But after all the world has thus been consumed in flames, the earth, completely green, rises a second time from the sea. Cascades fall, and the eagle soars on lofty pinions in pursuit of his prey. The gods come together on the plains of Ida, and talk about the powerful Mid- gard-serpent, about the Fenris-wolf, and about the an- cient runes of the mighty Odin. The flelds, unsown, yield their harvests, all ills cease, and the heavenly gods live in peace.
Yidar and Yale survive Ragnarok. Neither the flood nor Surt's flame did them any harm, and they dwell on the plains of Ida, where Asgard formerly stood. Thither came also the two sons of Thor (jMode and Magne), bringing with them their father's celebrated hammer, Mjolner. Ila'ner is there also, and comprehends the future. Balder and Hod converse together; they call to mind their former deeds, and the perils they have passed through ; they talk about the fight with the Fen- ris-wolf and with the Midgard-serpent. The sons of Hod and Balder inhabit the wild Wind-home.
The sun brings forth a daughter more lovely than herself (the sun is feminine in the Norse language) be- fore she is swallowed by the wolf Skol, and when the gods have perished, the daughter rides in her mother's heavenly course.
During the conflagration of Ragnarok, a woman by
name Lif and a man by name Lifthrasir lie concealed in the so-called forest of Hodmimer. The dew of the dawn serves them as food, and so great a race shall spring from them that their descendants shall soon spread over the whole earth.
The gold-roofed Gimle does not perish in the confla- gration of the world. This hall outshines the sun; it is in the uppermost heaven, and in it
" The virtuous Shall always dwell, And evermore Delights enjoy" {Elder Edda).
Towards the north, on the Nida Mountains, stands a hall of shining gold, and this the dwarfs occupy after Rag- narok.
But there is also a place of punishment for the wicked. It is a place far from the sun, a large and terrible cave, and the doors of it open to the north. This cave is built of serpents wattled together, and the heads of all the serpents turn into the cave, filling it with streams of poison, in which perjurers, murderers, and adulterers have to wade. The suffering is terrible ; gory hearts hang outside of their breasts; their fiices are dyed in blood ; strong venom-dragons fiercely run through their hearts ; their hands are riveted together with ever- burning stones; their clothes are wrapped in flames, and remorseless ravens keep tearing their eyes from their heads.
" Then comes the mighty cue
To the great judgment ;
From heaven he comes,
He who guides all thiugs.
Jndirments he utters.
Strifes he appenses,
Laws he ordnins
To flourish forever" {Elder Edda).
Or, as it is stated in the lay of Hyndla of the Elder Edda, after she (Hyndla) has described Heimdal, the sublime protector of the perishable world :
" Then conies another Yet more mighty : But Him dave I not Venture to name. Few look farther Than to where Odin Goes to meet the [Feuris-] wolf" {Elder EdSa).
In various passages of the Old Norse literature, like the one just quoted, there are allusions to the unknoirn God, who was before the beginning of time, and at the end of time he enters upon his eternal reign, and it seems that when he comes to the great judgment the punish- ment of the wicked in that terrible cave (Nastraud) will cease.
6. The above are the main points in the religion of the Norsemen. A complete interpretation is diilicult, but the leading features are easily discernible, and are as follows :
The chaotic world-mass is produced by the blending of heat and cold, and this chaos quickens into the form of the giant Ymer. The asas are the beneficent forces and elements in nature. They separate from the evil and destructive elements (the giants), conquer them by their divine power, and create from them the world, thus producing the earth and its inhabitants.
The government of the world is in the power of the asas, while they themselves are in some respects subject to the decrees of the mighty norns, the goddesses of time and fate. Everything in nature that is good, beautiful, and true is the work of the asas; but the power of the giants manifests itself in all the evil, dis- turbing, and destructive elements of nature. The asas limit but do not destroy the power of the giants. The life of the world is a constant struggle between these contending forces. The asas try to defend what ad- vantage they have, but the giants are constantly seek- ing to defeat them, and to bring ruin upon them. The asas frequently employ the giants for the jnirpose of elevating and fortifying themselves, but thereby they only weaken their own power. The cunning giant- god, Loke, whom the asas have adopted, deceives and
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betrays them. The power of the giants keeps uicreas- ing, and grows more and more threatening to the asas and to the world.
The contest is finally decided in the last great strng- gle in Ragnarok, where both parties summon all their strength, and where asas and giants mutually slay each other. In this internecine contest the world is con- sumed by tlames from the same primaeval source whence the first sparks of life originallj' came.