The first human pair in Norse mythology, fashioned from ash and elm by the gods Óðinn, Hœnir, and Lóðurr, who gave them breath, senses, and the colour of life.
Askr and Embla were the first human pair created in Old Norse cosmology. The Völuspá tells how the gods Óðinn, Hœnir, and Lóðurr found them powerless at the edge of the earth: they lacked breath, mind, blood, and the colour of life. Óðinn gave them önd (breath and life), Hœnir gave them óðr (sense and motion), and Lóðurr gave them blood and fair complexion.
The Gylfaginning provides a somewhat different account in which the three creator-gods give them life, understanding, motion, speech, hearing, and sight. Askr was fashioned from the ash tree, and Embla possibly from elm or vine, though the textual translations are uncertain. They are the ancestors of all humanity in the Norse world-view, and their creation marks the close of the cosmos's founding phase.
Sources in the Eddas
- Völuspá 17-18
- The seeress recounts the gods finding Askr and Embla lifeless. Own translation.
- Gylfaginning 9
- Snorri's prose account of the creation of humanity. Own translation.
Interpretive traditions
A What we know
The creation motif of Askr and Embla is well attested in two of the most important Old Norse sources and belongs to the foundational structure of Norse cosmology.
B What we think we know
The third god Lóðurr, whose identity remains obscure in the sources, is interpreted by many scholars as Loki or an earlier form of Freyr.
C What we do not know
Embla's name has been interpreted as related to Latin ulmus (elm) or to a word for vine, though neither reading is settled.