Ginnungagap

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Ginnungagap (pronunciation [ ginːuŋgagap ], Old Norse , gap ginnunga , "chasm of gaps" "yawning gorge") is the empty space at the beginning of world events in the Edda . In prehistoric times, even before creation , Ginnungagap lay between the glowing Muspellsheim in the south and the icy Niflheim in the north.

Old Norse text German translation

Ár var alda þar er Ýmir bygði,
vara sandr né sær né svalar unnir,
jörð fannsk æva né upphiminn,
gap var ginnunga, en gras hvergi.

It was prehistoric times when Ymir lived: there was
no sand, nor lake, nor salt waves,
not earth below, nor sky above,
yawning for no reason, but grass nowhere.

( Lieder-Edda , Völuspá 3)

In Ginnungagap, the ice streams penetrating from the north (Elivagar) melted in the embers coming from Muspellsheim in the south. When the elements came together, the giant Ymir and the original cow Audhumbla ( Gylfaginning , 5f.) Emerged , whereby the giant emerged from drops that drove out of the Elivagar and grew together to form this creature ( Wafthrudnirlied , 31).

The three sons of Börr - the gods Odin , Vili and Vé - killed Ymir , placed him in the Ginnungagap rift and formed the world from his components ( Gylfaginning , 8).

Comparable are the Ginnungagap the Greek chaos and the Jewish hullabaloo .

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