Körmt and Örmt

29. Körmt and Ormt, and the Kerlaugs twain: these Thor must wade each day, when he to council goes at Yggdrasil’s ash; for the As-bridge is all on fire, the holy waters boil.

Grímnismál stanza 29 names two rivers, Körmt and Örmt, and a pair called Kerlaug. Thor has to wade them every day when he goes to the council at Yggdrasill’s ash. The reason given is that the Æsir’s bridge is on fire and the holy waters boil. The next stanza lists the horses on which the other gods ride to the same council.

Snorri repeats this in Gylfaginning. After listing the gods’ horses he says that Thor goes on foot and must wade Körmt and Örmt and two others called Kerlaug on his way to the doom-stead under Yggdrasill’s ash, or else the bridge would be in flames and the holy waters boiling hot. His version follows the poem closely.

The meanings of Körmt and Örmt are uncertain and the sources do not explain them. The burning bridge is read as Bifröst: Snorri goes on at once to say that the red seen in the rainbow is burning fire, while the poem itself says only “the Æsir’s bridge”. The council place under the ash is where the gods meet to judge.

The river names sit among many watery names in Grímnismál, which list the rivers that wind round the gods’ dwelling.