A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - There are many different versions of the creation myth. In Norse mythology, Odin and his two brothers, Vile and Vé, were walking along the beach, and they found two lifeless tree trunks, one from an ash tree and one from an elm tree.
By giving them human shape, the gods created the first pair of humans - a man and a woman and called them Embla ("elm") and Ask (Old Norse Askr, "Ash Tree").
The first humans were fashioned out of driftwood. Odin gave them each a soul and the breath of life; his two brothers gave them the ability to move and intelligence. They were given speech, hearing, feeling, hearts, sight, and humor.
Further, the three gods gave them good-looking clothing and names.
The whole human race descended from these two beings. Their dwelling on Earth was within the realm of Midgard (Old Norse 'Midgardr'), one of the Nine Worlds in Norse mythology, situated in the middle level of the Norse universe.
Midgard was inhabited by men, while Asgard was the abode of the gods.
Ask and Embla had to populate and rule over their new land, so they did. They roamed the land, naming everything and taming as many animals as possible.
Then, while still exploring their land, they arrived at a house already built and waiting for them. They settled there and created several generations of children. Unfortunately, their happy times ended when the Norse Jotuns arrived.
The Jotuns - primeval frost- and rock giants, along with other creatures of evil, who appeared in Midgard, were the enemies of the gods.
The Jotuns, who lived in Jotunheim (Jötunheimr), the land of the giants and also a realm of the dead, took on the form of human beings and intermarried with perfect human beings of Midgard, created by Ask and Embla.
They brought evil into their character.
Written by A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com Staff Writer
Updated on October 8, 2022
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Neil Gaiman - Norse Mythology
Snorri Sturluson - The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology
