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Poetic Edda

3.[1] Of old was the age  when Ymir lived;
Sea nor cool waves  nor sand there were;
Earth had not been,  nor heaven above,
But a yawning gap,  and grass nowhere.

4.[2] Then Bur's sons lifted  the level land,
Mithgarth the mighty  there they made;
The sun from the south  warmed the stones of earth,
And green was the ground  with growing leeks.

5.[3] The sun, the sister  of the moon, from the south
Her right hand cast  over heaven's rim;
No knowledge she had  where her home should be,
The moon knew not  what might was his.
The stars knew not  where their stations were.

    symbolizing the universe; cf. Grimnismol, 29-35 and notes, wherein Yggdrasil is described at length.

  1. ↑ Ymir: the giant out of whose body the gods made the world; cf. Vafthruthnismol, 21. In this stanza as quoted in Snorri's Edda the first line runs: "Of old was the age  ere aught there was." Yawning gap: this phrase, "Ginnunga-gap," is sometimes used as a proper name.
  2. ↑ Bur's sons: Othin, Vili, and Ve. Of Bur we know only that his wife was Bestla, daughter of Bolthorn; cf. Hovamol, 141. Vili and Ve are mentioned by name in the Eddic poems only in Lokasenna, 26. Mithgarth ("Middle Dwelling"); the world of men. Leeks: the leek was often used as the symbol of fine growth (cf. Guthrunarkvitha I, 17), and it was also supposed to have magic power (cf. Sigrdrifumol, 7).
  3. ↑ Various editors have regarded this stanza as interpolated; Hoffory thinks it describes the northern summer night in which the sun does not set. Lines 3-5 are quoted by Snorri. In the manuscripts line 4 follows line 5. Regarding the sun and moon

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