Prologue

It was a windy but clear evening in the city of London. A bright star was
shining on the night sky, opposite the moon. A muscular man was
walking through the dim lit streets, wearing a dark brown trench coat
and a hat. On the far end of the street there was a pub called “The
Mead Hall”. As the man entered the warm lit room nobody looked up,
being busy drinking and talking with their peers.
The man walked to a table in the corner of the room and sat down in
front of a young man. “Heimdall.” the man said in a low voice. “I didn’t
actually expect you to come.” The muscular man answered “Hello to
you too, young Mitchell, glad to see you. Heimdall always keeps his
promises, I’m not like Loki. Besides, you know I’m not here, this is
merely a projection of me since I’m standing guard at the rainbow
bridge to Asgard, waiting for Ragnarok to start.”
Mitchell smiled, as two pints of mead arrived, together with an
enormous plate filled with various roasted meats, vegetables, and
cheeses. “As you can see, I’ve taken the courtesy to order us a meal
worthy of the gods.” Mitchell said. Heimdall laughed, and replied
“Thanks, a good meal will always make me a better storyteller.
Speaking of stories, why did you want me to come here?”
Mitchell’s face lit up, and with a big smile he replied “I was hoping you
could tell me some stories about the Norse mythology, and my
predecessors. Since you can see into all the nine worlds, I was hoping
you could educate me a bit.” “Let’s make a deal.” Heimdall replied “I’ll
tell you the stories, and after each story you’ll buy me another meal. I
need to fuel myself to be able to tell good stories.” Mitchell thought
for a second, and then replied “You’re going to cost me a fortune, but
knowing the mythology is worth it. You’ve got yourself a deal.”
 Story I
Creation
“In the beginning” Heimdall started; “There was next to nothing. There
was no earth, no trees, no creatures, and no gods. There were a few
things, one of which was Niflheim, the world that existed of cold, ice
and mist. Niflheim was a very big place, colder than cold. Everything in
the dark world was covered in the whitest snow, and at some places
the snow was so thick that entire buildings of today would be engulfed
in the snow. If you were there, it would be clear that there could never
be anything that would be able to live there. There were eleven
poisonous rivers that cut through all the mist of this cold place. Each of
these rivers sprung from the same well at the very center, called
Hvergelmir. Hvergelmir was a big pit, in the center of Niflheim, that
descended into a void of nothingness. This pit was filled with
poisonous, ice cold water, that extended itself in eleven directions,
creating these rivers.
South of Niflheim, there was Muspelheim, the world of fire.
Muspelheim was a world full of fire and magma ranging from yellow to
red, and at some places even bright white. If you could find a solid part
in Muspelheim to stand on, it would be pitchblack, and amazingly hot.
Because of all this magma, fire, and heat it is also very clear that
nothing would ever be able to live in this glowing world. In
Muspelheim, however, there was one thing very strange. At the edge
of Muspelheim’s fires, at over 300 meters tall, there stood a manlike
creature, Surtr the firegiant, holding a flaming sword. He stands there
to this day, and it is said that only on the day of Ragnarok, when the
worlds will end, he will move from his position and burn the worlds
with his fire, and all gods would fall before him.”
Heimdall paused for a moment to take a sip from his drink “It’s been a
while since I had good mead, this isn’t the best but it will do the trick.
At least it’s better than that weird beverage you humans call ‘wine’.
That bitter stuff tastes worse than a giant’s big toe!” Mitchell looked a
bit disgusted at him, and asked “So what came after Niflheim and
Muspelheim? What became of Surtr?”
Heimdall smiled. “I will tell you, dear Mitchell. Between Muspelheim
and Niflheim, was a great void. This void was filled with mist, and the
water from the poisonous rivers coming out of Niflheim poured down
into the nothingness. This giant void was called Ginnungagap. The
rivers flowing into Ginnungagap eventually started to form gigantic
glaciers, which would be covered in frozen fog and snow in the
northern part, near Niflheim, and which would be molten and turned
into steam in the south near Muspelheim. This heat made the
environment above the ice nice and comfortable, like a spring day.
In the center of Ginnungagap, where the ice and fire met, and the ice
melted in water, a sign of life started to appear. A giant creature,
bigger than worlds ever seen before, and anything seen afterwards.
The creature was neither male, nor was it female, but was both at the
same time. This huge creature was the ancestor of all giants, and it was
called Ymir. After Ymir, something else grew from the waters of
Ginnungagap. A hornless cow, bigger than anyone could ever imagine,
and her name was Audhumla. Audhumla licked the blocks of ice for
food and drink, and fed Ymir with the milk that flowed from her
udders. This milk allowed Ymir to grow even bigger. When Audhumla
was licking the ice to feed herself, something strange started to
happen: She started licking a person from the blocks of ice. On the first
day she licked a man’s hair, his head on the second day, and the rest of
the full body on the third. This man was Buri, the ancestor of all gods.
While Buri was being created, something else strange was taking place.
Ymir had gone to sleep, and in their sleep, they had given birth to
three giants. A male and a female giant had been born from their
armpits, and a six-headed giant from the legs. From these giants, all
the giants, were descendants. Eventually, Buri married one of these
giants, and they had a son who they called Bor. Bor, in his turn, also
married one of the giants, and they got three children together: Odin,
Vili and Ve. As the three brothers grew older, they could see farther
and farther, eventually allowing them to see the icy world of Niflheim
and the fiery world of Muspellheim. The three brothers knew they’d be
stuck in Ginnungagap, since these two worlds would be their demise.
Odin, Vili and Ve decided they needed to do something, for
Ginnungagap was an empty void, waiting to be filled with life. There
was no sand, no trees, no rocks, no soil and no stars. The trio decided
it was time for the creation of everything. They spoke of life, of
greenery, of the future. For this, there was one thing necessary: The
death that made all life possible, the death of Ymir. The brothers were
going to kill Ymir in it’s sleep. They stabbed the giant many times,
allowing the blood to gush out in all directions. This blood, as salt and
grey as the oceans, left Ymir’s body so quickly, so powerfully and in
such quantity, that it drowned all other giants. Except two: Ymir’s
grandson, Bergelmir, and his wife. All giants living presently descended
from these two.
Using Ymir’s body parts, Odin and his brothers started to build. They
used the blood and sweat for the oceans, seas and rivers. They used
the flesh to make the soil. They used the bones to make the mountains
and the cliffs, and the teeth for the rocks, pebbles, gravel, and sand.
If you were to go outside, and looked up at the sky, you’d be staring at
the inside of Ymir’s skull, and the stars you see at night are
Muspelheim’s sparks, floating around in this skull. The hair became the
trees, bushes, and the grass.
The world was a big disk, surrounded by the oceans. At the edges of
this disk lived the giants, and in the center were beautiful lands. These
lands could never be a world however, because Odin, Vili and Ve knew
that a world had to be inhabited. So the brothers made a giant wall
around the center of the world, using Ymir’s eyelashes. Then, they
started to look in all the mountains, the valleys, behind every tree and
under every rock, but they could not find any inhabitants for this
beautiful world. They named this world Midgard, being in the middle
of the giant disk.
One day, they found two logs, floating in the rivers of a calm meadow.
These two logs had been floating on the waves, only to be found by
the brothers on this very day. The first log was made of ash wood, a
resilient and handsome tree, whose roots go deep. It’s wood will not
break, and is easy to carve, and it could make a good tool or weapon
handle. The second log was made of Elm wood, a graceful, but sturdy
wood. Strong enough to build beautiful homes with. The brothers took
the two logs, and set them down on the ground pointing upwards, so
they were the length of a human.
Odin touched the ash log with his hand, and slowly but surely breathed
life into the log. After that, he did the same with the Elm wood,
breathing life into the log, and giving it the potential to flourish. Vili
then also placed his hand on the logs, and gave them intelligence, a
consciense, allowing them to think, and to long.
Finally, Ve carved the logs into the shape of humans. He carved their
arms and legs, so they could move. He carved their ears and eyes, so
they could hear and see. He carved their lips and nose, so they could
smell and speak, and he gave them genitals; one male, and one
female.
The brothers made clothes for the humans, so they could keep
themselves warm, and gave them the names Ask for the man coming
from the ash wood, and Embla for the woman coming from the Elm
wood. Ask and Embla were the ancestors of all humans. This is also the
reason we call Odin the all-father. Odin is the father of all gods, and if
he hadn’t breathed the life into the logs, mankind would not exist,
making him the father of all humans and gods.”
After a long sigh, Heimdall looked at his empty plate and said: “I think
I’m going to need another meal, considering we just finished the first
story.” Mitchell sighed in disappointment “I was hoping you’d
forgotten, but a deal’s a deal.” After a couple of minutes, a parade of
plates arrived at the table again, filled with all kinds of foods, ranging
from meat, to fish, to vegetables. Heimdall’s face lit up, and he said: “I
don’t know where to start!” “Maybe with the beginning of the next
story?” Mitchell replied with a snarky voice. “Give me some time to
recharge, young man, I could also just leave you alone with the bill
here right this moment!” said Heimdall, being slightly annoyed. This
annoyance quickly faded when his interest returned to the food.
Alas, Heimdall spoke. “I shall now tell you about how Thor got his
hammer, Mjölnir."
 Story II
The hammer
And so, Heimdall started the storytelling again. “Thor, the god of the
thunder, lived in a beautiful castle called Bilskirnir, which is old Norse
for lightning crack. He lived here with his beautiful wife, Sif, and their
children. The palace was a massive fortress with over 500 individual
rooms, close to the center of Asgard, the realm of the gods. The
fortress was decorated on the outside with gold plated doors, beautiful
stained windows and many statues depicting Thor and his feats. On
the inside, the building was decorated even further, with the walls
being decorated with various shields, statues with armor everywhere
and the ceiling being decorated with spears placed in patterns.
One night in Asgard, not far from Bilskirnir, Loki was going for a walk
through the beautiful lands of Asgard. It was midnight, and Loki
couldn’t sleep, making him very bad-tempered. He’d been awake for
hours and finally decided to go outside for a little bit to see if it would
make him tired. He was casually walking around when he noticed there
was light coming through the bedroom window of Thor’s palace. He
didn’t wait for a second to think, and walked towards the building and
started climbing up the uneven wall, giving him easy places to place his
hands and feet.
He climbed through the window into the bedroom and saw the
beautiful Sif sleeping in the bed, but Thor was nowhere to be found!
Sif’s beautiful, gold-colored hair lay as a divine crown on her head and
shoulders as she was sleeping. Loki looked around the room and saw a
pair of scissors, decorated with beautiful patterns engraved into the
silver, on top of a drawer. He felt a strong force towards the pair of
scissors, like a magnet.
He snatched the pair of scissors off the drawer. On Loki’s face appear a
big, ugly grin, and in one swift movement he cut off all Sif’s hair. The
god of deception did not wait a moment to leave the area
immediately, and he climbed out the window and sprinted away. He
left no traces of his filthy crime, except for one: While climbing out of
the window he hadn’t noticed he’d lost one of his sandals, which was
now still in the room. Loki had no time to go back and get the sandal,
because he knew that Thor could return at any moment.
When Thor came home, shortly after, he was absolutely furious! He’d
come into the room and he’d seen Sif’s bald head with the pair of
scissors laying next to it. He looked around the room for any clues as of
who could’ve committed such a horrible crime. Thor actually knew
already, since there was nobody else who would ever in their right
mind come to the idea of such a heinous crime. Then, while scanning
the room, Thor noticed the sandal next to the open window that Loki
had jumped out of, just a few minutes before. He woke Sif, and
explained the situation to her, after which Sif started to cry. Angrily
Thor said to his wife “I will make sure he will get what he deserves.”
The next morning, after comforting his wife for hours, he set out to
find Loki. This didn’t take long, and he grabbed Loki by his collar and
stared into his eyes with fury you’ve never seen before. Keep in mind
Thor was not yet the god of the thunder, but the anger in his eyes was
so strong that sparks were emitted from them. “I will break all your
bones Loki.” Spoke Thor in a deep, rumbling voice. “I will break your
bones, let them heal and then break them again. Never again will you
ever consider committing such a heinous crime, let alone to my wife!”
Loki whimpered, and refused to look Thor in his eyes. “I’ll make sure
your wife gets new hair!” said Loki in a squealing voice. Thor looked
back in fury, ready to punch Loki harder than he had ever punched
anything before. “Shut up new hair!” shouted Thor. “You’re done!”
Loki whimpered again and stuttered “I- I’ll get new hair for your wife!
A- and gifts for you and all other gods!” Thor waited and thought for a
moment, and then spoke again “I will keep you to that promise. If you
don’t get my wife her new hair and gifts for me and the other gods you
know what punishment awaits you.”