Editing Ask and Embla

{{Short description|First two humans, created by the gods in Norse mythology}}
{{Redirect|Embla}}
{{good article}}
[[Image:Odin, Lodur, Hoenir skabe Ask og Embla by Frølich.jpg|thumb|300px|upright|"Hœnir, Lóðurr and Odin create Askr and Embla" (1895) by [[Lorenz Frølich]].]]

In [[Norse mythology]], '''Ask and Embla''' ({{langx|non|Askr ok Embla}})—man and woman respectively—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]]'', composed in the 13th century. In both sources, [[Numbers in Germanic paganism|three]] gods, one of whom is [[Odin]], find Ask and Embla and bestow upon them various corporeal and spiritual gifts. A number of theories have been proposed to explain the two figures, and there are occasional references to them in popular culture.

==Etymology==
[[File:Ask and Embla by Robert Engels.jpg|thumb|upright|A depiction of Ask and Embla (1919) by Robert Engels.]]
[[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|askr}} literally means "[[fraxinus excelsior|ash tree]]" but the [[etymology]] of ''embla'' is uncertain, and two possibilities of the meaning of ''embla'' are generally proposed. The first meaning, "[[Ulmus glabra|elm tree]]", is problematic{{clarify|date=November 2022}}, and is reached by deriving ''*Elm-la'' from ''*Almilōn'' and subsequently to {{Transliteration|non|almr}} ('elm'). The second suggestion is "[[vine]]", which is reached through ''*Ambilō'', which may be related to the Greek term {{lang|grc|ἄμπελος}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|ámpelos}}), itself meaning "vine, [[liana]]".{{Sfn|Simek|2007|p=74}} The latter etymology has resulted in a number of theories.

[[Linguist]] Gunlög Josefsson claims that the name Embla comes from the roots {{Transliteration|non|eim}} + {{Transliteration|non|la}} which would mean 'firemaker' or 'smokebringer' inflected for either gender. She connects this to the ancient practice of creating fire through a [[fire plough]] which was considered a magical and holy way of fire making in [[folk belief]] in [[Scandinavia]] long into modern times. She identifies the emergence of fire through the plowing symbolically to the moment of orgasm and hence fertilization and reproduction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Josefsson |first=Gunlög |date=2001 |title=Var Embla en klängranka? Om den fornnordiska skapelsemyten såsom den möter oss i Völuspá |url=https://journals.lub.lu.se/anf/article/view/11623 |journal=Arkiv för nordisk filologi |language=sv |volume=116 |pages=71–96 |issn=0066-7668}}</ref>

According to [[Benjamin Thorpe]], "[[Jacob Grimm|Grimm]] says the word embla, emla, signifies a busy woman, from amr, ambr, aml, ambl, assiduous labour; the same relation as [[Mashya and Mashyana|Meshia and Meshiane]], the [[Iranian religion|ancient Persian]] names of the first man and woman, who were also formed from trees."<ref name=THORPE337>Thorpe (1907:337).</ref>

==Attestations==
In stanza 17 of the ''Poetic Edda'' poem {{lang|non|[[Völuspá]]}}, the [[Seeress (Germanic)|seeress]] reciting the poem states that [[Hœnir]], [[Lóðurr]] and [[Odin]] once found Ask and Embla on land. The seeress says that the two were capable of very little, lacking in {{lang|non|[[wyrd|ørlög]]}} and says that they were given three gifts by the three gods:
<blockquote>
{|
|
:<small>Old Norse:</small>
:{{lang|non|Ǫnd þau né átto, óð þau né hǫfðo,}}
:{{lang|non|lá né læti né lito góða.}}
:{{lang|non|Ǫnd gaf Óðinn, óð gaf Hœnir,}}
:{{lang|non|lá gaf Lóðurr ok lito góða.}}<ref name=DRONKE11>Dronke (1997:11).</ref>
|
:<small>[[Benjamin Thorpe]] translation:</small>
:Spirit they possessed not, sense they had not,
:blood nor motive powers, nor goodly colour.
:Spirit gave Odin, sense gave Hœnir,
:blood gave Lodur, and goodly colour.<ref name=THORPE5>Thorpe (1866:5).</ref>
|
:<small>[[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] translation:</small>
:Soul they had not, sense they had not,
:Heat nor motion, nor goodly hue;
:Soul gave Othin, sense gave Hönir,
:Heat gave Lothur and goodly hue.<ref name=BELLOWS8>Bellows (1936:8).</ref>
|
|}
</blockquote>
The meaning of these gifts has been a matter of scholarly disagreement and translations therefore vary.<ref name="SCHACH93">Schach (1985:93).</ref>

According to chapter 9 of the ''Prose Edda'' book {{lang|non|[[Gylfaginning]]}}, the three brothers [[Vili and Vé|Vili, Vé]], and Odin, are the creators of the first man and woman. The brothers were once walking along a beach and found two trees there. They took the wood and from it created the first human beings; Ask and Embla. One of the three gave them the breath of life, the second gave them movement and intelligence, and the third gave them shape, speech, hearing and sight. Further, the three gods gave them clothing and names. Ask and Embla go on to become the progenitors of all humanity and were given a home within the walls of [[Midgard]].<ref name=BYOCK18>Byock (2006:18).</ref>

==Theories==
[[Image:Sölvesborg Ask och Embla2.jpg|thumb|upright|"Ask och Embla" (1948) by [[Stig Blomberg]]]]

===Indo-European origins===
A [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Proto-Indo-European]] basis has been theorized for the duo based on the etymology of ''embla'' meaning "vine." In Indo-European societies, an analogy is derived from the drilling of fire and [[sexual intercourse]]. Vines were used as a flammable wood, where they were placed beneath a drill made of harder wood, resulting in fire. Further evidence of ritual making of fire in [[Scandinavia]] has been theorized from a depiction on a stone plate on a [[The King's Grave|Bronze Age grave in Kivik]], [[Scania]], [[Sweden]].<ref name="SIMEK74">Simek (2007:74).</ref>

[[Jaan Puhvel]] comments that "ancient myths teem with trite 'first couples' similar to the type of [[Adam and Eve|Adam and his by-product Eve]]. In Indo-European tradition, these range from the Vedic Yama and Yamī and the Iranian [[Mashya and Mashyana|Mašya and Mašyānag]] to the Icelandic Askr and Embla, with trees or rocks as preferred raw material, and [[dragon]]'s teeth or other bony substance occasionally thrown in for good measure".<ref name="PUHVEL-284">Puhvel (1989 [1987]:284).</ref>

In his study of the comparative evidence for an origin of mankind from trees in Indo-European society, Anders Hultgård observes that "myths of the origin of mankind from trees or wood seem to be particularly connected with ancient Europe and Indo-Europe and Indo-European-speaking peoples of Asia Minor and Iran. By contrast the cultures of the Near East show almost exclusively the type of anthropogonic stories that derive man's origin from clay, earth or blood by means of a divine creation act".<ref name="HULTGAARD-62">Hultgård (2006:62).</ref>

===Other potential Germanic analogues===
Two wooden figures—the [[Braak Bog Figures]]—of "more than human height" were unearthed from a [[peat bog]] at [[Braak, Schleswig-Holstein|Braak]] in [[Duchy of Schleswig|Schleswig]], [[Germany]]. The figures depict a nude man and a nude woman. [[Hilda Ellis Davidson]] comments that these figures may represent a "Lord and Lady" of the [[Vanir]], a group of Norse gods, and that "another memory of [these wooden deities] may survive in the tradition of the creation of Ask and Embla, the man and woman who founded the human race, created by the gods from trees on the seashore".<ref name="DAVIDSON-88-89">Davidson (1975:88—89).</ref>

A figure named [[Oisc of Kent|Æsc]] ([[Old English language|Old English]] "ash tree") appears as the son of [[Hengist and Horsa|Hengest]] in the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] genealogy for the kings of [[Kent]]. This has resulted in a number of theories that the figures may have had an earlier basis in pre-Norse [[Germanic mythology]].<ref name=ORCHARD8>Orchard (1997:8).</ref>

Connections have been proposed between Ask and Embla and the [[Vandals|Vandal]] kings Assi and Ambri, attested in [[Paul the Deacon]]'s 7th century AD work ''[[Origo Gentis Langobardorum]]''. There, the two ask the god [[Wōdanaz|Godan]] (Odin) for victory. The name ''Ambri'', like Embla, likely derives from ''*Ambilō''.<ref name=SIMEK74/>

===Catalog of dwarfs===
A stanza preceding the account of the creation of Ask and Embla in ''Völuspá'' provides a catalog of [[Dwarf (Germanic mythology)|dwarfs]], and stanza 10 has been considered as describing the creation of human forms from the earth. This may potentially mean that dwarfs formed humans, and that the three gods gave them life.<ref name="LINDOW62-63">Lindow (2001:62—63).</ref> Carolyne Larrington theorizes that humans are metaphorically designated as trees in Old Norse works (examples include "trees of jewellery" for women and "trees of battle" for men) due to the origin of humankind stemming from trees; Ask and Embla.<ref name=LARRINGTON279>Larrington (1999:279).</ref>

==Modern depictions==
Ask and Embla have been the subject of a number of references and artistic depictions.

A sculpture depicting the two, created by Stig Blomberg  in 1948, stands in [[Sölvesborg]] in southern Sweden.

Ask and Embla are depicted on two of the sixteen wooden panels by [[Dagfin Werenskiold]] on [[Oslo City Hall]].<ref name=OSLOKOMMUNE>{{cite web|url=http://www.oslo.kommune.no/losartikler/article23199-7726.html?articleID=23199&categoryID=7726&tip=1 |title=Yggdrasilfrisen |author=Municipality of Oslo |date=2001-06-26 |access-date=2008-09-08 |language=no |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125125123/http://www.oslo.kommune.no/losartikler/article23199-7726.html?articleID=23199&categoryID=7726&tip=1 |archive-date=2009-01-25 }}</ref>

''Ask to Embla'' is the title of a poem, parts of which are quoted, by R. H. Ash, one of the protagonists in [[A. S. Byatt]]'s novel [[Possession (Byatt novel)|Possession: A Romance]], which won the Booker prize in 1990.

In the video game ''[[Fire Emblem Heroes]]'', the two main warring kingdoms are Askr and Embla, which is where the Summoner, the player, finds themselves in, as the kingdom has been at war with the Emblian Empire when the game starts. It is later revealed both kingdoms are named after a pair of Ancient Dragons; with Askr being male and Embla female.

In the videogame [[Valheim]], the developers named an armor set after Embla, as stated in their [https://valheim.com/news/development-blog-well-equipped/ development blog entry] on November 21, 2023: "we have named this set after one of the two first humans in Norse mythology: Embla".

==See also==
* [[Líf and Lífþrasir]]
* [[Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology]]

== Bibliography ==

=== Notes ===
{{Reflist}}

=== References ===
{{commons category|Askr and Embla}}
{{refbegin}}
* [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Bellows, Henry Adams]] (Trans.) (1936). ''The Poetic Edda''. [[Princeton University Press]]. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
* Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2006). ''The Prose Edda''. [[Penguin Classics]]. {{ISBN|0-14-044755-5}}
* [[Hilda Ellis Davidson|Davidson, H. R. Ellis]] (1975). ''Scandinavian Mythology''. [[Paul Hamlyn]]. {{ISBN|0-600-03637-5}}
* Hultgård, Anders (2006). "The Askr and Embla Myth in a Comparative Perspective". In Andrén, Anders; Jennbert, Kristina; Raudvere, Catharina (editors).''Old Norse Religion in Long-term Perspectives''. Nordic Academic Press. {{ISBN|91-89116-81-X}}
* [[Ursula Dronke|Dronke, Ursula]] (Trans.) (1997). ''The Poetic Edda: Volume II: Mythological Poems''. [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-19-811181-9}}
* Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). ''The Poetic Edda''. [[Oxford World's Classics]]. {{ISBN|0-19-283946-2}}
* [[John Lindow|Lindow, John]] (2001). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs]''. [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-19-515382-0}}
* Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. [[Orion Publishing Group|Cassell]]. {{ISBN|0-304-34520-2}}
* Puhvel, Jaan (1989 [1987]). ''Comparative Mythology''. [[Johns Hopkins University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-8018-3938-6}}
* Schach, Paul (1985). "Some Thoughts on ''Völuspá''" as collected in Glendinning, R. J. Bessason, Heraldur (Editors). ''Edda: a Collection of Essays.'' [[University of Manitoba Press]]. {{ISBN|0-88755-616-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Simek|first= Rudolf|date=2007|translator= Angela Hall|title=Dictionary of Northern Mythology|publisher=D.S. Brewer|isbn=978-0-85991-513-7}}
* [[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe, Benjamin]] (Trans.) (1907). ''The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson''. [[Norrœna Society]].
* Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1866). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=WGUCAAAAQAAJ&q=Edda+S%C3%A6mundar Edda Sæmundar Hinns Frôða: The Edda of Sæmund the Learned].'' Part I. London: Trübner & Co.
{{refend}}

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[[Category:Legendary progenitors]]
[[Category:Mythological first humans]]
[[Category:People in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological duos]]
[[Category:Fraxinus excelsior]]
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