The Mythology Of Odin Explained

Odin may be known as the allfather, but he had a father and grandfather of his own. As explained in "Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain," the first god was Buri, who was licked out of cosmic ice at the beginning of time by the celestial cow Audumala. Buri had a son named Bor, who married a frost-giantess named Bestla. She gave birth to Odin and his two younger brothers, Vili and Ve.

The three brothers then came into conflict with the frost giant Ymir. This creature was no mere giant but had come into being at the beginning of time in the void between the elemental fires of Muspelheim and the elemental cold of Niflheim. The brothers slew Ymir and used his body to create the world. The giant's skull became the heavens, his bones the mountains, and his blood the waters of the world. Then, using sparks from Muspelheim, the brothers created the stars and even assigned dwarves to the four cardinal directions. 

In essence, Odin and his brothers organized the universe into the nine worlds. In doing so, they made an especially fertile land in the middle of all the worlds of Norse mythology called Midgard — the world of humans — out of Ymir's eyebrows. As a last stroke of creation, they gave life to Ask, the first man, from an ash tree and Embla, the first woman, from an elm tree.

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