The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson Read Free Book Online Page B

[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
)
5. GINNUNGAGAP AND THE EMERGENCE OF YMIR
    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. Itthawed 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
)
    â€˜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 ofhis 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.’
6. THE PRIMEVAL COW AUDHUMLA, YMIR AND THE BIRTH OF ODIN
    Gangleri asked, ‘Where did Ymir live, and what did he live on?’
    â€˜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