#elivagar

Before the world came into existence, there were two lands separated by an abyss.  Muspelheim was a land of fire, Niflheim a land of ice and cold mist.  Between them was the Ginnungap, a void that was at once empty and charged with magic.  The Ginnungagap contained the potential for all things, but was also the place that the world would collapse into when destroyed. Muspelheim lay to the south of the Ginnungagap and was ruled over by a fire giant named Surtr.  It is not clear from the original sources when or where Surtr came to be; he is simply noted as the lord of Muspelheim.  In any case, the fires of Muspelheim flowed north in the form of lava and into the Ginnungagap. In Niflheim to the north was Hvergelmir, source of all the cold waters in the cosmos.  From there the Elivagar (ice waves) flowed south towards the Ginnungagap.  These glaciers are described in the Prose Edda as being composed of 'yeasty venom'.  When the creeping ice reached the Ginnungagap, the heat from Muspelheim caused it to melt, creating droplets that eventually formed a creature named Ymir. Ymir is sometimes described as a hermaphrodite, although the term applies more in the mystical than physical sense.  Ymir was certainly capable of bringing forth life without the assistance of another being: the sweat from Ymir's armpits formed into two Jötnar, or giants, and a third was formed by a mating of Ymir's legs or feet.  These three Jötnar, two male and one female, were the first of the Hrimthursar, or Frost Giants.

Norse Mythology: Vafthrúdnismál in Modern English