In the beginning, there was only the great void, Ginnungagap. To the north lay Niflheim, realm of ice, and to the south, Muspelheim, realm of fire.

When fire and ice met in the void, they formed Ymir, the first frost giant. From Ymir's sweat came the first giants, and from his death at the hands of Odin and his brothers, the world was created.

From Ymir's flesh they made the earth, from his blood the seas, from his bones the mountains, from his hair the trees, and from his skull the great dome of the sky.

The world was held together by the great ash tree Yggdrasil, whose branches reached through all the nine worlds, from the icy depths of Niflheim to the fiery realm of Muspelheim, with Midgard, the realm of humans, in the middle.