Ymir— Norse Primordial God"First Giant"

The First Being

Ymir was the first living creature, born from the primordial void where ice from Niflheim met fire from Muspelheim. Where these opposites collided, the ice melted and formed drops that quickened into life—and that life was Ymir, the ancestor of all giants. Before gods, before worlds, there was only Ymir and the cow Auðumbla, who licked the salt ice and nourished the giant with her milk.

The Birth of Giants

Ymir reproduced asexually. From his armpits grew a male and female giant; from his legs came another giant. These were the first jötnar, the frost giants, ancestors of all the chaotic forces that would later oppose the gods. Ymir slept and dreamed, and in his dreams more giants formed.

Auðumbla and Búri

The primordial cow Auðumbla sustained herself by licking the salty ice blocks. As she licked, she uncovered Búri, the first of the gods, who emerged from the ice over three days. Búri's son Borr married the giantess Bestla, and their children were Odin, Vili, and Vé—the first gods.

The First Murder

Odin and his brothers grew strong and eventually turned against Ymir. They slew the primordial giant in an act of cosmic violence—the first murder. So much blood poured from Ymir's wounds that it drowned almost all the frost giants; only Bergelmir and his wife escaped in a boat, becoming ancestors of the giants who would plague the gods forever.

The World Made Flesh

From Ymir's corpse, the gods built the world. His flesh became the earth, his blood the seas and lakes, his bones the mountains, his teeth the rocks, his hair the trees. His skull became the sky, held up by four dwarves at the cardinal points. His brain became the clouds. Even the wall around Midgard was made from his eyebrows. Everything we see was once part of Ymir—the world is literally his body.