From Ymer's flesh
The earth was formed,
And from his bones the hills,
The heaven from the skull
Of that ice-cold giant,
And from his blood the sea.
And in Grimner's lay:
Of Ymer's flesh
Was earth created,
Of his blood the sea,
Of his bones the hills,
Of his hair trees and plants,
Of his skull the heavens,
And of his brows
The gentle powers
Formed Midgard for the sons of men;
But of his brain
The heavy clouds are
All created.
SECTION V. THE HEAVENLY BODIES, TIME, THE WIND,
THE RAINBOW.
The heavenly bodies were formed of the sparks from Muspelheim. The gods did not create them, but only placed them in the heavens to give light unto the world, and assigned them a prescribed locality and motion. By them days and nights and seasons were marked. Thus the Elder Edda, in Völuspá:
The sun knew not
His proper sphere;
The stars knew not
Their proper place;
The moon knew not
Where her position was.
There was nowhere grass
Until Bor's sons
