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Bifröst

The bridge between earth and heaven, which Snorri identifies with the rainbow; the gods ride over it each day, Heimdallr guards it, and it breaks at Ragnarök.

Bifröst is the bridge from earth to heaven. Snorri, through Hárr, laughs at Gangleri for asking about it: everyone knows the gods built a bridge called Bifröst, "it may be that ye call it 'rainbow'". It has three colours and is very strong, and yet it must break when the sons of Múspell ride over it Gylfaginning 13.

What it is for

The gods use the bridge every day. In Snorri's account their court is held at Urðr's well under the root of Yggdrasill that stands in heaven, and the Æsir ride there over Bifröst, "which is also called the Æsir's Bridge" Gylfaginning 15. Thor does not ride; he wades four rivers, because the bridge "burns all with flame". Grímnismál has the same stanza in Bellows's words: "heaven's bridge burns all in flame" Grímnismál 29. Snorri explains the burning as the red in the rainbow, a fire that keeps the hill-giants from climbing to heaven Gylfaginning 15.

Heimdallr lives at Himinbjörg "hard by Bifröst" as "the warder of the gods", guarding the bridge from the giants Gylfaginning 27 Gylfaginning 17.

Two names

The poems call it Bilröst. Grímnismál ranks it the best of bridges, as Yggdrasil is the best of trees and Sleipnir of horses Grímnismál 44. Snorri quotes a version of the same verse with "Bifröst of bridges" Gylfaginning 41. Whether the change is a scribe's, Snorri's or older tradition is not known; the two forms may carry different meanings ("trembling way" against "fleeting way"), but both etymologies are uncertain.

The breaking

The bridge's end is foretold in two places, and they do not tell it the same way. Snorri says that at Ragnarök the sons of Múspell, led by Surtr, ride over Bifröst and "the bridge shall break" Gylfaginning 51. In Fáfnismál the dying dragon says "Bilrost breaks when they cross the bridge", where "they" are the gods riding to the battle on the isle Óskópnir, and their horses "shall swim in the flood" Fáfnismál 15. In one source the enemy breaks the bridge; in the other it fails under the gods themselves.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

the gods made a bridge from earth, to heaven, called Bifröst? Thou must have seen it; it may be that ye call it 'rainbow.'
Gylfaginning 13 Snorri's description: a bridge of three colours from earth to heaven, which men call the rainbow.
Bilrost of bridges, Bragi of skalds
Grímnismál 44 In the poem's list of 'bests', Bilröst is the best of bridges.
For heaven's bridge burns all in flame, And the sacred waters seethe.
Grímnismál 29 Thor must wade rivers to reach the gods' court because the bridge burns.
That which thou seest to be red in the bow is burning fire
Gylfaginning 15 Snorri explains the red band of the rainbow as fire that keeps the giants off.
he is the warder of the gods, and sits there by heaven's end to guard the bridge from the Hill-Giants.
Gylfaginning 27 Heimdallr lives beside the bridge and watches over it.
Bilrost breaks when they cross the bridge, And the steeds shall swim in the flood.
Fáfnismál 15 Fáfnir foretells the bridge's breaking at the last battle.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • The poems call the bridge Bilröst; only Snorri uses Bifröst. Whether these are variant forms of one name or two names is debated.
  • Snorri's identification with the rainbow is explicit; the poems never mention a rainbow.
  • Snorri says the sons of Múspell break the bridge; Fáfnismál says it breaks when the gods cross it. The two may describe the same event from different sides.

In modern culture

Not from the medieval sources.

The rainbow bridge is one of the best-known Norse images: Wagner ends Das Rheingold (1869) with the gods crossing a rainbow bridge into Valhalla, and Marvel's Thor films (2011 onward) show Bifrost as a glowing bridge and a teleporting beam guarded by Heimdall. Neither the films' crystal span nor the teleportation is in the sources.

Myths with Bifröst

Ragnarök: the doom of the gods The end of the Norse world as told in Völuspá, Vafþrúðnismál and Snorri's Gylfaginning: winter and war, the wolf and the serpent loose, the gods killed one by one, and Surtr's fire over the earth. Sigurðr slays Fáfnir Urged on by his foster-father Reginn, the young Sigurðr digs a trench on the dragon's path and stabs Fáfnir from below. A taste of the dragon's heart-blood lets him understand the birds, who warn him that Reginn means to kill him.

Related

Heimdall Heimdallr The watchman of the gods, born of nine mothers, who guards Bifröst from his hall Himinbjörg and will blow the Gjallarhorn when Ragnarök begins. Himinbjörg Heimdall's hall at the edge of heaven, where Bifröst meets the sky; from here the watchman of the gods guards the bridge. Asgard Ásgarðr The stronghold of the Æsir, walled against the giants, full of halls such as Valhall and Bilskirnir; Snorri also identifies it, confusingly, with Troy. Midgard Miðgarðr The world of humans, made by Odin and his brothers from the body of the giant Ymir and fenced with his eyebrows against the giants who live around the ocean's edge. Urðarbrunnr The holy well beneath Yggdrasil where the Norns live and the gods hold their daily court; its white water keeps the world-tree green. Yggdrasil Yggdrasill The world-ash at the centre of the Norse cosmos: its roots reach the realms of gods, giants and the dead, and the gods hold court beneath it every day. Ragnarök The foretold end of the gods' world: wolves swallow sun and moon, Loki and the monsters break loose, the gods fall in battle, Surtr burns the earth, and a new world rises. Surtr The fire-giant who guards Múspell with a flaming sword; at Ragnarök he rides out from the south, kills Freyr and burns the whole world. Thor Þórr The thunder god, strongest of the Æsir: son of Odin and Earth, husband of Sif, and with his hammer Mjöllnir the gods' defender against the giants, until he dies killing the World Serpent.