Bestla

Norse tradition. See the whole pantheon.

Domains: mother of Odin
Partner: Borr
Children: Odin

Odin rides to Hel, W. G. Collingwood, after the Poetic Edda.

Key myth

A giantess, daughter of Bölþorn, and mother of Odin, Vili and Vé. Odin's descent from a giant mother shows how closely gods and giants are related in this tradition.

Primary sources

Gylfaginning 6
Hávamál 140

All sources for the Norse pantheon

Place in the family graph

Choose a deity to see where it comes from. Dashed lines are links the sources describe that are not parent and child.

More traditions

Papyrus of Ani, British Museum (New Kingdom), a Book of the Dead.

Elsewhere in the world

Deities in other traditions who share a theme with Bestla: creation and first beings. This is overlap in one area only.

Egyptian

Nun

the primeval waters

Egyptian

Atum

creator, the completed one

Egyptian

Ra

sun, kingship, order

Egyptian

Ptah

craftsmen, creation by speech

Egyptian

Amun

the hidden, king of the gods in the New Kingdom

Mesopotamian

Nammu

the primeval sea, mother of the gods

Mesopotamian

Apsu

fresh water below the earth

Mesopotamian

Tiamat

salt water, primordial mother

Compare across cultures