Regardless of mythological perspectives, human curiosity often drives us to seek scientific explanations for our beliefs. Since the Viking civilization has long vanished into the shadows of time, it becomes essential to explore how their ideas align with modern science.
As the religions prosper they claim one thing only and that thing is always cosmological, Tell me any religion in the world whose mythology doesn’t claim that their beliefs about the creations are the absolute truth, Same thing happened with the Norse Mythology.
But there is something so special about this Mythology and this is because this mythology includes the gods that have envy, emotions, and sadness of Emptiness just like us humans. They don’t claim that they created humans out of their reflections, rather they stay as the inclusive part of the Human culture while maintaining their godly postures.
To understand in details, How this Norse Mythology flourished and how the major gods of the Norse Mythology like Thor and Odin survived their life till the ragnarok, I recommend you to go through the Vikings: The Myths of Creation book by Mundus Gnosis, Because you will understand that the words in this books are the enchantment for your crystal clear understanding.
So that the next time you will watch those Marvel movies, You will watch with some respect.
Viking creation theory
What if creation wasn’t a linear event, but a cyclic, violent balance between chaos and order? well this question is asked not just by the Norse Mythology but you will find this Cyclic Creation in the many religious theories like The Egyptians and the Hinduism.
But let me tell you how these creation theories actually worked. and what they consisted with.
Ginnungagap: The Space Between Possibilities
In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap is described as a vast yawning void, an unformed space that existed before time, matter, or even the gods themselves. It was a state of absolute potential, bordered by Niflheim, the realm of ice and cold, and Muspelheim, the realm of fire. When the frost from Niflheim met the heat from Muspelheim in the center of Ginnungagap, their clash created Ymir, the primordial being, and Auðumbla, the cosmic cow.
This transition from ancient myth to scientific theory opens up a fascinating parallel.
From a scientific lens, Ginnungagap’s void shares surprising conceptual similarities with the quantum vacuum, the lowest energy state of space in modern physics. The quantum vacuum isn’t “nothingness” in the traditional sense. Instead, it’s a seething energetic field from which particles can spontaneously arise due to fluctuations governed by quantum mechanics. Likewise, Ginnungagap isn’t entirely empty. It’s the breeding ground of creation where opposing elemental forces converge to trigger the emergence of life.
Even more curiously, the violent interaction between fire and ice in Ginnungagap parallels the cosmological idea of symmetry breaking in the early universe. In inflationary theory, the cosmos expanded rapidly from a near-uniform field. As it cooled, quantum fluctuations broke the symmetry and allowed structures like matter, galaxies, and energy gradients to form. In myth, the chaotic heat and cold clash in Ginnungagap breaks the stillness and gives form to life.
One might interpret Ymir as entropy personified, limitless and formless, multiplying until the gods, representing order, bring structure by slaying him. So yes, metaphorically speaking, Ginnungagap resembles both the quantum vacuum and pre-inflation entropy, a poetic mythic symbol that aligns eerily with cutting-edge physics.
Ymir’s Death and the Shape of the Cosmos
This part of the story has always drawn me in. Norse mythology offers a different way of explaining how the universe came to be. It says that everything was formed after the death of a single being. That might sound strange at first, but it’s fascinating to think that Viking warrior societies, known for their practical mindset, believed in such a story of creation.
I guess you’ve heard of Odin the All-Father, but did you know he had brothers? Odin’s brothers are Vili and Vé, and together they play an important role in the Norse creation myth. According to the story, they helped Odin kill the primordial giant Ymir, whose body was then used to shape the world.
Vili stands for will or thought, and Vé stands for sanctity or sacredness.
Together, the three brothers represent power through Odin, intention through Vili, and holiness through Vé. They form a trio of forces that bring meaning and structure to the universe. After Ymir’s death, they use his body to build the heavens, the Earth, and everything we know.
In the cosmological myth, Odin and his brothers kill Ymir, the first being who was born from the meeting of fire, ice, and venom in Ginnungagap. Ymir is the ancestor of all frost giants. As more of them appear, the world remains wild and empty, so the gods decide to bring change.
They kill Ymir while he sleeps and his blood floods the world, wiping out most of the giants. Only two survive, Bergelmir and his wife, who carry the frost giant line forward. The gods then use Ymir’s body to form the world. His blood becomes oceans, his flesh becomes land, his bones rise as mountains, his teeth become rocks, his skull forms the sky, and his brain becomes the clouds. Even the maggots from his body turn into dwarves who grow wise and skilled over time.
Ymir symbolically stands for raw chaos. Before his death, the world holds potential but has no shape. Once the gods act and reshape him, the universe gains form and direction. It’s like in science, where systems can move from disorder to order when an outside force steps in.
If you look closely, this idea touches on the concept of a simulated universe. In that view, Ymir is like the raw data or code the gods repurpose to build reality. They don’t create the world from nothing. They reorganize what already exists, and that lines up with how the Big Bang theory says the universe came from a chaotic and intense beginning.
Ask and Embla: Consciousness from the Forest
Do you think the story of Adam and Eve was the first of its kind? Well, here is something that might surprise you. The Norse had their own version of how the first humans came to be, and it is the story of Ask and Embla.
In Norse mythology, Ask and Embla were the first humans. They were shaped from two pieces of driftwood found along the shore. These wooden figures looked like a man and a woman, but they had no life. Then Odin and two other gods, either Vili and Vé or Hœnir and Lóðurr, gave them the essential traits that made them human. Odin gave them breath, Vili gave them movement and awareness, and Vé gave them senses and a healthy look. That is how these lifeless shapes were turned into real people who were placed in Midgard to begin human life.
This story, where humans come from trees, opens up a lot of interesting ideas. Trees often symbolize memory, life, and being grounded, and in this case, they could also be seen as carriers of hidden knowledge. For modern readers, these wooden forms might remind us of DNA, which is natural, structured, and full of potential. Just like tree rings record years of growth, DNA stores the history of life. And when the gods breathe life into these forms, it feels a lot like unlocking what was already there, almost like nature’s version of programming.
Did the Norse understand DNA? Probably not, but their myth suggests something deeper. They sensed that life does not come out of nowhere. It starts from something already present and waits for the right spark. In this case, the trees are not just wood. They hold the shape of life and the quiet promise of a mind.
So the story of Ask and Embla is not just a creation tale. It is a moment where the forest gives rise to thought, as if the Norse believed that nature itself held the blueprint for consciousness.
Norse Cosmology vs Scientific Models
Now you might wonder, what is this Mundus Gnosis doing by connecting Viking myths with science? Why compare these ancient stories to modern theories? Well, I am just trying to understand why such unusual stories were told in the first place.
So let’s get into this one too.
In Norse mythology, there are Nine Realms connected through a giant cosmic ash tree called Yggdrasil. Its roots and branches stretch across all parts of reality. Realms like Asgard and Midgard and Helheim and Jötunheimr belong to gods and humans and giants and the dead.
Now, if we look at string theory in modern physics, it suggests the universe has more than just the three dimensions we see and the time we experience. Some versions describe ten or eleven dimensions and most of them are hidden from us. This idea of invisible layers feels similar to how the Vikings imagined multiple realms, each with its own rules and beings and boundaries.
Yggdrasil, the World Tree that links these realms, can be seen as a symbol for a multiverse. Its branches stretch through the sky and its roots reach deep into the underworld and the wells of fate. This structure looks surprisingly like some of the modern ideas in braneworld theory or the cosmic web, where different universes are tied together through a shared system. Even the eagle at the top and the serpent at the roots and the squirrel running messages between them could reflect the idea of forces or connections between different layers of reality.
So why do these ancient stories seem to match modern science?
Because myths were early ways for people to explain the world around them. They used stories and images and symbols to make sense of what they could not yet measure or calculate. When the Norse imagined realms tied together by a great tree, they might have been reaching for ideas that today’s scientists describe with complex theories. It is not that the Vikings understood string theory, but their way of thinking shows the same human need to find patterns and structure and meaning in the universe. And that instinct still shapes both myth and science today.
Uncover the origins, the gods, and the epic stories that shaped the Norse world. Written by Mundus Gnosis, this book brings the Viking creation tales to life like never before.
