War of Niflheim

Primordial War
Timeline	Mother Timeline
Universe	Prime Universe
Previous	War in Heaven
Concurrent	Titanomachy
Next	Rampage of the Keres Æsir/Vanir War
Information
Start Date	~8 billion years B.C.E.
End Date	~4.6 billion years B.C.E.
Locations	Niflheim
Outcome	Ymir is killed by Odin, Vili, and Vé; the Æsir leaves Niflheim to establish Asgard
Major Events
Battles	Battle of Náströnd Death of Ymir

The War of Niflheim is the war between the Æsir Gods and the Ice Giants of Niflheim. The war lead to the death of primordial Ice Giant, Ymir, the start of the Asgardian Pantheon and the deep seated hatred between Asgardians and the Jötnar.

Background

Birth of Ymir and Buri

Ymir and Audumbla

From the spring Hvergelmir flowed eleven venomous rivers, the Élivágar, through the outer edges of Niflheim. As they made their way toward the center of the realm, they froze and the poison began to buildup. The poison was then irradiated with energy from the Bifröst which forged two primordial entities, Ymir and Audumbla. They eventually freed themselves from the ice and held dominion over Niflheim for a ling time.

Yggdrasill and the Bifrost

Sensing that Ymir was a threat, Yggdrasill, the World Tree, used the Bifröst to lock him in Niflheim, preventing him from reaching the still growing and developing Nine Realms.

Buri Free from the Ice

Ymir was powerful but grew hungry. Audumbla allowed Ymir to drink her milk for food. However, while he slept, Audumbla gained nourishment from another source. She survived by licking salty ice and rocks on the edges of the Élivágar rivers. In doing so, over the course of three Niflheimian days, she freed the first of the Æsir gods, Buri, from the ice.

Primordial Offspring

The Ice Giants

As Ymir slept, his hermaphroditic body perspired and produced several other Ice Giants who began to have children of their own. From his armpits formed two unnamed Ice Giants, and his legs together formed the six-headed Thrudgelmir. Ymir and his children spawned the first of the Ice Giants which quickly populated the realm of Niflheim.

The Æsir Gods

Buri, presumably, reproduced with one of Ymir's descendants to produce his son Borr, although some believe him to produce Borr in the same way Ymir produced his children. Borr eventually married the female Ice Giant, sometimes seen as the first god of Fomorian decent, Bestla, daughter of Bölthorn, and had three children, Vili, Vé, and most importantly Odin, the Allfather and God of Wisdom and War. The Æsir would eventually grow in power and in hatred of the Ice Giants and constructed a plan to take them down.

War of Niflheim

While Ymir was sleeping, the Æsir brothers, Odin, Vili, and Vé attempted to attack him, but Ymir awoke and officially started the battle. The great battle between the Ice Giants and the early Æsir would often be called the "War of the Cosmos," as whoever won this battle would take control of the Nine Realms, what the Niflheimians believed was the entire Cosmos. The first three generations of Ice Giants were loyal to Ymir and joined him in the war. However the fourth generation, who was more Asgardian than Ice Giant, sided with the Æsir and turned the battle in their favor. The War of Niflheim lead to Ymir's death and his body ripped apart and scattered across Niflheim. The flood of blood from Ymir's massive body drowned nearly all of Ymir's descendants who did not already die in the war.

Aftermath

With Ymir gone, the World Tree, Yggdrasill, unlocked the Bifröst for Niflheim allowing the inhabitants to leave. The Æsir fled from the wraith of the Ice Giants through the Bifröst and eventually reached the northern hemisphere of the planet to be named Iðavöllr where they constructed the city of Ásgarðr, home of the Æsir. Rumors of the Jötnar have spread across Asgard which lead to most of the Asgardians fearing or even hating them, like Thor.

Only a handful of Jötnar survived the flood, Bergelmir and his wife who would lead the revolt against Asgard is the future, Fárbauti who would become the father of Loki, trickster god of mischief, and Bolthorn who would be one of the first Ice/Frost Giants in Jötunheim. These survivors and more would go on to repopulate Niflheim with more Ice Giants and eventually spawn more types of Fomorian.

The death of their progenitor, Ymir, lead to a deep seated hatred from the Ice Giants against the Æsir. A hatred that would culminate once Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods. The Ice Giants grew so angry that many of them attempted to follow the Æsir gods to Asgard by use of the Bifröst but the heat of the worm hole forced those that went to stop on the young Jötunheim where they would eventually become the Frost Giants and the start of other races of Fomorian.