Gylfaginning: Creation And Odin
"He made heaven and earth and skies and everything in them." "But his
greatest work is that he made man…" (from "Gylfaginning" in Snorra Edda)
While this quote exemplifies how people came to be, it is only a simplification of the world’s creation. The start of life on Earth came about in a most complex, and in some respects a peculiar, fashion. The world started out as two regions: Muspell, the bright and hot region in the south and Niflheim, the icy cold northern region. The two regions met at a cosmic void called Ginnungagap. From the spring in the north, Hvergelmir, flowed many rivers called Elivagar; from these rivers, poisonous vapors froze as rime and were deposited on ...
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Vili, and Ve. From here, things started taking a different direction. These three sons went off and killed Ymir, and from Ymir’s blood, death came to all but one of the giants. They took Ymir’s body to Ginnungagap, and from Ymir’s blood and body parts, the physical parts of the world came about: seas, lakes, mountains, trees, and the sky. Time is created and the gods enjoy a golden age. After this, people were created from wood that floated along the sea shore. From an ash log came the first man, Ask, and from an elm log came the first woman, Embla. From these two people came the rest of mankind that would inhabit the region of the world called Midgard. It is at this point that history begins.
When dealing with creation, it is important to look at the philosophy of it, or cosmology. Even before the creation of the world, opposites were present. An example of this is the northern icy Niflheim versus the southern fiery Muspell. Many things had either a good, or a bad. ...
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conversion to Christianity occurred during the same time that people still believed in pagan gods (1000 A.D.), many themes of both religions were mixed. Also, the advent of technology and writing coming from the Christian Church aided this process. Therefore, while Norse mythology and Christian beliefs can be viewed separately, the two were shaped into a common literature.
In order to obtain information about Norse mythological creation, one has to delve into the various mythological texts. Several poems from The Poetic Edda give insight on the creation of the universe, as well as of the future. For example, "The Seeress’s Prophecy (Voluspa)" is a poem involving Odin interrogating ...
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"Gylfaginning: Creation And Odin." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 23 May. 2007. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Gylfaginning-Creation-And-Odin/65286>
"Gylfaginning: Creation And Odin." Essayworld.com. May 23, 2007. Accessed April 24, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Gylfaginning-Creation-And-Odin/65286.
"Gylfaginning: Creation And Odin." Essayworld.com. May 23, 2007. Accessed April 24, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Gylfaginning-Creation-And-Odin/65286.
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