In Norse mythology’s Ragnarok, Naglfar is the ship built from the fingernails and toenails of the dead.
The vessel is described as enormous and associated with the forces that attack the gods during Ragnarok. When the final catastrophe arrives, Naglfar is released, allowing its hostile passengers to travel toward the battlefield. The ship’s grisly construction links human death with the larger collapse of the cosmos.
Naglfar is not the same ship as Skíðblaðnir, the magical vessel belonging to the god Freyr. It is also different from Hringhorni, the ship associated with Baldr’s funeral. The nail imagery helped support a practical warning in old Norse tradition: trimming the nails of the dead could prevent material from contributing to Naglfar’s construction.