Primordial Beings

Welcome to the Norse beginning!

Auðumbla

The Primodrial Cow

Audumbla is the enormous cow who appears near the very beginning of the Norse creation story. Her Old Norse name is written Auðhumla, but Audumbla is much easier to type and read in English. She does not charge into battles or argue with gods. Instead, she provides food when almost nothing else is alive, and her patient licking reveals the ancestor of the gods. I think she is one of mythology’s most surprising creation figures. A universe of fire, ice and giants also depends on a calm cow.

Fun fact: Audumbla uncovered the first god, Buri, by licking salty ice.

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Ymir

Father of the Giants

Ymir is the first mighty being in the Norse creation story and the ancestor of the jötnar, the beings often called giants. He appears before the Earth, sea and sky have taken their familiar forms. Later, Odin and his brothers kill him and build the world from his enormous body. That makes Ymir both a living character and the raw material of creation. I find his story astonishing because mountains, clouds and oceans are imagined as parts of one ancient being.

Fun fact: Ymir’s size must be cosmic because his body becomes the world.

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Búri

Ancestor of the Gods

Buri is the earliest ancestor of the Norse gods. He appears in the frozen emptiness before Earth has been made, uncovered from salty ice by the primeval cow Audumbla. Although his part in the surviving myths is short, his family leads directly to Odin and the other gods who shape the world. Buri does not fight a monster, cast a spell or give a grand speech. His importance comes from being first. I think his entrance is unforgettable because a godly ancestor is revealed one lick at a time.

Fun fact: Buri emerged from ice after Audumbla licked it for three days.

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Borr

Father of Odin and His Brothers

Borr stands between the first ancestor Buri and the famous god Odin in the Norse family tree. His name is also written Bor or Burr, which can make him look like three different people on websites. He is one figure, and the surviving sources tell us only a few solid facts: Buri is his father, Bestla is his wife, and Odin, Vili and Ve are their sons. I find Borr interesting because his marriage joins the earliest line of the gods with a family of jötnar.

Fun fact: Borr never speaks in any surviving Norse myth.

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Surtr

The Fire Giant of Ragnarök

Surtr is the blazing jötunn who comes from the south at Ragnarök, carrying a sword brighter than the Sun. He fights the god Freyr and fire sweeps across the world after the gods’ final battles. His name is also written Surt or Surtur, and it probably means “black” or “the swarthy one”, perhaps suggesting something scorched. I think Surtr is frightening because he does not need a complicated plan. He waits at the edge of the mythic world until the moment when his fire can no longer be held back.

Fun fact: Surtr guards the fiery realm of Muspelheim with a blazing sword.

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