LITMIR.BIZ

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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 runes³³ 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 Elivagar³⁴

      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).

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