The Prose Edda (6 page)

‘I can take you to see him; then you can ask him his name yourself.' The man then turned and went ahead into the hall. Gylfi followed him and immediately the door closed after him. He saw many living areas there and groups of people. Some were playing games, some were drinking, and some had weapons and were fighting. He looked around, and it seemed to him that much of what he was seeing was incredible. Then he said:

‘All doorways
before entering
gaze into carefully;
one never knows
where on the benches
enemies are sitting.'

(
Sayings of the High One. 1
)

He saw three thrones, each one higher than the other. Three men sat there, one in each seat. He asked the name of their ruler. The man guiding him replied that the king was in the lowest of the high seats; he was called High. Next came the one called Just-as-High, while the one highest up was called Third.
⁴

Then High asked the new arrival if there was some more pressing cause of his visit, although he was welcome to food and drink as were all in the hall of the High One. Gylfi replied that he wanted to know first whether there was a wise man in the hall. High said that Gylfi would not escape unharmed unless he grew wiser, adding:

‘Stand forward while you inquire;
The one who recounts shall sit.'

Gangleri began to question: ‘Who is the highest or the oldest of all the gods?'

Gangleri asked, ‘What was the beginning, or how did things start? What was there before?'

High answered, ‘As it says in
The Sibyl's Prophecy
:

Early of ages
when nothing was.
There was neither sand nor sea
nor cold waves.
The earth was not found
nor the sky above.
Ginnungagap
¹
was there,
but grass, nowhere.'        (
The Sibyl's Prophecy. 3
)

Next Just-as-High said, ‘Niflheim [Dark World] was made many ages before the earth was created, and at its centre is the spring called Hvergelmir [Roaring Kettle]. From there flow those rivers called Svol, Gunnthra, Fjorm, Fimbulthul, Slid and Hrid, Sylg and Ylg, Vid and Leiptr. Also there is Gjoll, which lies next to Helgrind [Gates of Hel].'

Then Third said, ‘First, however, there was that world in the southern region which is called Muspell.
²
It is bright and hot.

That region flames and burns and is impassable for foreigners and those who cannot claim it as their native land. Surt [Black One] is the name of he who waits there at the land's edge to defend it. He has a flaming sword, and when the end of the world comes, he will set off to battle and defeat all the gods, burning the whole world with fire. So it is said in
The Sibyl's Prophecy
:

Surt comes from the south
with the fiery destruction of branches.
The sun shines from the sword
of the gods of the slain.
Stone cliffs tumble
and troll witches stumble.
³
Men tread the Road to Hel
as the sky splits apart.'       (
The Sibyl's Prophecy. 52
)

Gangleri asked: ‘How were things set up before the different families came into being and mankind increased?'

High replied, ‘When those rivers, which are called Elivagar [Storm Waves], came so far from their source, the poisonous flow hardened like a slag of cinders running from a furnace, and became ice. When this ice began to solidify and no longer ran, poisonous drops spewed out and froze into icy rime [hoar-frost]. Then layer by layer, the ice grew within Ginnungagap.'

Then Just-as-High said, ‘That part of Ginnungagap, which reached into the northern regions, became filled with thick ice and rime. Inside the gap there was mist and wind-whipped rain. But the southern part of Ginnungagap grew light because of sparks and glowing embers flowing from Muspellsheim.'

Then Third spoke: ‘Just as coldness and all things grim came from Niflheim, the regions bordering on Muspell were warm and bright, and Ginnungagap was as mild as a windless sky. It
thawed and dripped at the point where the icy rime and the warm winds met. There was a quickening in these flowing drops and life sprang up, taking its force from the power that sent the heat. The likeness of a man appeared and he was named Ymir. The frost giants call him Aurgelmir, and from him come the clans of the frost giants, as it says in
The Shorter Sibyl's Prophecy
:

All the seeresses
¹
are
from Vidolf,
all the wizards
from Vilmeid,
but the sorcerers are
from Svarthofdi
and all the giants
come from Ymir.      (
The Lay of Hyndla. 33
)

‘Here as the giant Vafthrudnir says:

From where Aurgelmir first came,
the wise giant,
among sons of giants.

When poison from Elivagar
splashed out in drops
it grew until forming a giant,
from there all our clans
have come;
therefore they are all so cruel.'

(
The Lay of Vafthrudnir. 30–31
)

Then Gangleri asked, ‘How did the families grow from that point or how did it come about that others came into being? And do you believe that the one whom you were just talking about is a god?'

High answered: ‘In no way do we accept him as a god. He was evil, as are all his descendants; we call them frost giants. It is said that as he slept he took to sweating. Then, from under his left arm
²
grew a male and a female, while one of
his legs got a son with the other. From here came the clans that are called the frost giants. The old frost giant, him we call Ymir.'

Gangleri asked, ‘Where did Ymir live, and what did he live on?'

‘Next it happened that as the icy rime dripped, the cow called Audhumla was formed. Four rivers of milk ran from her udders, and she nourished Ymir.'

Then Gangleri asked, ‘On what did the cow feed?'

High replied, ‘She licked the blocks of ice, which were salty. As she licked these stones of icy rime the first day, the hair of a man appeared in the blocks towards the evening. On the second day came the man's head, and on the third day, the whole man. He was called Buri, and he was beautiful, big and strong. He had a son called Bor, who took as his wife the woman called Bestla. She was the daughter of Bolthorn the giant, and they had three sons. One was called Odin, another Vili and the third Ve. It is my belief that this Odin and his brothers are the rulers of heaven and earth. We know that is his name, and it is what we call the one whom we know to be the greatest and the most renowned, and you too can easily call him that.'

Then Gangleri asked, ‘How did they get on together? Who among them was the most powerful?'

‘The sons of Bor killed the giant Ymir,' answered High. ‘When he fell, so much blood gushed from his wounds that with it they drowned all the race of the frost giants except for one who escaped with his household. The giants call that one
Bergelmir. He, together with his wife, climbed up on to his wooden box,
¹
and there they kept themselves safe. From them come the races of the frost giants, as is said here:

Countless winters
²
before the earth was created
back then Bergelmir was born;
that is the first I remember
when the wise giant
was placed on the box.'

(
The Lay of Vafthrudnir. 35
)

Gangleri answered, ‘What did Bor's sons do next, if you believe they are gods?'

High said, ‘It is no small matter to be told. They took Ymir and they moved him into the middle of Ginnungagap and made from him the world. From his blood they made the sea and the lakes. The earth was fashioned from the flesh, and mountain cliffs from the bones. They made stones and gravel from the teeth, the molars and those bones that were broken.'

Then Just-as-High said, ‘With the blood that gushed freely from the wounds, they made the sea, and by fashioning that sea around, they belted and fastened the earth. Most men would think it impossible to cross over this water.'

Then Third added: ‘They also took his skull and from it made the sky. They raised it over the earth and under each of the four corners they placed a dwarf. These are called East, West, North and South. Then they took the embers and sparks shooting out from Muspellsheim and flying randomly. These they placed in the middle of the Ginnung Sky, both above and below, to light up heaven and earth. They fixed places for all these burning elements. Some were placed up in the heavens, whereas for others, which had moved about under the heavens, they found
places and established their courses. It is said in the old sources that, from then on, times of day were differentiated and the course of years was set. So it is said in
The Sibyl's Prophecy:

Sun did not know
where she had her home.
Moon did not know
what strength he had.
The stars did not know
where their places were.       (
The Sibyl's Prophecy. 5
)

‘This was before the earth was created,' Third added.

Then Gangleri said, ‘I hear of great happenings. It was wondrous work and skilfully done, but how was the earth set in order?'

Then High answered: ‘It is circular around the edge and surrounding it lies the deep sea. On these ocean coasts, the sons of Bor gave land to the clans of the giants to live on. But further inland they built a fortress wall around the world to protect against the hostility of the giants. As material for the wall, they used the eyelashes
¹
of the giant Ymir and called this stronghold Midgard
²
[Middle Earth]. They took his brain, threw it up into the air, and from it they made the clouds. As is said here:

From Ymir's flesh
was the earth created,
from the bloody sweat, the sea,
cliffs from bones,
trees from hair,
and from the head, the heavens;

And from his eyelashes
the gentle gods made
Midgard for the sons of men;
and from his brains
all the oppressive
clouds were formed.'

(
The Lay of Grimnir. 40–41
)

Then Gangleri said, ‘It seems to me that they accomplished great things when the earth and the sky were made, the sun and the moon set in their places and the days divided. But the people who inhabit the world, where did they come from?'

Then High answered, ‘The sons of Bor were once walking along the seashore and found two trees. They lifted the logs and from them created people. The first son gave them breath and life; the second, intelligence and movement; the third, form, speech, hearing and sight.
¹
They [Bor's sons] gave them clothing and names. The man was called Ask [Ash Tree] and the woman, Embla [Elm or Vine]. From them came mankind and they were given a home behind Midgard's wall.'

High said: ‘Next they made a stronghold for themselves in the middle of the world, and it was called Asgard. We call it Troy. There the gods lived together with their kinsmen, and as a result many events and happenings took place both on the earth and in the sky. One place there is called Hlidskjalf [Watch-tower]. When Odin sat in its high seat, he could see through all worlds and into all men's doings. Moreover, he understood everything he saw. His wife was called Frigg, Fjorgyn's daughter, and from this family has come the kindred we call the family of the Æsir. They lived in Old Asgard and the realms that belong to it; each member of this family is divine. For these reasons he can be referred to as All-Father, since he is the father of all the gods and men and of everything that has been accomplished by his power. Earth was his daughter
²
and his wife. With her he had his first son, and this is Asa-Thor [Thor of the Æsir]. He has strength and might, and because of this, he defeats all living creatures.'

‘A giant called Norfi or Narfi lived in Giant Land. He had a daughter named Night, who was black and swarthy like her kinsmen. She was married first to the man called Naglfari; their son was named Aud [Wealth]. Next she was married to Annar [Second]. Their daughter was named Earth. Finally she married Delling, who was from the family of the gods. Their son was Day, and he was as bright and beautiful as his father's people. Then All-Father took Night and her son Day. He gave them two horses and two chariots and placed them in the sky to ride around the earth every twenty-four hours. Night rides first with the horse called Hrimfaxi [Frost Mane], and every morning foam from the horse's bit sprinkles the earth. Day's horse is called Skinfaxi [Shining Mane], and with its mane it lights up all the sky and the earth.'