Thad Steffen & Shaun Wright
 Out of nothing emerged
everything
 Ginnungagap (the
mighty gap) – is what
existed before the
universe
 Comparable to Big Bang
Theory
Kalevala Expanse. Source: http://evetravel.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/thekalevala-expanse-10-ginnungagap.jpg?w=949
 The world tree
 It’s branches are the heavens and it’s
roots extend into the underworld
 Spans from the world of men to the
realm of gods
 Responsible for many phenomena
such as seasons and earthquakes
 The night sky was the canopy of
Yggdrasill, and the stars were light
from Asgard (where the gods
lived)coming through the branches
Yggrasill.
Source: http://www.native-science.net/Creation.Myth.Norse-filer/image019.jpg



Night Sky. Source: http://98.130.85.241/images/nightsky2f.jpg
Ratatosk (gnaw-tooth) – the squirrel
constellation. Consists of the main stars in Cassiopeia,
with one star for its head, one for each foot, one for its
body, and two for its tail.
Dain (dormant) – one of the deer constellations in the
branches of the World Tree, and here is associated
with the smallest of the deer. Consists of two stars
along its back leg, two stars along its front leg, two for
its trunk, one star on its neck, the bright star Vega is its
eye, and the four Lyra stars form its antler.
Dvalin (sleeper) – one of the deer constellations, and
here is associated with the second smallest of the
deer. Consists of some of the same stars as Cepheus,
with one star for each of its front foot and the North
Star makes its rear foot, two stars for its trunk, one
bright star is its eye, one star on its snout, seven stars
make up its antlers.



Duneyr (drooping-ears) – one of the deer
constellations, the name associated with the second
largest of the deer. Consists largely of the stars of the
Great Bear, with two stars for its front leg, five stars for
its rear leg, seven stars make up its body, two for its
neck, one for its eye, and three for its antlers.
Durathror (sluggish beast) – one of the deer
constellations, the name associated with the largest of
the deer. Consists of the Perseus constellation as its
head and antlers and Auriga as its body, with one star
for each of its three visible legs, six stars for its body,
one star for its eye, one star for its snout, five stars
make up its longer antler, three its shorter antler.
Hellewagen – constellation of the wagon of the dead,
that travels upon hellweg or Frauen Hilde Street (the
Milky Way) to the underworld. There is good reason
however to think that the constellation known as
Pegasus was the original Hellewagen (perhaps also
Odin's Wagon), consisting of four stars making up the
wagon, with three stars making up its tongue.
Night Sky. Source: http://98.130.85.241/images/nightsky2f.jpg
 Not much is known about
Norse Astronomy, but as a
sea-faring people they
must have had an
understanding of the
positions of stars in the
night sky
 One theory is that their
written language (runes)
came from constellations
Facing North. Source:
http://alynptyltd.tripod.com/TheRunicSky/RuneFigNth.gif
 Bifrost – The road
from Asgard
(Dwelling of the gods)
to Midgard (Earth)
 The Norse believed
that the Milky Way
was the Bifrost
Bifrost. Source: http://images.wikia.com/mythology/images/8/89/Bifrost_in_Thor.jpg
 Knowing the connections
that the Norse made to what
they saw in the sky could help
in world-building when
creating a race for a sci-fi or
fantasy game.
 For instance, the idea that a
written language came from
the stars is a REALLY COOL
idea.
Too Human. Source: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/04/toohuman-425px.jpg

Myths of Creation. (n.d.). Myths of Creation. Retrieved from
http://www.native-science.net/Creation.Myth.Norse.htm

Stephany, T. (n.d.). Norse Constellations. Norse Constellations. Retrieved from
http://www.timothystephany.com/constellations.html

Webber, A. (n.d.). The Runic Sky by Allan Webber. The Runic Sky by Allan Webber.
Retrieved from http://alynptyltd.tripod.com/TheRunicSky/TheRunicSky.htm

Bifrost. (n.d.). Bifrost. Retrieved from
http://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/bifrost_milkyway.html