Ymir (Old Norse: Ymir, also called Aurgelmir in jötunn tradition) is the first primordial being in Norse cosmogony, formed from the meeting of fire and ice in the void Ginnungagap. When the heat of Múspellsheim met the ice of Niflheimr, the melting produced Ymir — the first being, from whose body the world would eventually be formed.

Ymir was sustained by the milk of the primordial cow Auðhumla. From Ymir’s sweat and the rubbing together of his feet, the first jötnar were generated — Ymir is therefore the progenitor of the entire race of giants. He is named Aurgelmir in the Eddic poem Vafþrúðnismál.

The creation of the world from Ymir’s body is described in both Völuspá and Gylfaginning: Odin, Vili, and Vé slew Ymir and used his body to construct the world. His flesh became the earth, his blood the seas and lakes, his bones the mountains, his skull the sky, his brains the clouds. So much blood poured from Ymir’s wounds that it drowned all the jötnar except Bergelmir and his wife.