According to Norse myth, the beginning of life was fire and ice,
with the existence of only two worlds: Muspelheim and Niflheim. When
the warm air of Muspelheim hit the cold ice of Niflheim, the jötunn Ymir and the icy cow Audhumla were created. Ymir's foot bred a son and a man and a woman emerged from his armpits, making Ymir the progenitor of the Jotun. Whilst Ymir slept, the intense heat from Muspelheim made him sweat, and he sweated out Surtr,
a jötunn of fire. Later Ymir woke and drank Audhumbla's milk. Whilst he
drank, the cow Audhumbla licked on a salt stone. On the first day after
this a man's hair appeared on the stone, on the second day a head and
on the third day an entire man emerged from the stone. His name was Búri and with an unknown jötunn female he fathered Bor, the father of the three gods Odin, Vili and Ve.
