Ymir

In Norse mythology, Ymir is known as the ancestor of all jötnar. Stories about Ymir appear in old writings called the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, which were written down in the 1300s but share older traditions. According to these stories, Ymir was born from special drops that came from icy rivers, and he lived in an empty space called Ginnungagap.

Ymir sucks at the udder of Auðumbla as she licks Búri out of the ice in a painting by Nicolai Abildgaard, 1790.

Ymir had a very unusual family. He created a boy and a girl from his armpits, and his legs together made a six-headed being. Later, the gods Odin, Vili and Vé, made the world from parts of Ymir’s body. His flesh became the land, his blood became the oceans, his bones turned into mountains, his hair became trees, his brains formed the clouds, his skull became the sky, and his eyebrows created the place where humans live, called Midgard.

In another story from the Prose Edda, Ymir was fed by a primeval cow named Auðumbla. The gods eventually killed Ymir, and when he died, his blood caused a huge flood. Scholars sometimes connect Ymir to older stories from other cultures, showing how ancient people thought about the beginnings of the world.

Attestations

Poetic Edda

Ymir is mentioned in four poems in the Poetic Edda; Völuspá, Vafþrúðnismál, Grímnismál, and Hyndluljóð. In Völuspá, an undead völva tells the god Odin about Ymir. Ymir is also called Brimir and Blain. In Vafþrúðnismál, Odin asks the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir questions about the beginning of the world, and Ymir is part of the story. Odin also asks about Ymir’s family and how the jötnar came from him.

In Grímnismál, Odin talks about how the world was made from Ymir’s body. In Völuspá hin skamma (part of Hyndluljóð), Ymir is mentioned again as the ancestor of all jötnar.

Prose Edda

Ymir is mentioned in two books of the Prose Edda; Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál. In Gylfaginning, three characters tell the story of how Ymir came to be from icy rivers called Élivágar. Ymir is described as the ancestor of all jötnar. They also tell how a cow named Auðumbla helped uncover a man named Búri, who is the grandfather of Odin.

The trio of characters also explain how Odin and his brothers killed Ymir and used his body to create the world. They made the Earth from his flesh, the sea from his blood, rocks from his bones, and the sky from his skull. They also mention how the jötnar almost flooded when Ymir was killed, but two survived.

In Skáldskaparmál, there are poetic ways to refer to the sky and earth using Ymir’s name, like “Ymir’s skull” for the sky and “Ymir’s flesh” for the earth.

There was in times of old, where Ymir dwelt,

nor sand nor sea, nor gelid waves;

earth existed not, nor heaven above,

'twas a chaotic chasm, and grass nowhere.

B. Thorpe translation^: 3

"Of old was the age when Ymir lived;

Sea nor cool waves nor sand there were;

Earth had not been, nor heaven above,

But a yawning gap, and grass nowhere."

H.A. Bellows translation^: 4

Then went all the powers to their judgement-seats,

the all-holy gods, and thereon held council,

who should of the dwarfs race create,

from the sea-giant's blood and livid bones.^: 4

"Then sought the gods their assembly-seats,

The holy ones, and council held,

To find who should raise the race of dwarfs

Out of Brimir's blood and the legs of Blain."^: 6

From Ymir's flesh the earth was formed,

and from his bones the hills,

the heaven from the skull of that ice-cold giant,

and from his blood the sea.^: 14

"Out of Ymir's flesh was fashioned the earth,

And the mountains were made of his bones;

The sky from the frost cold giant's skull,

And the ocean out of his blood."^: 74

Of Ymir's flesh was earth created,

of his blood the sea,

of his bones the hills,

of his hair trees and plants,

of his skull the heaven;

and of his brows the gentle powers

formed Midgard for the sons of men;

but of his brain

the heavy clouds are all created.^: 24–25

"Out of Ymir's flesh was fashioned the earth,

And the ocean out of his blood;

Of his bones the hills, of his hair the trees,

Of his skull the heavens high."

"Mithgarth the gods from his eyebrows made,

And set for the sons of men;

And out of his brain the baleful clouds

They made to move on high."^{: 100–101}

Reception

Lost sources

The book Gylfaginning tells a story that uses poems from the Poetic Edda and also adds new details without saying where they came from, like the character Auðumbla. Scholars wonder how much of this story came from sources that are now lost and how much the writer, Snorri Sturluson, made up from the material he had.

Scholar Gabriel Turville-Petre noted that Snorri’s story includes details not found in the poems he used. He mentioned Auðumbla as an example and compared the story to ideas from other cultures, like those from Persia, Vedic traditions, and Egyptian myths about the goddess Hathor.

H.R.E. Davidson said it is hard to know the original form of the creation myth because Snorri knew of at least three different versions.

Tuisto, parallels, and Proto-Indo-European religion

The Roman writer Tacitus described in his work Germania how Germanic tribes had songs about a god named Tuisto, born from the Earth, who was their ancestor. Scholars have tried to connect the name Tuisto to the Proto-Germanic name *Tiwaz, or suggest it means a being with two parts, like both male and female.

Scholars have also linked Ymir to similar early beings in myths from other Indo-European cultures. They suggest that these stories share a common idea: a divine being is broken apart, and the pieces become parts of the world. Examples include Irish tales where a bull’s parts become the land, and ancient stories where a god’s body becomes rivers, mountains, and stars.

Other

Davidson also talked about other myths, like one where a giant’s eyes become stars, and another where a frozen toe becomes a star called “Aurvandil’s Toe.” She suggested these stories might be linked to the idea of a giant forming from ice and helping create the world.