Writer Wednesday: Norse Creation Stories

 

Our monthly prompt theme is Creation Stories so for our first Writer Wednesday this month we are focusing on Norse creation myths. We fell in love with mythology years ago and have been highly influenced by it in our own works. Today, we are looking at specific stories in the mythology that focus on the creation of man and woman, and the creation of Midgard. 

Trivia: 

Creation of the World:

Midgard was created by a giant named Aurgelmir. The myth goes that the giant was killed by the gods who then rolled his body into the "void of the universe" where he was then turned into the world. The world comes from the giant's flesh which turned into the land, the oceans were made from his blood, the trees from his hair, the clouds from his brains, the mountains from his bones, and the cliffs from his teeth. The skull of the giant came from four dwarfs holding it up and thus creating the "dome of the heavens." More can be found on Britannica. 

Draw inspiration for your own Norse-centered story about a world created. 

Creation of Mankind:

The creation of mankind occurred after Odin and two of his brothers found two tree trunks on the beach. Their names were Askr and Embla. Odin gifted them with breath while Vili gave them understanding and Ve gave them their looks and senses. This was found at Britannica. 

Draw inspiration for your own Norse-centered story about the creation of mankind. 

Quote:

“Of course it was Loki. It's always Loki.”
― Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology

This quote comes is humorous and so true in Norse Mythology. Use this quote as the basis for a short story. The length is whatever you choose. 

Exercise:

World-building is always a tricky thing to do. So for this exercise, we want you to think about your world without barriers. Think of something as complex as a world from a giant or on the back of a giant turtle. Keep your world restricted within a certain limit. If it's a world on a turtle's back, think about how large this would be and how it would always be moving. 

As always, have fun with it.

Happy writing!