Book of Stone: Ymir

For April, Stone Soldiers.info is celebrating the A to Z Blog Challenge with daily letter-themed entries. A separate page with a list of all these entries, plus Character Profiles and Book Synopses will appear on the right hand side of the page in coming weeks, detailing the people, places and things of the Stone Soldiers universe.

Ymir, also known as Aurgelmir, Brimir, or Bláinn, is a being from Norse mythology--the ancestor of all Jötnar. Mentioned in the Poetic Edda, he is described as a primeval being who was born from venom that dripped from the icy rivers Élivágar and lived in the grassless void of Ginnungagap. Ymir is credited with creating the Norse gods themselves:  Odin, Vili, and Vé. He is also claimed to have created the Earth, the oceans, the clouds, the heavens, and  the middle realm in which mankind lives, Midgard. In addition, one stanza relates that the dwarfs were given life by the gods from Ymir's flesh and blood (or the Earth and sea).

Ymir was purportedly betrayed by his offspring--the brothers Odin, Vili, and Vé, who conspired to kill him.


More modern legends of Ymir depict him as the father of the Frost Giants--those terrible monsters fought by Odin and the Aesir. Whatever origins, if Ymir had survived to the modern era, he would surely be one of the most dangerous opponents yet for Detachment 1039.