Who is Ymir? The Frost Giant God of Nordheim – Explained

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In the frozen wastes north of Cimmeria, the Nordheimers worship a god who actually answers. Not with gentle guidance like Mitra, nor with cold indifference like Crom, but with crackling ice and the thunderous hooves of a war-chariot rushing across the snows. Ymir is the frost giant, the Lord of Storm and War, and unlike the distant deities of civilised lands, he takes a personal interest in his people.

What strikes me about Ymir is how he represents the one god in Howard’s fiction who behaves like gods of actual mythology. He has children who walk the earth. He intervenes directly in mortal affairs. He maintains a great hall where slain warriors feast eternally. In a world of absent gods and cosmic horrors, Ymir is almost comfortingly traditional.

Howard’s Original Vision

Ymir appears most prominently in “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter” (also published as “Gods of the North”), one of Howard’s earliest Conan tales chronologically. The story takes place in Nordheim, where a young Conan fights alongside the Aesir against the Vanir.

There are a couple of mild spoilers below, so if you’ve never read the original story, be sure to skip on down to the next section. Here’s a link to the Coming of Conan book where you’ll find it.

After a brutal battle leaves Conan the sole survivor on the field, he encounters Atali – a beautiful woman with golden hair who taunts him across the frozen wastes. Maddened with desire, Conan pursues her, only to be attacked by her brothers – actual frost giants who serve their father Ymir.

Conan kills the giants, but when he finally catches Atali and tears her gossamer veil, she cries out: “Ymir! Oh, my father, save me!”

And Ymir answers. The skies crack with icy fire, blue darts of frozen lightning and crimson flames engulf the scene, and Atali vanishes. Conan awakens a while later, surrounded by his Aesir companions who believe he merely dreamed. But clutched in his hand is the gossamer veil – tangible proof that the gods of Nordheim are real.

This is the only time in Howard’s original Conan stories that a god directly intervenes on-page. Not Crom, not Mitra – Ymir, saving his daughter from a mortal’s grasp.

The Frost Giant’s Daughter

Atali herself is a fascinating figure. According to Nordheimr legend, she haunts the battlefields of the north, appearing to dying warriors and luring them into the wastes where her frost giant brothers can slay them. Their hearts are laid smoking on Ymir’s board.

It’s a grim legend that serves multiple purposes. It explains why bodies sometimes disappear from battlefields. It gives dying warriors something to see in their final moments besides empty snow. And it reinforces the warlike nature of Ymir’s worship – even death in battle serves the god.

Howard drew this directly from Norse mythology, combining elements of the Valkyries (who choose the slain) with the frost giants of Jotunheim. Atali functions as a kind of dark valkyrie, but instead of bearing warriors to Valhalla, she lures them to their deaths for her father’s pleasure.

Valhalla in the Hyborian Age

The Nordheimers believe that warriors slain in battle go to Valhalla – Ymir’s great hall in the northern mountains. There they feast and fight forever, an endless cycle of glorious combat and abundant mead.

This is essentially Norse Valhalla transplanted into Howard’s prehistoric world, which makes sense given that the Nordheimers (both Aesir and Vanir) are clearly proto-Vikings. Howard’s Hyborian Age serves as the forgotten prehistory that became legend, and the worship of Ymir eventually became the Norse mythology we know.

What I find interesting is how Valhalla functions as the only clearly defined afterlife in Howard’s stories. Mitra presumably has some form of heaven (and definitely has a hell), but the details are vague. Crom offers nothing – you go to a grey realm of clouds and icy winds. But Ymir promises something specific and desirable: eternal war and feasting for those who die well.

The Aesir and Vanir

Ymir is worshipped by both peoples of Nordheim – the blonde Aesir of Asgard (the eastern portion) and the red-haired Vanir of Vanaheim (the western portion). These tribes are locked in eternal warfare with each other, which serves Ymir well. Battle honours the god, and both sides believe they fight for his glory.

The names aren’t coincidental. In Norse mythology, the Aesir and Vanir are the two tribes of gods. Howard uses these names for human peoples, suggesting that the legendary gods arose from the deified memories of Hyborian-era heroes and peoples. It’s the same technique he uses throughout his worldbuilding – connecting his prehistoric age to later mythology.

The Nordheimers are fierce warriors, raiders who descend on southern lands in longships. They’re essentially Vikings before there was a word for Vikings. Their worship of Ymir reflects their culture – a warrior god for warrior peoples, promising rewards for battle and offering nothing to those who die in bed.

The Ymirish

In expanded Conan lore, particularly in the Age of Conan MMO, the Ymirish are a special caste among the Vanir – warriors with the actual blood of Ymir in their veins. These half-giant descended commanders lead Vanir war parties, their white or yellow hair and wolf-gleaming eyes marking them as something more than mortal.

The Ymirish are taller and stronger, than ordinary Nordheimers. Some possess dark magical abilities, able to hear and answer “Ymir’s Call.” Their existence bridges the gap between mortal worship and divine reality – literal children of the god walking among his human followers.

This expansion of the lore fits Howard’s original vision pretty well, I think, where Atali and her brothers are Ymir’s actual offspring. The frost giants aren’t merely creatures from legend but genuine divine children, and the Ymirish are their mortal cousins.

Ymir and Norse Mythology

Howard based his Ymir directly on the Norse primordial giant – the first being, from whose body the world was made. In Norse myth, Odin and his brothers killed Ymir and used his corpse to create Midgard.

Howard’s Ymir is still alive and active, which makes sense since the Hyborian Age predates the events of Norse mythology. Perhaps Odin hasn’t been born yet. Perhaps Ymir’s eventual death at Odin’s hands lies in the future. Howard never addresses this directly, but the implication is clear – the gods of the Hyborian Age are the same gods who would later become the Olympians, Asgardians, and other mythological pantheons.

Marvel Comics explicitly connected Howard’s Ymir to their Thor comics, making the frost giant god a continuous figure from the Hyborian Age to the modern day. In Marvel’s version, Odin eventually kills Ymir, but the giant keeps returning – one of Thor’s most persistent foes.

Ymir in Conan Exiles

In Conan Exiles, Ymir is one of the selectable religions, favoured by Nordheimer characters. His worship focuses on ice, cold, and war.

The most useful Ymir item is the ability to craft Black Ice at higher altar tiers – a building material that’s otherwise difficult to obtain. The Feast to Ymir provides significant buffs, and ice-related weapons and armour round out his offerings.

To worship Ymir, you use the Hoarfrost Hatchet to harvest “ice shards” from corpses. These become offerings that generate Manifestations of Zeal. At the highest tier, you can summon Ymir’s avatar – an enormous frost giant wielding a massive axe, leaving trails of frost in his wake as he demolishes enemy structures.

The Ymir religion in Conan Exiles captures the harsh nature of Nordheimer faith. It’s about survival in frozen lands, strength in battle, and the cold beauty of ice and snow. If you’re building in the frozen north, Ymir is thematically appropriate and mechanically useful.

Why Ymir Matters

Ymir serves a unique function in Howard’s religious landscape. He’s the god who actually behaves like a god – intervening directly, maintaining a family, rewarding his followers with a clear afterlife. In a world where Crom ignores prayers and Mitra only occasionally intervenes, Ymir is actively present.

This makes the Nordheimer faith feel different from other Hyborian religions. The Aesir and Vanir know their god exists because they have tangible proof – the frost giants, Atali’s appearances, warriors who claim to have seen Valhalla. While other peoples hope their gods are real, the Nordheimr have evidence.

I think Howard used Ymir to explore what religion might look like if the gods were undeniably real. The Nordheimers aren’t more faithful than other peoples – they’re simply more certain. And that certainty makes them fearsome enemies, warriors who charge into battle knowing exactly what awaits them on the other side.

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