Audhumla (Audhumbla, Audumla) (rich, hornless cow) In Norse mythology, the primeval cow at creation, formed from vapors. She fed the primeval giant Ymir and lived by licking the salt from stones. On the first day she licked the stones the hairs of a man appeared.
On the second day a human head appeared.
On the third day “an entire man appeared, who was endowed with beauty, agility and power,” according to the Prose Edda. The man was Bur, father of Bor, who married the giantess Bestla; she bore three gods, Odin, Vili, and Ve. A
similar pattern is found in Tacitus’s Germania (98 c.e.), where he traces the origin of the Germans to an earth-born god Tuisco and his son Mannus, who then had three sons.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow
Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante