Upphafskap
The world must birth and rebirth, as I must live and die, and so must you. Life does not have an ordained limit, it does not matter how little or how much we have, there must be an end to provide some beginning. Do not feel sorrow for my passing, do not fear your own. Remember me and so too shall you be remembered.
1 - Understanding
The realms of men and those of gods differ from most understandings. The all-father’s descriptions of these realms are clear, but those who hear the descriptions lack clarity in comprehension.
More than two thousand years ago, Frigg, wife of Othin, sat among mortals and described the realms of the gods and mankind’s place within. The knowledge was recorded improperly and much was lost. The all-father has given another telling and bade Frigg to give further.
Here lies the best understanding of what both could describe.
There are nine realms from which all things in the universe can be viewed. Those nine exist separate from each other, but also as one. To say that a realm is a world by itself, is a misunderstanding.
For the all-father, the nine realms are like rooms in a house, each one a connected part of the whole.
2 - Clarification
Frigg clarifies:
The realms are like coloured glass held before a light – the flame remains the same flame, but the image is completely different. Where you sit now, in Midgard – the middle world – you also sit in Asgard – the high world – and in Vanaheim – the garden world. Those in Asgard, save for a very few, cannot see or feel those in Midgard, and this is true for all realms.
Passing between the worlds is not easy, not even for the gods. There are well known connections, places where two realms over-lap in a way that allows transition, but these are secrets that the gods keep, for their safety and yours.
3 - Ymir in Darkness
We cannot not recount in detail the formation of the world; any description would need to be simplified to a point that the truth would no longer be recognized.
The importance is this:
Ymir was the first being. He wandered timelessly in the endless darkness of the universe. He wandered in dreams until the time of his awakening.
Some time after, when the darkness had been made light, Ymir found a place where fires had burned long enough to give him the tools he required to make a home for himself.
He drew together the essence of fire and the essence of water into his presence, these are the foundations of Mulspelheim – the realm of fire – and Niflheim – the realm of ice.
He needed shelter so he took pieces of the water and mixed it with the fire, the fire hardened to become rock and from this he built a mountain, the foundation of Svartlfahiem.
He also found he needed comfort, so he took some of the fire and mixed it with the water, the water became steam and mist, the foundation of Alfheim.
This made life comfortable for Ymir, but he was alone.
4 - Ve & Villi
He reached into himself and drew out Ve, his understanding of the mysteries of the universe.
For many ages, Ve and Ymir spoke with each other, describing to each other the nature of Ymir, the nature of Ve, and their place in the universe. Ve was agreeable to Ymir, and like a servant to him in all conversations.
Ymir loved Ve, but he grew tired of agreement and so he reached into himself and drew out Villi, his willfulness.
Villi brought argument and discussion to conversations. For more ages than had passed before, Villi and Ymir argued about the nature of existence, about the sciences and mathematics of the world, about the philosophies and mechanisms of the universe.
Villi argued well, but he was weak in comparison to Ymir, Ymir easily won each debate, and this disappointed Ymir after a time.
Ymir spoke with both Ve and Villi about his disquietude. Between them they conceived that Ymir needed his equal, someone who was as cunning and thoughtful as Ymir and possessed the ambition to win against him.
So, Ymir reached deep within himself and drew forth Othin, his heir and son.
5 - Othin & Ymir
For a time, but not a long time, Othin and Ymir spoke with each other, and Ymir was happy. They spoke about all the mysteries and knowledge of Ymir’s understanding.
Othin questioned all the basic truths of the universe and of Ymir’s wisdom. After some time, it came to pass that Othin did what was impossible; he asked Ymir a question for which his father had no answer.
Ymir felt happiness like he had never felt. There was nothing in the universe that he thought to be a mystery, but Othin had conceived of it.
There are many to this day who claim that the question of Othin was a trick, a riddle with no answer. It matters not. Ymir was pleased and sat contented for a long while, repeating that question to himself.
Othin and Ymir searched through the four primal realms for the answer to the question.
They carved the question into the mountains of Svartlfaheim and whispered it into the mists of Alfheim. When they were satisfied that the answer could not be found in Ymir’s home, the two left to see what could be found in other places.
6 - The Wandering
Villi and Ve were left alone in the home of Ymir for a longer time than they had existed.
It was in this time that Ve gathered an intricate accounting of the stars and their alignment, while Villi conducted a detailed contrast of the four primal realms.
In this time Ve lost count of the stars that were birthed and burned away, while Villi’s taxonomy became so long as to have all differences become as similarities. Both had started and restarted their work, learning for a lifetime, then learning it all anew.
When Ymir and Othin finally returned, they did not seem tired from their journey. They were excited to have found new things and learned unknown lessons.
They brought with them three things that had not existed before.
The first was a seed, something found by Ymir in the farthest place imaginable. The second was a sword, an idea that Othin had created, and that Ymir brought to being. The third thing was the sorrowful peace.
7 - The Wisdoms
Ve immediately grasped the purpose and aspects of the seed, it’s place in the universe and in the expansions of time.
Villi saw immediately the advantages and utility of the sword, it’s symbolism and its power.
Neither of the elder brothers could grasp the sorrowful peace.
Together, Ymir and Othin educated the brothers. They spoke of the peace to embrace the nature of the universe, the amplification that the limits of time impose on emotion.
They explained that Ymir’s love for his sons was limitless, but that their world was a prison that held them in stasis.
During their journey, Ymir had begun to lose the joy he felt in arguing with Othin, even though Othin often won the arguments and contests. Othin reasoned that it was everlasting existence that weighed on Ymir, and that only death could bring him peace.
8 - Ymir’s End
Ve and Villi were shocked, they protested to their father and their brother, but Ymir silenced them.
The world must birth and rebirth, as I must live and die, and so must you. Life does not have an ordained limit, it does not matter how little or how much we have, there must be an end to provide some beginning. Do not feel sorrow for my passing, do not fear your own. Remember me and so too shall you be remembered.
The sorrow of Villi and Ve flowed from them in tears and mixed with the tears of Othin. Only Ymir smiled for he could see the long rest ahead and the bounty of his children laid before them.
Through Ymir’s will, through his yearning, the peaceful sorrow was made manifest, a land where all things are longed for and all things are contented, the realm of Hel.
When all embraces where made, and when all had been given special words from their father, Othin took up the sword and killed Ymir.
9 - The Epitaph
On the first day, Ve lit fires and burned incenses, he prepared and washed his father’s body.
On the second day Villi gathered the tears they had shed and fermented them in a vat. The brothers drank of this fermentation and were made happy in their remembrance.
The brothers stood watch over the body of Ymir for two days, drinking and remembering.
On the fourth day, as monument and epitaph to his father, Othin gathered the giant’s great bones and flesh and blood. He pulled them and formed them, crushing and melding, cutting and mending.
From the body of Ymir, Othin formed four realms. The first realm he made in the image of Ymir, strong and fierce – this place he named Jotunheim.
The second realm he made as a tribute to Ve, the oldest brother, a world of beauty and nobility, a place of worship and celebration – this place he named Asgard.
The third realm he made in the likeness of Villi, a dwelling of counterpoints and struggles, beautiful and dangerous, bountiful and tumultuous, a garden world – this place he named Vanaheim.
The final world he made for himself, it was the best of each of his previous worlds, his tribute to existence, with all the strength, beauty, nobility, and struggle of the others – this place he named Midgard.
10 - First Giants
When Ve saw the worlds before him, he was pleased, and recommended that they should populate their worlds with their own children. Villi agreed but suggested they practice their craft on the first of the worlds, Jotunheim.
Othin and his brothers pulled materials from all the realms about them – rock from Svartlfaheim, fire from Mulspelheim, ice from Niflheim, and mists from Alfheim. With these things they created beings in the image of their father: large and imposing, giants of every shape and size.
The first four of their Giants they set as rulers within realms of their father.
The eldest being they made was equal to them in strength, though not in cunning. He was made while the brothers still mourned the loss of their father. Their confusion and anger seeped from them like an infected wound.
The creature was born from unspoken anger and hatred, and cursed his fathers with his first, infant cries.
This being they named Surtr and chained him to Mulspelheim to be its ruler and master.
11 - Ice & Stone
The passion and strength of Surtr unsettled Othin and he set about to make a being of equal strength but devoid of ambition or sentiment.
Othin took the deep cold from hard, black ice formed on the side of a windswept mountain. He took the emptiness from the black spaces between the stars. He gathered the apathy of a rock, buried among millions, amid a frozen sea.
From these things he formed Vornir and gave to him Niflheim to rule.
Villi drew forth the deep compression of stone from the heart of the mountain. He shaped it with ore, alloys, and precious metals. He gave it intelligence and taught it craftsmanship, made it covetous and warned it to fear outsiders.
He named this creature Brimir and placed him in Svartlfaheim to rule the Dwarves.
12 - The Aesir
Ve was unimpressed by Villi’s work.
He gathered the misted rains, and the water collected in small pools. He folded them together with the sounds of echoing whispers and the mysteries of forgotten shelters. He captured the warmth of a fire that does not burn, and the soothing of ice that does not frost.
From these things he made Olvaldi and gave to him rulership of Alfheim and those who dwelt there.
When the brothers had finished creating the Jotunar, they turned toward their own worlds.
Ve looked upon Asgard, thought for a while, considering his previous works. He leaned upon his familiar teachings in the stars and began with an idea to order the universe.
He turned to his youngest brother and asked him to create beings alongside him.
Othin agreed and they set to work creating the Aesir, finer works than the Jotunar, they were gods of nobility, strength, and splendor. Ve imbued them with wisdom, reverence, and loyalty, while Othin gave them cunning, creativity, and ambition.
13 - The Vanir
Othin turned toward Vanaheim to help Villi with his work, but Villi’s nature was to produce opposition.
Villi created the Vanir without the help of Othin, and thus created creatures of equal beauty and power to Ve and Othin’s children, but without cunning or ambition.
When it came time for Othin to build his people, he thought for a long time and observed the early lives of the Aesir and Vanir.
He thought of his father, Ymir, and of the places where he found joy and peace. He spoke with his brothers about the nature of existence and what is good in the universe.
Finally, he sat upon the world of Midgard, breathed the air, and drank from her waters. Othin knew then what he must make, and he set about crafting mankind.
14 - Mankind
Othin gave to his children his ambition, cunning, and wisdom. Othin asked Ve to give them faith, compassion, and understanding. Othin asked Villi to give them, willfulness, curiosity, and discourse.
When they were nearly complete, Othin took the seed that Ymir had found, and took a little piece and put it at the heart of his creation.
From this place, mankind grew.
Othin then took the remainder of the seed and planted it in Midgard so that forever mankind would be connected to his home.
Ymir’s wisdom reached beyond his death, and for the first time, Othin could see what his father had seen. The seed grew forth from the soil of Midgard, and down through the surface. Branches and roots reached out to touch each of the nine worlds.
15 - Yggdrasil
The great tree – Yggdrasil – pulled each of the realms together, overlapping them in a way that Ymir anticipated but that not even Othin understood. Nine realms stood from then as one, a single realm that exists only in relation to the nine as the whole. This is the way the worlds of mankind and gods came to be.
There are those filled with daring, and uncommon knowledge that have asked the All-Father about the tales of his father, Bor, and his grandfather Buri. He responded thusly:
16 - Rebuke
Who am I to have such ancestors?
I am Othin, lord of all realms, the war-bringer, the all-seer, the eagle’s head, the bear’s might. When the wind sings across the forlorn mountains, it is my name that it calls; when the waves assault and recede from the shore, it is my power they fear.
I am the youngest brother who rules, the lord of spears, the roarer, the teacher, the hanged-one who lives, the reader, the knower, the enemy of the wolf, the protector of the gods.
It was I who slew my father with one hand whilst I birthed the worlds with the other. I am creation, I am change, I am authority. The stars in the sky move to my stratagems.
My brother made Buri, father of Bor, father of Laufey. Buri was noble, but not clever; he built lands and modest wealth.
Bor was a great warrior but a strong drinker, he lost all that his father made for him. He gave away his daughter to pay a debt.
17 - Foresight
The great cow of your lies? Nothing but the last of Buri’s fabled herd, sold by Bor as dowry for his daughter.
When his daughter could not make milk, it was Athumbla who fed Bor’s grandchild. Speak no more to me of these stories, I have told you the tale worth telling.
Ymir was a great being, perhaps the greatest. I did not create the world because I am better than him, but because I am worse.
He saw the potentials of both greatness and suffering, and chose not to birth the nine realms.
Often, I consider the glory he would have created had it been his will, and lament that I had not his foresight.
18 - Nine Realms
As the all-father’s anger settled, the courage was found to ask what purpose the nine realms have in the world. To Othin’s mind, such things are not a matter of concern among humanity.
Frigg was asked if she could reveal the answer and she admitted that the sciences of the realms would take many lifetimes to interpret. Better to dwell on mankind’s place in each realm.
Midgard is the realm of men. It is Othin’s greatest work of creation, the place where Yggdrasil was planted. The link to all other worlds.
Asgard is the high realm, the realm of Ve, given to Othin to rule. Mankind may reside in Asgard as the gods allow – some reside in the war-hall Valhalla, though others play in the gardens of the children, others in the feast-hall, and others in the great library. Othin loves Valhalla best, but other gods have their cantons.
19 - The Wilds
Near Asgard is Vanaheim, the garden, the realm of Villi’s children. Great warriors protect its meadows from their own war-hall, Folkvangr.
Mankind is welcomed to Vanaheim by the will of the Vanir – it is a place without conflict, but not without danger, there are no wars in Vanaheim but there are many hunts.
In the space between Midgard and Vanaheim, lies Alfheim. Alfheim is a difficult realm for mankind; the land of mists is full of frivolity and mirth.
Always in Alfheim, food, drink, and riches seem close enough to grasp, but the Alfkin are fickle, and they prefer to trick mankind among the vapors and play games with them. It is the easiest thing for a human to be lost in Alfheim for ages.
Also near Midgard is the realm of Svartlfaheim, the realm of stone. As the Alfkin are ambivalent to mankind, the dwarves are distrustful. Those who find themselves in Svartlfaheim often find themselves alone, closely watched by the dwarves but never approached.
20 - Dreamless
Jotunheim is cold and unpleasant, the inhabitants have only two uses for mankind, as sport or as slaves; it is good that the path to Jotunheim is difficult to reach from Midgard.
Of the final three realms, Hel is the kindest for humanity. Here the god Hel reigns over the lands of the dead.
All those who die, even those among the gods, reside here. Mankind will live in Hel after their life unless they are called to another realm. Hel is not an unpleasant place, the food and drink are not unpleasant, the climate is not uncomfortable, all things within Hel have a stillness to them.
It is not uncommon for those in Hel to drift into a long, dreamless sleep.
21 - Suffering
Near Hel, lies Mulspelheim, the realm of fire. This realm is eternal pain for any man or god who is trapped here.
Molten rock and fire dominate every landscape and cowering souls cling to rafts of stone. Many who would be punished can be sent to Mulspelheim to be hunted by Surtr’s children and burnt in endless torment.
Those who find themselves in Mulspelheim should pray to the goddess Eir who daily makes a journey across the skies of Mulspelheim to retrieve those who have repented and grant them mercy.
Beyond Mulspelheim, beyond Hel, beyond all things, lies the final realm, Niflheim, the realm of ice.
Like Alfheim, Niflheim is covered with mists. However, nothing lives in Niflheim but that which is lost.
22 - Generations
Women and Men who lose themselves, who cannot find peace in Hel, often find themselves wandering among the icy plains of Vornir.
Vornir does not hate mankind, but he does not care for them either, he is content to let them roam alone for all eternity. Not even the gods visit Niflheim without significant reason, and retrieving someone from the ice fields is considered a foolish impossibility.
Ve was called upon to recount the ancestry of the gods and herein lies the closest understanding.
In the first generation there were the three sons of Ymir: Ve, Villi, and Othin.
They together created the Second generation, the giants Surtr, Vornir, Olvaldi, and Brimir.
Also, in the second generation came the unknown brother, rising from the blood of Ymir, named Mimir.
23 - Elder Goth
In the third generation, many beings were created by the brothers, but a few bear special note.
Othin and Ve crafted Frigg, Hermothr, and Forseti, the first of the Aesir.
Surtr gave birth to his only child, Dellingr. Mani broke away from her father Vornir and left the icefields.
Villi created Njorthr first of his beings, man and woman as one. Then, with knowledge of his younger brother’s work, he created Heimdallr with pieces of each realm.
Finally, he made a king of Jotunheim, named Buri.
During this time, Mimir gained sentience and knowledge of all things. His thoughts mixed with the sap of Yggdrasil and from them came the norns: Urthr, Verthandi, and Skuld.
24 - Heroic Goth
Frigg fell in love with Othin and together they began the Fourth Generation.
They gave birth to their eldest twins: Baldr and Hoedr. Othin also showed his nature when he traveled far from Asgard and returned with a child he called his son, the war-god Tyr.
Ve created two beings from the soils of Asgard; Bragi and Hoenir were formed without his brother’s help.
Njorthr begat the twins Freya & Freyr as both their mother and Father, and Buri the wise king became father to the child Bor.
In the fifth generation, Othin fathered his son Thor.
Hoenir and Ve together birthed Odr.
Skathi appeared as Ve’s child within the land of Vanaheim.
25 - Younger Goth
Freya gave birth to the twins Ithunn and Lothur, while Heimdallr fathered Hlinn, and Syn was born to Freyr.
Bor had a daughter whom he impregnated and sold away to pay for his debts. She gave birth to Laufey who was nursed by the cow named Athumbla.
The norns each took turns to carry their child, three months in each womb until Gullveig was born.
In the sixth generation, Hlinn, wife of Forseti, lover of Syn, gave birth to twins who were of different fathers; they were called Seaxnot and Eir.
Bragi fathered Sjofin, and Hermothr fathered Fulla.
Lothur and Odr became fathers to Sif, while Laufey fathered Loki.
Skuld, horrified by her daughter, swore against bearing further children, while her sisters shared the pregnancy of two sets of twins. Lofn, Saga, Var, and Snotra each spent 5 months in the wombs of both Urthr and Verthandi..
26 - End’s Beginning
In the seventh generation, Sif and Thor begat Thrud and Ullr.
Othin fathered Valir.
Fulla gave birth to her only daughter Sygn. Ithunn gave birth to Gefjon, and Freyr fathered Ran by Skathi.
Syn and Hlinn birthed their second child, Vuyr.
Loki fathered a great many offspring, most notably Hel and Vithar.
There are two more generations of gods that are yet to come forth. Some who are now and some who will be.
When the first child of the ninth generation is born, the Gjallarhorn will be retrieved by Heimdallr, and all preparations shall be made for the battle.
The tenth generation of gods is foretold but none in this time can foresee their nature.
26 - The Niundr
The gods are numerous but the strongest gods, those worthy of mention, are bound in five groups of nine.
Two groups of nine gods belong to the Vanir. Two groups of nine gods to the Aesir. One group of nine gods belong to neither.
It is unwise to think of the Vanir as being only of Vanir stock, nor the Aesir only from Aesir lineage.
Since their creation the two have had many unions from between themselves and with other peoples. Not all Vanir reside in Vanaheim, nor do all Aesir call Asgard home. The divisions are given by Othin, and his distinctions remain a mystery.