In this post, I present a somewhat speculative recreation of the proto-Indo-European creation myth based on a comparative analysis of Vedic, Greek and Germanic sources.
At first, everything was Void. We find similar descriptions of this initial Void state of the cosmos in various Indo-European sources.
Rigveda (Nāsadīya Sūkta):
Then even non-existence was not there, nor existence, There was no air then, nor the space beyond it. What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping? Was there then cosmic fluid, in depths unfathomed?
Poetic Edda (Germanic):
Of old was the age | when Ymir lived;
Sea nor cool waves | nor sand there were;
Earth had not been, | nor heaven above,
But a yawning gap, | and grass nowhere.
Hesiod's Theogony (Greek):
Verily at the first Chaos came to be [Note: Greek kháos (χάος) means 'emptiness, vast void, chasm, abyss']
Then, a procreative urge came into existence. This is the first principle that sets life, existence and time itself into motion. The Rigvedic Nāsadīya Sūkta states: "In the beginning desire descended on it - that was the primal seed, born of the mind." The Greek Theogony also names Eros (Procreative Urge) among the first powers to emerge from Chaos.
Following this primal force of desire/urge, two principles come about - a fiery male principle and a watery female principle. These two fuse together and mate. In the Rigveda (x.121.7) one reads: "When the great waters came, bearing the embryo of the world, producing Agni, from it arose the one life of the gods". In the Germanic creation myth, a spark of fire plants itself in the primordial ice (the feminine watery principle), giving rise to further creation.
From the union of these two powers, the twins are born: the male Heaven and the female Earth. In the Germanic myth, the male Heaven is personified by Ymir, whose skull ultimately becomes the Sky-dome, and the Primordial Cow represents Mother Earth. In Vedic myth, a union of heat and waters gives rise to a Golden Egg, from which Heaven and Earth emerge as it hatches.
Heaven & Earth produce two races: Titans, allied with Heaven, and Gods, allied with Earth. This is seen in the Germanic myth, where Ymir (Heaven) produces the giants, while the Primordial Cow generates Buri, the progenitor of the gods. In the Greek version, Heaven & Earth both procreate the Titans, and the Gods are born to the Titans, but ultimately, Titans are allied with Heaven in the sense that both Heaven and Titans are ultimately forces to be overthrown, while the Gods are allied with the Earth. In Vedic texts, Aditi, the mother of the Gods, is often identified with the Earth, and there are hints of rivalry between Indra, the leader of the Gods, and his father, who may variously be Tvastr or Dyaus (Heaven).
The Gods and Titans ultimately battle for the sovereignty of both worlds, in which the Gods prevail over Heaven and the Titans. The Titans are pushed into the deepest depths of the Earth. This is perhaps the most persistent theme across Indo European mythology.
Heaven is mutilated in some way, which leads to the creation of an ordered existence. In the Greek myth, Heaven is castrated, symbolizing the transfer of masculine authority. In the Germanic version, Ymir is killed and the cosmos fashioned from his remains, which parallels Vedic description of creation of the world from the sacrifice of the Purusha. In both cases, Ymir/Purusha's skull becomes the Heaven. Interestingly, although an Earth goddess already exists, Earth-proper as humans know it seems to be created at this stage, from the dismembered Heaven's remains.
Finally, the Gods create mortal men (in their own image), and charge them to take care of the Earth and offer their first produce to the Gods, while the Gods take charge of the Heavens. In some sense, men are the mortal kin of the Gods, but for some reason (and this reason will different across the myths), they become mortals. The creation myth ultimately gives hope to mankind that men born of Earth can attain the heights of Heaven. The Gods attained it by defeating the Titans, but humans may attain immortality in Heaven by pious sacrifice and living in accordance with the commandments of the Gods.
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