diff --git a/core/src/elf.zig b/core/src/elf.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be6bea7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/elf.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const target = @import("builtin").target;
+const vmm = @import("arch/vmm.zig").arch;
+const platform = @import("arch/platform.zig").arch;
+const pmm = @import("pmm.zig");
+const debug = @import("arch/debug.zig");
+
+const ELFMAG = "\x7fELF";
+const SELFMAG = 4;
+const EI_CLASS = 4; // File class byte index
+const ELFCLASS64 = 2; // 64-bit objects
+const EI_DATA = 5; // Data encoding byte index
+const ELFDATA2LSB = 1; // 2's complement, little endian
+const ET_EXEC = 2; // Executable file
+const PT_LOAD = 1; // Loadable program segment
+const EM_MACH = switch (target.cpu.arch) {
+    .x86_64 => 62,
+    else => @compileError("unsupported architecture"),
+};
+
+const Elf64_Ehdr align(8) = packed struct {
+    e_ident: u128, // Magic number and other info
+    e_type: u16, // Object file type
+    e_machine: u16, // Architecture
+    e_version: u32, // Object file version
+    e_entry: u64, // Entry point virtual address
+    e_phoff: u64, // Program header table file offset
+    e_shoff: u64, // Section header table file offset
+    e_flags: u32, // Processor-specific flags
+    e_ehsize: u16, // ELF header size in bytes
+    e_phentsize: u16, // Program header table entry size
+    e_phnum: u16, // Program header table entry count
+    e_shentsize: u16, // Section header table entry size
+    e_shnum: u16, // Section header table entry count
+    e_shstrndx: u16, // Section header string table index
+};
+
+const Elf64_Phdr align(8) = packed struct {
+    p_type: u32, // Segment type
+    p_flags: u32, // Segment flags
+    p_offset: u64, // Segment file offset
+    p_vaddr: u64, // Segment virtual address
+    p_paddr: u64, // Segment physical address
+    p_filesz: u64, // Segment size in file
+    p_memsz: u64, // Segment size in memory
+    p_align: u64, // Segment alignment
+};
+
+const ElfError = error{
+    InvalidExecutable,
+};
+
+fn canExecuteSegment(flags: u32) bool {
+    return (flags & 1) > 0;
+}
+
+fn canWriteSegment(flags: u32) bool {
+    return (flags & 2) > 0;
+}
+
+pub fn loadElf(allocator: *pmm.FrameAllocator, directory: *vmm.PageDirectory, base_address: pmm.PhysFrame) !usize {
+    const address = base_address.virtualAddress(vmm.PHYSICAL_MAPPING_BASE);
+
+    debug.print("Address: {}\n", .{address});
+
+    const elf_header: *Elf64_Ehdr = @ptrFromInt(address);
+
+    debug.print("ELF header: {}\n", .{elf_header});
+
+    const e_ident: [*]u8 = @ptrFromInt(address);
+
+    if (!std.mem.eql(u8, e_ident[0..SELFMAG], ELFMAG[0..SELFMAG])) {
+        debug.print("Error while loading ELF: ELF header has no valid magic\n", .{});
+        return error.InvalidExecutable;
+    }
+
+    if (e_ident[EI_CLASS] != ELFCLASS64) {
+        debug.print("Error while loading ELF: ELF object is not 64-bit\n", .{});
+        return error.InvalidExecutable;
+    }
+
+    if (e_ident[EI_DATA] != ELFDATA2LSB) {
+        debug.print("Error while loading ELF: ELF object is not 2's complement little-endian\n", .{});
+        return error.InvalidExecutable;
+    }
+
+    if (elf_header.e_type != ET_EXEC) {
+        debug.print("Error while loading ELF: ELF object is not an executable\n", .{});
+        return error.InvalidExecutable;
+    }
+
+    if (elf_header.e_machine != EM_MACH) {
+        debug.print("Error while loading ELF: ELF object's target architecture does not match the current one\n", .{});
+        return error.InvalidExecutable;
+    }
+
+    if (elf_header.e_phnum == 0) {
+        debug.print("Error while loading ELF: ELF object has no program headers\n", .{});
+        return error.InvalidExecutable;
+    }
+
+    var i: usize = 0;
+    var program_header: *align(1) Elf64_Phdr = @ptrFromInt(address + elf_header.e_phoff);
+
+    debug.print("Program header address: {x}\n", .{address + elf_header.e_phoff});
+
+    while (i < elf_header.e_phnum) {
+        debug.print("Program header: {}\n", .{program_header.*});
+        if (program_header.p_type == PT_LOAD) {
+            debug.print("ELF: Loading segment (offset={d}, base={x}, filesize={d}, memsize={d})\n", .{ program_header.p_offset, program_header.p_vaddr, program_header.p_filesz, program_header.p_memsz });
+
+            const vaddr_diff: u64 = @rem(program_header.p_vaddr, platform.PAGE_SIZE);
+            const base_vaddr: u64 = program_header.p_vaddr - vaddr_diff;
+
+            var flags: u32 = @intFromEnum(vmm.Flags.User) | @intFromEnum(vmm.Flags.NoExecute);
+            if (canWriteSegment(program_header.p_flags)) flags |= @intFromEnum(vmm.Flags.ReadWrite);
+            if (canExecuteSegment(program_header.p_flags)) flags &= ~@as(u32, @intFromEnum(vmm.Flags.NoExecute));
+
+            // Allocate physical memory for the segment
+            try vmm.allocAndMap(allocator, directory, base_vaddr, try std.math.divCeil(usize, program_header.p_memsz + vaddr_diff, platform.PAGE_SIZE), flags);
+
+            try vmm.memsetUser(directory, vmm.PHYSICAL_MAPPING_BASE, base_vaddr, 0, vaddr_diff);
+
+            try vmm.copyToUser(directory, vmm.PHYSICAL_MAPPING_BASE, program_header.p_vaddr, @ptrFromInt(address + program_header.p_offset), program_header.p_filesz);
+
+            const bss_size = program_header.p_memsz - program_header.p_filesz;
+
+            try vmm.memsetUser(directory, vmm.PHYSICAL_MAPPING_BASE, program_header.p_vaddr + program_header.p_filesz, 0, bss_size);
+        } else {
+            debug.print("ELF: Encountered non-loadable program header, skipping\n", .{});
+        }
+
+        i += 1;
+
+        const new_address = address + elf_header.e_phoff + (i * elf_header.e_phentsize);
+
+        debug.print("Program header address: {x}\n", .{new_address});
+
+        program_header = @ptrFromInt(new_address);
+    }
+
+    return elf_header.e_entry;
+}
+
+pub fn allocateStack(allocator: *pmm.FrameAllocator, directory: *vmm.PageDirectory, stack_top: usize, stack_size: usize) !usize {
+    const pages = try std.math.divCeil(usize, stack_size, platform.PAGE_SIZE);
+    const stack_bottom = stack_top - (pages * platform.PAGE_SIZE);
+
+    try vmm.allocAndMap(allocator, directory, stack_bottom, pages, @intFromEnum(vmm.Flags.ReadWrite) | @intFromEnum(vmm.Flags.User) | @intFromEnum(vmm.Flags.NoExecute));
+
+    return stack_top - 16;
+}
diff --git a/core/src/main.zig b/core/src/main.zig
index b1354c6..d3a30ac 100644
--- a/core/src/main.zig
+++ b/core/src/main.zig
@@ -1,14 +1,23 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const easyboot = @cImport(@cInclude("easyboot.h"));
 const debug = @import("arch/debug.zig");
+const cpu = @import("arch/cpu.zig");
 const platform = @import("arch/platform.zig").arch;
 const interrupts = @import("arch/interrupts.zig").arch;
 const vmm = @import("arch/vmm.zig").arch;
 const multiboot = @import("multiboot.zig");
 const pmm = @import("pmm.zig");
+const thread = @import("thread.zig");
+const elf = @import("elf.zig");
 
 const MultibootInfo = [*c]u8;
 
+const Context = struct {
+    allocator: *pmm.FrameAllocator,
+    directory: *vmm.PageDirectory,
+    regs: *interrupts.InterruptStackFrame,
+};
+
 export fn _start(magic: u32, info: MultibootInfo) callconv(.C) noreturn {
     interrupts.disableInterrupts();
 
@@ -17,40 +26,87 @@ export fn _start(magic: u32, info: MultibootInfo) callconv(.C) noreturn {
         while (true) {}
     }
 
-    debug.print("Hello world from the kernel!\n", .{});
-
     multiboot.parseMultibootTags(@ptrCast(info));
 
     platform.platformInit();
 
-    debug.print("GDT initialized\n", .{});
+    const tag = multiboot.findMultibootTag(easyboot.multiboot_tag_mmap_t, @ptrCast(info)) orelse {
+        debug.print("error: No memory map multiboot tag found!\n", .{});
+        while (true) {}
+        unreachable;
+    };
 
-    if (multiboot.findMultibootTag(easyboot.multiboot_tag_mmap_t, @ptrCast(info))) |tag| {
-        var allocator = pmm.initializeFrameAllocator(tag) catch |err| {
-            debug.print("Error while initializing frame allocator: {}\n", .{err});
-            while (true) {}
-        };
+    var allocator = pmm.initializeFrameAllocator(tag) catch |err| {
+        debug.print("Error while initializing frame allocator: {}\n", .{err});
+        while (true) {}
+    };
 
-        var init_directory = std.mem.zeroes(vmm.PageDirectory);
-        const base: usize = vmm.createInitialMappings(&allocator, tag, &init_directory) catch |err| {
-            debug.print("Error while creating initial mappings: {}\n", .{err});
-            while (true) {}
-        };
+    var dir: vmm.PageDirectory = std.mem.zeroes(vmm.PageDirectory);
+    const base: usize = vmm.createInitialMappings(&allocator, tag, &dir) catch |err| {
+        debug.print("Error while creating initial mappings: {}\n", .{err});
+        while (true) {}
+    };
 
-        debug.print("Physical memory base mapping for init: {x}\n", .{base});
-    } else {
-        debug.print("No memory map multiboot tag found!\n", .{});
-    }
+    debug.print("Physical memory base mapping for init: {x}\n", .{base});
+
+    const frame = pmm.allocFrame(&allocator) catch |err| {
+        debug.print("Error while creating frame for user page directory: {}\n", .{err});
+        while (true) {}
+    };
+
+    // At this point the physical address space is already mapped into kernel virtual memory.
+    const init_directory: *vmm.PageDirectory = @ptrFromInt(frame.virtualAddress(vmm.PHYSICAL_MAPPING_BASE));
+    init_directory.* = dir;
+
+    cpu.setupCore(&allocator) catch |err| {
+        debug.print("Error while setting up core-specific scheduler structures: {}\n", .{err});
+        while (true) {}
+    };
+
+    const init = thread.createThreadControlBlock(&allocator) catch |err| {
+        debug.print("Error while creating thread control block for init: {}\n", .{err});
+        while (true) {}
+    };
+
+    init.directory = init_directory;
+    thread.arch.initUserRegisters(&init.regs);
+    thread.arch.setArgument(&init.regs, base);
+
+    thread.addThreadToScheduler(cpu.thisCore(), init);
+
+    const ctx = Context{ .allocator = &allocator, .directory = init_directory, .regs = &init.regs };
+
+    multiboot.findMultibootTags(easyboot.multiboot_tag_module_t, @ptrCast(info), struct {
+        fn handler(mod: *easyboot.multiboot_tag_module_t, c: *const anyopaque) void {
+            const context: *const Context = @alignCast(@ptrCast(c));
+            const name = "init";
+            if (std.mem.eql(u8, mod.string()[0..name.len], name[0..name.len])) {
+                const phys_frame = pmm.PhysFrame{ .address = mod.mod_start };
+                debug.print("Loading init from module at address {x}, virtual {x}\n", .{ mod.mod_start, phys_frame.virtualAddress(vmm.PHYSICAL_MAPPING_BASE) });
+                const entry = elf.loadElf(context.allocator, context.directory, pmm.PhysFrame{ .address = mod.mod_start }) catch |err| {
+                    debug.print("Error while loading ELF file for init: {}\n", .{err});
+                    while (true) {}
+                };
+                thread.arch.setAddress(context.regs, entry);
+            }
+        }
+    }.handler, &ctx);
+
+    const default_stack_size = 0x80000; // 512 KiB.
+    const stack = elf.allocateStack(&allocator, init_directory, base - platform.PAGE_SIZE, default_stack_size) catch |err| {
+        debug.print("Error while creating stack for init: {}\n", .{err});
+        while (true) {}
+    };
+    thread.arch.setStack(&init.regs, stack);
 
     platform.platformEndInit();
 
-    asm volatile ("int3");
-
-    while (true) {}
+    thread.enterTask(init);
 }
 
 pub fn panic(message: []const u8, _: ?*std.builtin.StackTrace, _: ?usize) noreturn {
     debug.print("--- KERNEL PANIC! ---\n", .{});
     debug.print("{s}\n", .{message});
+    debug.print("return address: {x}\n", .{@returnAddress()});
     while (true) {}
 }