In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap ("magical (and creative) power-filled space"[1]) was the vast, primordial void that was omnipresent and omnipotent and pervaded all existence and everything in it.[2] In the northern part of Ginnungagap lay the intense cold of Niflheim, to the southern part lay the equally intense heat of Muspelheim. The cosmogonic process began when the effulgence of the two met in the middle of Ginnungagap.
Notes
^ De Vries (1977:167); German: "der mit magischen (und schöpferischen) Kräften erfüllte Weltraum"
^ Simek (1995:132); German: "Ginnungagap ist [...] der Name des kosmischen Urraums vor der Erschaffung der Welt"
Resource
de Vries, Jan (1977). Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Leiden: Brill.
Simek, Rudolf (1995). Lexicon der germanischen Mythology. Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner. ISBN 3-20-36802-1.
