Realm of fire in the south. Dwelling of Surtr; sparks from here become the heavenly bodies.
Muspelheimr is the primordial realm of fire and heat, situated in the south. Like Niflheimr, it existed before the creation of the world and constitutes its cosmogonic counterpart. From Muspelheimr, sparks and fire-fragments were lifted by the gods and placed in the sky as stars, planets, and celestial bodies, a fact related in Gylfaginning and implied in skaldic verse.
Surtr, whose name likely means 'the black one' or 'the sooty one,' is the mighty fire-giant who guards Muspelheimr's boundary with a flaming sword. He is mentioned in Völuspá 47 as the one who rides foremost among the sons of Múspell when they march against the gods at Ragnarök, and his flaming sword annihilates heaven and earth. In Vafþrúðnismál 50-51 it is confirmed that the sons of Múspell will ride on the day of Ragnarök.
At Ragnarök, the sons of Múspell cross Bifröst, and the mighty bridge shatters beneath their weight. They gather on the plain Vígríðr, where the final battle takes place. Surtr slays Freyr with his flaming sword; Freyr at that point lacks his own sword, which he gave away as a bride-gift to Skírnir in order to win Gerðr. Surtr's fire ultimately devours the entire world.
Despite Muspelheimr's destructive role at Ragnarök, it functions in Eddic theology as a primordially neutral cosmological force, the fire that creates and destroys, in a cyclical process. The renewed world that emerges from the sea after Ragnarök suggests that Surtr's conflagration forms part of a cosmic cycle of re-creation.
Sources in the Eddas
- Völuspá 47
- Surtr rides at the head of the sons of Múspell at Ragnarök with his flaming sword.
- Völuspá 52
- Surtr's fire engulfs heaven and earth; the apocalyptic conflagration is described.
- Vafþrúðnismál 50-51
- The ride of the sons of Múspell at Ragnarök is confirmed by the giant Vafþrúðnir.
- Lokasenna 42
- Freyr's giving of his sword to Skírnir is referenced, explaining his vulnerability to Surtr.
- Skírnismál 42
- Skírnir receives Freyr's sword as payment, with direct consequences at Ragnarök.
- Völuspá 57-58
- The renewed world arising after Surtr's conflagration; the new Asgard and earth's rebirth.
Interpretive traditions
A What we know
Muspelheimr is the primordial realm of fire in the south, and Surtr is its guardian.
The sparks from Muspelheimr were placed in the sky as stars and celestial bodies.
Surtr and the sons of Múspell destroy Bifröst and defeat the gods at Ragnarök.
B What we think we know
Whether Múspell/Muspelheimr has Germanic parallels and whether the name is borrowed or native Norse is debated among etymologists.
Surtr's exact relation to Muspelheimr, whether he is its ruler or merely its guardian, is not unambiguous in the sources.
C What we do not know
Muspelheimr's geographical position in the cosmology relative to the other nine worlds is not specified in the primary sources.
Whether 'the sons of Múspell' is an epithet for Surtr's own offspring or for all fire-giants in general is unclear.