Emblas Saga

Ek dreyma umb eldr
Ek dreyma umb dauðl
Hvar stjornur hrjóða grima himinn
Eldr ok dauðl - myrkr ok rauða
Tveir andilt þú hafa
O grima þǫgn

In the beginning there was only darkness
Of icy mist and smoke
A darkness so completely dark
By war and death invoked
Sparkling flames would dare to reach
Across the arid void
And melt the rim of ice and frost
That framed it from the north
Oh, the birth of gods, the fall of foes
Oh, children of the tree
Now listen close, and hear the truth
Of how you came to be

First was the giant, Ymir his name
Then the cow Authumla, out of the melting ice they came
From Ymirs' palm another pair of giants, born and bred
Then left and right,
His feet would mate to birth a child with several heads

Authumla fed on frost in all her pride and grace
She woke the very first of gods by licking on his face
She ate away the icy cage that held him in his fury
A man of beauty and of might by the name of Burí

Burí somehow got a son, who somehow got a wife
Burí, Borr and Bestla – the avengers of their time
Then Bestla bore the children who made this story true
Vile, Ve and Odin – who created me and you

Memories will fade from man
The snow of death will fall upon
The children of Wodan
Distant echoes, whispering
Of how it all began
For the children of Wodan

Three were the brothers, three were the gods
In a world of giants, conspiring how to turn the odds
They slayed the very oldest, the one who was the first
Within the flowing blood - every giant was submerged

These waters of decay would never cease to flow
Creating every sea and every river that we know
And while the giants drowned, the gods got the idea
To take the corpse of Ymir and make the earth appear

His body would become the soil, his skull became the sky
And then they threw his giant brains aloft to form the clouds
His teeth became the rocks, they made mountains from his bones
And on the meadows through his hair the summer breeze was blown

Out of the ashes and into the light
The dead will make room for the living
Deep in the darkest of nights
The end is another beginning

The fire in my dreams
The death so long foreseen
The darkest sky
Adorned by lights
What does it hide?

Out of the ashes rise
The glowing seed of life
The darkest sky
Two faces hides
Oh, silent night

When the gods were done
They took a little break
A stroll upon the beach
To take a breath and contemplate

Two logs of ash and elm
Lay stranded on the shore
The children of the forest
The children of the gods

From dead to animated
And no longer adrift
For like the fairy godmothers
They gave them special gifts

The first would grant them spirit
And life beyond the plant
The second gave them movement
And the wit to understand
The third would give them faces
Their hearing and their sight
And thus the very first of humans
Were brought to life

Memories will fade from man
The snow of death will fall upon
The children of Wodan
Distant echoes, whispering
Of how it all began
For the children of Wodan