When the gods had formed the earth—which they called Midgard—they chose the most beautiful spot they could find for their home. In the very centre of the earth rose a lofty mountain, and on the top of it was a broad, lovely meadow where the gods built their shining city of Asgard. In the midst of the city was a spacious hall, made of gold and the purest marble, and here were the thrones where the gods sat when in council.[4] Beyond the hall were the palaces of the gods[5A] and goddesses,[5B] also made of marble and silver or gold, and near by was a huge smithy where the gods forged the weapons needed to defend their city from their enemies the frost-giants.
[4] This hall was called Gladsheim, and the palace of the goddesses was called Vingolf. [Back]
[5A], [5B] They are also called the Asas, Æsir, Anses or Anse-race. [Back to 5A], [Back to 5B]
From Asgard to Midgard the gods stretched a rainbow bridge which they called Bifrost; and over this they passed and repassed on their frequent journeys to the earth. There was no human being on the earth at this time, and the gods felt sorry that no eyes but their own could look upon the fruitful, blossoming land. No one ploughed the fields or built houses, or sailed in ships across the seas. No voices of children rang over the meadows; no sound of the reaper’s scythe broke the stillness of the fields; and no ringing of metal on the smith’s firm anvil was heard throughout the silent earth.
Then the gods took some of the earth-mould and made of it a host of tiny creatures which they called Dwarfs or Gnomes[6]; but when Odin saw how ugly they were, with their misshapen bodies and great heads, he condemned them to live underground and never to come up into the light of day. So the dwarfs spent their time delving into the heart of the earth for gold and silver and precious stones; and they became the cleverest workmen at their tiny forges, making wonderful things of every kind of metal. They were cunning, too, and kept their secrets well, so that neither gods nor men knew the hiding-place of their treasures.
[6] Sometimes also called Trolls. [Back]
Besides the dwarfs, the gods made the Fairies,—or Elves,—but these were so airily and daintily fashioned that they seemed to belong to the sky instead of the earth. So the gods built the fairy folk a home between Midgard and Asgard—a beautiful place called Elfland, all made of rainbow colours and moonbeams, and gossamer silks and delicate spiders’ webs. The gods also gave these little people gauzy wings so that they could fly down to earth and play with the butterflies, and make caps of harebells, and dance in the moonlight round a fairy ring. They were never wicked and spiteful like the Gnomes, though they sometimes liked to play good-natured tricks on stupid people; and fortunate indeed was the child or man who won a fairy for his friend.
One day Odin and Hœnir and Loki were walking about on the earth; and as they drew near to the seashore they saw two stately trees, an ash and an elm, standing side by side. Then Odin took the trees, and out of them he made two living beings that resembled the gods themselves in form and feature. Hœnir touched their foreheads, that they might have sight and wisdom, and Loki gave them warm blood, with the power to speak and hear and feel. Thus man and woman were created; and the gods called the man Ask, and the woman Embla, from the names of the trees from which they were made.