In
Norse mythology, (commonly rendered in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
as Fimbulwinter), is the immediate prelude to the events of
Ragnarök. It means 'great winter'.
Summary
is the harsh winter that precedes the end of the world and puts an end to all life on Earth. is three successive winters, when snow comes in from all directions, without any intervening summer. Innumerable wars follow.
The event is described primarily in the ''
Poetic Edda
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...
''. In the poem ,
Odin poses the question to
Vafþrúðnir as to who of mankind will survive the . Vafþrúðnir responds that
Líf and Lífþrasir
In Norse mythology, Líf (identical with the Old Norse noun meaning "life, the life of the body")Cleasby & Vigfusson s.v. ''líf''. and Lífþrasir (Old Norse masculine name from ''líf'' and ''þrasir'' and defined by ''Lexicon Poëticum'' as ' ...
will survive and that they will live in the forest of
Hoddmímis holt.
The mythology might be related to the
volcanic winter of 536
The volcanic winter of 536 was the most severe and protracted episode of climatic cooling in the Northern Hemisphere in the last 2,000 years. The volcanic winter was caused by an eruption, with several possible locations proposed in various contin ...
, which resulted in a notable drop in temperature across northern Europe. There have also been several popular ideas about whether the particular piece of mythology has a connection to the
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
that occurred in the Nordic countries at the end of the
Nordic Bronze Age
The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age, or Scandinavian Bronze Age) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c. 2000/1750–500 BC.
The Nordic Bronze Age culture emerged about 1750 BC as a continuation of the Battle Axe culture (th ...
from about 650 BC.
In Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and other
Nordic countries, the term has been borrowed from Old Norse to refer to an unusually cold and harsh winter.
However in Sweden, another common word is '', which means 'wolf winter'.
Etymology
comes from
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...
, meaning 'awful, great winter'. The prefix ''fimbul'' means 'great/big' so the literal interpretation is 'great winter'.
Svenska Akademiens Ordbok
A complete set of ''Svenska Akademiens ordbok'', as of late 2014. The majority of the volumes remain unbound in this set.
''Svenska Akademiens ordbok'' (), abbreviated SAOB, is a dictionary published by the Swedish Academy, with the official titl ...
, entry for
/ref>
See also
*Eschatology
Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...
* Laki 1783 eruption
* Nuclear winter
* Ragnarök
*Volcanic winter
A volcanic winter is a reduction in global temperatures caused by volcanic ash and droplets of sulfuric acid and water obscuring the Sun and raising Earth's albedo (increasing the reflection of solar radiation) after a large, particularly explosiv ...
References
Bibliography
*Gunn, Joel (2000). ''The Years Without Summer: Tracing A.D. 536 and its Aftermath'' (British Archaeological Reports International. Oxford, England: Archaeopress)
*Keys, David Patrick (2000). ''Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World.'' (New York: Ballantine Pub) .
*Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). ''The Poetic Edda'' (Oxford World's Classics)
* Lindow, John (2001). ''Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs'' (Oxford University Press)
*Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend'' (Cassell)
{{Norse mythology
Eschatology in Norse mythology
Events in Norse mythology
Winter weather events