From Ginnungagap to Ragnarök

Genesis

1. Genesis

   Ginnungagap, the yawning void

   Before the world there is Ginnungagap, a gap between the icy mists of Niflheim in the north and the burning fires of Muspelheim in the south. From their meeting, the first being takes shape.

2. Genesis

   Ymir, the first giant

   Ymir emerges from the dripping ice where Niflheim meets Muspelheim. From his sweat, more giants are born. The cow Audhumla licks the salt rocks and uncovers Buri, the first of the proto-gods.

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3. Genesis

   Buri, Bor, Bestla

   Buri fathers Bor. Bor marries the giantess Bestla. Their three sons are Odin, Vili and Vé.

Building the World

1. Building the World

   The slaying of Ymir

   Odin, Vili and Vé kill Ymir. His blood floods the world and drowns every giant except Bergelmir and his wife, who escape on a boat. From Ymir's body the brothers build the world.

2. Building the World

   The world from his body

   Ymir's flesh becomes the earth, his blood the seas, his bones the mountains, his skull the dome of the sky held up by four dwarves at the cardinal points. His brains scatter as the clouds.

3. Building the World

   Yggdrasil, the world tree

   A single ash tree links the nine worlds. Its three roots reach down to a well of wisdom (Urd), a well of memory (Mimir), and the cold spring of Hvergelmir where the serpent Nidhogg gnaws.

4. Building the World

   The first humans, Ask and Embla

   Walking the shore, Odin and two companions find two pieces of driftwood. Odin gives them breath. The other two gods give them blood and wits. They become Ask and Embla, the first man and woman.

Aesir & Vanir

1. Aesir & Vanir

   Gullveig and the first war

   A Vanir witch named Gullveig comes to Asgard. The Aesir try to kill her three times and fail. War breaks out between the two divine families.

2. Aesir & Vanir

   A truce, an exchange of hostages

   Neither side wins. They settle the war by exchanging hostages: Njörd, Freyr and Freyja go to Asgard; the Aesir send Hoenir and Mimir back to Vanaheim. From then on the two pantheons live together.

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3. Aesir & Vanir

   The mead of poetry

   The dwarves brew the mead of poetry from the spit of Kvasir, sealing the truce between the Aesir and Vanir. Odin later steals it back to give the gift of poetry to gods and worthy mortals.

The Golden Age

1. The Golden Age

   The walls of Asgard

   A giant builder offers to wall Asgard against the giants in exchange for the sun, the moon, and Freyja. The gods accept only if he finishes in one winter. Loki tricks him out of his prize horse Svaðilfari and the builder fails.

2. The Golden Age

   Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse

   Loki distracts Svaðilfari by shapeshifting into a mare. He becomes pregnant and gives birth to Sleipnir, Odin's grey horse who can run on land, sea and air.

3. The Golden Age

   Mjölnir is forged

   The dwarf Brokkr and his brother Eitri forge Thor's hammer Mjölnir, along with Odin's spear Gungnir, Freyr's ship Skidbladnir and his boar Gullinbursti. Loki had bet his head on the contest and loses.

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4. The Golden Age

   The binding of Fenrir

   The wolf Fenrir grows so monstrous the gods bind him with the magical ribbon Gleipnir, made of impossible things (the footfall of a cat, the breath of a fish). Týr loses his hand putting it in the wolf's mouth as collateral.

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Decline & Treachery

1. Decline & Treachery

   The dreams of Baldur

   Baldur dreams of his own death. Frigg makes every thing in the cosmos swear not to harm him. She forgets the mistletoe.

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2. Decline & Treachery

   The death of Baldur

   Loki tricks the blind god Höðr into throwing a mistletoe dart at Baldur. Baldur falls dead. The gods send Hermod to Hel to bargain for his return; the bargain fails because Loki, in disguise, refuses to weep.

3. Decline & Treachery

   Loki bound under the earth

   For his role in Baldur's death, the gods turn Loki's son Váli into a wolf who kills his brother Narfi. They bind Loki with Narfi's entrails. Skadi places a venomous serpent above him. His wife Sigyn catches the venom in a bowl, but when she has to empty it, the drops fall on Loki and his thrashing makes the earth quake.

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Ragnarök

1. Ragnarök

   The Fimbulwinter

   Three winters without a summer in between. Brother fights brother. The sun darkens. The stars wander. The wolves Skoll and Hati catch the sun and the moon.

2. Ragnarök

   Fenrir and Loki break free

   Fenrir bursts his bonds. Loki escapes from his cave. The world serpent Jörmungandr rises from the sea. The ship Naglfar, made of dead men's nails, sails from Hel with an army of the dead.

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3. Ragnarök

   The last battle on Vigrid

   On the field of Vigrid the Aesir, the Einherjar, the giants and the dead all meet. Odin is swallowed by Fenrir. Thor and Jörmungandr kill each other. Freyr falls to the fire giant Surt. Loki and Heimdall kill each other.

4. Ragnarök

   The world burns

   Surt swings his flaming sword across the cosmos. The stars fall. The earth sinks into the sea. The nine worlds burn down to ash.

The World Reborn

1. The World Reborn

   A new earth from the sea

   The Völuspá tells us a green new earth rises from the sea, fields unsown that bear their own crops. The surviving gods, Vidar and Váli and the sons of Thor (Modi and Magni), meet on Ida's plain to remember what was.

2. The World Reborn

   Baldur returns from Hel

   Baldur returns from the dead with his blind brother Höðr beside him. They speak of the runes of Odin and the games of the old gods. Two humans, Líf and Lífþrasir, who sheltered in the wood Hoddmímis holt, come out and people the new world.