Naglfar and Fenrir on the Tullstorp Runestone in Scania, Sweden

A second post suitable for Halloween week. In Norse mythology, there were two great ships. Skidbladnir, was a ship that could carry Odin and his followers in Asgard, which also could be folded into a cloth that would fit in a pocket when not in use.

An even larger ship, indeed the largest ship in the world, was the fearsome Naglfar, a ship built entirely from the untrimmed fingernails and toenails of the dead. According to the poem Völuspá, the ship will be sailed from Muspelheim (the land of fire) by the two jötnar (giants), Hrym, and Loki. It will carry the army of the dead to Ragnarök, the final climactic battle between Odin and his gods and the giants that will result in the end of the world of gods and men.

The story of Naglfar may have inspired or been inspired by the Scandinavian practices of preparing the dead before burial. This preparation included the trimming of hair, fingernails, and toenails. By ensuring that their deceased loved ones did not have untrimmed nails, they would not contribute to the construction of Naglfar and thus would help to delay the end of the world.