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{{Short description|Primordial void mentioned in the Gylfaginning}}
{{For|the drone/ambient band|Ginnungagap (band)}}
In [[Norse mythology]], '''Ginnungagap''' ([[old Norse]]: {{IPA-non|ˈɡinːoŋɡɑˌɡɑp|}}; "gaping abyss", "yawning void") is the primordial, [[Magic (supernatural)|magical]]<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> void mentioned in three poems from the ''[[Poetic Edda]]''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ginnungagap |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ginnungagap |access-date=2023-04-30 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Polomé |first=Edgar Charles |author-link=Edgar C. Polomé |last2=Turville-Petre |first2=E.O.G. |author-link2=Gabriel Turville-Petre |last3=Tikkanen |first3=Amy |date=2023-03-08 |title=Germanic religion and mythology |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Germanic-religion-and-mythology/Mythology |access-date=2023-04-30 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref> and the ''[[Gylfaginning]]'', the Eddaic text recording Norse [[cosmogony]].
==Etymology==
''Ginnunga-'' is usually interpreted as deriving from a verb meaning "gape" or "yawn", but no such word occurs in Old Norse except in verse 3 of the [[Eddic poem]] "[[Vǫluspá]]", "''gap var ginnunga''", which may be a play on the term.
In her edition of the poem, [[Ursula Dronke]] suggested it was borrowed from [[Old High German]] ''ginunga'', as the term [[Múspell]] is believed to have been borrowed from Old High German.<ref>''The Poetic Edda'', edited with translation introduction and commentary by Ursula Dronke, Volume II: Mythological Poems, Clarendon Press (1997), pp.&nbsp;112–14, note to "Vǫluspá", line 3/7. Dronke notes that [[Þjóðólfr of Hvinir]] also plays on the term in his ''[[Haustlöng|Haustlǫng]]'', with "ginnunga vé".</ref> An alternative etymology links the ''ginn-'' prefix with that found in terms with a sacral meaning, such as ''ginn-heilagr'', ''ginn-regin'' (both referring to the gods) and ''ginn-runa'' (referring to the runes), thus interpreting ''Ginnungagap'' as signifying a "magical (and creative) power-filled space".<ref name=":0">De Vries (1977:167); cf. also Dillmann (1998:118-123).</ref>
==Creation==
Ginnungagap appears as the primordial void in the Norse [[Creation myth|creation account]]. The ''[[Gylfaginning]]'' states:
{{Blockquote|Ginnungagap, the Yawning Void&nbsp;... which faced toward the northern quarter, became filled with heaviness, and masses of ice and rime, and from within, drizzling rain and gusts; but the southern part of the Yawning Void was lighted by those sparks and glowing masses which flew out of Múspellheim<ref>''The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson'', translated by [[Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur]], 1916, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_T1cAAAAMAAJ&q=which+faced+toward+the+northern+quarter%2C+became+filled+with+heaviness%2C+and+masses+of+ice+and+rime&pg=PA268 p. 17].</ref>}}
In the ''[[Völuspá]]'', a supernaturally long-lived [[Seeress (Germanic)|völva]] who was raised by [[Jötunn|jötnar]] tells the story of how [[Odin]] and his two brothers created the world from Ginnungagap.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Polomé |first=Edgar Charles |author-link=Edgar C. Polomé |last2=Turville-Petre |first2=E.O.G. |author-link2=Gabriel Turville-Petre |last3=Tikkanen |first3=Amy |date=2023-03-08 |title=Germanic religion and mythology |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Germanic-religion-and-mythology/Mythology |access-date=2023-04-30 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref>
==Geographic rationalization==
Scandinavian cartographers from the early 15th century attempted to localize or identify Ginnungagap as a real geographic location from which the creation myth derived. A fragment from a 15th-century (pre-Columbus) Old Norse encyclopedic text entitled ''Gripla'' (Little Compendium) places Ginnungagap between [[Greenland]] and [[Vinland]]:
{{quote|Now is to be told what lies opposite Greenland, out from the bay, which was before named: Furdustrandir hight a land; there are so strong frosts that it is not habitable, so far as one knows; south from thence is Helluland, which is called Skrellingsland; from thence it is not far to Vinland the Good, which some think goes out from Africa; between Vinland and Greenland is Ginnungagap, which flows from the sea called Mare oceanum, and surrounds the whole earth.<ref>''Gripla'', Codex No. 115 translated in ''The Norse Discovery of America'', A. M. Reeves, N. L. Beamish and R. B. Anderson, 1906, p. 238.</ref>}}
A [[scholion]] in a 15th-century manuscript of [[Adam of Bremen]]'s ''[[Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum]]'' similarly refers to ''Ghimmendegop'' as the Norse word for the abyss in the far north.<ref>Dronke, p. 112.</ref>
Later, the 17th-century Icelandic bishop Guðbrandur Thorlaksson also used the name ''Ginnung'''e'''gap'' to refer to a narrow body of water, possibly the [[Davis Strait]], separating the southern tip of Greenland from ''Estotelandia, pars America extrema'', probably [[Baffin Island]].<ref>Seaver, Kirsten "Maps, Myths and Men", Stanford University Press (2004) pp.&nbsp;247-253.</ref>
== In popular culture ==
{{in popular culture|date=May 2023}}
* ''Ginnungagap'' is song taken from the [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]] album, RökFlöte, and released as a single on January 20, 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jethro Tull official Instagram page |url=https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cnj7GpIIBfb/ |access-date=18 January 2023 |website=Instagram}}</ref>
* Ginnungagap is featured in the [[Marvel Universe]], as a void that existed before the formation of the world. In this place were formed entities such as the [[Elder Gods (Marvel Comics)|Elder Gods]],<ref>''Venom'' Vol. 4 #4. Marvel Comics</ref><ref>''Silver Surfer Annual'' #2. Marvel Comics</ref> Xian,<ref>''Thor & Hercules: Encyclopaedia Mythologica'' #1. Marvel Comics</ref> [[Heliopolitans (comics)|Ennead]],<ref>''Thor Annual'' #10. Marvel Comics</ref> [[Giants (Marvel Comics)#Frost Giants|Frost Giants]], [[Demons (Marvel Comics)|Fire Demons]],<ref>''Thor'' Vol. 5 #2. Marvel Comics</ref> [[Nyx (Marvel Comics)|Nyx]]<ref>''Avengers: No Road Home'' #1-10. Marvel Comics</ref> and [[Amatsu-Mikaboshi (character)|Amatsu-Mikaboshi]].<ref>''[[Thor (comic book)|Thor Annual]]'' #5. [[Marvel Comics]].</ref>
* In the Netflix series [[Ragnarok (TV series)|''Ragnarok'']], Ginnungagap is visited as camping site for a classroom field trip during Season 1, Episode 4; it also happens to be the name of this particular episode. In Season 2, Episode 2, Ginnungagap is visited by the characters Laurits and Vidar, and is depicted as a scenic vantage point overlooking a fjord and two adjoining mountains.
* [[Alastair Reynolds]]' space opera novel ''Absolution Gap'' features a chasm named Ginnungagap Rift.
* Swedish death metal band, [[Amon Amarth]] and their 2001 album [[Amon Amarth discography|The Crusher]] features a track titled, "Fall Through Ginnungagap".
* Swedish symphonic metal band, [[Therion (band)|Therion]], features a track titled "Ginnungagap" on their [[Therion discography|''Secret of the Runes'']] album from 2001.
* EVE Online has a black hole whose accretion disk shows up in the skybox named Ginnungagap.
* "Ginungagap" (sic) is the title of a science fiction short story by [[Michael Swanwick]].
* [[France|French]] [[neofolk]] group [[Skáld (band)|SKÁLD]] included a song titled "Ginnunga" in their 2018 album ''Vikings Chant''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MetalDen |date=2018-09-09 |title=SKÁLD Le chant des Vikings |url=http://rockmeeting.com/news/9106-skald-le-chant-des-vikings |access-date=2022-06-26 |website=RockMeeting - Rock / Metal mélodique |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
* Ginnungagap (ギンヌンガガプ, ''Ginnungagapu'') is a weaponized grimoire introduced in ''[[Fire Emblem Fates]]'', part of a video-game franchise published by Nintendo. It is a high-level item that hits the hardest of all tomes and scrolls in the game.
* Ginungagap is the [[Overworld|hub world]]  of the video game [[Jotun (video game)|''Jøtun'']].
* In PlatinumGames's ''[[Bayonetta 3]]'', the main characters travel through the multiverse, and the Ginnungagap is used as a gateway. In the game, it is referred to as "Ginnungagap, the Chaotic Rift".
* A variation of Ginnungagap called "The Spark of the World" appears in the 2022 action-adventure video game ''[[God of War Ragnarök]]''. This location becomes accessible during the main quest while in Muspelheim, appearing as a cosmic tapestry of orange sparks merged with blue-tinged essence, presumably from Niflheim.
== See also ==
* [[Abyss (religion)]]
* [[Chaos (mythology)]]
* [[Plane (esotericism)]]
* [[Void (astronomy)]]
== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
== References ==
* Dillmann, F. X. (1998). "Ginnungagap" in: Beck, H., Steuer, H. & Timpe, D. (Eds.) ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Volume 12''. Berlin: de Gruyter. {{ISBN|3-11-016227-X}}.
*{{cite book
|last=de Vries
|first=Jan
|author-link=Jan de Vries (linguist)
|title=Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch
|publisher=Brill
|year=1977
|location=Leiden
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Simek
|first=Rudolf
|author-link=Rudolf Simek
|title=Lexicon der germanischen Mythology
|publisher=Alfred Kröner
|year=1995
|location=Stuttgart
|isbn=3-520-36802-1
}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.kb.dk/permalink/2006/manus/678/eng/9+verso/?var= Guðbrandur Thorlaksson's 1606 map of the North Atlantic]
{{Norse mythology}}
[[Category:Locations in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Chaos (cosmogony)]]