Fimbulwinter: Myth and Catastrophe in the North

The Mythological Fimbulvetr in Old Norse Tradition

Sources and Transmission of the Concept

The term Fimbulvetr (or Fimbulwinter) appears explicitly in two major sources of Old Norse mythology: the Poetic Edda and Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda. In the poem Vafþrúðnismál (strophe 44–45), the giant Vafþrúðnir tells Odin that three successive winters without intervening summers will precede Ragnarök, and that these winters are collectively called fimbulvetr. Snorri Sturluson, writing around 1220–1225 in Gylfaginning chapter 51, expands the description: “First there will come the winter called Fimbulwinter. Then snow will drift from all directions… there will be great frosts and keen winds… three such winters will follow one another with no summer in between.”

Description in Vafþrúðnismál and Gylfaginning

Old Norse fimbul- (or fimbul-) means “mighty” or “great” in the sense of something portentous and terrible rather than merely large. The Fimbulwinter therefore constitutes the greatest of all winters—an apocalyptic sequence of three sunless years. During this period, moral and social order collapses completely: brothers kill one another for greed, no man spares another, adultery and incest become rampant, and the wolf Sköll finally devours the sun.

Symbolic and Cosmological Role in Ragnarök

In the Norse cosmic drama, Fimbulwinter serves as the irreversible trigger for Ragnarök. It marks the moment when the fragile balance maintained by the gods finally breaks. The prolonged absence of summer destroys agriculture, dissolves kinship bonds, and unleashes the forces of chaos (Jötnar) who had been held at bay. The howling winds and eternal snow represent the return of primordial cold from Niflheim, the realm of ice that existed before creation.

Fimbulvetr as Eschatological Archetype

Parallels in Other Indo-European Traditions

Scholars have long noted striking parallels with other Indo-European eschatologies. The Iranian Avesta describes a three-year winter sent by Angra Mainyu before the final battle. The Indian Mahabharata speaks of a twelve-year drought preceding the Kali Yuga. In Greek tradition, Hesiod mentions a period when Zeus would hide the means of life from men. Whether these reflect shared inheritance or universal human response to climate trauma remains debated among comparativists.

Christian Influence or Independent Development?

Some nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholars argued that the three-year structure of Fimbulwinter derived from the three hours of darkness at the Crucifixion or the three days in the tomb. Modern consensus, led by scholars such as John Lindow and Jens Peter Schjødt, rejects direct Christian borrowing and views Fimbulwinter as an authentic pre-Christian Norse concept, though Snorri’s phrasing may reflect mild Christian colouring.

The Historical Event: The Catastrophic Winter of 536–550 CE

Contemporary Written Testimony (535–536)

In March 535, the Byzantine historian Procopius recorded that “during this year a most dread portent took place. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness… and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear.” His contemporary John Lydus in Constantinople noted that “the sun became dim… for nearly the whole year… so that the fruits were killed at an unseasonable time.” Cassiodorus, writing in Ravenna in 536, reported that “the sun seems to have lost its wonted power, and appears of a bluish colour… we marvel to see no shadows.”

Tree-Ring, Ice-Core and Volcanic Evidence

Dendrochronological studies across Scandinavia, Siberia, and North America reveal 536 as the single worst growing season in the last 2,500 years. Scandinavian pine and Irish oak show almost no growth between 536 and 541. Greenland and Antarctic ice cores contain massive sulphate spikes dated precisely to early 536 and again in 539–540, indicating two enormous volcanic eruptions—most likely from Ilopango in El Salvador (535–536) and one or possibly two eruptions of Krakatoa (539–540). Global temperatures dropped by as much as 2.5–3 °C for more than a decade.

Societal Impact Across the Northern Hemisphere

Archaeological evidence from Scandinavia reveals widespread farm abandonment between 540 and 570. Pollen diagrams from Sweden and Norway show a dramatic decline in cereal cultivation and expansion of birch forest over former fields. The Plague of Justinian (541–549) followed immediately after the second dust-veil event, suggesting weakened populations were especially vulnerable. In Finland and northern Sweden, thousands of stone cairns containing burned human bones appear in the mid-6th century—interpreted by some archaeologists as evidence of mass death and emergency burial practices.

The Second Dust-Veil Event of 539–540

Michael the Syrian and other eastern chroniclers record a second dimming of the sun in 539–540, with “darkness lasting eighteen months” in Mesopotamia. This second volcanic catastrophe prolonged the crisis into a full decade of cold, failed harvests, and famine that stretched from China to Ireland.

Did the Event of 536 Influence Norse Mythology?

No written Norse source connects the 536 event directly to Fimbulwinter. The earliest Eddic poems were composed centuries later, and Snorri wrote almost seven hundred years after the catastrophe. Nevertheless, the scale of the 536–550 disaster was so extreme that oral traditions about “the winter when the sun disappeared” almost certainly persisted in northern Europe. Climatologists and archaeologists increasingly accept that collective memory of this event contributed to the unusually detailed and specific description of a multi-year sunless winter in Norse eschatology.

Legacy of Fimbulwinter in Medieval and Modern Culture

Medieval Icelandic annals occasionally used the term fimbulvetr for particularly harsh winters (e.g., 975, 1783–1784). In modern popular culture, Fimbulwinter has become a standard trope for apocalyptic climate collapse, appearing in video games, fantasy literature, and even climate-change discourse. The name was officially adopted for the extreme cold wave that struck Scandinavia in 2010–2011.

The dual reality of Fimbulwinter—both as one of the most vivid images in Norse mythology and as the folk memory of the worst climate catastrophe in recorded history—illustrates the profound way in which pre-Christian northern Europeans transformed actual existential trauma into cosmic narrative. The great winter of 536–550 killed millions across the northern hemisphere and collapsed societies from Mesoamerica to Mongolia. In Scandinavia, its memory endured long enough to become the terrifying prelude to the end of the world itself.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Fimbulwinter mentioned in the Poetic Edda or only in Snorri’s Prose Edda?

It appears in both: explicitly in Vafþrúðnismál (strophe 44–45) of the Poetic Edda and in expanded form in Gylfaginning.

Was the winter of 536 really three years without summer?

No written source claims three consecutive summers were completely absent, but tree-ring evidence shows six to ten years (536–545) of drastically reduced growth, with 536–537 and 539–542 being the worst.

Which volcanoes caused the 536 event?

The primary eruption was Ilopango in El Salvador (early 536); the second major event in 539–540 was almost certainly one or two eruptions from Krakatoa, Indonesia.

Did any Norse sagas mention a historical “great winter”?

No saga directly references 536, but later Icelandic annals use the term fimbulvetr for severe winters, showing the concept remained alive.

Has there ever been another climate event comparable to 536?

No. The 536–550 sequence remains the most severe and prolonged hemispheric cooling event of the past 2,500 years.

References

Sturluson, Snorri. Prose Edda (Gylfaginning). Trans. Anthony Faulkes, Everyman, 1987.

Carolyne Larrington, Oxford World’s Classics, 2014.

Keys, David. Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World. Ballantine, 1999.

Gräslund, Bo & Neil Price. “Twilight of the Gods? The ‘dust veil event’ of AD 536 in critical perspective.” Antiquity 86, 2012.

McCormick, Michael et al. “Climate Change during and after the Roman Empire: Reconstructing the Past from Scientific and Historical Evidence.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 43, 2012.

Sigl, M. et al. “Timing and climate forcing of volcanic eruptions for the past 2,500 years.” Nature 523, 2015.

Baillie, Mike. Exodus to Arthur: Catastrophic Encounters with Comets. Batsford, 1999.

Toohey, M. et al. “Climatic and societal impacts of a volcanic double event at the dawn of the Middle Ages.” Climatic Change 136, 2016.

Lindow, John. Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press, 2002.