Ask and Embla are the first human pair in Old Norse creation poetry. Dwarves do not create them in the principal surviving accounts. Völuspá names three gods who find the pair without vital qualities, while Snorri gives a related version using different divine names.
The account in Völuspá
Odin, Hœnir, and Lóðurr find Ask and Embla on the land. They give breath or spirit, mind or inspiration, warmth or color, and other human capacities. Translating the compact poetic terms is difficult, so English versions differ in the exact list.
Snorri’s account
Gylfaginning says the sons of Borr find two tree trunks on the seashore and shape them as people. Odin gives life and spirit, Vili gives understanding and movement, and Vé gives speech, hearing, and sight. Ask is usually connected with ash, while Embla’s tree name remains debated.
Where dwarves belong
Völuspá lists many dwarves in a different creation passage, and Snorri discusses their origin from Ymir’s body. That proximity may have encouraged a mistaken merger. The texts credit divine figures, not dwarven craftspeople, with making the first humans.