297 not cease from their lies and murders and other deeds of violence. Meanwhile Fenris’s children, the wolves, grew into horrible monsters, for the old giantess in the forest fed them with marrow taken from the bones of murdered perjurers and breakers of the marriage bond, and gave them to drink of the blood of dead poisoners, parricides and fratricides, and there was abundance of such food. Wala, the prophetess, was asked what all this meant, and she said, that the sun, moon and Mother Earth were sorrowing over the fall of man, that the wolves and other hostile powers would soon be free, and then the destruction of the universe would begin. Many signs and wonders were to be seen during that time, as we read in the Lay of Wala. The glory of the sun was darkened, wicked Idises were seen flying through the air, Fjalar, the bright-red cock of Asgard, crowed loudly, the dark-red cock in Helheim answered him, and all in the Upper-world heard their crowing. The great wolves Skiöll and Hati rushed up to attack the sun and moon; they seized and swallowed them, and now darkness reigned in heaven and earth. Then the earth itself shook to its very foundations, and all chains were broken. Thus it happened that Loki was set free, that his horrible son Fenris was able to shake off his bonds and hasten with his children to join his father, and that Garm, Hel’s dog, could rise out of the Gnypa cave with the other dark followers of the goddess, to take their share in the work of destruction. The sea was stirred to its depths and overflowed the land. Out of its abyss the Midgard-snake reared her frightful head, and flung herself about with a giant’s rage, so much did she long for the struggle to begin. Heimdal then blew a loud blast on the Giallarhorn that sounded

298 through all the homes, wakening Ases and Einheriar, and warning them to prepare for the Last Battle. Odin mounted Sleipnir as soon as he was armed, and rode away to Mimir’s Well. The World-Ash was rustling and trembling in the storm, its leaves were falling rapidly, and its roots threatened to snap. The Norns were seated beside it, their heads hidden in their veils. Odin whispered to Mimir’s head; no one heard what he said or how he was answered. Meanwhile Thrym, the king of the Jotuns, was steering his ship from the east over the everlasting sea. The Hrimthurses, armed with clubs and javelins, were on board. At the same time, Nagelfari, the ship of death, was set afloat, and was borne along on the waves. It was built of the nails of the dead which love had not caused to be cut. Love had died in the parricidal wars that prevailed, and the last offices were therefore denied to the dead. Loki steered the vessel. With him were Surtur, swinging his flaming sword, whose blade shone brighter than the sun, and all the sons of Muspel dressed in fiery armour, which blinded all who looked at it. They landed, mounted the horses they had brought with them, and galloped over the bridge Bifröst, which broke under their weight. Loki led his hosts to the plain of Wigrid, that measured a hundred miles on every side. Odin also went there, accompanied by his brave Ases and heroes. Once more the Giallarhorn was sounded, and then the Last Battle began. The Wolf howled, the Snake hissed and spat out poison, which filled and infected the air. The sons of Muspel, under Surtur’s guidance, rushed on their enemies like flames of fire. The Einheriar, headed by Freyer, withstood them bravely, and they fell back. Thor fought gallantly, and slew numbers of the Hrimthurses and other monsters. Odin sought out the Fenriswolf, and the battle between them began. No seer or bard has made known to us how that terrible struggle

299–300 RAGNARÖK, THE LAST BATTLE

301 between the Father of Victory and the Wolf was fought. Even Wala covers the whole affair with the veil of silence; she only says that he, the omnipotent Father, was slain by the Wolf. Freyer’s fate was the same when he fought against the sons of Muspel. He met black Surtur in their ranks and fell dead at a blow from his flaming sword. Thor slew Jormungander, but died himself from the pestiferous breath she had breathed upon him when dying. Heimdal and Loki fought hand to hand, and each slew the other. Fenris fell under the sword of Widar. Tyr and Garm wrestled and struggled together, and at last Tyr was victorious. The leaders of the Ases and their enemies were all dead, but still the battle raged. The earth quaked, mountains fell, abysses yawned, and reached down even to the kingdom of Hel. The heavens split open and threatened to fall. The ash Yggdrasil groaned and moaned like a living creature. And now Surtur, the dark, the terrible, began to draw himself up. He grew taller and taller, till he reached the heavens Before him and behind him was fire, and his flaming sword shone in the darkness in which he was wrapped. He flung his fire-brand over heaven, earth, and all the worlds, and at once everything that existed, animate or inanimate, was plunged into a lake of fire. The fire raged, Yggdrasil was surrounded by flames, the stormwind howled, heaven and earth and the nine homes were no more; Surtur’s flames had destroyed them all. When the fire went out, the unquiet sea overflowed the scene of desolation. No creature, no life, moved in its depths; no mermaid floated on the dark waves; no star was reflected on its surface. Years passed, perhaps centuries — there was none to count them — and again the morning star bathed its head in the calm waters. Dawn once more flushed the sky. A new sun arose, the blooming,

302 glowing child of the old. At length a new earth appeared above the waters. At first it was bare and desolate, but the rays of the sun touched it, and soon it was covered with grass and herbs and the well-flavoured leek. Trees and shrubs grew up, and flowers of various colours filled the air with their perfume. In the quiet valley where the Fountain of Urd had flowed of old, and where Odin used to talk with Mimir about the past and the riddles of the future, a youth and a maiden, Lif and Lifthrasir, came out of Hoddmimir’s wood. They were beautiful and loving, pure and innocent as the sweet flowerets around them, and, like them, they had been awaked out of a long dream by the rays of the sun. They had hidden themselves in the wood in the olden days and had lived on dew. Then they had fallen asleep, and were sunk in childhood’s dreams while the Last Battle raged. Allfather had preserved them from Surtur’s flames by a last miracle. Ignorant of the terrors that threatened them, as a sleeping child borne in its mother’s arms out of a burning house, they had rested safely in the arms of Allfather, and now they looked in astonishment at the new fair world in which they found themselves. They were very happy. There was abundance of fruit; the fields were full of yellow corn ripe for the harvest, which no human hand had sown, and the vines were laden with grapes. Animals of all kinds were grazing in the fat pastures, and many-hued snakes glided harmlessly in the grass, but none of Fenrir’s race were to be seen. Lif and Lifthrasir built themselves a roomy dwelling, and saw children and grandchildren grow up about them, and then make new homes for themselves. From these are descended the numerous races of men that inhabit the earth. Over the place where Asgard’s glorious palaces had stood was a wide plain. This was the Field of Ida, and it was far more beautiful than the green home of the gods. There the holy Ases were

303–304 FREYA IN HER CHARIOT (See page 209)

305 assembled; for they, like the world, had been purified by fire, and were now fitted to dwell in Ida in eternal peace. The bonds of Hel could bind them no more, for the kingdom of evil had passed away, and night had been changed into day. Baldur and Hödur walked there arm in arm, reconciled to each other through love. They were joined by Widar and Wali, the avenging Ases, who no longer thought of vengeance. Surtur’s flames had not destroyed them, nor yet had the raging waters. There were also Magni and Modi, the sons of Thor. They brought Miölnir with them, not as a weapon of war, but as the instrument with which to consecrate the new heavens and the new earth. On the Field of Ida, the field of resurrection, the sons of the highest gods assembled, and in them their fathers rose again. They talked together of the Past and the Present, and remembered the wisdom and prophecies of their ancestors which had all been fulfilled. Near them, but unseen by them, was the strong, the mighty One who rules all things, makes peace between those who are angry with each other, and ordains the eternal laws that govern the world. They all knew he was there, they felt his presence and his power, but were ignorant of his name. At his command the new earth rose out of the waters. To the south, above the Field of Ida, he made another heaven called Audlang, and further off, a third, known as Widblain. Over Gimil’s cave a wondrous palace was erected, which was covered with gold and shone brighter than the sun. There the gods were enthroned as they used to be, and they rejoiced in their restoration and in the better time. From Gimil’s heights they looked down upon the happy descendants of Lif and signed to them to climb up higher, to rise in knowledge and wisdom, in piety and in deeds of love, step by step, from one heaven to another, until they were at last fit to be united to the divinities in the house of Allfather. This was what our forefathers believed about Ragnarök, the

306 Twilight of the gods or the Divine judgment; it was no contemptible faith, and in our opinion it deserves more reverence than the teaching of the Greeks and Romans, whose gods eternally drank nectar and ambrosia on the heights of Olympos, while mortal men descended into dark Hades, or perhaps to the Elysian Fields. Ragnarök means the Darkening of the Regin, i.e., of the gods, hence the Twilight of the Gods; some, however, explain the word Rök to mean judgment, i.e., of the gods. The gods sinned, evil gained the upper-hand amongst gods and men, and when the god of holiness and righteousness was taken away, they all sank into a deep abyss of guilt; murder, fratricide and convulsions of nature portended the destruction of the universe. Ragnarök followed. Then a new and more beautiful world appeared, in which Ases and men, purified by fire, could now live in peace and goodwill. It is true that in the Younger Edda and in the Lay of Wala we find allusions to places of punishment in the realms of Hel; but, in our opinion, these descriptions have been introduced from other poems and are at variance with the leading idea which we have just given. The Aryans, like all other people living in a state of nature, had at first a vague indefinite consciousness of God; they felt that there was a Being who had created everything and who guided and governed the universe. In the ancient records, in which this idea had already grown dim, this Being was called Zerwana-Akarana, i.e., everlasting time and immeasurable space, and was perhaps essentially Eternity. According to later concepts this Being took no part in the direction of the world or in the doings of man. Two other beings, Ormuzd (Ahura-Mazda) and Ahriman (Agramainyus) fought for the supreme power; but neither they

307 nor their spiritual hosts entered into personal collision with each other; instead of this, they sought to bring the human spirit and earthly things under their dominion: the latter by cunningly planned temptations, icy cold snow-storms and darkness; and the former by good deeds, fine weather, and especially by the light that conquers darkness and evil. At the end of days Ormuzd and all the righteous were to enjoy blessedness and peace, while Ahriman had to undergo a painful purification by fire before he could attain a similar condition. The modern theory is that the belief in Zerwana-Akarana, and the dogmas respecting the end of the world and the purification of Agramainyus are of later origin, and that they first arose through the influence of the Western Iranian and Semitic races; but traces of these beliefs are to be found in the Zend-Avesta of Zoroaster and in the Indic Vedas, and the relationship with the Norse belief in Alifather, the Last Battle, and the Renewal of the World, seems to be founded on this Aryan belief. We must allow something for the influence of Christianity on the Germanic races especially with regard to Ragnarök, and the Resurrection of the world, the Ases and men, and also in reference to Allfather, to the description of the realm of Hel, and of the places of reward and punishment. It is a mistake to deny this influence, to make so much of the fact that the heathen had a foreboding of the existence of the one God, that the Edda possessed a water-hell and the Christian myth a hell of fire, and lastly to maintain that a knowledge of the Christian faith was impossible to the Scandinavians. Why may not the indefinite foreboding, the misty conception of something divine, have first received a distinct form in the consciousness of the heathen through Christian influence? And if the Teutons had ever heard of the Christian idea of punishment in hell, would they not have conceived this

308 hell after their own fashion and according to the conditions, climatic and other, that surrounded them? We have already shown how not only the Germans, but also the Scandinavians, early came in contact with Christianity, and this was the case even before the Wiking raids of the ninth and tenth centuries. The Jutes, and perhaps the Danes and Norwegians as well, went to Christian Britain in the fifth century and conquered it after a struggle that lasted for a hundred years. There these wild people were brought into contact with the Britons and even with their Christian priests, who gladly told the warlike and musical skalds about their own faith. These seeds of a purer religion took form and life in the poems of the skalds, which however retained their old Northern colouring and were not changed into hymns of victory in a foreign faith. The myths exist in the present like the stately ruins of a past time, which are no longer suitable for the use of man. Generations come and go, their views, actions and modes of thought change; and yet as the poet says: “All things change; they come and go; The pure unsullied soul alone remains in peace.” Thousands of years ago our ancestors prayed to Waruna, i.e. the Father in heaven; thousands of years later the Romans entered their sanctuary and worshipped Jupiter, the Father of heaven, while the Germanic races worshipped Allfather. We, after the lapse of centuries, now turn in all our sorrows and necessities to Our Father which is in heaven. Other thousands of years may pass, and we shall not have grown beyond this central point of religion. But as everything that our forefathers added to this has passed away, so the systems that we have built up round it may also pass away. No man ever yet has seen the full truth, or can see it. “For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.”

309 This “then” can never be on earth. Our little systems have their day;     They have their day, and cease to be     They are but broken lights of Thee, And Thou, O Lord, art more than they. We have but faith: we cannot know;     For knowledge is of things we see;     And yet we trust it comes from Thee, A beam in darkness: let it grow! LAY OF WALA We here annex one of the most interesting poems of the Elder Edda, the Woluspa or Lay of Wala, the prophetess. It is the translation given in Pfeiffer’s “Visit to Iceland,” and we think it will be of value to our readers.                                LAY OF WALA To attention I invite all the holy generations, The sons of Heimdal, great and small; Of the Father of the Elect I would proclaim the mysteries, The antique traditions of heroes which I have formerly learned. I remember the Jotuns born at the commencement; They formerly taught me. I remember the new worlds, the new forests, The great tree in the midst, upon the earth here below. It was the commencement of the ages when Ymir established himself: There was neither shore, nor sea, nor cool waves; Neither earth nor heaven above was found; There was the yawning gulf, but vegetation nowhere. Then the sons of Buri raised the firmament; They formed the great enclosure of the middle; Sol will enlighten, from the south, the rocks of the Abode; The earth immediately became green with tufted verdure.

310 Sol scatters from the south her favours upon Mani, On the right of the gate of the Celestial courser. Sol knew not where she had her abodes, The stars knew not where are their places, Mani knew not what was his power. Then the Great Powers all went to the elevated seats; The most holy Gods deliberated upon that; To the night, to the new moon they gave names; They designated the dawn and the middle of the day, The twilight and the evening, to indicate the time. The Ases met together in the Plain of Ida, They built very high a sanctuary and a court; They placed furnaces, fashioned jewels, Forged nails, and fabricated utensils. They played at the tables in the enclosure; they were joyous, They were in want of nothing, and everything was in gold. Then the three Ases of this band, Full of power and of goodness, descended towards the sea They found in the country some wretched beings, Ask and Embla, needing destiny. They had no soul, they had no understanding, Neither blood, nor language, nor good exterior; Odin gave the soul, Hönir gave understanding, Lodur gave the blood and the good exterior. Then arrived three Virgin Thurses Very powerful from the land of the Jotun. I knew an ash, it is called Yggdrasill, A hairy tree, moistened by a brilliant cloud, Whence proceeds the dew which falls in the valleys; It raises itself, always green, above the Fountain of Urd. Thence arose the three Virgins with much knowledge, From this lake which is below the tree; Urd one is called, the other Verdandi; They engraved upon tablets; Skuld was the third; They consulted the laws, they interrogated fate, And proclaimed destiny to the children of men.

311 Then the Great Powers all went to the lofty seats, The most holy Gods deliberated upon that; “Who would form the chief of the Dvergues, From the blood of Brimir, from the thighs of the livid giant?” Then Modsognir became the first Of all the Dvergues, but Durin the second; They formed of earth the multitude of the Dvergues In the human figure, as Durin proposed; Nyi and Nidi, Nordri and Sudri, Austri and Vestri, Althiofr, Dwalin, Nar and Nain, Nipingr, Dain, Bifurr and Bafurr, Bumburr, Nori. Anarr and Onarr, Aï, Miodvitnir, Veigr, Gandalfr, Vindalfr, Thorinn, Fili and Kili, Fundinn, Nali, Hepti, Vili, Hanarr, Sviorr. Frar, Fornbogi, Froegr, Loni, Thrar, and Thrainn, Thror, Vitr, Litr, Nyr, and Nyradr. — Behold, I have enumerated exactly The Dvergues powerful and intelligent. It is time to enumerate the human race, The Dvergues of the band of Dwalin, as far as Lofar; These latter have sought, far from the Abode, Habitations at Aurvangar, as far as Joruvellir. There was Draupnir and Dolgthrasir, Har, Haugspori, Hlævangr, Gloînn, Skirvir and Virvir, Skafidr, Aï, Alfr, and Yngvi, Eikinskialdi. Fialarr and Frosti, Finnr and Ginnarr, Heri, Haugstari, Hliodolfr, Noinn: — As long as there shall be men, they will always exalt The great number of the descendants of Lofar. She knows that the horn of Heimdal is concealed Under the sacred and majestic tree: She sees that they drink with hasty draughts In the pledge of the Father of the Elect — Know you it? But what?

312 She was seated without, solitary, when he came, the oldest, The most circumspect of the Ases, and looked in her eyes: — “Why sound me? why put me to the proof? I know all, Odin; I know where thou hast concealed thine eye, — In that great fountain of Mimir; Every morning Mimir drinks the sweet beverage In the pledge of the Father of the Elect.” — Know you it? But what? The Father of the Combatants chose for her rings and jewels, The rich gift of wisdom, and the charms of vision: — Then she saw far, very far into all the worlds. She saw the Walkyries hastening from afar, Eager to repair near the race of the Gods; Skuld held the buckler, Skogul followed her, As well as Gunrr, Hildur, Gondul, Giruskogul: There are enumerated the servants of the Combatant, The Walkyries in haste to plunder the country. She recollects this first war in the world, When they had placed Gullweig upon the pikes, And had burned her in the dwelling of the Most High; Three times had they burned her; three times was she born again; Burned often, frequently, she lives, however, still. Heidur is called to her in the houses she has entered; She despised the charm of the visions of Wala; She knew magic, she magic abused; She was always the delight of the wicked race. Then the Great Powers all went to their elevated seats, The very holy Gods upon this deliberated “The Ases should they expiate their imprudence, Or else shall all the Gods have authority?” The exterior wall of the Ases was overthrown; The Wanes knew how, by stratagem, to break down the ramparts; But Odin darted his arrow, and drew upon the enemy — Such was the first war in the world. Then the Great Powers all went to their elevated seats; The very holy Gods deliberated upon this: “Who had filled with disaster the plains of space, And given up the affianced of Odur to the race of the Jotuns?”

313 Thor alone rose, inflamed with anger; Rarely does he remain seated when he learns such a thing: — Oaths were violated, promises and assurances, Every valid treaty that had passed on one side or the other. I foresaw for Baldur, for that bloody victim, For that son of Odin, the destiny reserved for him He was raising in a charming valley A tender and beautiful mistleoe. From that stalk, which appeared so tender, grew The fatal arrow of bitterness which Hödur took upon himself to dart. The brother of Baldur had only just been born; One night old, he was taken to fight against the son of Odin. He neither washed his hands nor combed his hair, Before that he carried to the funeral pile the murderer of Baldur; But Frigg wept in Fensal For the misfortunes of Walhall. — Know you it? But what? She sees lying down near Hveralund A wicked creature, the ungrateful Loki; It is in vain he shakes the fatal bonds of Wali; They are too stiff, those cords of catgut. There is seated Sigyn, who at the fate of her husband Does not much rejoice. — Know you it? But what? Towards the north, at Nidaföll, was raised The hall of gold of the race of Sindri; But another was built at Okolnir. The drinking-hall of the Jotun who is named Brimir. She saw a hall situated far from the sun, At Nastrendr; its gates are turned to the north; Drops of venom fall into it through the windows, The hall is a tissue of serpents’ backs. A river rushes on the east into the venomous valleys, A river of slime and mud; it is called Slidur; Wala saw dragged in it in the muddy waters, Perjured men, the exiled for murder, And him who seduced the partner of others There, Nidhögg sucked the bodies of the departed, The wolf tore men. — Know you it? But what?

314 In the east she was seated, that aged woman, in Jarnvid. 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. He gorges himself with the life-blood of cowardly men, He stains with red drops the abode of the Great Powers; The rays of the sun are eclipsed in the summer following, All the winds will become hurricanes. — Know you it? But what? Seated quite near upon a height he tuned his harp, The guardian of Gygur, the joyous Egdir: Not far from him, in Gagalvid, crowed The beautiful purple cock which is called Fialar. Near the Ases crowed Gullinkambi; He awoke the heroes in the house of the Father of the Combatants; But another cock crowed below the earth, A black-red cock, in the dwelling of Hel. Garm howls frightfully before Gnypahall. The chains are going to break; Freki will escape: She pauses much, the prophetess: I see from afar The twilight of the Great Powers, the Fighting Gods. Brothers are going to fight against each other, and become fratricides; Relations will break their alliances; Cruelty reigns in the world, and a great luxury; The age of axes, the age of lances, in which bucklers are cleft, The age of north-winds, the age of fierce beasts succeed before the world        falls to pieces; Not one dreams of sparing his neighbour. The sons of Mimir tremble, the tree in the middle takes fire At the startling sounds of the noisy horn; Heimdal, horn in air, loudly sounds the alarm; Odin consults the head of Mimir. Then the ash raised from Yggdrasil, That old tree, shivers: the Jotun breaks his chains: The shades shudder upon the roads to the lower region, Until the ardour of Surtur has consumed the tree.

315 Hrym advances from the east, a buckler covers him: Jörmungander unfolds himself in his giant rage: The serpent raises the waves, the eagle beats his wings, The yellow beak tears the bodies of the dead: Nalhfar is pierced: The ship sails from the east, the army of Muspel Approaches over the sea, Loki holds the rudder: The sons of Jotun sail all with Freki, The brother of Bileist is on board with them. Surtur starts from the south with disastrous swords; The sun glitters upon the blades of the hero-gods: The mountains of the rock are shaken, the giants tremble, The shades press the road to hell. Heaven opens! What are the Ases doing? What do the Elves? All Jotunheim bellows; the Ases are met together; At the gate of the caverns groan the Dvergues, The sages of the sacred mountains. — Know you it? But what? Then the affliction of Mine is renewed, When Odin set out to combat the Wolf; Whilst the glorious murderer of Beli is going to oppose himself to Surtur; Very soon the cherished hero of Frigg will fall. But he comes, the valiant son of the Father of Combats, Widar, to struggle against the terrible monster: He leaves in the mouth of the scion of Hvedrung The steel plunged even to the heart. Thus the father is avenged. Here comes the illustrious son of Hlodune, He goes, the descendant of Odin, to fight the Serpent; The defender of Midgard strikes him in his anger. The heroes go all to stain with blood the column of the world. He draws back with a new step, the son of Fiorgune, Bitten by the adder, intrepid with rage. . . . Behold coming the black flying Dragon, The adder, soaring above Nidafiöll Nidhögg extends his wings, he flies over the plain, Above the bodies of the dead. Now she will be swallowed up.

316 The sun begins to be dark; the continent falls fainting into the Ocean; They disappear from the sky, the brilliant stars; The smoke eddies around the destroying fire of the world; The gigantic flames play against heaven itself. She sees rising anew, In the Ocean, an earth with a thick verdure. Cascades fall there; the eagle soars above it, And from the summit of the rock he espies the fish. The Ases are found again in the plain of Ida, Under the tree of the world they sit as powerful judges: They recal to mind the judgments of the gods, And the antique mysteries of Fimbultyr. Then the Ases found again upon the grass The marvellous tables of gold, Which the generations had, in the beginning of days, The chief of the gods and the posterity Fiölnir. The fields will produce without being sown: Every evil will disappear: Baldur will return To inhabit with Hödur the enclosure of Hropt, The sacred abodes of the hero-gods. — Know you it? But what? Then Hönir will be able to choose his part, And the sons of the two brothers shall dwell in The vast abode of the wind. — Know you it? But what? She sees a hall more brilliant than the sun Arise, covered with gold, in the magnificent Gimlir: It is there that shall dwell the faithful people, And that they will enjoy an everlasting felicity. Then there came from on high to preside at the judgments of the Great Powers, The powerful sovereign who governs the universe: He tempers the decrees, he calms dissensions, And gives sacred laws inviolable for ever.