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In Norse mythology, 'Fimbulwinter' (Old Norse '''Fimbulvetr''') is the immediate prelude to the end of the world, Ragnarök. Fimbulwinter is three successive winters where snow comes in from all directions, without any intervening summer. During this time, there will be innumerable wars and brothers will kill brothers.
The prefix 'fimbul' means "the great/big" so the correct interpretation of the word is "the great winter".^[1]
There have been several popular speculations about whether this particular piece of mythology has a connection to the climate change that occurred in the Nordic countries at the end of the Nordic Bronze Age, about 650 BC. Before this climate change, the Nordic countries were considerably warmer.^[2]
In Sweden, Denmark, Norway and other Nordic countries, the term ''fimbulvinter'' is also sometimes used colloquially to refer to an unusually cold and harsh winter.¹

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References

1. Svenska Akademiens Ordbok, entry for ''Fimbulvinter'' [1]
2. Ström, Folke: ''Nordisk Hedendom'', Studentlitteratur, Lund 2005, ISBN 91-44-00551-2 (first published 1961) among others, refer to the climate change theory.

See also

★ Eschatology