Askr and Embla

In Norse mythology, Ask and Embla ( )—male and female respectively—were the first two humans, created by the gods. The pair are attested in both the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, three gods, one of whom is Odin, find Ask and Embla and bestow upon them various corporeal and spiritual gifts. A number of theories have been proposed to explain the two figures, and there are occasional references to them in popular culture. Etymology Old Norse literally means "ash tree" but the etymology of embla is uncertain, and two possibilities of the meaning of embla are generally proposed. The first meaning, "elm tree", is problematic, and is reached by deriving *Elm-la from *Almilōn and subsequently to ("elm"). The second suggestion is "vine", which is reached through *Ambilō, which may be related to the Greek term (), itself meaning "vine, liana". The latter etymology has resulted in a number of theories. Linguist Gunlög Josefsson claims that the name Embla comes from the roots "eim" + "la" which would then mean "firemaker(ess)" or "smokebringer(ess)". She connects this to the ancient practice of creating fire through a fire plough which was considered a magical and holy way of fire making in folk belief in Scandinavia long into modern times. She identifies the emergence of fire through the plowing symbolically to the moment of orgasm and hence fertilization and reproductiveness.