THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS.
One of the distinctive features of Northern mythology is that the
people always believed that their gods belonged to a finite race. The
Æsir had had a beginning; therefore, it was reasoned, they must have an
end; and as they were born from a mixture of the divine and gigantic
elements, and were imperfect, they bore within them the germ of death,
and were, like men, doomed to endure physical death to attain spiritual
immortality.
[Sidenote: The decline of the gods.]
The whole scheme of Northern mythology was therefore a drama, every
step leading gradually to the climax or tragic end, when, with true
poetic justice, punishment and reward were impartially meted out. In
the foregoing chapters, the gradual rise and decline of the gods has
been carefully traced. We have recounted how the Æsir tolerated the
presence of evil, personated by Loki, in their midst; how they weakly
followed his advice, allowed him to involve them in all manner of
difficulties from which they could be extricated only at the price
of some of their virtue or peace, and finally permitted him to gain
such ascendency over them that he dared rob them of their dearest
possession, purity, or innocence, as personified by Balder the good.
Too late now, the gods realized what an evil spirit had found a home
among them, and banished Loki to earth, where men, following the gods’
example, listened to his teachings, and instead of cultivating virtue
became addicted to crime.
“Brothers slay brothers;
Sisters’ children
Shed each other’s blood.
Hard is the world;
Sensual sin grows huge.
There are sword-ages, ax-ages;
Shields are cleft in twain;
Storm-ages, murder-ages;
Till the world falls dead,
And men no longer spare
Or pity one another.”
NORSE MYTHOLOGY (R. B. Anderson).
[Sidenote: The Fimbulwinter.]
Seeing crime rampant, and all good banished from the earth, the gods
realized that the prophecies uttered long before were about to be
fulfilled, and that their downfall, Ragnarok, the twilight or dusk of
the gods, would soon come to pass. Sol and Mani grew pale with horror,
and tremblingly drove their chariots along their appointed paths,
gazing with fear behind them at the pursuing wolves which would shortly
overtake and devour them; and as their smiles disappeared the earth
grew sad and cold, and the terrible Fimbulwinter began. Then snow fell
from the four points of the compass at once, the biting winds swept
down from the north, and all the earth was covered with a thick layer
of ice.
“Grim Fimbul raged, and o’er the world
Tempestuous winds and snowstorms hurled;
The roaring ocean icebergs ground,
And flung its frozen foam around,
E’en to the top of mountain height;
No warming air
Nor radiance fair
Of gentle Summer’s soft’ning light,
Tempered this dreadful glacial night.”
VALHALLA (J. C. Jones).
This severe winter lasted during three whole seasons without a break,
and was followed by three others, equally severe, during which all
cheer departed from the earth, where the crimes of men increased with
fearful rapidity, and where, in the general struggle for life, the last
feelings of humanity and compassion disappeared.
[Sidenote: The wolves let loose.]
In the dim recesses of the Ironwood the giantess Iarnsaxa or Angur-boda
diligently fed the wolves Hati, Sköll, and Managarm, the progeny of
Fenris, with the marrow of murderers’ and adulterers’ bones; and such
was the prevalence of these vile crimes, that the almost insatiable
monsters were never stinted in food, and daily gained more strength to
pursue Sol and Mani, whom they finally overtook and devoured, deluging
the earth with the blood from their dripping jaws.
“In the east she was seated, that aged woman, in Jarnrid,
And there she nourished the posterity of Fenrir;
He will be the most formidable of all, he
Who, under the form of a monster, will swallow up the moon.”
VOLUSPA (Pfeiffer’s tr.).
As this terrible calamity occurred the whole earth trembled and shook,
the stars, affrighted, fell from their places, and Loki, Fenris, and
Garm, renewing their efforts, rent their chains asunder and rushed
forth to take their revenge. At the same moment the dragon Nidhug
gnawed through the root of the ash Yggdrasil, which quivered to its
topmost bough; the red cock Fialar, perched above Valhalla, loudly
crowed an alarm, which was immediately echoed by Gullin-kambi, the
rooster in Midgard, and by Hel’s dark-red bird in Nifl-heim.
“The gold-combed cock
The gods in Valhal loudly crow’d to arms;
The blood-red cock as shrilly summons all
On earth and down beneath it.”
VIKING TALES OF THE NORTH (R. B. Anderson).
[Sidenote: Heimdall gives the alarm.]
Heimdall, seeing these ominous portents and hearing the cocks’ shrill
cry, immediately put the Giallar-horn to his lips and blew the
long-expected blast, which was heard throughout the whole world. At the
first sound of this rallying call Æsir and Einheriar sprang from their
golden couches, armed themselves for the coming fray, sallied bravely
out of the great hall, and, mounting their impatient steeds, galloped
over the quivering rainbow bridge to the spacious field of Vigrid,
where, as Vafthrudnir had predicted so long before, the last battle was
to take place.
[Sidenote: The terrors of the sea.]
The terrible Midgard snake Iörmungandr, aroused by the general
commotion, writhed and twisted in the bottom of the sea, wriggled out
of the deep, lashed the waters with his tail, and, crawling upon land,
hastened to join the fray, in which he was to play a prominent part.
“In giant wrath the Serpent tossed
In ocean depths, till, free from chain,
He rose upon the foaming main;
Beneath the lashings of his tail,
Seas, mountain high, swelled on the land;
Then, darting mad the waves acrost,
Pouring forth bloody froth like hail,
Spurting with poisoned, venomed breath
Foul deadly mists o’er all the Earth,
Thro’ thundering surge, he sought the strand.”
VALHALLA (J. C. Jones).
One of the great waves, stirred up by Iörmungandr’s struggles, set
afloat the fatal ship Nagilfar, constructed entirely out of the nails
of the dead, many relatives having failed, in the course of time, to do
their duty and show the respect due to the deceased, whose nails should
have been pared ere they were laid at rest. As soon as this vessel was
afloat, Loki boarded it with the fiery host from Muspells-heim, and
steered it boldly over the stormy waters to the place of conflict.
This was not the only vessel bound for Vigrid, however, for out of a
thick fog bank towards the north came another ship, steered by Hrym, in
which were all the frost giants, armed to the teeth, and eager for a
conflict with the Æsir, whom they had always hated.
Through a crevice Hel, the party-colored goddess of death, crept out of
her underground home, closely followed by the Hel-hound Garm, all the
malefactors of her cheerless realm, and the dragon Nidhug, which flew
over the battlefield bearing corpses upon his wings.
Seeing these reinforcements to his party as soon as he landed, Loki
welcomed them with joy, and placing himself at their head led them on
to the fight.
Just then the skies were suddenly rent asunder, and through the fiery
breach rode Surtr with his flaming sword, followed by his sons; and as
they attempted to storm Asgard by riding over the bridge Bifröst, the
glorious arch sank with a crash beneath their horses’ tread.
“Down thro’ the fields of air,
With glittering armor fair,
In battle order bright,
They sped while seething flame
From rapid hoofstrokes came.
Leading his gleaming band, rode Surtur,
’Mid the red ranks of raging fire.”
VALHALLA (J. C. Jones).
The gods now knew full well that their end was near, and that through
weakness and lack of foresight they were laboring under great
disadvantages; for Odin had but one eye, Tyr but one hand, and Frey
nothing but a stag’s horn wherewith to defend himself, instead of his
invincible sword. Nevertheless, the Æsir did not show any signs of
flinching or despair, but, like true Northern warriors, donned their
richest attire, and gaily rode to the battlefield, determined to
sell their lives as dearly as possible, and harboring no thought of
surrender.
[Sidenote: The great battle.]
While they were mustering their forces, Odin once more rode down to the
Urdar fountain, where, under the wilting Yggdrasil, the Norns sat, with
veiled faces, their torn web lying at their feet, obstinately refusing
to utter a single word. Once more the father of the gods whispered
a mysterious communication to Mimir, then he remounted Sleipnir and
went to join the waiting host. On Vigrid’s broad plain the combatants
were now all assembled; on one side the stern, calm faces of the Æsir,
Vanas, and Einheriar, on the other the flashing host of Surtr, the grim
frost giants, the pale army of Hel--Loki leading Garm, Fenris, and
Iörmungandr, the two latter belching forth fire and smoke and exhaling
clouds of noxious, deathly vapors, which filled all heaven and earth
with their poisonous breath.
“The years roll on,
The generations pass, the ages grow,
And bring us nearer to the final day
When from the south shall march the fiery band
And cross the bridge of heaven, with Lok for guide,
And Fenris at his heel with broken chain;
While from the east the giant Rymer steers
His ship, and the great serpent makes to land;
And all are marshal’d in one flaming square
Against the Gods, upon the plains of Heaven.”
BALDER DEAD (Matthew Arnold).
At a given signal the opposing hosts close in battle, fighting, as
did our ancestors of old, hand to hand and face to face. Rushing
impetuously onward, Odin and the Fenris wolf came into contact, while
Thor attacked the Midgard snake, and Tyr the dog Garm. Frey closed in
with Surtr, Heimdall with Loki, whom he had defeated once before, and
the remainder of the gods and all the Einheriar selected foes worthy of
their courage and performed unheard-of deeds of valor. But, in spite of
their constant practice and glittering arms, Valhalla’s host was doomed
to defeat, and Odin, after struggling fiercely with the Fenris wolf,
saw it suddenly assume colossal proportions, and open its jaws so wide
that they embraced all the space between heaven and earth. Then the
monster rushed furiously upon the father of the gods and swallowed him
whole.
“Fenrir shall with impious tooth
Slay the sire of rolling years:
Vithar shall avenge his fall,
And, struggling with the shaggy wolf,
Shall cleave his cold and gory jaws.”
VAFTHRUDNI’S-MAL (W. Taylor’s tr.).
None of the gods could lend Allfather a helping hand at that critical
moment, for Frey succumbed beneath Surtr’s flashing sword, Heimdall and
Loki fell mutually slain, Tyr and Garm dealt and received from each
other a mortal wound, and Thor, after an indescribable encounter with
the Midgard snake, slew him by a blow from Miölnir, staggered back nine
paces, fell, and was drowned in the flood of venom which poured from
the dying monster’s jaws.
“Odin’s son goes
With the monster to fight;
Midgard’s Veor in his rage
Will slay the worm;
Nine feet will go
Fiörgyn’s son,
Bowed by the serpent
Who feared no foe.”
SÆMUND’S EDDA (Thorpe’s tr.).
Vidar, seeing that his beloved father had succumbed, now came rushing
from the other end of the plain to avenge his death, and planting his
large shoe upon Fenris’s lower jaw, he seized the monster’s upper jaw
and with one terrible wrench tore him asunder.
[Sidenote: The devouring fire.]
The other gods who took part in the fray and all the Einheriar having
now perished, Surtr suddenly flung his fiery brands all over heaven,
earth, and the nine kingdoms of Hel. The raging flames rose higher and
higher, curled round the stalwart stem of the world ash Yggdrasil,
consumed the golden palaces of the gods, destroyed the vegetation upon
earth, and made all the waters seethe and boil.
“Fire’s breath assails
The all-nourishing tree,
Towering fire plays
Against heaven itself.”
SÆMUND’S EDDA (Thorpe’s tr.).
This fire raged most fiercely until everything was consumed, when the
earth, blackened and scarred, slowly sank down beneath the boiling
waves of the sea. Ragnarok had indeed come; the world tragedy was
over, the divine actors were slain, and chaos seemed to have returned
to resume all its former sway. But as in a play, after the actors are
all slain and the curtain has fallen, the audience still expects the
principal favorites to appear and make a bow, so the ancient Northern
races fancied that, all evil having perished in Surtr’s flames,
goodness would rise from the general ruin, to resume its sway over the
earth, and some of the gods would return to dwell in heaven forever.
“All evil
Dies there an endless death, while goodness riseth
From that great world-fire, purified at last,
To a life far higher, better, nobler than the past.”
VIKING TALES OF THE NORTH (R. B. Anderson).
[Sidenote: Regeneration.]
As our ancestors believed fully in regeneration, they declared that
after a certain space of time the earth, purged by fire and purified by
its immersion in the sea, would rise again in all its pristine beauty
and be illumined by the sun, whose chariot was driven by a daughter of
Sol’s, born before the wolf had devoured her mother. The new orb of
day was not imperfect, as the first sun had been, for its rays were
no longer so ardent that a shield had to be placed between it and the
earth, which soon grew green beneath its beneficent rays, and brought
forth flowers and fruit in abundance. Two human beings, a woman, Lif,
and a man, Lifthrasir, now emerged from the depths of Hodmimir’s
(Mimir’s) forest. They had taken refuge there when Surtr set fire to
the world, and had sunk into peaceful slumbers, unmindful of the
destruction around them, and remained, feeding upon the morning dew,
until it was safe for them to wander out once more and take possession
of the regenerated earth, which their descendants were to people and
over which they were to have full sway.
“We shall see emerge
From the bright Ocean at our feet an earth
More fresh, more verdant than the last, with fruits
Self-springing, and a seed of man preserved,
Who then shall live in peace, as now in war.”
BALDER DEAD (Matthew Arnold).
All the gods who represented the developing forces of Nature were
slain on the fatal field of Vigrid, but the imperishable forces of
Nature, typified by Vali and Vidar, returned to the field of Ida, where
they were met by Modi and Magni, Thor’s sons, the personifications of
strength and energy, who saved their father’s sacred hammer from the
general destruction, and carried it thither with them.
“Vithar’s then and Vali’s force
Heirs the empty realm of gods;
Mothi’s thew and Magni’s might
Sways the massy mallet’s weight,
Won from Thor, when Thor must fall.”
VAFTHRUDNI’S-MAL (W. Taylor’s tr.).
Here they were joined by Hoenir, no longer an exile among the Vanas,
who, as developing forces, had also vanished forever; and out of the
dark underworld where he had languished so long rose the radiant
Balder, accompanied by his brother Hodur, with whom he was reconciled,
and who was now ready to live with him in perfect amity and peace.
Gently and pensively these gods talked of the past, recalled the
memory of their former companions, and, searching in the long grass on
Idavold, found again the golden disks with which the Æsir had been wont
to play.
“We shall tread once more the well-known plain
Of Ida, and among the grass shall find
The golden dice with which we play’d of yore;
And that will bring to mind the former life
And pastime of the Gods, the wise discourse
Of Odin, the delights of other days.”
BALDER DEAD (Matthew Arnold).
Then, looking towards the place where their lordly dwellings once
stood, the assembled gods became aware of the fact that Gimli, the
highest heavenly abode, had not been consumed, but rose glittering
before them, its golden roof outshining the sun; and when they hastened
thither they discovered, with unmixed joy, that it had become the place
of refuge of all the virtuous.
“In Gimli the lofty
There shall the hosts
Of the virtuous dwell,
And through all ages
Taste of deep gladness.”
LITERATURE AND ROMANCE OF NORTHERN EUROPE (Howitt).
[Sidenote: One too mighty to name.]
As the Norsemen who settled in Iceland, and through whom the most
complete exposition of the Odinic faith has come down to us in the
Eddas and Sagas, were not definitely converted until the eleventh
century,--although they had come in contact with Christians during
their viking raids, nearly six centuries before,--it is very probable
that the Northern scalds gleaned some idea of the Christian doctrines,
and that this knowledge influenced them to a certain extent, and
colored their descriptions of the end of the world and the regeneration
of the earth. It was perhaps this vague knowledge, also, which induced
them to add to the Edda a verse, which is generally supposed to have
been an interpolation, proclaiming that another God, too mighty to
name, would rule over Gimli, judge all mankind, separate the bad from
the good, banish the former to the horrors of Nastrond, and invite the
latter to taste of endless bliss in the halls of Gimli the fair.
“Then comes another,
Yet more mighty.
But Him dare I not
Venture to name.
Few farther may look
Than to where Odin
To meet the wolf goes.”
LITERATURE AND ROMANCE OF NORTHERN EUROPE (Howitt).
There were two other heavenly mansions, however, one reserved for the
dwarfs and the other for the giants; for as these creatures had no free
will, and blindly executed the decrees of fate, they were not held
responsible for any harm they had done, and were not punished.
The dwarfs, ruled by Sindri, were said to occupy a hall in the Nida
mountains, where they drank the sparkling mead, while the giants took
their pleasure in the hall Brimer, situated in the region Okolnur (not
cool), for the power of cold was entirely annihilated, and there was no
more ice.
Various mythologists have, of course, attempted to explain these myths,
and some, as we have already stated, see in the story of Ragnarok the
influence of Christian teachings and esteem it only a barbaric version
of the end of the world and the coming judgment day, when a new heaven
and earth shall arise, and all the good shall enjoy eternal bliss.