Who Was Associated With Fire in Norse Myth?

In Norse mythology, there were two primeval elements that constructed the whole cosmos: fire and ice. As the fire melted the ice, the drops formed the very first giant from whom many creatures were created. The question was who was mainly associated with fire element in Norse mythology?

The answer lay in the name of Surtr. But who was Surtr? 

Surtr was the giant fire. His name of "Surtr" meant "black" which may illustrate his burnt appearance. Surtr was the ruler of Muspelheim, the realm of fire, heat, and lava. Muspelheim appeared in the Creation of the Cosmos. When the fire from Muspelheim met the ice from Niflheim, there came the first giant Ymir. And Surtr ruled over the land of Muspelheim which located near the roots of Yggdrasil tree. Surtr was the watchman of the giants just like Heimdall was the watchman of the Aesir gods. Both of them were supposed to signal the beginning of the final battle between two mighty forces in the Norse cosmos. 

Depiction of fire giant Surtr

Surtr set the whole world on fire

The primary weapon of Surtr was the powerful sword. His sword forever flashed with flames. When the sky broke apart, dead warriors treading from Hel, Yggdrasil trembling, Ragnarok began. Giant Surtr carried this mighty sword into the battles. He came from the Muspelheim to join the battle of Ragnarok. He faced his sworn enemy, Freyr, on the doom days of Ragnarok. God Freyr without his famous and powerful sword was killed by Surtr giant. 
Surtr had a central role in Ragnarok because he set the whole cosmos on fire with his burning sword. The whole world at that moment was engulfed in flames. The fire that Surtr spread was one of the most terrible and strongest images of Ragnarok, which made Surtr famous and coined the famous term "the fire of Surtr".  

Check out the blog post about the Ice Giant HERE