Lif- Norse FigureMortal
Also known as: Líf
Description
Sheltered in Hoddmímir's Wood while Surtr's flames consume the world, Líf endures Ragnarök alongside Lífþrasir. When the earth rises green from the waters, they emerge: the last of the old humanity and the first of the new.
Mythology & Lore
After the Fire
In the Vafþrúðnismál, Odin disguises himself as Gagnráðr and asks the wise giant Vafþrúðnir which humans will outlast Ragnarök. The answer is direct: Líf and Lífþrasir. Their names mean "life" and "the one striving after life." They will hide in Hoddmímir's Wood while the great winter Fimbulvetr freezes the world, and they will live on nothing but the morning dew.
Snorri expands the story in the Gylfaginning. After Surtr's fire has burned everything and the earth has sunk beneath the sea, it rises again, green and fertile and washed clean. Líf and Lífþrasir step out of Hoddmímir's Wood, which Snorri places within or near Yggdrasil. The world tree shook during Ragnarök but held. Inside its branches, the last two mortals held with it.
From them, new generations of humanity will descend. The sources say nothing else about them.
Relationships
- Family
- Associated with