Editing Ask and Embla (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Ask and Embla by Robert Engels.jpg|thumb|upright|A depiction of Ask and Embla (1919) by Robert Engels.]]
[[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|askr}} literally means "[[fraxinus excelsior|ash tree]]" but the [[etymology]] of ''embla'' is uncertain, and two possibilities of the meaning of ''embla'' are generally proposed. The first meaning, "[[Ulmus glabra|elm tree]]", is problematic{{clarify|date=November 2022}}, and is reached by deriving ''*Elm-la'' from ''*Almilōn'' and subsequently to {{Transliteration|non|almr}} ('elm'). The second suggestion is "[[vine]]", which is reached through ''*Ambilō'', which may be related to the Greek term {{lang|grc|ἄμπελος}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|ámpelos}}), itself meaning "vine, [[liana]]".{{Sfn|Simek|2007|p=74}} The latter etymology has resulted in a number of theories.

[[Linguist]] Gunlög Josefsson claims that the name Embla comes from the roots {{Transliteration|non|eim}} + {{Transliteration|non|la}} which would mean 'firemaker' or 'smokebringer' inflected for either gender. She connects this to the ancient practice of creating fire through a [[fire plough]] which was considered a magical and holy way of fire making in [[folk belief]] in [[Scandinavia]] long into modern times. She identifies the emergence of fire through the plowing symbolically to the moment of orgasm and hence fertilization and reproduction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Josefsson |first=Gunlög |date=2001 |title=Var Embla en klängranka? Om den fornnordiska skapelsemyten såsom den möter oss i Völuspá |url=https://journals.lub.lu.se/anf/article/view/11623 |journal=Arkiv för nordisk filologi |language=sv |volume=116 |pages=71–96 |issn=0066-7668}}</ref>

According to [[Benjamin Thorpe]], "[[Jacob Grimm|Grimm]] says the word embla, emla, signifies a busy woman, from amr, ambr, aml, ambl, assiduous labour; the same relation as [[Mashya and Mashyana|Meshia and Meshiane]], the [[Iranian religion|ancient Persian]] names of the first man and woman, who were also formed from trees."<ref name=THORPE337>Thorpe (1907:337).</ref>