Ask and Embla

Lore & Background

In stanza 17 of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, the seeress states that Hœnir, Lóðurr, and Odin once found Ask and Embla on land. The two were capable of very little, lacking in ørlög, and were given three gifts by the three gods. The meaning of these gifts has been a matter of scholarly disagreement, and translations therefore vary.

According to chapter 9 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, the three brothers Vili, Vé, and Odin created the first man and woman. The brothers were walking along a beach and found two trees, from which they created Ask and Embla. One god gave them breath of life, the second gave movement and intelligence, and the third gave shape, speech, hearing, and sight. The gods also gave them clothing and names, and Ask and Embla became the progenitors of all humanity, given a home within the walls of Midgard.

Reader's Guide

Ask and Embla represent the Norse myth of human origins, with their creation from trees linking them to broader Indo-European traditions of anthropogony from wood or trees. The etymology of Embla is uncertain, with proposed meanings including 'elm tree' or 'vine', the latter suggesting a connection to fire-drilling and sexual symbolism in Indo-European societies. Linguist Gunlög Josefsson proposed that Embla derives from roots meaning 'firemaker' or 'smokebringer', linking to ancient fire-making practices. The figures have also been compared to other Germanic analogues, such as the Braak Bog Figures and the Anglo-Saxon figure Æsc. Scholarly debate continues over the precise nature of the gifts given by the gods and the identity of the creators, as the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda name different trios. Modern depictions include a 1948 sculpture in Sölvesborg, Sweden, and panels on Oslo City Hall, as well as references in literature and video games.

Did You Know?

• The name Askr literally means 'ash tree' in Old Norse.
• The etymology of Embla is uncertain; proposed meanings include 'elm tree' or 'vine'.
• Linguist Gunlög Josefsson claims Embla may mean 'firemaker' or 'smokebringer'.
• Two wooden figures of a nude man and woman, the Braak Bog Figures, have been theorized as a memory of Ask and Embla.

The Divine Bestowal

In the Norse mythological tradition, Ask and Embla occupy a foundational role as the very first human beings, fashioned by divine hands from raw timber. The Poetic Edda, specifically stanza 17 of Völuspá, records that the seeress witnessed Hœnir, Lóðurr, and Odin encountering the pair on land in a state of profound incompleteness—described as lacking ørlög and capable of very little. The three gods then conferred upon them a set of gifts whose precise meaning has generated centuries of scholarly debate. The Prose Edda, in chapter 9 of Gylfaginning, offers a more detailed account: the brothers Vili, Vé, and Odin strolled along a shoreline, discovered two trees, and shaped them into the first man and woman. Each brother contributed a distinct element—one breathed life into the forms, another endowed them with movement and intellect, and the third shaped their bodies and granted them speech, hearing, and sight. They were further given clothing and names, and ultimately established as the ancestors of all humankind, dwelling within the walls of Midgard.

Names Rooted in Wood and Fire

The linguistic origins of the pair's names reveal layers of scholarly interpretation. Askr is straightforward in Old Norse, meaning simply "ash tree," anchoring the male figure to a specific species of timber. Embla, however, resists a single definitive reading. One proposed derivation traces the name through *Elm-la to *Almilōn and ultimately to almr, "elm tree," though scholars note this pathway is linguistically problematic. A more widely discussed possibility links embla to *Ambilō, potentially cognate with the Greek word ámpelos, meaning "vine" or "liana." This botanical reading has spawned further theoretical work. Swedish linguist Gunlög Josefsson offers an alternative, parsing the name from the roots eim and la to yield "firemaker" or "smokebringer," a reading she ties to the ancient Scandinavian practice of igniting fire with a fire plough—a ritual once regarded as sacred and magical. She further connects the symbolic emergence of flame through plowing to the moment of fertilization and reproduction. Meanwhile, Benjamin Thorpe, citing Grimm, suggests embla denotes a "busy woman," derived from roots meaning assiduous labour, and draws a parallel to the ancient Persian first-couple names Meshia and Meshiane.

Echoes Across Indo-European Myth

The story of two humans carved from wood resonates far beyond the Norse world. Scholars have proposed a Proto-Indo-European substrate for the myth, particularly through the "vine" etymology of embla. In PIE societies, the act of drilling fire using a vine placed beneath a harder wooden drill drew a deliberate analogy to sexual intercourse. The comparative mythologist Jaan Puhvel places Askr and Embla alongside the Vedic pair Yama and Yamī and the Iranian Mašya and Mašyānag, noting that trees and rocks serve as preferred raw material for first-couple myths across Indo-European traditions. Anders Hultgård observes that such tree-origin narratives cluster in ancient Europe and the Indo-European-speaking peoples of Asia Minor and Iran, while Near Eastern cultures overwhelmingly favor clay, earth, or blood as the substance of creation. Within the Germanic world, the Braak Bog Figures—two oversized nude wooden statues unearthed in Schleswig, Germany—have been linked by Hilda Ellis Davidson to a possible Vanir "Lord and Lady" whose memory may persist in the Ask and Embla tradition. The Vandal royal couple Assi and Ambri, recorded by Paul the Deacon in the seventh century, share a name root with Embla and petition the god Godan, identified with Odin, for victory.

Life Beyond the Myths

Long after the Eddas were compiled in the thirteenth century, Ask and Embla have continued to inspire artists, writers, and game designers. In 1948, the Swedish sculptor Stig Blomberg created a public sculpture of the pair that still stands in the town of Sölvesborg in southern Sweden. On the walls of Oslo City Hall, the Norwegian painter Dagfin Werenskiold included depictions of Ask and Embla on two of his sixteen wooden narrative panels. In literature, the names appear in A. S. Byatt's Booker Prize-winning 1990 novel Possession: A Romance, where one of the protagonists, the poet R. H. Ash, composes a verse titled "Ask to Embla," parts of which are quoted within the narrative. The pair also feature in the mobile game Fire Emblem Heroes, where they and other figures from Norse mythology help shape the game's central storyline. Additionally, the Old Norse tradition of metaphorically calling humans "trees"—such as "trees of jewellery" for women and "trees of battle" for men—has been theorized by Carolyne Larrington as a lingering linguistic echo of the belief that humankind's very origin stems from the trees Ask and Embla.