Monday, 31 August 2026

Ginnungagap

Rereading Poul Anderson's Orbit Unlimited, we (editorially speaking) find a reference to Ginnungagap. Before posting about this mythological reference, we search the blog to check whether we have posted about it before and find that we have done: see Revelation And Ginnungagap. However, we also find so many other blog mentions of Ginnungagap that we think that it would be worthwhile to draw attention to them again: see here. (Scroll down.)

The idea of a primordial, pre-cosmic, void connects mythology and science - and preeminently so in Poul Anderson's works, as the previous blog posts demonstrate. 

In our current rereading, Svoboda and Coffin are still climbing down that Cleft but we will accompany them no further tonight. I will shortly switch on the TV to learn whether - in our timeline - World War III has started yet.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Paul!

Not at all surprising, Anderson was as familiar with Eddaic legends as he was with the Scriptures.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

You can see that the Eddas were made up during long, cold nights in winter.

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Plenty of time for spinning yarns and pondering ultimate questions during those long, cold, dark winter nights!

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Yeah, but without central heating or fresh food, you'll get glum.

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Very glum indeed! The Scandinavian gods were a dour lot.

Ad astra! Sean