In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap (

old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ; "gaping abyss", "yawning void") is the primordial void mentioned in the

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals with t ...

, the Eddaic text recording Norse cosmogony.

Etymology

''Ginnunga-'' is usually interpreted as deriving from a verb meaning "gape" or "yawn", but no such word occurs in Old Norse except in verse 3 of the

Eddic poem The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

" Vǫluspá", "gap var ginnunga", which may be a play on the term. In her edition of the poem,

Ursula Dronke __NOTOC__ Ursula Miriam Dronke (née Brown, 3 November 1920 – 8 March 2012Heather O'Donoghue"Ursula Dronke obituary: Inspirational teacher of Old Norse literature specialising in the sagas and poetry of medieval Iceland" ''The Guardian'' 25 M ...

suggested it was borrowed from

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

''ginunga'', as the term

Múspell In Norse cosmology, Muspelheim ( on, Múspellsheimr), also called Muspell ( on, Múspell), is a realm of fire. The etymology of "Muspelheim" is uncertain, but may come from ''Mund-spilli'', "world-destroyers", "wreck of the world". Narrative ...

is believed to have been borrowed from Old High German. An alternative etymology links the ''ginn-'' prefix with that found in terms with a sacral meaning, such as ''ginn-heilagr'', ''ginn-regin'' (both referring to the gods) and ''ginn-runa'' (referring to the runes), thus interpreting ''Ginnungagap'' as signifying a "magical (and creative) power-filled space".

Creation

Ginnungagap appears as the primordial void in the Norse creation account. The ''

'' states: In the northern part of Ginnungagap lay the intense cold of

Niflheim In Norse cosmology, Niflheim or Niflheimr (Old Norse: ; "World of Mist", literally "Home of Mist") is a location which sometimes overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name ''Niflheimr'' appears only in two extant sources: ''Gylfaginn ...

, and in the southern part lay the equally intense heat of

Muspelheim In Norse cosmology, Muspelheim ( on, Múspellsheimr), also called Muspell ( on, Múspell), is a realm of fire. The etymology of "Muspelheim" is uncertain, but may come from ''Mund-spilli'', "world-destroyers", "wreck of the world". Narrative ...

. The cosmogonic process began when the effulgence of the two met in the middle of Ginnungagap.

Geographic rationalization

Scandinavian cartographers from the early 15th century attempted to localize or identify Ginnungagap as a real geographic location from which the creation myth derived. A fragment from a 15th-century (pre-Columbus) Old Norse encyclopedic text entitled ''Gripla'' (Little Compendium) places Ginnungagap between

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

and

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John ...

: A

scholion Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of t ...

in a 15th-century manuscript of

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...

's ''

Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum ''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' (Medieval Latin for ''"Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg"'') is a historical treatise written between 1073 and 1076 by Adam of Bremen, who made additions (''scholia'') to the text until his death (poss ...

'' similarly refers to ''Ghimmendegop'' as the Norse word for the abyss in the far north. Later, the 17th-century Icelandic bishop Guðbrandur Thorlaksson also used the name ''Ginnungegap'' to refer to a narrow body of water, possibly the

Davis Strait Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Atlantic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The strait was named for the English explorer John ...

, separating the southern tip of Greenland from ''Estotelandia, pars America extrema'', probably Baffin Island.

In popular culture

* Ginnungagap is featured in the Marvel Universe, as a void that existed before the formation of the world. In this place were formed entities such as the Elder Gods, Xian, Ennead, Frost Giants, Fire Demons, Nyx and

Amatsu-Mikaboshi In Japanese mythology, (あまつみかぼし), also called (あめのかがせお), Hoshigami Kaseo (星神香香背男, ほしがみかがせお), Kaseo (香香背男, かがせお), Amenoseo (天背男, あめのせお), or Ame no Murakumo n ...

. * In the Netflix series Ragnarok, Ginnungagap is visited as camping site for a classroom field trip during Season 1, Episode 4; it also happens to be the name of this particular episode. In Season 2, Episode 2, Ginnungagap is visited by the characters Laurits and Vidar, and is depicted as a scenic vantage point overlooking a fjord and two adjoining mountains. *

Alastair Reynolds Alastair Preston Reynolds (born 13 March 1966) is a Welsh science fiction author. He specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. He spent his early years in Cornwall, moved back to Wales before going to Newcastle University, where he s ...

' space opera novel ''Absolution Gap'' features a chasm named Ginnungagap Rift. * Swedish death metal band, Amon Amarth and their 2001 album The Crusher features a track titled, "Fall Through Ginnungagap". * EVE Online has a black hole whose accretion disk shows up in the skybox named Ginnungagap. * "Ginungagap" (sic) is the title of a science fiction short story by

Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick (born 18 November 1950) is an American fantasy and science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began with short stories, starting in 1980 when he published "Ginungagap ...

. * French neofolk group SKÁLD included a song titled "Ginnunga" in their 2018 album ''Vikings Chant''. * Ginnungagap (ギンヌンガガプ Ginnungagapu) is a weaponized grimoire introduced in ''Fire Emblem Fates'', a video-game franchise published by Nintendo. It is a high-level item that hits the hardest of all tomes and scrolls in the game. * Ginungagap is the hub world of the video game Jotun. * In PlatinumGames's Bayonetta 3, the main characters travel through the multiverse, and the Ginnungagap is used as a gateway. In the game, it is referred to as "Ginnungagap, the Chaotic Rift".

Notes

References

* Dillmann, F. X. (1998). "Ginnungagap" in: Beck, H., Steuer, H. & Timpe, D. (Eds.) ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Volume 12''. Berlin: de Gruyter. . * *

External links

Guðbrandur Thorlaksson's 1606 map of the North Atlantic
{{Norse mythology Locations in Norse mythology Chaos (cosmogony)