CHAPTER I.
RAGNAROK.
The final destruction of the world, and regeneration of gods and men, is called Ragnarok; that is, the Twilight of the gods (_Ragna_, from _regin_, gods, and _rökr_, darkness).
The journey through life has been a long one, and yet we have not reached the end, for the end is also the beginning. Death is the center, where the present and future existence meet. When life ends, there is a change, there comes a new day and a sun without a shadow.
In comparing the Greek mythology with the Norse, it was stated, that the Norse has a theoktonic myth, while the Greek lacks the final act of the grand drama. The Greeks knew of no death of the gods; their gods were immortal. And yet, what were they but an ideal conception of the forms of life? And this life with all its vanity, pomp and glory, the Greek loved so dearly, that he thought it must last forever. He imagined an everlasting series of changes. But what will then the final result be? Shall the thundering Zeus forever continue to thunder? Shall the faithless Aphrodite forever be unfaithful? Shall Typhon forever go on with his desolations? Shall the sinner continue to sin forever, and shall the world continue without end to foster and nourish evil? These are questions that find no satisfactory answer in the Greek mythology.
Among the Norsemen, on the other hand, we find in their most ancient records a clearly expressed faith in the perishableness of all things; and we find this faith at every step that the Norsemen has taken. The origin of this faith we seek in vain; it conceals itself beneath the waters of the primeval fountains of their thoughts and aspirations. They regarded death as but the middle of a long life. They considered it cowardice to spare a life that is to return; they thought it folly to care for a world that must necessarily perish; while they knew that their spirits would be clothed with increased vigor in the other world. Happy were they who lived beneath the polar star, for the greatest fear that man knows, the fear of death, disturbed them not. They rushed cheerfully upon the sword; they entered the battle boldly, for, like their gods, who every moment looked forward to the inevitable Ragnarok, they knew that life could be purchased by a heroic death.
The very fact that the gods in the creation proceeded from the _giant_ Ymer foreshadowed their destruction. The germ of death was in their nature from the beginning, and this germ would gradually develop as their strength gradually became wasted and consumed. That which is born must die, but that which is not born cannot grow old.
The gradual growth of this germ of death, and corresponding waste of the strength of the gods, is profoundly sketched throughout the mythology. The gods cannot be conquered, unless they make themselves weak; but such is the very nature of things, that they must do this. To win the charming Gerd, Frey must give away his sword, but when the great final conflict comes he has no weapon. In order that the Fenris-wolf may be chained, Tyr must risk his right hand, and he loses it. How shall he then fight in Ragnarok? Balder could not have died, had not the gods been blind and presumptuous; their thoughtlessness put weapons into the hands of their enemy. Hoder would never have thrown the fatal mistletoe, had not their own appointed game been an inducement to him to honor his brother. When Loke became separated from Odin, the death of the gods was a foregone conclusion.
The imperfection of nature is also vividly depicted in the Eddas. The sun was so scorching hot that the gods had to place a shield before it; the fire was so destructive that the gods had to chain it, in order that it might not bring ruin upon the whole world. Life, after the natural death, was not continued only in the shining halls of Valhal, but also in the subterranean regions among the shades of Hel.
Our old Gothic fathers, in the poetic dawn of our race, investigated the origin and beginning of nature and time. The divine poetic and imaginative spark in them lifted them up to the Eternal, to that wonderful secret fountain which is the source of all things. They looked about them in profound meditation to find the image and reflection of that glorious harmony which their soul in its heavenly flight had found, but in all earthly things they discovered strife and warfare. When the storms bent the pine trees on the mountain tops, and when the foaming waves rolled in gigantic fury against the rocky cliffs, the Norseman saw strife. When the growl of the bear and the howl of the wolf blended with the moaning of the winds and the roaring of the waters, he heard strife. In unceasing conflict with the earth, with the beasts and with each other, he saw men stand, conquer, and fall. If he lifted his weary eye toward the skies, he saw the light struggling with darkness and with itself. When light arose out of darkness, it was greeted with enthusiasm; when it sank again into darkness, its rays were broken and it dissolved in glimmering colors; and if he looked down into the heart of man, into his own breast, he found that all this conflict of opposing elements in the outward world did but faintly symbolize that terrible warfare pervading and shattering his whole being. Well might he long for peace, and can we wonder that this deep longing for rest and peace, which filled his heart in the midst of all his struggles,—can we wonder, we say, that his longing for peace found a grand expression in a final conflict through which imperishableness and harmony were attained?
This final conflict, this dissolution of nature’s and life’s disharmony, the Edda presents to us in the death of the gods, which is usually, as stated, called Ragnarok.
There is nothing more sublime in poetry than the description, in the Eddas, of Ragnarok. It is preceded by ages of crime and terror. The vala looks down into Niflheim,
There saw she wade In the heavy streams Men—foul murderers, And perjurers, And them who other’s wives Seduce to sin.
The growing depravity and strife in the world proclaim the approach of this great event. First there is a winter called Fimbul-winter, during which snow will fall from the four corners of the world; the frosts will be very severe, the winds piercing, the weather tempestuous, and the sun will impart no gladness. Three such winters shall pass away without being tempered by a single summer. Three other similar winters follow, during which war and discord will spread over the whole earth. Brothers for the sake of mere gain shall kill each other, and no one shall spare either his parents or his children. Thus the Elder Edda:
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.
Then shall happen such things as may truly be regarded as great miracles. The Fenris-wolf shall devour the sun, and a severe loss will that be to mankind. The other wolf[81] will take the moon, and this, too, will cause great mischief. Then the stars shall be hurled from the heavens, and the earth shall be shaken so violently that trees will be torn up by the roots, the tottering mountains will tumble headlong from their foundations, and all bonds and fetters will be shivered to pieces. The Fenris-wolf then breaks loose and the sea rushes over the earth on account of the Midgard-serpent writhing in giant rage and gaining the land. On the waters floats the ship Naglfar (nail-ship), which is constructed of the nails of dead men. For this reason great care should be taken to die with pared nails, for he who dies with his nails unpared supplies materials for the building of this ship, which both gods and men wish may be finished as late as possible. But in this flood shall Naglfar float, and the giant Hrym be its steersman.
The Fenris-wolf advances and opens his enormous mouth; the lower jaw reaches to the earth and the upper one to heaven, and he would open it still wider had he room to do so. Fire flashes from his eyes and nostrils. The Midgard-serpent, placing himself by the side of the Fenris-wolf, vomits forth floods of poison, which fill the air and the waters. Amidst this devastation the heavens are rent in twain, and the sons of Muspel come riding through the opening in brilliant array. Surt rides first, and before and behind him flames burning fire. His sword outshines the sun itself. Bifrost (the rainbow), as they ride over it, breaks to pieces. Then they direct their course to the battle-field called Vigrid. Thither repair also the Fenris-wolf and the Midgard-serpent, and Loke with all the followers of Hel, and Hrym with all the frost-giants. But the sons of Muspel keep their effulgent bands apart on the battle-field, which is one hundred miles (rasts) on each side.
Meanwhile Heimdal arises, and with all his strength he blows the Gjallar-horn to arouse the gods, who assemble without delay. Odin then rides to Mimer’s fountain and consults Mimer how he and his warriors are to enter into action. The ash Ygdrasil begins to quiver, nor is there anything in heaven or on earth that does not fear and tremble in that terrible hour. The gods and all the einherjes of Valhal arm themselves with speed and sally forth to the field, led on by Odin with his golden helmet, resplendent cuirass, and spear called Gungner. Odin places himself against the Fenris-wolf. Thor stands by his side, but can render him no assistance, having himself to combat the Midgard-serpent. Frey encounters Surt, and terrible blows are exchanged ere Frey falls; and he owes his defeat to his not having that trusty sword which he gave to Skirner. That day the dog Garm, that had been chained in the Gnipa-cave, breaks loose. He is the most fearful monster of all, and attacks Tyr, and they kill each other. Thor gains great renown for killing the Midgard-serpent, but at the same time, retreating nine paces, he falls dead upon the spot, suffocated with the floods of venom which the dying serpent vomits forth upon him. The wolf swallows Odin, but at that instant Vidar advances, and setting his foot upon the monster’s lower jaw he seizes the other with his hand, and thus tears and rends him till he dies. Vidar is able to do this because he wears those shoes which have before been mentioned, and for which stuff has been gathered in all ages, namely, the shreds of leather which are cut off to form the toes and heels of shoes; and it is on this account that those who desire to render service to the gods should take care to throw such shreds away. Loke and Heimdal fight and kill each other. Then Surt flings fire and flame over the world. Smoke wreathes up around the all-nourishing tree (Ygdrasil), the high flames play against the heavens, and earth consumed sinks down beneath the sea.
All this is vividly and sublimely presented in the Elder Edda, thus:
East of Midgard in the Ironwood The old hag[82] sat, Fenrer’s terrible Race she fostered. One[83] of them Shall at last In the guise of a troll Devour the moon.
It feeds on the bodies Of men, when they die: The seats of the gods It stains with red blood: The sunshine blackens In the summers thereafter And the weather grows bad— Know ye now more or not?
The hag’s watcher, The glad Edger, Sat on the hill-top And played his harp; Near him crowed In the bird-wood A fair-red cock Which Fjalar hight.
Among the gods crowed The gold-combed cock, He who wakes in Valhal The hosts of heroes; Beneath the earth Crows another, The root-red cock, In the halls of Hel.
Loud barks Garm At Gnipa-cave; The fetters are severed, The wolf is set free,— Vale knows the future. More does she see Of the victorious gods Terrible fall.
The wolf referred to in the first strophe is Maanegarm (the moon-devourer), of whom we have made notice before. The hag in the Ironwood is Angerboda (anguish-boding), with whom Loke begat children. Evil is being developed. The gods become through Loke united with the giants. The wood is of iron, hard and barren; the children are ravenous wolves. On the hill-top sits Egder (an eagle), a storm-eagle, the howling wind that rushes through the wood, and howling wind is the music produced upon his harp. The cock is a symbol of fire, and it is even to this day a common expression among the Norsemen, when a fire breaks out, that _the red cock is crowing over the roof of the house_. There are three cocks, one in the bird-wood, one in heaven, and one in the lower regions with Hel. The idea then is, that the cock as a symbol of fire announces the coming of Ragnarok in all the regions of the world. The vala continues:
Mimer’s sons play; To battle the gods are called By the ancient Gjallar-horn. Loud blows Heimdal, His sound is in the air; Odin talks With the head of Mimer.
Quivers then Ygdrasil, The strong-rooted ash; Rustles the old tree When the giant gives way. All things tremble In the realms of Hel, Till Surt’s son Swallows up Odin.
How fare the gods? How fare the elves? Jotunheim shrieks. The gods hold Thing; The dwarfs shudder Before their cleft caverns, Where behind rocky walls they dwell. Know ye now more or not?
Loud barks Garm[84] At Gnipa-cave; The fetters are severed, The wolf is set free,— Vala knows the future. More does she see Of the victorious gods’ Terrible fall.
From the east drives Hrym, Bears his child before him; Jormungander welters In giant fierceness; The waves thunder; The eagle screams, Rends the corpses with pale beak, And Naglfar is launched.
A ship from the east nears, The hosts of Muspel Come o’er the main, But Loke is pilot. All grim and gaunt monsters Conjoin with the wolf, And before them all goes The brother of Byleist.[85]
From the south wends Surt With seething fire; The sun of the war-god Shines in his sword; Mountains together dash, And frighten the giant-maids; Heroes tread the paths to Hel, And heaven in twain is rent.
Over Hlin[86] then shall come Another woe, When Odin goes forth The wolf to combat, And he[87] who Bele slew ’Gainst Surt rides; Then will Frigg’s Beloved husband[88] fall.
Loud barks Garm At Gnipa-cave; The fetters are severed, The wolf is set free,— Vala knows the future. More does she see Of the victorious gods’ Terrible fall.
Then Vidar, the great son Of Victory’s father, Goes forth to fight With the ferocious beast; With firm grasp his sword In the giant-born monster’s heart Deep he plants, And avenges his father.
Then the famous son[89] Of Hlodyn[90] comes; Odin’s son comes To fight with the serpent; Midgard’s ward[91] In wrath slays the serpent. Nine paces away Goes the son of Fjorgyn; He totters, wounded By the fierce serpent. All men Abandon the earth.
The sun darkens, The earth sinks into the ocean: The lucid stars From heaven vanish; Fire and vapor Rage toward heaven; High flames Involve the skies.
Loud barks Garm At Gnipa-cave; The fetters are severed, The wolf is set free,— Vala knows the future. More does she see Of the victorious gods’ Terrible fall.
These strophes are taken from Völuspá (the prophecy of the vala); and besides these we also have a few strophes of the lay of Vafthrudner, in the Elder Edda, referring to the final conflict:
VAFTHRUDNER:
Tell me, Gagnraad,[92] Since on the floor thou wilt Prove thy proficiency, How that plain is called, Where in fight shall meet Surt and the gentle gods?
GAGNRAAD (ODIN):
Vigrid the plain is called, Where in fight shall meet Surt and the gentle gods; A hundred rasts it is On every side. That plain is to them decreed.
And in the second part of this same poem, in which Odin asks and Vafthrudner answers:
GAGNRAAD (ODIN):
What of Odin will The end of life be, When the powers perish?
VAFTHRUDNER:
The wolf will The father of men devour; Him Vidar will avenge: He his cold jaws Will cleave In conflict with the wolf.
The terrible dog mentioned several times is Hel’s bloody-breasted and murderous hound. Like the Fenris-wolf and Loke, this dog had been bound at Gnipa-cave, although the Eddas tell us nothing about when or how this was done.
When it is said that another woe comes over Hlin, the maid-servant is placed for Frigg herself; and the former woe implied is the death of Balder, _the other woe_ meaning the approaching death of Odin.
It is worthy of notice, that as this final conflict is inevitable, the gods proceed to it, not with despair and trembling, but joyfully and fearlessly as to a game, for it is the last. Odin rides to the battle adorned; he knows that he must die, and for this very reason he decorates himself as does a bride for the wedding, and the gods follow him; even those who are defenseless voluntarily expose themselves on the plain of Vigrid. They are determined to die.
Which are the powers that now oppose each other? On the one side we have those who have ruled and blessed heaven and earth; and fighting against them we find their eternal enemies, those powers which had sprung into being before heaven and earth were created, and those which had developed in the earth and in the sea, and which no asa-might can conquer. From Muspelheim come the sons of Muspel in shining armor; from Muspel’s world came originally the sun, moon and stars. It is a fundamental law in nature that all things destroy themselves, all things contain an inherent force that finally brings ruin; that is the meaning of perishableness or corruption. A second host consists of the frost-giants. From the body of the old giant Ymer was formed the earth, the sea, the mountains, the trees, etc.; the giants must therefore assist in the destruction of their own work. The third host is Loke and his children, born in time and the offspring of that which was created. They are the destructive elements in that which was created; the ocean becoming a fierce serpent, mid the fire a devouring wolf. Loke himself is the volcanic fire which the earth has produced within its bowels; and then there is all that is cowardly represented by the pale Hel with her bloodless shadows, the life which has turned into shadowy death. All these forces oppose each other. Those who fought in life mutually conquer each other in death. Odin, whose heaven is the source of all life, is slain by the Fenris-wolf, the earthly fire, which has brought all kinds of activities into the life of man; but the wolf, after he has conquered, falls again at the hands of Vidar, the imperishable, incorruptible force of nature. In this duel heaven and earth are engaged. The god of the clouds, Thor, contends with the Midgard-serpent,—many a struggle they have had together; now the clouds and ocean mutually destroy each other. Since the death of Balder, Frey is the most pure and shining divinity. His pure and noble purpose and longing are still within him, but his sword, his power, is gone. Hence he is stricken down by Surt, the warder of Muspelheim. Heimdal stretched his brilliant rainbow over the earth, Loke his variegated stream of fire within the earth; the one proclaiming mercies and blessings, the other destruction; both perish in Ragnarok. Hel and her pale host also betake themselves to the final contest, but the Eddas say nothing about their taking part in the fight. How can they? They are nothing but emptiness, the mere vanity of the heart, in which there is no substance; they are but the darkness which enwraps the earth, and are not capable of deeds.
Thus is Ragnarok! The great antagonism pervading the world is removed in a final struggle, in which the contending powers mutually destroy each other. Ragnarok is an outbreak of all the chaotic powers, a conflict between them and the established order of creation. Fire, water, darkness and death work together to destroy the world. The gods and their enemies meet in a universal, world-embracing wrestle and duel, and mutually destroy each other. The flames of Surt, the supreme fire-god, complete the overthrow, and the last remnant of the consumed earth sinks into the ocean.
Footnote 81:
Moongarm. See Vocabulary.
Footnote 82:
Angerboda. See p. 179.
Footnote 83:
Moongarm. See p. 180.
Footnote 84:
Hel’s dog.
Footnote 85:
Loke.
Footnote 86:
One of Frigg’s maid-servants.
Footnote 87:
Frey.
Footnote 88:
Odin.
Footnote 89:
Thor.
Footnote 90:
Another name for Frigg.
Footnote 91:
Defender.
Footnote 92:
Odin.