THE FIRST HUMANS

Ask and Embla were the original humans created by Norse Gods Odin, Vili, and Vé. They were perfect, living a life of simplicity and raising generations of perfect humans. But the idyllic life of humans in Midgard didn’t last forever due to the meddling of evil beings from the other realms who took on human form.
Ask and Embla shouldn’t be confused with Lif and Lifthrasir, the sole human survivors after Ragnarök.
Ask and Embla are the first humans on Earth, called Midgard in Norse mythology. They are the parents of all humans that existed before Ragnarök.
While there are some parallels between Ask and Embla and Adam and Eve, their stories are vastly different. And unlike Eve, who was created from Adam’s rib, Ask and Embla were created at the same time from wood elements.
After the gods gave them life, Ask and Embla named all the animals they saw in Midgard. They tamed the animals that could be tamed. After much travel, they found a house already built for them and made it their home. They populated Midgard, raising several generations of perfect humans.
Odin gave the pair dominion over Midgard and entrusted them with ruling the Earthly realm. After many generations,
giants and other beings came to Midgard disguised as humans. They interbred with the descendants of Ask and Embla. This created problems for their offspring, who inherited some of the evil of their non-human parents.
The Meaning Behind The Names Ask And Embla
Ask (Askr) in Old Norse means ash tree. Embla is thought to come from the Old Norse word “Almr,” meaning elm.
There are theories that the name Embla might have come from the Proto-Indo-European word Embla meaning vine. Whether Embla means elm or vine, both these words come from woody plants, which is fitting since both Ask and Embla were created from wood.