THE MYTHOLOGY AND COSMOGONY OF THE NORSEMEN.
The three poems giving the mythology and cosmogony of the North—The
Völuspa, Vafthrudnismal, Grimnismal, the Asar, Jötnar, and
Thursar—Odin and Vafthrudnir—The nine worlds—Before the
creation—The origin of the Hrim Thursar—Birth of Ymir—Birth of
Odin—Vili and Ve—The ash Yggdrasil—The well of wisdom—Hel, one of
the nine worlds—The bridge Bifröst—Heimdall—Bergelmir born before
the creation—The Jötun—Ymir slain by Odin—The deluge of
blood—Creation of the world—Divisions of time—End of the world—A
new world.
In the three poems called _Völuspa_, _Vafthrudnismal_, and _Grimnismal_,
we have the earliest accounts of the cosmogony and of the mythology of
the people of the North. The grand central figure in the mythology is
Odin. He and his kin formed the people known as Asar in the lore and
literature of the North, and were treated as gods. These poems are too
long to be given here in full, but in the following pages we have
endeavoured, by means of extracts, to give a more or less consecutive
account of the subjects with which they deal.
The Völuspa was an inspired poem of a Völva or Sibyl,[20] and embodies
the records of the creation of the present world, and of the time prior
to it; of the various races, their origin and history, and of the chaos
and destruction which finally will overtake mankind.
It is in some places so obscure, that if it had not been partly
explained by the later Edda, and had light thrown upon it by the sagas
and ancient laws, it would be impossible to understand its meaning; and
even now it is most difficult, and in some places impossible to fully
comprehend several of its mythical parts, some of which will always
remain enigmatical.
Vafthrudnismal is especially interesting as compared with the Völuspa,
with much of which it corresponds, and some part of which it amplifies.
The mythical and the real are so intermingled that it is often
impossible to distinguish the one from the other.
In the beginning we are confronted by a chief named Odin, the son of
Bör, who lived near the Tanais (the river Don) not far from the Palus
Mæotis (the Sea of Azof), and there we find one Asgard, which in all
probability had its original in some real locality.
Besides Asar and Jötnar, many other tribes are mentioned which can
hardly be regarded as altogether mythical, some of which may have
inhabited the far north of the ancient Sweden, or part of the present
Russia and Scandinavia; the Thursar, who were also called Hrimthursar
(hoar frost), and the Risar, also Bergrisar (mountain Risar), appear
from these names to have lived in a cold mountainous country, possibly
the region of the Ural Mountains.
Jötunheim, the chief burgh of which was _Utgard_, would appear to be a
general, vague name given to a very wide extent of country not embraced
in Asaheim (the home of the Asar). Jötunheim, as the name indicates, was
the home or country of the Jötnar and Thursar, between whom and the Asar
there was fierce enmity.
Some of the Jötnar were considered very wise, and Odin, as the chief of
the Asar, determined to go in disguise to Jötunheim, the home of the
Jötnar, in order to seek out the Jötun Vafthrudnir[21] (the mighty or
wise in riddles), who was renowned for his knowledge. The song begins by
representing Odin as consulting his wife, Frigg, as to the advisability
of undertaking the journey. The stanzas which follow represent Odin
questioning Vafthrudnir in his search for knowledge:—
Then went Odin
To try word-wisdom
Of the all-wise Jötun.
To a hall he came,
Owned by Ymir’s father;
In went Ygg at once.[22]
(_As Odin enters he sings_—)
Hail, Vafthrudnir,
I have come into thy hall
To look at thyself;
First I want to know,
If thou art a wise
Or an all-wise Jötun.
_Vafthrudnir._
Who is the man
That in my hall
Speaks to me?
Thou shalt not
Get out of it
Unless thou art the wiser.
_Odin._
I am called _Gagnrad_,[23]
I have now come from my walking
Thirsty to thy hall;
Needing thy bidding
And thy welcome, Jötun;
Long time have I travelled.
_Vafthrudnir._
Why standing on the floor
Dost thou speak to me?
Take a seat in the hall.
Then we shall try
Who knows more,
The guest or the old wise one.
_Odin._
When a poor man
Comes to a rich one
Let him speak useful things or be silent;
Great babbling
I think turns to ill
For one who meets a cold-ribbed[24] man.
We are told in the Völuspa that Odin, in the quest of information, went
to visit the Völva, or Sybil, Heid, who was possessed of supernatural
powers of knowledge and foresight. She asks for a hearing from the sons
of Heimdal, or mankind, and then proceeds to tell what she recollects:—
I remember Jötnar
Early born,
Who of yore
Raised me;[25]
I remember nine worlds,
Nine ividi[26]
The famous world-tree (Yggdrasil)
Beneath the earth.
The nine worlds were—1, Muspel; 2, Asgard; 3, Vanaheim (home of the
Vanir); 4, Midgard; 5, Alfheim (world of the Alfar); 6, Mannheim (home
of men); 7, Jötunheim (the home of the Jötnar); 8, Hel; 9, Niflheim.
The first beginnings of all things were apparently as obscure to the
Völva as to others; nothing existed before the Creation. The world was
then a gaping void (Ginnungagap), and there the Jötun Ymir, or the Hrim
Thursar, lived. On each side of Ginnungagap there were two worlds,
Niflheim, the world of cold, and Muspelheim, the world of heat.
When Ymir lived
In early ages
Was neither sand nor sea,
Nor cool waves,
No earth was there
Nor heaven above,
There was gaping void
And grass nowhere.
“First there was a home (a world) in the southern half of the world
called Muspel; it is hot and bright, so that it is burning and in
flames; it is also inaccessible for those who have no _odals_ (or family
estates); there the one that sits at the land’s end to defend it is
called a Surt. He has a flaming sword, and at the end of the world he
will go and make warfare and get victory over all the gods, and burn the
whole world with fire” (Later Edda, c. 4).[27]
The origin of the Hrim Thursar and the Birth of Ymir, who lived in
Ginnungagap, and of Odin, Vili, and Ve, is as follows:
“Gangleri asked, ‘How was it before the kindreds existed and mankind
increased?’ Hár answered, ‘When the rivers called Elivagar had run so
far from their sources that the quick venom which flowed into them, like
the dross which runs out of the fire, got hard, and changed into ice;
when this ice stood still and flowed no longer, the exhalation of the
poison came over it and froze into rime; the rime rose up all the way
into the Ginnungagap.’ Jafnhár said, ‘The part of Ginnungagap turning to
the north was filled with the heaviness and weight of ice and rime, and
the opposite side with drizzle and gusts of wind; but the southern part
of Ginnungagap became less heavy, from the sparks and glowing substances
which came flying from Muspelheim.’ Thridi said, ‘Just as the cold and
all things come from Niflheim, the things near Muspel were hot and
shining; Ginnungagap was as warm as windless air. When the rime and the
breath of the heat met so that the rime melted into drops, a human form
came from these flowing drops with the power of the one who had sent the
heat; he was called Ymir, but the Hrimthursar call him Örgelmir, and the
kin of the Hrimthursar have sprung from him.’ Gangleri asked, ‘How did
the kin grow from this, or how came it that there were more men; or dost
thou believe in the god of whom thou didst tell now?’ Hár answered, ‘By
no means do we think him a god; he was bad, and all his kinsmen; we call
them Hrimthursar. It is told that when asleep he sweated, and then there
grew a man and a woman from under his left arm, and one of his feet
begot a son with the other; thence have sprung the kin of Hrimthursar.
We call Ymir the Old Hrimthurs.’
“Gangleri asked, ‘Where did Ymir live, or by what?’ ‘It happened next
when the hoar-frost fell in drops that the cow Audhumla grew out of it;
four rivers of milk ran from her teats, and she fed Ymir.’
“Gangleri asked, ‘On what did the cow feed?’ Hár answered, ‘She licked
the rime-stones covered with salt and rime, and the first day when she
licked them a man’s hair came out of them in the evening; the second day
a man’s head; the third day a whole man was there; he is called Buri; he
was handsome in looks, large, and mighty; he had Bör for son, who got
Besla, daughter of Bölthorn jötun, for wife, and she had three sons,
Odin, Vili,[28] Ve; and it is my belief that this Odin and his brothers
are the rulers of heaven and earth. We think he is called so. Thus the
man whom we know to be the greatest and most famous is called, and they
may well give him this name’” (‘Gylfaginning,’ c. 5).
The ash tree Yggdrasil is one of the strangest conceptions found in any
mythology.
An ash I know standing
Called _Yggdrasil_,
A high tree besprinkled
With white loam;
Thence come the dews
That drop in the dales;
It stands evergreen
Spreading over the well of Urd.
Three roots stand
In three directions
Under the ash Yggdrasil;
Hel dwels under one,
The Hrim-thursar under the second,
Under the third “mortal” men.
(Grimnismal).
Under it stands the well of wisdom for a drink from which Odin pledges
his one eye.
“Gangleri said: ‘Where is the head-place or holy place of the Asar?’ Hár
answered: ‘At the ash of Yggdrasil, where the gods give their judgments
every day.’ Gangleri asked: ‘What can be told of that place?’ Jafnhár
said: ‘The ash is the largest and best of trees; its branches spread all
over the world and reach up over the heaven; three roots of the tree
hold it up and spread very widely. One (of the roots) is with the Asar,
another with the Hrimthursar where of yore Ginnungagap was; the third is
over Niflheim, and beneath it is Hvergelmin, but Nidhög gnaws its lower
part. Under the root turning towards the Hrimthursar is Mimir’s well, in
which wisdom and intellect are hidden. Its owner is called Mimir; he is
full of wisdom, for he drinks from the well of the horn Gjallar-horn.
Odin came and asked for a drink of the well, and did not get it till he
pawned his eye.”
“What more wonders,” asked Gangleri, “may be told of the ash?” Hár
answered, “Many wonders. An eagle sits in the limbs of the ash and knows
many things; between its eyes sits the hawk Vedrfölnir. The squirrel
Ratatösk runs up and down the ash and carries words of envy between the
eagle and Nidhög. Four harts run on the limbs of the ash and eat the
buds; they are called Dain, Dvalin, Duneyr, and Durathror. So many
serpents are in Hvergelmir with Nidhög that no tongue can number them”
(Gylfaginning, c. 16).
Heid in the Voluspa tells about the holy tree, and that the horn of
Heimdall is hidden under it till the last fight of the gods. Yggdrasil
is watered from the water of the well.
She knows that the blast
Of Heimdal is hidden
Under the bright
Holy tree;
She sees it poured over
By a muddy stream
From the pledge of Valfödr;
Know ye all up to this and onward?
Under the tree lived the three Nornir (Genii), who shape the destinies
of men.
Thence come three maidens,
Knowing many things,
Out of the hall
Which stands under the tree;
One was called Urd,
Another Verdandi,
The third Skuld;
They carved on wood tablets,
They chose lives,
They laid down laws
For the children of men,
They chose the fates of men.
Hel was one of the nine worlds, and stood under the ash Yggdrasil, where
the dead, who did not die on the battle-field, went. Hence, when a man
had died, Hel-shoes were put on his feet for the journey.
Odin goes to the world of Hel, in which was the Gnipa cave, in order to
inquire about the fate of his son Baldr who had died.
“Odin threw Hel (daughter of Loki) down into Niflheim, and gave her
power over nine worlds; she was to lodge all those who were sent to her,
namely, those who died of sickness and old age. She has a large
homestead there, and her house-walls are wonderfully high, and her doors
are large. Her hall is called Eljúdnir, her plate famine, her knife
hunger; ganglati (lazy-goer, idler) her thrall; ganglöt (idler) her
bondswoman; her threshhold is called stumbling-block; her bed the couch
of one who is bed-ridden; her bed-hangings (ársal) the glittering evil.
One half of her body is livid, and the other half skin-colour; therefore
she is easily known, and her look is frowning and fierce” (Later Edda,
c. 34, Gylfaginning).
“It is the beginning of this Saga that Baldr the Good dreamt great and
dangerous dreams about his life. When he told them to the Asar they
consulted and resolved to ask for safety for Baldr from every kind of
danger; Frigg (Odin’s wife) took oaths from fire, water, iron, and every
kind of metal, stones, earth, trees, sicknesses, beasts, birds, poison,
serpents, that they would spare Baldr’s life. When this was done and
known, Baldr and the Asar entertained themselves thus: he stood up at
the Things and some gods shot at him, or others struck at him or threw
stones at him. Whatever they did he was not hurt, and all thought this a
great wonder. When Loki Laufey(jarson) saw this he was angry that Baldr
was not hurt. He changed himself into a woman’s shape and went to Frigg
in Fensalir. Frigg asked this woman if she knew what the Asar were doing
at the Thing. She said that they all shot at Baldr, and that he was not
hurt. Frigg said, ‘Weapons or trees will not hurt Baldr; I have taken
oaths from them all.’ The woman asked, ‘Have all things taken oaths to
spare Baldr’s life?’ Frigg answered, ‘A bush grows east of Valhöll
called Mistiltein (mistletoe); I thought it was too young to take an
oath.’ The woman went away; but Loki took the mistletoe and tore it up
and went to the Thing. Höd (Baldr’s brother) stood in the outmost part
of the ring of people. Loki said to him, ‘Why doest thou not shoot at
Baldr?’ He answered, ‘Because I do not see where he is, and also I am
weaponless.’ Loki said, ‘Do like other men and show honour to Baldr; I
will show thee where he stands; shoot this stick at him.’ Höd took the
mistletoe and shot at Baldr as Loki showed him; it pierced Baldr, who
fell dead to the ground. This was the most unfortunate deed that has
been done among the gods and men. When Baldr was fallen none of the Asar
could say a word or touch him with their hands, and they looked at each
other with the same mind towards the one who had done this deed, but no
one could take revenge; it was such a place of peace. When they tried to
speak the tears came first, so that no one could tell to the other his
sorrow in words. Odin suffered most from this loss, because he knew best
what a loss and damage to the Asar the death of Baldr was....”
(Gylfaginning, c. 49).
“It is to be told of Hermód that he rode nine nights through dark and
deep valleys and saw nothing before he came to the river Gjöll[29] and
rode on the Gjallar bridge,[30] which is covered with shining gold.[31]
Modgud is the name of the maiden who guards the bridge; she asked him
his name and kin, and said that the day before five arrays of dead men
rode over the bridge, ‘but the bridge sounds not less under thee alone,
and thou hast not the colour of dead men; why ridest thou here on the
way of Hel?’ He answered, ‘I am riding to Hel to seek Baldr, or hast
thou seen Baldr on the way of Hel?’ She answered that Baldr had ridden
over the Gjallar bridge, ‘but the way of Hel lies downward and
northward.’ Hermód rode till he came to the gates of Hel; then he
alighted and girthed his horse strongly, mounted and pricked it with the
spurs; the horse leaped so high over the gate that it touched nowhere.
Then Hermód rode home to the hall, alighted, went in and saw his brother
Baldr sitting in a high-seat; he stayed there the night. In the morning
Hermód asked Hel to allow Baldr to ride home with him, and told how
great weeping there was among the Asar. Hel said she would see if Baldr
was as beloved as was told; if all things, living and dead, in the world
weep over him, he shall go back to the Asar, but remain with Hel (me) if
any refuse or will not weep. Then Hermód rose, and Baldr let him out of
the hall and took the ring Draupnir and sent it to Odin as a
remembrance, and Nanna[32] sent to Frigg a linen veil and more gifts,
and to Fulla a gold ring. Then Hermód rode back to Asgard and told all
the tidings he had seen or heard. Thereupon the Asar sent messengers all
over the world to ask that Baldr might be wept out of Hel, and all did
it, men and beasts, earth and stones, trees, and all metals, as thou
must have seen that these things weep when they come from frost into
heat. When the messengers went home and had performed their errands
well, they found a jötun woman sitting in a cave, called Thökk; they
asked her to weep Baldr (out of) Hel; she answered—
Thökk will weep
With dry tears
The burning voyage of Baldr;
I never enjoyed
A living or a dead man’s son;
May Hel keep what she has.
It is guessed that this was Loki Laufeyjarson, who had caused most evils
among the Asar.”
“Then also the dog Garm, which is tied in front of Gnipa cave, got
loose; he is the greatest terror, he fights Tyr and they kill each
other” (Gylfaginning, c. 5).
The wicked seem to have died twice: first they die and get into Hel,
then they die again and get into _Niflhel_ = _Foggy Hel_. The following
is one of the answers of Vafthrudnir to Odin:—
Of the runes[33] of Jötnar
And those of all the gods
I can tell thee true,
For I have been
In every world;
I have gone to nine
Worlds beneath _Nifl-hel_;
There die the men from _Hel_.
The sides of the rim of heaven communicate with each other by a bridge
called Bifröst, or the bridge of the Asar, on which Heimdall, the
watchman of the gods, stood.
“Heimdall is the watchman of the gods standing on Bifröst Bridge (the
rainbow)” (Later Edda, 27).
“Heimdall is named the White As: he is great and holy; nine maidens bore
him as son, and they were all sisters. He is also called Hallinskidi and
Gullintanni (gold tooth). His teeth were of gold, his horse is called
gold maned. He lived at a place called Himinbjörg (heaven mountains) by
Bifröst. He is the warden of the gods, and sits there at the end of
heaven to guard the bridge against the Berg Risar (mountain Jötnar); he
needs less sleep than a bird, he can see equally by night and by day a
hundred leagues away, and he hears when the grass grows, or the wool on
the sheep, and all that is louder than these. He has the horn called
Gjallarhorn, and his blowing is heard through all worlds. The sword of
Heimdall is called Höfud” (Gylfaginning, 27).
We find that the Jötnar and Asar were separated from each other by a
large river whose waters never freeze.
_Vafthrudnir._
Tell me, Gagnrad, &c.,
How the river is called
Which divides the land
Between the sons of Jötnar and the gods.
_Odin._
_Ifing_ is the river called
That parts the land
Between the sons of Jötnar and the gods;
Open shall it flow
All the days of the world;
No ice will come on it.
From Vafthrudnismal we learn of the origin of Bergelmir who was born
before the Creation.
It is an important question which are the most ancient people—the Asar,
or the ancient kinsmen of Ymir?
_Odin._
Tell me ...
Who of the Asar,
Or of the sons of Ymir,
Was the oldest in early days?
_Vafthrudnir._
Numberless winters
Before the earth was shaped
Was Bergelmir born.
Thrudgelmir
Was his father
And Orgelmir his grandfather.
_Odin._
Tell me ...
Whence first Orgelmir came
Among the sons of Jötnar,
Thou wise Jötun.
_Vafthrudnir._
From _Elivagar_[34]
Spurted drops of poison
Which grew into a Jötun;
Thence are our kin
All sprung;
Hence they are always too hideous.
_Odin._
Tell me ...
How that strong Jötun
Begat children
As he had not beheld a _gyg_?[35]
_Vafthrudnir._
In the armpit
Of the Hrim-thursar, it is said,
Grew a maiden and a son;
Foot begat with foot
Of that wise Jötun
A six-headed son.
_Odin._
Tell me ...
What thou earliest rememberest,
Or knowest farthest back;
Thou art an all-wise Jötun.
_Vafthrudnir._
Numberless winters
Ere the earth was shaped
Was Bergelmir born;
The first I remember
Is when that wise Jötun
Was laid in the flour-bin.[36]
In due course Ymir was slain by Odin, Vili, and Ve, the three sons of
Bör, who was himself a Jötun, and therefore of the same kin as Ymir.
Having slain Ymir, the sons of Bör proceeded to make the earth out of
his body, and to give the sun, moon, and stars their places in heaven.
The flow of his blood was so great as to cause a deluge. Bergelmir was
the only one of the Hrim-Thursar who escaped in a boat with his wife,
and from him came a new race of Hrim-Thursar.
“The sons of Bör slew the Jötun Ymir, but when he fell there flowed so
much blood from his wounds that it drowned the whole race of the
Hrim-Thursar, except one who escaped with his household. Him the Jötnar
called Bergelmir; he and his wife went on board his ark, and thus saved
themselves; from them are descended a new race of Hrim-Thursar” (Later
Edda).
After the destruction of the earlier Hrim-Thursar we hear how the sons
of Bör created the world, and we are told how the earth and the heavens
were made from Ymir.
From Ymir’s flesh
The earth was shaped,
And from his blood the sea;
The mountains from his bones;
From his hair the trees,
And the heaven from his skull.
But from his brows
The mild gods made
Midgard for the sons of men;
And from his brain
Were all the gloomy
Clouds created.
(Grimnismal.)
We are also told of the creation of the planets and stars, of our world,
of the sea, of the moon, and of day and night. The year was reckoned by
winters (vetr), and the days by nights (nott).
The year was divided into months (mánud or mánad).
“_Haustmánud_ (harvest-month) is the last before winter; _Gormánud_
(gore-month, called thus from the slaughter of cattle then taking place)
the first month of winter; _Frermánud_ (frost-month); _Hrútmánud_ (the
ram’s month); _Thorri_ (the month of waning or declining winter); _Gói_,
_Einmánud_ ... then _Gaukmánud_ or _Sádtid_ (cuckoo-month or
sowing-tide); _Eggtíd_ or _Stekktíd_ (egg-tide or weaning-tide);
_Sólmánud_ or _Selmánud_ (sun-month or sæter-month in which the cattle
are removed to the sel or sæter); _Heyjannir_ (haymaking-month);
_Kornskurdarmánud_ (grain-reaping month)” (Skaldskaparmal, c. 63).
The month was subdivided into six weeks; each week contained five days.
The days were called—Týsdag = Tuesday; Ódinsdag = Wednesday; Thórsdag =
Thursday; Frjádag = Friday; Laugardag (bath-day) or Thváttdag
(washing-day) = Saturday.
_Odin._
Tell me ...
Whence the moon came
That walks above men,
And the sun also?
_Vafthrudnir._
_Mundilfori_[37] is called
The father of the moon,
And of the sun also;
Wheel round the heaven
They shall every day,
And tell men of the years.
_Odin._
Tell me ...
Whence the day came
That passes over mankind,
Or the night with her new moon?
_Vafthrudnir._
_Delling_ (the bright) is called
The father of _Dag_ (the day)
But _Nott_ (night) was Norvi’s[38] daughter;
The full moons and the new ones
The good gods made
To tell men the years.
(Vafthrudnismal.)
The following is the origin of Midgard:—
Ere the sons of Bör
Raised the lands,
They who shaped
The famous _Midgard_;
The sun shone from the south
On the stones of the hall;
Then the ground grew
With green grass.
The sun from the south,[39]
The companion of the moon,
With her right hand took hold
Of the rim of heaven;[40]
The sun knew not
Where she[41] owned halls,
The moon knew not
What power he[42] had;
The stars knew not
Where they owned places.
Then all the powers went
To their judgment seats,[43]
The most holy gods
Counselled about this;
To night and the quarters of the moon
Gave they names;
They gave names to
Morning and midday,
To afternoon and eve,
That the years might be reckoned.
(Völuspa.)
Then we have the origin of the wind and of winter. Hræsvelg means the
swallower of corpses.
_Odin._
Tell me ...
Whence the wind comes
Who goes over the waves;
Men do not see him.
_Vafthrudnir._
_Hræsvelg_ is called
He who sits at heaven’s end,
A Jötun in an eagle’s shape;
From his wings
It is said the wind comes
Over all mankind.
_Odin._
Tell me ...
Whence the winter came,
Or the warm summer,
First with the wise gods.
_Vafthrudnir._
_Vindsval_[44] is called
The father of winter,
And _Svasud_[45] the father of summer.
Another amplification of the Creation is given in Gylfaginning.
Thridi said:
“They took Ymir’s skull, and made thereof the sky, and raised it over
the earth with four sides. Under each corner they set four Dvergar,
which were called Austri, East; Vestri, West; Nordri, North; Sudri,
South. Then they took glowing sparks that were loose and had been cast
out from Muspelheim, and placed them in the midst of the boundless
heaven, both above and below, to light up heaven and earth; they gave
resting-places to all fires, and set some in heaven; some were made free
to go under heaven, but they gave them a place and shaped their course.
In old songs it is said that from that time days and years were
reckoned.”
The creation of the world, and of the heavens and planets, is followed
by that of the Dvergar and of man and woman, who were helpless and
fateless (their destinies not having been spun by the Nornir); from
these two mankind are descended.
Then all the gods went
To their judgment-seats,
The most holy gods,
And counselled about
Who should create
The host of Dvergar
From the bloody surf[46]
And from the bones of Blain.
There did Modsognir[47]
The mightiest become
Of all Dvergar,
And Durin next to him;
They two shaped
Many _man-likenesses_
In the ground,
As Durin has told.[48]
* * * * *
It is time to reckon
Down to Lofar,
For mankind (Gónar),
The Dvergar in Dvalin’s host,[49]
Those who went
From the stone-halls,
The host of Aurvangar,
To Jöruvellir (battle-plains).
* * * * *
Until out of that host[50]
To the house[51]
Came three Asar
Mighty and mild;
They found on the ground
Ask and Embla,
Helpless and fateless
They had no breath,
They had no mind,
Neither blood nor motion
Nor proper complexion.
Odin gave the breath,[52]
Hœnir gave the mind,
Lodur gave the blood
And befitting hues.
(Völuspa.)
Finally the Völva describes the end of the world.
Eastward sat the old one
In Jarnvid,[53]
And there bred
The brood of Fenrir;
Of them all
One becomes
The destroyer of the sun
In the shape of a Troll.
He[54] is fed with the lives
Of death-fated men;
He reddens the seat of the gods
With red blood;
The sunshine becomes black
After the summers,
And all weather woe-begone.
Know ye all up to this and onward?
The herdsman of the Jötun woman,
The glad Egdir,
Sat there on a mound
And struck a harp,
A bright-red cock,
Called Fjalar,
Crowed near him
In the bird-wood.
Crowed for the Asar
Gullinkambi (golden-comb),
He rouses the warriors
At Herjafödr’s (host-father);
But another crows
Under the ground,
A dark red cock,[55]
In the halls of Hel.
Garm barks violently
Before the Gnipa cave;
The fetters will break
And the wolf will run;
She (the Völva) knows many tales.
I see further forward
To the doom of the powers
The dark doom of the gods.
Brothers will fight
And become each other’s slayers;
The sons of sisters will
Break blood ties.
It goes hard in the world,
There is much whoredom,
An age of axes, an age of swords;
Shields are cleft;
An age of winds, an age of wolves,
Ere the world sinks;
No man will spare
Another man.
The sons of Mimir are moving
But the end draws near,
By the sound of the ancient
Gjallarhorn.
Heimdall blows loud,
The horn is aloft;
Odin talks with
The head of Mimir.
Shakes the standing
Ash Yggdrasil;
The old tree groans,
And the Jötun (Loki) breaks loose;
All are terrified[56]
In the roads of Hel
Before the kinsman of Surt
Swallows it.
How is it with the Asar?
How is it with the Alfar?
All Jötunheim rumbles,
The Asar are at the Thing;
The Dvergar moan
Before the stone doors,
The wise ones of the rock wall[57]
Know ye all up to this and onward?
Now Garm barks loud
Before Gnipa cave;
The fetters will break,
And the wolf will run.
Hrym[58] drives from the east,
Holds his shield before him.
The Jörmungand[59] writhes
In Jötun wrath;
The serpent lashes the waves,
And the eagle screams;
The pale beak tears the corpses;
Naglfar[60] is loosened.
A keel (a ship) comes from the east,
The men of Muspell
Will come across the sea,
But Loki is the steerer;[61]
All the monsters
Go with the wolf,
The brother of Býleist (Loki)
Is in the train.
Surt comes from the south
With the _switch-harm_ (fire);
The sun of the gods
Flashes from his sword;
Rocks clash,
The Jötun women stagger;
Men walk the road of Hel;
Heaven is rent asunder.
Then comes the second[62]
Sorrow of Hlin,
When Odin goes
To fight the wolf;
And the bright slayer
Of Beli[63] against Surt;
There will fall
The love of Frigg (Odin).
Now Garm barks loud
Before Gnipa-cave;
The fetters will break,
And the wolf will run.
Then comes the great
Son of Sigfödr (father of victory)
Vidar to slay,
The beast of carrion.[64]
With his hand he lets
His sword pierce
The heart of the Jötun’s son,[65]
Then his father (Odin) is avenged.[66]
Then comes the famous
Son of Hlodyn (Thor);
Odin’s son
Goes to fight the serpent;
Midgard’s defender (Thor)
Slays him in wrath;
All men will
Leave their homesteads;
The son of Fjörgyn (Thor),
Walks nine paces
Reeling from the serpent
That shuns not heinous deeds.
The sun blackens,[67]
The earth sinks into the sea;
The bright stars
Vanish from heaven;
The life-feeder (fire)
And the vapour rage;
The high heat rises
Towards heaven itself.
Now Garm barks loud[68]
Before Gnipa-cave;
The fetters will break,
And the wolf will run.
(Völuspa.)
After the destruction of the world, a new one will arise.
She[69] beholds rising up
Another time
An earth out of the sea,
An evergreen one.
The waterfalls rush;
Above an eagle flies
Which on the mountains
Catches fish.
The Asar meet
On the Idavöll (plain)
And talk about
The mighty earth-serpent
And there speak of
The great events
And of the old runes
Of Fimbultyr.