THE CREATION OF THE WORLD
The young Aesir gods, the sons of Borr, found themselves standing before the immense corpse of the giant Ymir. As they looked upon his body, they saw not an end, but a beginning. In this death, there was the possibility of new life—a reminder of the cycle that shapes all things. With this body, they began to realise their power and purpose as world-makers.
They set to work, using every part of Ymir to form a new world. His flesh became the land and soil, his blood filled the seas and lakes, his bones rose as mountains, and his teeth became rocks and boulders. His skull was lifted to form the dome of the sky, and his brain was flung into the air to create the clouds. These formed the inanimate foundations of the world, but the gods knew that something more was needed—something living.
From the maggots crawling in Ymir’s decaying flesh, they created the dwarves, who would become the first craftsmen of the gods. To hold up the sky, the gods placed four of them beneath its corners—Norðri in the north, Austri in the east, Suðri in the south, and Vestri in the west. With these dwarves, Norse mythology gave the people a mythic language of direction, anchoring the human sense of north, south, east, and west.
The dwarves made their home in the earth, in a place called Svartalfheim, the world of the gnomes, where they lived in the darkness and forged magnificent treasures in gold, silver, and iron for the gods.
Meanwhile, the gods also created a contrasting world—Alfheim, the realm of the elves. These beings were bright and kind, flying on gossamer wings through the air. Unlike the dwarves who delved into the deep places of the world, the elves belonged to the high and light spaces. And so, two new worlds were added to the growing Norse cosmos.
By this point, several realms had taken form. There was Niflheim, the world of ice; Muspelheim, the world of fire; Jotunheim, home of the giants; and Asgard, the realm of the gods. Now, Svartalfheim and Alfheim had also emerged. But the creation wasn’t yet complete.
The gods turned their attention to forming sprites and spirits—beings who would protect the natural world. These spirits were scattered across the hills, the mountains, the lakes, the rivers, and the waterfalls. Their presence ensured the living world would be watched over and held in harmony.
With that, more forms of life began to appear. The gods imagined the seas teeming with fish, the skies filled with birds, and the fields and forests alive with animals—some wild, some to be hunted and eaten by humans. Even the act of fishing was considered. Everything the world needed to be alive and whole was coming into being.
But there was one essential element missing: light. So the gods reached into Muspelheim and captured sparks of fire, shaping them into the sun, the moon, and the stars. At first, these heavenly lights were still, unmoving. To give them motion, the gods created two teams of horses, attached chariots, and placed the sun in one and the moon in the other.
These chariots raced through the sky, chased endlessly by giants and trolls from Jotunheim who had transformed into wolves. These dark creatures hated the light, and so they pursued it, setting in motion the eternal chase that created day and night.
At this point in the great story, the gods had shaped a world filled with light and dark, earth and water, stillness and motion. But their most delicate task still lay ahead.
And so the next chapter would tell of the creation of humankind—the birth of man and woman, who would live within this mythic world.
