The death-ship built from the nails of the dead that carries the jötnar's army against the gods at Ragnarök.
Naglfar is described in Völuspá and Gylfaginning as an immense ship fashioned from the nails of the untrimmed dead. For this reason it was considered important to pare the nails of corpses before burial, so as not to contribute to the ship's completion.
At Ragnarök Naglfar breaks free from its mooring and sails against the gods with a host of jötnar. The nautical metaphor for death's gathered might is one of the most arresting images in Norse eschatology.
Attestations
- Völuspá str. 50, Poetisk Edda (ca. 1270, Codex Regius)
- Naglfar's departure at Ragnarök is depicted in Völuspá.