Norse cosmology

A depiction of thepersonifiedmoon,Máni,and the personified Sun,SólbyLorenz Frølich,1795

Norse cosmologyis the account of the universe and its laws by the ancientNorth Germanic peoples.The topic encompasses concepts fromNorse mythology,such as notations of time and space,cosmogony,personifications,anthropogeny,andeschatology.Like other aspects of Norse mythology, these concepts are primarily recorded from earlier oral sources in thePoetic Edda,a collection of poems compiled in the 13th century, and theProse Edda,authored byIcelanderSnorri Sturlusonin the 13th century. Together these sources depict an image of Nine Worlds around a cosmic tree,Yggdrasil.

Time and space

See also:Rebirth in Germanic paganism

Concepts of time and space play a major role in the Old Norse corpus's presentation of Norse cosmology. While events in Norse mythology describe a somewhat linear progression, various scholars in ancient Germanic studies note that Old Norse texts may imply or directly describe a fundamental belief incyclic time.According to scholarJohn Lindow,"the cosmos might be formed and reformed on multiple occasions by the rising sea."

Cosmogony

Drawing in part on various eddic poems, theGylfaginningsection of theProse Eddacontains an account of the development and creation of the cosmos: long before the Earth came to be, there existed the bright and flaming place calledMuspell—a location so hot that foreigners may not enter it—and the foggy land ofNiflheim.In Niflheim was a spring,Hvergelmir,and from it flow numerous rivers. Together these rivers, known as Élivágar, flowed further and further from their source. Eventually the poisonous substance within the flow came to harden and turn to ice. When the flow became entirely solid, a poisonous vapor rose from the ice and solidified intorimeatop the solid river. These thick ice layers grew, in time spreading across the void ofGinnungagap.

The northern region of Ginnungagap continued to fill with weight from the growing substance and its accompanying blowing vapor, yet the southern portion of Ginunngagap remained clear due to its proximity to the sparks and flames of Muspell. Between Niflheim and Muspell, ice and fire, was a placid location, "as mild as a windless sky". When the rime and the blowing heat met, the liquid melted and dropped, and this mixture formed the primordial beingYmir,the ancestor of alljötnar.Ymir sweated while sleeping. From his left arm grew a male and female jötunn, "and one of his legs begot a son with another", and these limbs too produced children.

Ymir fed from rivers of milk that flowed from the teats of the primordial cow,Auðumbla.Auðumbla fed from salt she licked from rime stones. Over the course of three days, she licked free a beautiful and strong man,Búri.Búri's sonBorrmarried a jötunn namedBestla,and the two had three sons: the godsOdin,Vili and Vé.The sons killed Ymir, and Ymir's blood poured across the land, producing great floods that killed all of the jötnar but two (Bergelmirand his unnamed wife, who sailed across the flooded landscape).

Odin, Vili, and Vé took Ymir's corpse to the center of Ginunngagap and carved it. They made the earth from Ymir's flesh; the rocks from his bones; from his blood the sea, lakes, and oceans; and scree and stone from his molars, teeth, and remaining bone fragments. They surrounded the earth's lands with sea, forming a circle. From Ymir's skull they made the sky, which they placed above the earth in four points, each held by adwarf(Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri—Old Norse 'north, south, east, and west', respectively).

After forming the dome of the Earth, the brothersOdin,Vili and Vétook sparks of light from Muspell and placed them around the Earth, both above and below. Some remained fixed and others moved through the sky in predetermined courses. The trio provided land for the jötnar to leave by the sea. Using Ymir's eyelashes, the trio built a fortification around the center of the landmass to contain the hostility of the jötnar. They called this fortificationMiðgarðr(Old Norse 'central enclosure'). Finally, from Ymir's brains, they formed the clouds.

From Ymir's eyebrows they crafted a stronghold namedMidgard.When they were walking along the seashore, they found two trees and shaped humans of them. Odin gave them spirit and life, Vili gave them wit and feeling, and Vé gave them form, speech, hearing, and sight. They gave them clothing and names: the man was called Askr, and the woman Embla. They were the ancestors of mankind who lived in Midgard. The brothers made for themselves in the middle of the world a city calledAsgard,where the gods lived.

Personifications

Personifications, such as those ofastronomical objects,time,andwater bodiesoccur in Norse mythology. The Sun is personified as a goddess,Sól(Old Norse 'Sun'); the moon is personified as a male entity,Máni(Old Norse 'moon'); and the Earth too is personified (Jörð,Old Norse 'earth').Nightappears personified as the femalejötunnNótt(Old Norse 'night');dayis personified asDagr(Old Norse 'day'); and Dagr's father, the godDellingr(Old Norse 'shining'), may in some manner personify thedawn.Bodies of water also receive personification, such as the goddessRán,her jötunn husbandÆgir,and their wave-maiden children, theNine Daughters of Ægir and Rán.

Yggdrasil

A 19th century attempt at illustrating Yggdrasil as described in theProse Eddaa

Main article:Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil is a tree central to the Norse concept of the cosmos. The tree's branches extend into various realms, and various creatures dwell on and around it. Thegodsgo to Yggdrasil daily to assemble at theirthings, traditional governing assemblies.The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the wellUrðarbrunnrin the heavens, one to the springHvergelmir,and another to the wellMímisbrunnr.Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the dragonNíðhöggr,anunnamed eagle,and the stagsDáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór.

Nine Worlds

See also:Numbers in Germanic paganism

Old Norse texts mention the existence ofNíu Heimar,translated by scholars as "Nine Worlds".According to the second stanza of thePoetic EddapoemVöluspá,the Nine Worlds surround the tree Yggdrasil. As recalled by a deadvölvain the poem:

Henry Adams Bellowstranslation, 1923: I remember yet the giants of yore, Who gave me bread in the days gone by; Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree With mighty roots beneath the mold.

Jeramy Doddstranslation, 2014: I recall being reared by Jotuns, in days long gone. If I look back, I recall nine worlds, nine wood-witches, that renowned tree of fate below the earth.

The Nine Worlds receive a second and final mention in thePoetic Eddain stanza 43 of the poemVafþrúðnismál,where the wise jötunnVafþrúðnirengages in a deadly battle of wits with the disguised god Odin:

Bellows translation, 1923: Vafthruthnir spake: "Of the runes of the gods and the giants' race The truth indeed can I tell, (For to every world have I won;) To nine worlds came I, to Niflhel beneath, The home where dead men dwell. "

Dodds translation, 2014: Vafthrudnir said: "I can tell you the true secrets of the Jotun and all the gods because I've journeyed into all of the nine worlds below Niflhel Where the dead dwell below Hel. "

The Nine Worlds receive a single mention in theProse Edda,occurring section 34 of theGylfaginningportion of the book. The section describes how Odin threwLoki's daughterHelinto theunderworld,and granted her power over all Nine Worlds:

Hel he threw into Niflheim and gave her authority over nine worlds, such that she has to administer board and lodging to those sent to her, and that is those who die of sickness or old age.

The Old Norse corpus does not clearly list the Nine Worlds, if it provides them at all. However, some scholars have proposed identifications for the nine. For example, Henry Adams Bellows (1923) says that the Nine Worlds consist ofÁsgarðr,Vanaheimr,Álfheimr,Miðgarðr,Jötunheimr,Múspellsheimr,Svartálfaheimr,Niflheimr(sometimesHel), and perhapsNiðavellir.Some editions of translations of thePoetic Eddaand theProse Eddafeature illustrations of what the author or artist suspects the Nine Worlds to be in part based on theVöluspástanza above.

Anthropogeny

Main article:Ask and Embla

Ask and Embla—male and female respectively—were the first two humans, created by the gods from driftwood they encounter on a shore. The gods who form these first humans vary by source: According to thePoetic EddapoemVöluspá,they are Hœnir, Lóðurr and Odin, whereas in theProse Eddathey are Odin, Vili, and Vé.

Eschatology

Main article:Ragnarök

Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle, foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including various deities), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Afterward, the world will resurface anew and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and mankind will be repopulated byLíf and Lífþrasir,who will emerge from Yggdrasil.

See also

• Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology
• Ten realms

References

• Bellows, Henry Adams.2004 [1923]. Trans.The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems.Dover.ISBN978-0-486-43710-1
• Dodds, Jeramy.2014. Trans.The Poetic Edda.Coach House Books.ISBN978-1-55245-296-7
• Faulkes, Anthony.1995 [1987]. Trans.Edda.Everyman.ISBN0-460-87616-3
• Larrington, Carolyne.2014. Trans.The Poetic Edda.2nd ed.Oxford World's Classics.ISBN978-0-19-967534-0
• Lindow, John.2001.Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-515382-0
• Simek, Rudolf.2007. Angela Hall trans.Dictionary of Northern Mythology.D.S. Brewer.ISBN0-85991-513-1
• Thorpe, Benjamin.1866. Trans.Edda Sæmundar Hinns Frôða: The Edda of Sæmund the Learned.Part I. London: Trübner & Co.