28 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). Jotunheim, 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 Jotunheim, the home of the Jötnar, in order to seek out the Jötun Vafthrudnir1 (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.2 (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. 1 Vafthrudnir. Vaf = weave, or entangle thrudnir = strong, or mighty; hence Vafthrudnir = mighty in riddles which cannot be disentangled. 2 The awful = Odin.

29     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,1 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 ball. 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-ribbed2 man. We are told in the Völuspa that Odin, in the quest of information, went to visit the Volva, 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;3 I remember nine worlds, Nine ividi4 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 1 The one who gives useful advice. 2 When the heart, which is near the ribs, is cold, the ribs are also cold; therefore this means cold-hearted. 3 Fœda means both to give birth to, to raise, and to feed. 4 Ividi, a very obscure word (only found here in the whole Northern literature), which has been translated differently without any particle of authority in any case, and in each case only as a mere guess. The word vid means tree, perhaps the world-tree, Yggdrasil, which extended its roots under the world.

30 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).1 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 1 It is well known that the later Edda bears strong marks of the influence of Christianity, and we quote it with caution and only when it essentially agrees with Voluspa and other parts of the earlier Edda.

31 bad, and all his kinsmen; we call them Hrimthursar. It is told that when asleep lie 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 clay a man’s head the third day a whole man was there; he is called Burl; he was handsome in looks, large, and mighty; he bad Bör for son, who got Besla, daughter of Bölthorn jotun, for wife, and she had three sons, Odin, Vili,1 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?’ Har answered: ‘At the ash of Yggdrasil, where the gods give their judgments every day.’ Gangleri asked ‘What can be told of that place?’ Jafnhar 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 1 Vili, will; Ve, sanctuary, holy place. Cf. also “Lokasenua,” 26; “Ynglinga,” c. 3.

32 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 Ratatosk 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 bidden 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

33 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 Lanfeyjarson 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 (mistle-toe); 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 lie 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,

34 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 Hermod that he rode nine nights through dark and deep valleys and saw nothing before he came to the river Gjöll1 and rode on the Gjallar bridge,2 which is covered with shining gold.3 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 Nanna4 sent to Frigg a linen veil and more gifts, and to Fulla a gold ring. Then Hermod 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. 1 Gjöll (the sounding one). 2 Gjallar bridge (the bridge of Gjöll). 3 Modgud (the valkyrja of anger). 4 Nanna is told of in Baldr’s burning, as she, his wife, was burnt with him.

35 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 runes1 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. 1 In Sigurdrifamal it is said the runes were in the holy mead, sent to Asar, Alfar, and Vanir.

36     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 Deonle — 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 Elivagar1 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?2 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.3 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 1 Elivagar, the streams flowing from the well Hvergelmir in Niflheim froze into a Jötun. 2 i.e., a Jötun woman. 3 A kind of trough used for flour; so the boat is called in which he saved his life as is seen by what follows. In the lay of Hyndla we read: —    “All Jötnar came from Ymir.”

37 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.                         (Grimuismal.) 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

38 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. Mundilfori1 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 moons? Vafthrudnir. Delling (the bright) is called The father of Dag (the day) But Nott (night) was Norvi’s2 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 south3 The companion of the moon, With her right hand took hold Of the rim of heaven;4 The sun knew not Where she5 owned halls, The moon knew not What power he6 had; The stars knew not Where they owned places. Then all the powers went To their judgment seats,7 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. 1 Mundilfori, from mondul = a handle, and fara = to go; the one veering or turning round. 2 A Jötun. 3 Sun, in the north, is of feminine gender, and the moon masculine. 4 The rim of heaven = the line of the sky from the horizon. 5 The sun. 6 The moon. 7 Rökstó — stol, seat or stool; rök, judgment.

39     Odin. Tell me . . . Whence the wind comes Who goes over the waves; Men do not see him. Vafthrudnir. Hrœsvelg 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. Vindsval1 is called The father of winter, And Svasud2 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 front 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 surf3 And from the bones of Blain. There did Modsognir4 The mightiest become Of all Dvergar, 1 Wind-chilly. 2 Sweet mood. 3 Bloody surf means poetically the sea, and the expression, the bones of Blain, a name nowhere else mentioned in the earlier Edda, seems to refer to a fight, the record of which is lost to us. 4 Modsognir and Durin, only mentioned here, refer to some lost myth. There seem to have been three kinds of tribes of Dvergar, having for chiefs, respectively, Modsognir, Durin, Dvalin. “Many man-likenesses in the earth,” namely Dvergar, who are often described as living under the earth.

40     And Durin next to him; They two shaped Many man-likenesses In the ground, As Durin has told1 * * * It is time to reckon Down to Lofar, For mankind (Gónar), The Dvergar in Dvalin’s host,2 Those who went From the stone-halls, The host of Aurvangar, To Jöruvellir (battle-plains). * * * Until out of that host3 To the house4 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,5 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,6 And there bred The brood of Fenrir; Of them all One becomes The destroyer of the sun In the shape of a Troll. He7 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. 1 The five stanzas (Nos. 11, 12, 13, 15, 16) omitted give a long list of names of Dvergar, among them those of Nyi, the growing moon; Nidi, the waning moon; Nordri, the north, &c.; Althjof, all-thief; Dvalin, the delayer, &c., &c. 2 The Dvergar clan of Dvalin, who is not mentioned before, seems to have been the highest among all the Dvergar. 3 There seems to be something missing between the stanzas 16 and 17, unless the poet means the host of the Dvergar, who were under the three above-named chiefs. 4 It seems that the house in which Ask and Embla were to live was in existence already. Ask means ash-tree, like Yggdrasil; Embla only occurs here in the Völuspa, and it is most difficult consequently to give a meaning to it; the elm-tree is called alm, and perhaps is here meant to be in contrast to the ash. 5 Odin, Hœnir, and Lodur gave them life. Hœnir is mentioned in the later Edda. Lodur is only mentioned in the beginning of Heimskringla. 6 Jarnvid, or iron forest; the word is only found here and in the Later Edda. The old one means a Jötun woman, Angrboda, by whom Loki begat the Fenrir wolf (“Later Edda,” c. 34). 7 The son of Fenrir. According to the prose Edda Mánagarm is the name of the son of the Fenrir wolf who swallowed the moon. See Gylfaginning, c. 12.

41     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,1 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 terrified2 In the roads of Hel Before the kinsman of Surt Swallows it. 1 A third bird not named lives in the halls of Hel. They represent the Jötnar, the Asar, and the third Hel (the home of the dead), and seem to be the wakers of these three different realms. 2 The Asar, after taking Loki, bound him to a rock with fetters made of the entrails of his son, Vali (who must not be confused with his namesake, Baldr’s brother).    “Now Loki was without any truce taken to a cave. They took three slabs, set them on edge, and made a hole in each. They took the sons of Loki, Vali and Nari or Narfi, and changed Vali into a wolf which tore Narfi asunder. Then they took his entrails and with them tied Loki over the three slabs; one was under his shoulders another under his loins, the third under his knees, and these bands changed into iron. Then Skadi (a goddess) took a poisonous serpent and fastened it above him, so that the poison should drip into his face; but his wife Sigyn stands at his side, and holds a vessel under the poison-drops. When it is full she goes out to pour it down, but in the meanwhile the poison drips into his face; then he shudders so hard that the whole earth trembles; that you call earthquake. There he lies in bands till the doom of the gods” (Gylfaginning, c. 50).     “Loki begat the wolf With Angrboda, And Sleipnir With Svadilföri; One monster was thought Most terrible of all It was sprung from The brother of Býleist (= Loki).”                         [Hyndluljód, 40 ]    The Asar were afraid of Fenrir wolf, Loki’s son, and twice tried to chain it, but could not.    “Thereupon they were afraid that they could not chain the wolf; then Allfödr (Odin) sent the servant Skírnir, the messenger of Frey, down to Svartálfaheim (world of the black Álfar) to some Dvergar, and had a chain made, called Gleipnir. It was made of six things: Of the noise of the cat, of the beard of women, of the roots of the mountain, of the sinews of the bear, of the breath of the fish, of the spittle of the bird.”    At last they succeeded in chaining it with the chain, but Tyr lost his right hand, which he was obliged to put into the mouth of the wolf as a pledge.    “When the Asar saw that the wolf was fully tied they took the band which hung on the chain and was called Gelgja, and drew it through a large slab, called Gjöll, and fastened the slab deep down in the ground. They took a large stone and put it still deeper into the ground; it was called Thviti, and they used it as a fastening pin. The wolf gaped terribly and shook itself violently, and wanted to bite them. They put into its mouth a sword; the guards touch the lower palate and the point the upper palate; that is its gag. It groans fiercely and saliva flows from its mouth and makes the river Von; there it lies till the last fight of the gods” (Later Edda, c. 34).

42     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 wall1 Know ye all up to this and onward? Now Garm barks loud Before Gnipa cave; The fetters will break, And the wolf will run. Hrym2 drives from the east, Holds his shield before him. The Jörmungand3 writhes In Jötun wrath; The serpent lashes the waves, And the eagle screams; The pale beak tears the corpses; Naglfar4 is loosened. A keel (a ship) comes from the east, The men of Muspell Will cone across the sea, But Loki is the steerer;5 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 Flashess from his sword; Rocks clash, The Jötun women stagger; Men walk the road of Hel; Heaven is rent asunder. Then comes the second6 Sorrow of Hlin, When Odin goes To fight the wolf; And the bright slayer Of Beli7 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. 1 Dvergar. 2 Hrym. This name occurs nowhere else. 3 Jörmungand is the world serpent, Midgard’s serpent, the son of Loki.    “Angrboda was a Jötun woman in Jötunheimar. Loki begat three children by her: Fenrir wolf, Jörmungand, or Midgardsorm, the serpent, and Hel. When the gods knew that these three children were brought up in Jötunheimar, they had foretellings that great misfortune and loss would be caused by them, and all thought much evil must be expected from them, first on account of their mother, and still more of their father. Allfödr (Odin) sent the gods to take and bring them to him. When they came to him he threw the serpent (Midgardsorm) into the deep sea that lies round all lands, and it grew so much that it lies in the middle of the sea round all lands and bites its tail” (Later Edda, c. 34). 4 “Naglfar.” The ship, said in the Later Edda, Gylfaginning 51, to be made of nails of dead men; when it is finished the end of the world comes. 5 Loki being the chief enemy of the gods. 6 The first sorrow is not mentioned. Hlin, a maid of Frigg (see Gylfaginniug, 35). Her second sorrow is the death of Odin. 7 Slaver of Beli = Frey.

43     Then comes the great Son of Sigfodr (father of victory) Vidar to slay, The beast of carrion.1 With his hand he lets His sword pierce The heart of the Jötun’s son,2 Then his father (Odin) is avenged.3 Then comes the famous Son of Hlodyn (Thor); Odin’s soil 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,4 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 loud5 Before Gnipa-cave; The fetters will break, And the wolf will run.                            (Völuspa.) After the destruction of the world, a new one will arise.     She6 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. 1 The wolf Fenrir. 2 Loki is the father of Fenrir-wolf, who is called the Jötun’s son, as Loki was a Jötun. 3 Odin’s son, Vidar, avenges his father by slaying the Fenrir-wolf. 4 Here the Vulva again sees how everything is destroyed. Ragnarök, “the doom of the powers and the end of the world,” is mentioned in Lokasenna where Loki is taunting the gods; when he comes to Tyr, the latter answers him —     I have no hand And thou hast no praise; We are both badly off; Nor is the wolf well That in bands shall Wait for Ragnarök.    In Atlamal Ragnarök is also mentioned in the dreams of Glaumvor (see p. 462). In the later Edda the word is corrupted by having an “r” added, which gives the meaning of twilight instead of doom of the gods, as it really meant. 5 The Völva seems never to tire reminding her hearers that the dog Garm barks loud, &c. 6 The Völva.