Was Ymir ever referred to as a God or {even} a Goddess in Norse Myth?

Contrary to my phrasing of the title the answer is neither. Ymir was never considered to be a god, he was a Jotnar {commonly anglicized as Jotun}. And he was never a female either. A male generally but at times gender neutral. Though I don’t know anything about modern neo-paganism or Heathery. Which is why take my mistakes with a grain of salt.

Ymir the First Giant — Source

Let’s address a simple list of titles that denote or refer to him. The list includes:

• Hrimthurs {ᚼᚱᛁᛘᚦᚢᚱᛋ}: Frost giant
• **Jotun {ᛃᛟᛏᚢᚾ}: **Giant
• Aurgelmir {ᚬᚢᚱᚴᛖᛚᛗᛁᛦ}: Clayey-sounding, Gravelly Scream
• Býmir {ᛒᚢᛁᛘᛁᛦ}: Creator, Shaper
• Ymir {ᛦᛘᛁᛦ}: Probably related to the Old Norse word “yma,” which means “to buzz” or “to hum.” Its own meaning is unclear.

All of these are Old Norse words rendered in the Younger Futharic Runic Alphabet. And all of them do not include the usage of any word remotely related to god {kaun or kauna [ᚴ]} or goddess {ísa or ísur [ᛁ]}. Moreover, a great deal of Old Norse literature including the Prose and Poetic Edda distinguish between the gods — — the Æsir in particular — — and the Jotnar.

“Kvaðu Æsir | áðan of bornir, giganta ættir | grundvǫllu at skapa; héldu fyrst | at tólfta tali ymis jǫtuns | ymur borninn.”

Translation: “The Æsir said | they had been born earlier,

the races of giants | to create the earth;

they held their first | council

of the number twelve, | the first giant, Ymir, was born.”

Source: Vafþrúðnismál

“Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla, ginnheilug goð, | ok um þat gættusk; nótt ok niðjum | nöfn um gáfu, morgin hétu ok miðjan dag, undorn ok aptan, | árum allar, áðr veröldin | varð at vigi.”

Translation: “Then all the powers went to their judgement-seats, | the holy gods, and considered this: | which of the Æsir should create | the great giant from Ymir’s bones and blood. | They established and gave names to night and twilight, | morning they called, and noonday, | afternoon and evening, | counting all the years long before the world was made.”

Source: Völuspá, stanza 3

The first one identifies Ymir as a giant; beings born before the Æsir. The second one is more clear in its assertion of the giant not being a god by promptly referring to the “holy gods” separately. There are numerous other examples but one thing is set in stone. Ymir was never a god. Sure he might’ve had some powers and the Jotnar are essentially powerful entities, however, they were never stated to be a god. The Æsir and Vanir on the other hand were stated to be gods. Moving on to address his gender, here are some texts that might make it clear to you:

“Hann var þá einn saman | við jǫtunheimum, | ok þá varð af hans svita | miðgarðr undir.”

Translation: “He was alone then | with the home of the giants, | and from his sweat | Midgard was made below.”

Source: Vafþrúðnismál, stanza 32, translation by Benjamin Thorpe

“Hann sat þar lengi, | áðr þeir [= Óðinn, Vili, and Vé] um orðuðu, | þeir er hörg ok hof | hátimbruðr byggðu.”

Translation: “He sat there long, | before they [= Odin, Vili, and Vé] spoke together, | those who built | the high roof of the sanctuary and the temple.”

Source: Völuspá, stanza 9, translation by Ursula Dronke

Both refer to Ymir as “he” while others use “him” confirming that were he to be assigned a gender it would be male. Sometimes you may run across people describing him as “that” or “it” but those aren’t that agreed upon. Gender neutrality in Norse literature is weird. Most just assume that if he can be referred to without the usage of any pronoun then he lacks a gender. Such an assumption is wrong on a couple of ends. I’ll list two.

• Most of the times he is addressed without using any pronoun is when he’s called “the first giant” or “giant of giants” alongside some other titles. And as far as I know, these don’t require any pronouns to accompany them.
• Secondly, if his name’s listed why is there a need to use a pronoun? Especially those that heavily disagree with other instances.

Myths are fluid. But Ymir being a male Jotnar is set in stone. He wasn’t a god much less a goddess. If you got that through modern media or fiction then consider it to be a form of creative liberty. Nothing else.

I hope that explains it. Have a nice day!

Side-Note: I’m aware of Jötnar being the plural for Jötunn. I’ve seen some use it for singular or just for Ymir in particular {the others being referred to as Jötunn}. So I decided to just mention it. Of course, depending on the location, runes, alphabets, and time the pronunciation changes.