the world. In the later Icelandic sources
three are named: Urtli, Verthnndi, and
Xknld, but at times many more are mentioned,
now of the race of gods and now
of the race of elves
The Norns sprinkle the world-tree every
day with water from Urtli's well, that it may thrive and continue fresh. In the well
two swans are nurtured, and from them
the swans of the earth proceed. The water
in the well is so pure that everything which
is moistened in it becomes completely white Of the ash-tree there is still to be told that in its branches lives a very clever
eagle, between whose eyes sits a hawk. Up
and down among the branches darts a
squirrel, Ratatosk, and carries hateful
words between the eagle and Nithhogg.
Again, four deer run between the branches
and eat the leaves of the tree, and in Hvergelinir there are so many serpents that no one can count them.
9. Men are Created:
It chanced one time
that the sons of Bor were walking along the beach, where they found two trees. They pulled them up by the roots and fashioned
two human beings from them, a man
and a woman. The first of the sons gave
them soul and life ; the second, understanding
and the power of motion; the third,
visage, speech, hearing, and sight. After
that they gave them clothing and names. The man they called Ask and the woman
Embla, and from them descend all the in- habitants of Mithgarth, and therefore the
whole human race. In some verses inserted
in the Volva's Prophecy, in which the cre- ation of man is narrated, the three gods
are called Odin, Hcenir and Lothur, while
the sons of Bor are in every other case named Odin, Vili and Ve. The gods now
built for themselves in the midst of the
world a castle, which they called Asgartli.
Odin married Frigg, and from them descend
the gods or the race of Aesir. With
Jorth, Odin had a son, Thor.
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