Ginnungagap

In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap ("seeming emptiness") was the vast chasm that existed between Niflheim and Muspelheim before creation. To the north of Ginnungagap lay the intense cold of Niflheim, to the south the insufferable heat of Muspelheim. At the beginning of time, the two met in the Ginnungagap, and where the heat met the frost, and the frost drops melted and formed the substance eitr, which quickened into life in the form of the giant Ymir, the father of all Frost giants. See his entry for the continuation of the Old Norse story of the Creation.

See also: Chaos


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Norse mythology

List of Norse gods | Ćsir | Vanir | Giants | Elves | Dwarves | Valkyries | Einherjar | Norns
Odin | Thor | Freyr | Freya | Loki | Baldr | Tyr | Yggdrasil | Ginnungagap | Ragnarök

Sources:

Poetic Edda | Prose Edda | The Sagas | Volsung Cycle | Tyrfing Cycle
Rune stones | Old Norse language | Orthography | Later influence

Society:

Viking Age | Skald | Kenning | Blót | Seid | Numbers

The nine worlds of Norse mythology | People, places and things


See also: Ginnungagap, Aesir, Baldr, Blót, Chaos (mythology), Einherjar, Eitr, Elf, Freya