Editing Ymir (section)

===''Prose Edda''===
Ymir is mentioned in two books of the ''Prose Edda''; ''[[Gylfaginning]]'' and ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]''. In the first mention, in chapter&nbsp;5 of ''Gylfaginning'', [[High, Just-As-High, and Third]] tell [[Gylfi|Gangleri]] (the disguised mythical king [[Gylfi]]) about how all things came to be. The trio explain that the first world to exist was [[Muspell]], a glowing, fiery southern region consisting of flames, uninhabitable by non-natives. After "many ages" [[Niflheimr]] was made, and within it lies a spring, [[Hvergelmir]], from which eleven rivers flow.<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|pages=9–10}}

Gangleri asks the three what things were like before mankind. High continues that these icy rivers, which are called [[Élivágar]], ran so far from their spring source that the poisonous matter that flows with them became hard "like the [[Clinker (cement)|clinker]] that comes from a furnace" – it turned to ice. And so, when this ice came to a halt and stopped flowing, the vapor that rose up from the poison went in the same direction and froze to [[Hard rime|rime]]. This rime increased, layer upon layer, across Ginnungagap.<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|page=10}}

Just-As-High adds that the northern part of Ginnungagap was heavy with ice and rime, and vapor and blowing came inward from this. Yet the southern part of Ginunngagap was clear on account of the sparks and molten flecks flying from Muspell. Third assesses that "just as from Niflheim there was coldness and all things grim, so what was facing close to Muspell was hot and bright, but Ginunngagap was as mild as a windless sky". Third adds that when the rime and hot air met, it thawed and dripped, and the liquid intensely dropped. This liquid fell into the shape of a man, and so he was named ''Ymir'' and known among the jötnar as ''Aurgelmir'', all of which descend from him. In support of these two names, Third quotes a stanza each from ''[[Völuspá hin skamma]]'' and ''Vafþrúðnismál''.<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|page=10}}

Gangleri asks how generations grew from Ymir, how other beings came into existence, and if Ymir was considered a god. High says that Ymir was no god, and "he was evil and all his descendants." High explains that Ymir is the ancestor of all jötnar (specifically [[Jötunn|hrimthursar]]) and that when Ymir slept, he sweated, and from his left and right arm grew a male and a female, and his left leg produced a son with his right leg, and from them came generations.<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|page=11}}

[[File:Ymir gets killed by Froelich.jpg|thumb|left|Ymir is attacked by the brothers Odin, Vili, and Vé in an illustration by [[Lorenz Frølich]].]]

Gangleri asks where Ymir lived and what sustained him. High explains that the drips next produced a cow named [[Auðumbla]]. From her teats flowed four rivers of milk, and from it fed Ymir. Gangleri asks what the cow fed from, and High responds that the cow licked salty rime-stones. The first day Auðumbla licked the rime stones it uncovered that evening the hair of a man. The second day it uncovered his head. The third day a man was uncovered from the ice. This man was named [[Búri]], and was large, powerful, and beautiful to behold. Búri had a son, [[Borr]], who married a jötunn, [[Bestla]], the daughter of [[Bölþorn]]. The two had three sons: Odin, [[Vili and Vé|Vili, and Vé]]. High adds that "Odin and his brothers must be the rulers of heaven and earth; it is our opinion that this must be what he is called. This is the name of one who is the greatest and most glorious that we know, and you would well to agree to call him that too".<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|page=11}}

High relates that Odin, Vili, and Vé killed Ymir, and his body produced so much blood from his wounds that within it drowned all the jötnar but two, [[Bergelmir]], who, on a ''lúðr'' with his (unnamed) wife, survived and repopulated the jötnar.<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|page=11}}

Gangleri asks what, if High, Just-As-High, and Third believe the trio to be gods, what the three did then. High says that the trio took the body into the middle of Ginnungagap and from his flesh fashioned the Earth, from his blood the sea and lakes, from his bones rocks, scree and stones his teeth, molars, and bones. Just-As-High adds that from his gushing wounds they created the sea that surrounds the Earth. Third says that the trio took his skull and placed it above the Earth and from it made the sky. They placed the sky above the earth, and, to hold up the sky, they placed four dwarfs – [[Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri]] – at its four corners. The trio took the molten particles and sparks that flew from Muspell and "they fixed all the lights, some in the sky, some moved in a wandering course beneath the sky, but they appointed them positions and ordained their courses". Third cites a stanza from ''Völuspá'' in support, stating that by ways of these sky lights days and years were reckoned and counted, and that the stanza reflects that the cosmological bodies did not know their places prior to the creation of earth.<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|page=12}}

Gangleri comments that what he has just heard is remarkable, as the construction is both immense and made with great skill, and asks how the earth was arranged. High replies that the world is circular, and around it lies the depths of the sea. Along the shore the gods gave land to the jötnar. However, on the inner side on earth they made a fortification against the hostility of the jötnar out of Ymir's eyelashes. This fortification they called [[Midgard]]. Further, they took Ymir's brains and threw them skyward, and from them made clouds. Another two stanzas from ''Völuspá'' are cited in support.<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|pages=12–13}}

Later in ''Gylfaginning'' High explains the origin of the [[Dwarf (Germanic mythology)|dwarfs]]. High says that after Asgard had been built, the gods assembled on their thrones and held their [[Thing (assembly)|things]]. There they "discussed where the dwarfs had been generated from in the soil and down in the earth like maggots in flesh. The dwarfs had taken shape first and acquired life in the flesh of Ymir and were then maggots, but by decision of the gods they became conscious with intelligence and had the shape of men though they live in the earth and in rocks". Stanzas from ''Völuspá'' consisting of dwarf names are then provided to show the lineage of the dwarfs.<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|pages=16–17}}

In the book ''Skáldskaparmál'' poetic means of referring to the sky are provided, some of which relate to the narrative in ''Gylfaginning'' involving Ymir, including "Ymir's skull" and "jötunn's skull", or "burden of the dwarfs" or "helmet of Vestri and Austri, Sudri, Nordri". A portion of a work by the 11th&nbsp;century skald [[Arnórr jarlaskáld]] is also provided, which refers to the sky as "Ymir's old skull".<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|page=88}} Later in ''Skáldskaparmál'' poetic terms for the earth are provided, including "Ymir's flesh", followed by a section for poetic terms for "sea", which provides a portion of a work by the [[skald]] [[Ormr Barreyjarskáld]] where the sea is referred to as "Ymir's blood".<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|page=90}} Both the names ''Aurgelmir'' and ''Ymir'' appear in a list of jötnar in the [[Nafnaþulur]] section of ''Skáldskaparmál''.<ref name=Faulkes-1995/>{{rp|pages=155–156}}