Ymir, the First Being

Study › Runes & Norse › Ymir

Ymir, the First Being

Ymir is the first being in Norse mythology, a giant who formed in the empty void at the beginning of time. Odin and his brothers killed him and made the world from his body: his flesh became the earth, his blood the seas, and his skull the sky.

Who is Ymir in Norse mythology?

Ymir is the primeval giant, the first living being, from whose body the world itself was made. He formed in the void of Ginnungagap where the ice of Niflheim met the fire of Muspelheim, and from his sweat as he slept came the first frost giants. He was suckled by the primal cow Audhumla.

How the world was made from Ymir

Ymir was slain by Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve, and from his vast corpse they built the cosmos: his flesh became the earth, his blood the seas and lakes, his bones the mountains, his teeth the rocks, his skull the dome of the sky, and his brains the clouds. So much blood flowed from him that it drowned nearly all the frost giants. In the Norse imagining, the whole world is the body of a dead giant.

His killer Odin became the father of the gods, and the world made from his body hangs in Yggdrasil.

Questions

Who killed Ymir?

Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve.

What was made from Ymir's body?

The earth from his flesh, the seas and lakes from his blood, the mountains from his bones, the rocks from his teeth, the sky from his skull, and the clouds from his brain.

Who fed Ymir?

The first cow, Audhumla, with her milk.

More about Runic Order · See all apps