Ýmir and the Cosmos

[Haustsoul]

Our world, the planet, was made from the parts of the first giant. Earth is Ýmir's flesh, mountains are his bones, seas are his blood, the sky is his skull, the clouds are his brains and the trees are his hairs.

What does this mean to you? Is the cosmos a macrocosmic being? Is it thus not a mechanical system of matter? This has been a fascinating thing to me ever since I looked into the lore. I would love to read your views about it.

[Bathilde]

I think it's metaphorical.

[Shadowcat]

I think it's metaphorical.

Me too. And it's a good explanation for people who didn't have access to modern science.

[Haustsoul]

Thanks. To me it implies that the cosmos is a whole and organic being made up of many parts.

[Bathilde]

When I first read the norse creation story, I was quite amazed how easy it fits the big bang and the earth being formed by remnants of stars/celestial bodies.

[JeffSinger]

This is a letter written to a friend.

first and foremost, almost EVERY SINGLE stanza in the Poetic E. is allgory, metaphor ect. They are riddles to be unlocked.

The Ancestors probably just didnt know, they had storys that explained to them how things came to be, and it could have been literal to them. Now in the modern world we (I) look upon these storys as ways of viewing the worlds creation through personification.

Frankly if you read the Poetic Edda and translate it properly and interpert it properly it seems to line up rather well with scientific theory. Keeping in mind its all allegory and metaphor.

Lets take a look at the Voluspa from the start

The first things in existence are the two realms of Muspellheim and Niflheim, the former a land of fire, stone, light and heat, and the latter a land of ice, water, and vapor. Between this two lands was a great void. Soon the fire and the ice mixed and created Eitr, which is the basis for all life. The Eitr created the World cow Audhumla, who then licked a block of salty ice from Niflheim and from it was created Ymir, and then later Buri, from whom Odin Vili and Ve are born, they later kill Ymir and create the world from his body. Later Hoenir Lóður and Odin create mankind from trees.

Okay now lets look at this as if it were metaphor for the laws of science.

Muspellheim and Niflheim were composed of Fire and Ice, ancients would have belived these to be the base elements of all things, let us say they are a metaphor for the basic requirments for the singularity to expand and create the big bang, which occured when they "mixed" and created Eitr, or the basic fundamental universe. Ymir is created by Eitr, Ymir's name translates to "Big Sound" "Bellowing Sound" and other places "Gravel Yeller" All have to do with great noise, like one caused by a bang. (Etymology is a huge key into unlocking the riddles) Ymir is a representation of the disordered mass that existed in the beggining, Audhumla who is created beside him is a representation of the basic order that existed in the beggining. From the Salty ice (basic forces and elements that existed in the beggining) Audhumla creates Burri (A a more organized force, also imagine this happening over billions of years) who then gives birth to Odin Vili and Ve the final form of Order and the universe as we know it today, who killed Ymir (washing away the Chaos and disorder that was rampant in the universe during the beggining) and created the universe from his body (Bringing Order to the disorder, also in the Eddas it says they created the Earth out of his body, but lets think about this on a grander scale, to the ancestors the earth was the universe, we know different)

Now onto Life, remember Eitr? Well its is the basis for all life in the Norse Cosmology, and it meens things like poisonous, evil, bad, angry, sinister etc. Look at Poisonous and angry. The basic elements for life on the early earth and in the primordial soup were very deadly chemicals (Poisonous) and very volatile and disordered (Angry?) and the earth 4 billion years ago could certainly be defined as "Angry". The Lighting storms the toxic gases the whirlwinds... Could Eitr be the metaphor for these things and forces?

Later it is said man is created from Trees by Hoenir Lóður and Odin. Well lets say instead of literally meening trees it meant the Earth. Who can deny we are decended of the earth? This is what evolution essentially says. And if you go back far enough in the evolutionary chain Homo Sapien and trees share a common ancestor. From the first cell to einstien we are spawned from the Earth (and the universe as a whole). Hoenir is the force that can be seen as the rise of intelligence in our distant relatives millions of years ago, Lodur is the force that gave us our desire for exploration, and our wish to manipulate our enviroment, Alfather gave us our Soul, our ability to reason and choose right from wrong, he gave us our creative spark, which in my opinion are three major parts of the Human species.

The gods can be seen as the ordered forces of the Universe (The 4 big forces along with other natural things) and the Jotuns can be seen as Entropy, which will always increase until the destruction of the universe, or Ragnarok.

If anyone needs me to clarify, cite or explain just ask.

[Bathilde]

I agree that it fits well with science.

You should turn that into an article so I can post it on my website.

[JeffSinger]

Correction: Ymir and Auduhumla were created at the same time, Ymir was not created from the Ice (it also depends on your eddic translation)

[JeffSinger]

I agree that it fits well with science.

You should turn that into an article so I can post it on my website.

I just now noticed this post

Sure, keep in mind im not a great writer. Whats your website?

[Bathilde]

neheathen.org