Editing Ymir (section)

===''Poetic Edda''===
Ymir is mentioned in four poems in the ''Poetic Edda''; ''[[Völuspá]]'', ''[[Vafþrúðnismál]]'', ''[[Grímnismál]]'', and ''[[Hyndluljóð]]''. In ''Völuspá'', in which an undead [[völva]] imparts knowledge in the god [[Odin]], references are twice made to Ymir. In the first instance, the third stanza of the poem, Ymir is mentioned by name:

<blockquote>
{|
|
:There was in times of old, where Ymir dwelt,
:nor sand nor sea, nor gelid waves;
:earth existed not, nor heaven above,
:'twas a chaotic chasm, and grass nowhere.
:::<small>[[Benjamin Thorpe|B. Thorpe]] translation</small><ref name=Thorpe-1866/>{{rp|page=3}}
|
:"Of old was the age when Ymir lived;
:Sea nor cool waves nor sand there were;
:Earth had not been, nor heaven above,
:But a yawning gap, and grass nowhere."
:::<small>[[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|H.A. Bellows]] translation</small><ref name=Bellows-1923/>{{rp|page=4}}
|}
</blockquote>

In the above translations the name of the location [[Ginnungagap]] is translated as "chaotic chasm" ([[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe]], 1866) and "yawning gap" (Bellows). Later in the poem, a few other references are apparently made to Ymir as ''Brimir'' and ''Bláinn'' (here anglicized as ''Blain''):

<blockquote>
{|
|
:Then went all the powers to their judgement-seats,
:the all-holy gods, and thereon held council,
:who should{{sic|hide=y}} of the dwarfs race create,
:from the sea-giant's blood and livid bones.<ref name=Thorpe-1866/>{{rp|page=4}}
|
:"Then sought the gods their assembly-seats,
:The holy ones, and council held,
:To find who should raise the race of dwarfs
:Out of Brimir's blood and the legs of Blain."<ref name=Bellows-1923/>{{rp|page=6}}
|}
</blockquote>

In this stanza [[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe]] has treated ''Brimir'' (Old Norse "the bloody moisture") and ''Blain'' (Old Norse, disputed) as common nouns. Brimir and Blain are usually held to be proper names that refer to Ymir, as in Bellows's translation.<ref name=Bellows-1923/>{{rp|page=6}}

In the poem ''Vafþrúðnismál'', the (disguised) god Odin engages the wise jötunn [[Vafþrúðnir]] in a game of wits. Odin asks Vafþrúðnir to tell him, if Vafþrúðnir's knowledge is sufficient, the answer to a variety of questions. In the first of which that refers to Ymir, Odin asks from where first came the Earth and the sky. The jötunn responds with a creation account involving Ymir:

<blockquote>
{|
|
:From Ymir's flesh the earth was formed,
:and from his bones the hills,
:the heaven from the skull of that ice-cold giant,
:and from his blood the sea.<ref name=Thorpe-1866/>{{rp|page=14}} 
|
:"Out of Ymir's flesh was fashioned the earth,
:And the mountains were made of his bones;
:The sky from the frost cold giant's skull,
:And the ocean out of his blood."<ref name=Bellows-1923/>{{rp|page=74}}
|}
</blockquote>

As the verbal battle continues, a few more exchanges directly refer to or may allude to Ymir. Odin asks what ancient jötun is the eldest of "Ymir's kin", and Vafþrúðnir responds that long, long ago it was [[Bergelmir]], who was [[Þrúðgelmir]]'s son and Aurgelmir's grandson. In the next stanza Odin asks where Aurgelmir came from so long ago, to which Vafþrúðnir responds that venom dropped from [[Élivágar]], and that these drops grew until they became a jötunn, and from this being descends the jötnar. Finally, Odin asks how this being begat children, as he did not know the company of a female jötunn, to which Vafþrúðnir responds that from beneath the ancient jötunn's armpits together a girl and a boy grew, and his feet together produced a six-headed jötunn.<ref name=Bellows-1923/>{{rp|pages=76–77}}
<ref name=Orchard-2011/>{{rp|page=44}}<ref name=Thorpe-1866/>{{rp|pages=15–16}}

In the poem ''Grímnismál'', the god Odin (disguised as "Grímnir") imparts in the young Agnarr cosmological knowledge. In one stanza, Odin mentions Ymir as he recalls the fashioning of the world from his body:

<blockquote>
{|
|
:Of Ymir's flesh was earth created,
:of his blood the sea,
:of his bones the hills,
:of his hair trees and plants,
:of his skull the heaven;

:and of his brows the gentle powers
:formed Midgard for the sons of men;
:but of his brain
:the heavy clouds are all created.<ref name=Thorpe-1866/>{{rp|pages=24–25}} 
|
:"Out of Ymir's flesh was fashioned the earth,
:And the ocean out of his blood;
:Of his bones the hills, of his hair the trees,
:Of his skull the heavens high."

:"Mithgarth the gods from his eyebrows made,
:And set for the sons of men;
:And out of his brain the baleful clouds
:They made to move on high."<ref name=Bellows-1923/>{{rp|pages=100–101}}
|}
</blockquote>

In a stanza of ''[[Völuspá hin skamma]]'' (found in the poem ''Hyndluljóð''), Ymir receives one more mention. According to the stanza, völvas are descended from Viðòlfr, all seers from Vilmeiðr, all charm-workers from Svarthöfði, and all jötnar descend from Ymir.<ref name=Bellows-1923/>{{rp|page=229}}<ref name=Thorpe-1866/>{{rp|page=111}}