Ask and Embla (Old Norse: Askr ok Embla), according to Norse mythology, were the first two humans created by the gods. The pair are attested in both the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, three gods, one of which is Odin, find Ask and Embla and bestow upon them various corporeal and spiritual gifts. A number of theories s...
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Ask and Embla (Old Norse: Askr ok Embla), according to Norse mythology, were the first two humans created by the gods. The pair are attested in both the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, three gods, one of which is Odin, find Ask and Embla and bestow upon them various corporeal and spiritual gifts. A number of theories seeking to explain the two figures have been proposed, and there are occasional references to them in popular culture.
Old Norse askr literally means "ash tree" but the etymology of embla is uncertain, and two possibilities of the meaning of embla are generally proposed. The first meaning, "elm tree", is problematic, and is reached by deriving *Elm-la from *Almilōn and subsequently to almr ("elm"). The second suggestion is "vine", which is reached through *Ambilō, which may be related to the Greek term ámpelos, itself meaning "vine, liana". The...
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