Primordials: the First Beings in Existence

The Primordials were the first beings to come into existence during the creation of the world. In Greece they predated the Titans and the Olympians, while in the Nine Realms they predated the Jotnar, the Aesir, and the Vanir. They were the personifications of the deepest forces of the cosmos, the void and the earth, the sky and the sea, darkness and night, and from their wars and unions the worlds themselves took shape. Among the Greek Primordials the most prominent were Chaos, Gaia, Ouranos, Tartarus, Erebus, Nyx, and Eros, while in the north the line was counted from Ymir, Surtr, and the cow Audumbla.

The Greek Primordials#

The Protogenoi were the first deities, born out of the primordial chasm of Chaos, the original divine entity of all creation. The first to emerge was the earth, Gaia, after her the infernal pit Tartarus, and finally Eros, the act of bringing forth new life through love. Chaos then spawned the darkness Erebus and the night Nyx, whose union birthed light and day, while Gaia of her own brought forth the heavens, Ouranos, and the sea, Pontus. Taking Ouranos as her mate, Gaia gave rise to a new generation, the Titans, who were closer to mortal form than their elemental parents, and the Titans in turn spawned the Olympians.

The war that forged the world#

Eons before the Titans and Olympians, a war broke out among the Greek Primordials. So vast was their struggle that it loosed countless natural disasters, and from the elemental essence of the fallen the heavens, the earth, the oceans, and life itself were created. From the rage and madness of that war the Furies were born. Ouranos survived and won the war, taming and conquering Chaos itself, and ruled over the universe as its king and creator. With Gaia as his consort he fathered the Titans, but the great Skyfather was at last slain by his own son, Cronos, and with his death the supreme rule of the Protogenoi ended and the Age of the Titans began.

The Primordials under the gods#

During the rule of Olympus, some Primordials such as Morpheus, Erebus, and Nyx worked alongside the younger gods within the cosmic order of Zeus and the chthonic order of Hades. The dream god Morpheus joined Hermes in scattering dreams across the world, and Thanatos held Deimos on Zeus's behalf. Yet with few exceptions the Primordials did not rise to defend Olympus against Kratos, the Marked Warrior. Morpheus and his brother Charon the Ferryman once plotted to depose the gods, only to be thwarted by the Ghost of Sparta. Gaia, for her part, opposed Olympus out of loyalty to her Titan children, taking on a titanic form rather than her ancient shape as the earth. Thanatos himself proved a true challenge, killing Deimos and pressing Kratos hard before he fell.

The Norse Primordials#

In the Norse cosmos the Primordials waged no war among themselves. The forces of fire from Muspelheim in the south met the forces of frost from Niflheim in the north, joining at the heart of the void called Ginnungagap, and there the first Jotunn and living creature of the north, Ymir, was born. After him came the primordial cow Audumbla, formed from the ice of Niflheim, who fed Ymir with her milk while she licked the salt from the ice. As Ymir gave birth to the rest of the Jotnar, Audumbla licked at the ice for three days until the first god, Buri, was freed. From Buri came Borr, and from Borr came Odin, Vili, and Ve, who in time slew Ymir and used his remains to fashion Midgard.

Surtr too was a Primordial, the first of the fire giants, born not long after Ymir. He forged the stars and warmed the cosmos by his mere existence, and he was fated to destroy the Nine Realms in Ragnarok. The dragon Nidhogg, who dwelt among the branches of the World Tree, the frost giant Sinmara, and the cow Audumbla were likewise counted among the Norse Primordials. Most of these northern Primordials were ancient and primeval Jotnar, a stark contrast to the Greek Primordials, who formed a divine race of their own and far outnumbered them.

Nature of the Primordials#

The Primordials were the personifications of the eternity of nature and the universe. The eldest of the Greek line, such as Chaos, Tartarus, and Ouranos, embodied their endless domains, while younger ones like Thanatos and Morpheus ruled abstract realms that mirrored the aspects of nature they represented, the domain of death and the realm of dreams. Their blood ran yellow, as seen in both Gaia and Thanatos. Where the death of an Olympian brought calamity and disaster to whatever that god reigned over, the destruction of a Primordial instead shaped new parts of the world, the oceans rising from Ceto and the skies from Ouranos. In the Norse realms the Primordials' power seemed surpassed by none, while in Greece their cosmic might was only the beginning, with the Titans and their Olympian successors wielding far greater power still.