3.
Ár var alda,
þat er ekki var,
var-a sandr né sær
né svalar unnir;
jörð fannsk æva
né upphiminn,
gap var ginnunga
en gras hvergi.

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Ár var alda þar er Ýmir bygði,

Ár: year/early
var: was
alda: age/era
þar: there
er: where/when
Ýmir: Ymir (name of the primeval giant)
bygði: dwelled/lived

« Early was age there where Ymir dwelled, » or in a more fluid translation, « It was the early age where Ymir lived. »
This line speaks to the ancient times, focusing on the existence of Ymir, the primordial giant from whom the world was created. It evokes the vast, mythic time before the ordered cosmos.

vara sandr né sær né svalar unnir,

vara: was not
sandr: sand
né: nor
sær: sea
né: nor
svalar: cool
unnir: waves

« was not sand nor sea nor cool waves, » or more fluidly, « there was neither sand, nor sea, nor cool waves. »
This line describes the primordial void or the state of the cosmos before the formation of the earth’s basic elements, emphasizing the absence of any recognizable or habitable features like sand, sea, or cooling waves. It paints a picture of a vast emptiness, setting the stage for the creation that is to follow in the mythic narrative.

jörð fannsk æva né upphiminn,

jörð: earth (also Thor’s Mother)
fannsk: was found/found itself
æva: never
né: nor
upphiminn: sky/heaven

« earth was found never nor sky, » or more fluidly, « there was neither earth nor sky. »
This line further describes the primordial state before the creation of the world, emphasizing the absence of both the ground beneath and the sky above, highlighting the complete void or chaos that existed before the cosmos was ordered and formed.

gap var ginnunga, en gras hvergi.

gap: gap/abyss
var: was
ginnunga: yawning/primordial (Ginnungagap, the great void)
en: but
gras: grass
hvergi: nowhere

« gap was yawning, but grass nowhere, » or more fluidly, « there was a yawning gap, but no grass anywhere. »
This line describes Ginnungagap, the vast primordial void in Norse cosmogony, before the world was created.
It emphasizes the emptiness and the absence of life, with the great void existing but without any vegetation or life forms present, setting the stage for the creation narrative that follows in the mythology.