Prose Edda — Old Norse facing a living language
Þá segir Gangleri: "Hvat höfðust þá at Bors synir, ef þú trúir at þeir sé goð?" Hárr segir: "Eigi er þar lítit af at segja. Þeir tóku Ymi ok fluttu í mitt Ginnungagap ok gerðu af honum jörðina, af blóði hans sæinn ok vötnin. Jörðin var ger af holdinu, en björgin af beinunum. Grjót ok urðir gerðu þeir af tönnum ok jöxlum ok af þeim beinum, er brotin váru."
Then Gangleri said: "What did Bur's sons do next, if you claim they were gods?" High said: "There's no small amount to tell. They took Ymir and carried him into the middle of Ginnungagap, and made the earth out of him — the sea and the waters from his blood. The earth was made from his flesh, the mountains from his bones; they shaped rocks and scree from his teeth and jaws and from the bones that had broken."
Þá mælti Jafnhárr: "Af því blóði, er ór sárum rann ok laust fór, þar af gerðu þeir sjá, þann er þeir gerðu ok festu saman jörðina ok lögðu þann sjá í hring útan um hana, ok mun þat flestum manni ófæra þykkja at komast þar yfir." Þá mælti Þriði: "Tóku þeir ok haus hans ok gerðu þar af himin ok settu hann upp yfir jörðina með fjórum skautum, ok undir hvert horn settu þeir dverg.
Then Just-as-High said: "From the blood that ran loose and free out of his wounds, they made the sea, once they had joined and fixed the earth together, and they set that sea in a ring around it — most people would find it hard to imagine crossing it." Then Third said: "They also took his skull and made the sky from it, and set it up over the earth with four corners, and under each corner they placed a dwarf.
Þeir heita svá: Austri, Vestri, Norðri, Suðri. Þá tóku þeir síur ok gneista þá, er lausir fóru ok kastat hafði ór Múspellsheimi, ok settu á mitt Ginnungap á himin bæði ofan ok neðan til at lýsa himin ok jörð. Þeir gáfu staðar öllum eldingum, sumum á himni, sumar fóru lausar undir himni, ok settu þó þeim stað ok skipuðu göngu þeim.
Their names are East, West, North, and South. Then they took the embers and sparks that had come loose and flown out of Muspell, and set them in the middle of Ginnungagap, in the sky, both above and below, to light heaven and earth. They gave every fire its place — some in the sky, some wandering loose beneath it — but even those they gave a place and set on their courses.
Svá er sagt í fornum vísendum, at þaðan af váru dægr greind ok áratal. Svá sem segir í Völuspá: 10. Sól þat né vissi, hvar hon sali átti, máni þat né vissi, hvat hann megins átti, stjörnur þat né vissu, hvar þær staði áttu. Svá var áðr en þetta væri." Þá mælti Gangleri: "Þetta eru mikil tíðendi, er nú heyri ek. Furðumikil smíð er þat ok hagliga ger. Hvernig var jörðin háttuð?"
It's said in old lore that from this came the reckoning of days and years, as it says in Voluspa: The sun did not know where her hall would be, / the moon did not know what power he held, / the stars did not know where their places were. So it was, before all this came to be." Then Gangleri said: "This is great news I'm hearing. What a marvel of craft, and skillfully made too. How was the earth shaped?"
Þá svarar Hárr: "Hon er kringlótt útan, ok þar útan um liggr inn djúpi sjár, ok með þeiri sjávarströndu gáfu þeir lönd til byggðar jötna ættum. En fyrir innan á jörðunni gerðu þeir borg umhverfis heim fyrir ófriði jötna, en til þeirar borgar höfðu þeir brár Ymis jötuns ok kölluðu þá borg Miðgarð. Þeir tóku ok heila hans ok köstuðu í loft ok gerðu af skýin, svá sem hér segir: 11.
High answered: "It's round, seen from outside, and around it lies the deep sea, and along that shore they gave land for the giants to settle. But further in, on the earth itself, they built a wall around the world against the giants' hostility, using Ymir's eyebrows for the wall, and called that place Midgard. They also took his brain and threw it into the air and made the clouds from it, as it says here: Earth was shaped from Ymir's flesh, / the sea from his sweat, / mountains from his bones, / trees from his hair, / and the sky from his skull.
Ór Ymis holdi var jörð of sköpuð, en ór sveita sær, björg ór beinum, baðmr ór hári, en ór hausi himinn. En ór hans brám gerðu blíð regin Miðgarð manna sonum, en ór hans heila váru þau in harðmóðgu ský öll af sköpuð."
/ From his eyelashes the gentle gods made Midgard / for the sons of men; / and from his brain / all those grim, heavy clouds were made."