BITRI, h./re, or BURE. A mythical being who stands in Norse mythology as the grand father of Odin, the supreme deity in that relig ion. In the Younger Edda (see EDDA), the fol lowing account is given of the creation of the world: Many ages before the earth was made, Nitlheim (the nebulous or shadowy region) was formed; in the middle of Nitlheim was a spring called Hvergelmir (the roaring cauldron), from which twelve rivers flowed. When the rivers had flowed far from their sources the venom which they rolled along hardened, as does the dross that runs from a furnace, and became ice. The ice stood still, and the vapor that gathered over it froze into rime, or frosty snow, and in this manner were formed the Ginnungagap (the yawning abyss, or all space), many layers of con gealed vapor, piled one upon another. But the southern part of Ginnungagap was filled with sparks and flashes of fire that flew into it from Muspelheim (the home of elemental fire). in the conflict of elements the rime was melted, and the melted drops took a human semblance, and the being thus formed was named Ymir (the pri mordial giant). Another creature formed from
this conflict of heat, and cold was a cow named Audhumla (darkness), and from her teats ran four streams of milk, on which Ymir was fed. "But," asked Gylti, "on what did the cow feed?" The answer was that she supported herself by licking the surrounding stones, which were cov ered with hoarfrost and salt. The first day she licked there appeared the hair of a man; the sec ond day the head came to view: and the third day the whole man appeared. This man was called Burl or Bure. This first creature in the form of a man was the father of Mir (meaning born), who took for his wife Bestla, the daughter of the giant Bolthorn (calamity or evil), and this pair were the parents of Odin, the Norse all father, and his brothers Ceti and Ve. No wife is named for Buri, nor is any•liing further related of him.