Ginnungagap

In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap (old Norse: ; "gaping abyss", "yawning void") is the primordial, magical void mentioned in three poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Gylfaginning'', the Eddaic text recording Norse cosmogony.

Etymology

''Ginnunga-'' is usually interpreted as deriving from a verb meaning "gape" or "yawn", but no such word occurs in Old Norse except in verse 3 of the Eddic poem " Vǫluspá", "''gap var ginnunga''", which may be a play on the term.

In her edition of the poem, Ursula Dronke suggested it was borrowed from Old High German ''ginunga'', as the term Múspell is believed to have been borrowed from Old High German. An alternative etymology links the ''ginn-'' prefix with that found in terms with a sacral meaning, such as ''ginn-heilagr'', ''ginn-regin'' (both referring to the gods) and ''ginn-runa'' (referring to the runes), thus interpreting ''Ginnungagap'' as signifying a "magical (and creative) power-filled space".De Vries (1977:167); cf. also Dillmann (1998:118-123).

Creation

Ginnungagap appears as the primordial void in the Norse creation account. The ''Gylfaginning'' states:

In the ''Völuspá'', a supernaturally long-lived völva who was raised by jötnar tells the story of how Odin and his two brothers created the world from Ginnungagap.

Geographic rationalization

Scandinavian cartographers from the early 15th century attempted to localize or identify Ginnungagap as a real geographic location from which the creation myth derived. A fragment from a 15th-century (pre-Columbus) Old Norse encyclopedic text entitled ''Gripla'' (Little Compendium) places Ginnungagap between Greenland and Vinland:

A scholion in a 15th-century manuscript of Adam of Bremen's ''Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum'' similarly refers to ''Ghimmendegop'' as the Norse word for the abyss in the far north.

Later, the 17th-century Icelandic bishop Guðbrandur Thorlaksson also used the name ''Ginnungegap'' to refer to a narrow body of water, possibly the Davis Strait, separating the southern tip of Greenland from ''Estotelandia, pars America extrema'', probably Baffin Island.

In popular culture

* ''Ginnungagap'' is song taken from the Jethro Tull album, RökFlöte, and released as a single on January 20, 2023.

* Ginnungagap is featured in the Marvel Universe, as a void that existed before the formation of the world. In this place were formed entities such as the Elder Gods, Xian, Ennead, Frost Giants, Fire Demons, Nyx and Amatsu-Mikaboshi.

* In the Netflix series ''Ragnarok'', Ginnungagap is visited as camping site for a classroom field trip during Season 1, Episode 4; it also happens to be the name of this particular episode. In Season 2, Episode 2, Ginnungagap is visited by the characters Laurits and Vidar, and is depicted as a scenic vantage point overlooking a fjord and two adjoining mountains.

* Alastair Reynolds' space opera novel ''Absolution Gap'' features a chasm named Ginnungagap Rift.

* Swedish death metal band, Amon Amarth and their 2001 album The Crusher features a track titled, "Fall Through Ginnungagap".

* Swedish symphonic metal band, Therion, features a track titled "Ginnungagap" on their ''Secret of the Runes'' album from 2001.

* EVE Online has a black hole whose accretion disk shows up in the skybox named Ginnungagap.

* "Ginungagap" (sic) is the title of a science fiction short story by Michael Swanwick.

* French neofolk group SKÁLD included a song titled "Ginnunga" in their 2018 album ''Vikings Chant''.

* Ginnungagap (ギンヌンガガプ, ''Ginnungagapu'') is a weaponized grimoire introduced in ''Fire Emblem Fates'', part of a video-game franchise published by Nintendo. It is a high-level item that hits the hardest of all tomes and scrolls in the game.

* Ginungagap is the hub world of the video game ''Jøtun''.

* In PlatinumGames's ''Bayonetta 3'', the main characters travel through the multiverse, and the Ginnungagap is used as a gateway. In the game, it is referred to as "Ginnungagap, the Chaotic Rift".

* A variation of Ginnungagap called "The Spark of the World" appears in the 2022 action-adventure video game '' God of War Ragnarök''. This location becomes accessible during the main quest while in Muspelheim, appearing as a cosmic tapestry of orange sparks merged with blue-tinged essence, presumably from Niflheim.

See also

* Abyss (religion)
* Chaos (cosmogony)
* Plane (esotericism)
* Void (astronomy)

Notes

References

* Dillmann, F. X. (1998). "Ginnungagap" in: Beck, H., Steuer, H. & Timpe, D. (Eds.) ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Volume 12''. Berlin: de Gruyter. .
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External links

Guðbrandur Thorlaksson's 1606 map of the North Atlantic

{{Norse mythology

Places in Norse mythology
Chaos (cosmogony)