The ancient Vikings believed in Ragnarök . They fought fiercely and with great courage because in doing so they secured a place in Valhalla, the feast of Odin prior to the destruction of the world. The Ragnarök is similar to the Christian Apocalypse, the world and its inhabitants will be destroyed, but for the Nordics that did not mean that the human race came to an end. In their mythology they talk about Líf and Lífthrasir, the couple that will survive the Ragnarök. What will happen?
In Supercurioso we tell you about the primitive human couple of the old German-Scandinavian religion, Ask and Embla , very similar to the Adam and Eve of the Old Testament and who lived in the Midgard , a place that Odin and his brothers created for them with the remains of the giant Ymir. When all living human beings have died in the Ragnarök, a couple will survive the destruction to start over and repopulate the Earth in an eternal restart.
Líf and Lífthrasir, the couple that will survive the Ragnarök
"Winter is coming" is one of the most iconic phrases in the books and series " Game of Thrones" . It is the motto of Stark House, "The King in the North." The snow, the cold and the horror of the other "side of the wall" are coming and this theme, which seems invented by George R.R. Martin, we find it already in Norse mythology. Before the Ragnarök arrives, the Viking apocalypse, there will be a successive cold and winter season that will not be interrupted by any summer or warm season. This freezing period is known as Fimbulvetr .
The prosaic Edda, in which the Norse mythology is collected and which was written in the thirteenth century, explains that during the Fimbulvetr the snow will come from all directions and the battles between men will be endless. Families will fight among themselves and most men will die in them. Líf and Lífthrasir they are the only human beings that will survive the fire and also the cold of the Fimbulvetr. How do they get it? There are two different legends:
1. The Hodmyr forest
To survive the cold and fire of Ragnarök, Líf and Lífthrasir , according to some myths, they take refuge in the Forest of Hodmimir. There they will feed on the morning dew. That forest is safe for them since Surt's fury of fire can not penetrate him.
Surt is the one that commands the giants of the South and with his sword of fire they will devastate the Earth until they leave nothing. Only the Forest of Hodmimir and its two only inhabitants, Líf and Lífthrasir they will survive. From them will be born a new race of humans that will repopulate the world.
2. The tree Yggdrasil
The second mythical legend explains that Líf and Lífthrasir they will survive hidden inside the Yggdrasil tree. This tree is the tree of life or ash tree of the universe of Nordic mythology. The nine worlds in which the ancient Norse believed were among the branches, trunk and roots of Yggdrasil. The Midgard, the human world was only one branch of the great Yggdrasil and when it is razed in the Ragnarök, the only surviving couple will take refuge in its trunk until everything has passed. Later, they will repopulate the Earth and their offspring will be counted in thousands. There will be a new pantheon of gods that will govern Baldr, the second son of Odin, the god of peace, light and forgiveness.
The names of this couple that will survive the Ragnarök and from which the world will be repopulated, are not fortuitous. Líf, which is a feminine name and the one that the wife of the couple receives, means "life", physical life, and Lífthrasir , which is a masculine name, means "the lover of Líf" that is, the lover of life. According to the students of the Norse mythology, it is not strange that in the two versions of the myth the salvation of this couple is through the forest or the tree. Forest, tree or wood, were for the ancient Germanic peoples something sacred because they believed that somehow human life had originated in them.
Surely reading this myth of the religion of the ancient Vikings you have felt transported to "Game of Thrones" or "Lord of the Rings." Did you know the mythological figures of Líf and Lífthrasir ? Do you know other similar myths of other cultures or religions? Share it with us! If you want to know more about the Vikings, their culture or their religion, we invite you to read:
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