Rudely he fell upon the head of the intruder, and Helge stretched his length upon the rocky floor, nor stirred again.

And now Balder's temple is finished, and its noble proportions look over the firth, in whose clear waters it is reflected. Its vast hall is filled melody, and the Chief Priest of Balder stands ready to receive a bride. But who stands frowning upon the threshold? King Halfdan it is, who approaches, sword in hand.

Frithiof with quick hands unbuckled the sword from his thigh and leaned it, with his golden shield, against the altar. Then with outstretched hand he advanced saying:

"Most noble in this strife will he be found Who first is right hand good Offers in pledge of peaceful brotherhood."

Halfdan, blushing deeply, hastened to doff his iron gauntlet, and the two men, severed so long, forgot their enmity and pledged abiding faith with friendly grasp.

"And as the last deep accents Of reconcilement sounded, Lo! Ingeborg sudden enters, rich adorn'd, And to her brother's heart she trembling sinketh. He with his sister's fears Deep-moved, her hand all tenderly in Frithiof's linketh, His burden soft transferring to the Hero's breast."



CHAPTER XXV

How the End of All Things Came About

This is the tale the Northmen tell of how the End of All Things Came About.

When the Asa folk had banished wicked Loki to earth, and bound him fast in his gloomy cavern, they thought they had heard and seen the last of his evil ways.

But this was not to be the case. Finding he could not free himself, but must endure his bonds till the end of All Things, Loki tried to divert himself by enticing the earth people to him and teaching them to do every manner of evil. And so fast did knowledge of this evil spread, that the whole world soon became full of wickedness. Brothers fought and killed each other, men were for ever at war with other men, no one had time or room in his heart for pity or for kindliness.

Sol and Mani, who were wont to drive radiant through the sky in their golden chariots, grew pale with dismay, for they knew that these things portended their end, when those hungry wolves, who were ever pursuing them, would overtake and devour them utterly.

And they ceased to smile upon the land, wherefore the earth grew cold and dark, and a long, long winter began. From North, South, East, and West great snowstorms blew over the world, the Frost Giants waved their great wings and breathed an icy blast, and a thick layer of ice spread over the whole surface of the earth.

For six seasons this terrible winter held the world in its grip, and during all that time the earth people grew more wicked, until all traces of goodness disappeared. Meantime, deep down in the dark shades of the Ironwood, an evil Frost Giantess fed the pursuing wolves, so that they gained strength each day, and at length they were able to overtake Sol and Mani in their head-long course, and to devour them.

Now when that dreadful thing had happened, the whole earth shook to its foundations, and Loki, the Fenris Wolf, and the Sea-serpent, making one last tremendous effort, broke their bonds and rushed to wreak revenge upon their captors.

At that moment the dragon that lies at the root of the Tree of Life gnawed it through, so that it quivered and shook to its very top. The red cock who stood perched above the halls of Valhalla gave a shrill crow of alarm, and this was taken up by the white cock who roosts upon the tallest tree on the earth, and echoed by Hela's blood-red bird in the depths of the Mist Home.

Heimdall knew the meaning of these sounds, and putting the horn to his lips he gave the last long call from Asgard, which resounded across the Rainbow Bridge throughout the whole world.

Then the Asa folk sprang from their flower-strewn couches, and seizing their weapons, they mounted their battle steeds and rode across the Rainbow Bridge to the great plain where they were to wage their last fight.

Meantime, the Sea-serpent was lashing the waters of the ocean with his tail as he made his way through the blood-red waves to that dread battlefield. And Loki, who had roused all the host of the Fire Giants, was sailing thither as fast as the tossing ocean would carry his fatal barque; while from the foggy regions of the north issued the whole race of Frost Giants, eager for their revenge upon the hated Asa folk.

From a cleft in the earth came also Hela, the goddess of the underworld, followed by her gaunt watchdog and by all the evil dregs of her gloomy realm. Lastly, from a blinding flash of lightning that seemed to rend the skies in twain, came forth the troop of Flame Giants, each with his fiery sword in hand.

Loki gladly placed himself at the head of all those hosts, and he led them forward boldly against the gods.

And first they thought to storm Asgard in one wild onset, but the Rainbow Bridge sank with a mighty crash under their horses' feet.

Meanwhile, the Asas had been gathering their forces upon the battlefield, where with calm, stern faces they awaited the attack of their foes—the red Flame Giants, the grim army of Hela, the grey-white host of the Frost Giants, led by Loki, with the Fenris Wolf on one hand and the Sea-serpent, breathing out clouds of deadly vapour, on the other.

"And all are marshalled in one flaming square Against the gods, upon the plains of heaven."

Then came the crash of battle, in which, for all their courage, the Asas were bound to meet with defeat. Desperately they fought, but all to no avail, for, at the moment that Heimdall and Loki fell dead before each other's swords, and Thor, after killing the Sea-serpent, was drowned in the poisonous stream that flowed from the creature's mouth, the Fenris Wolf came at All-Father Odin with jaws open so wide that they reached from earth to heaven; and rushing upon the mighty Asa he engulfed him in that horrid tomb.

Most of the Asas, as well as their foes, now lay dead on the battlefield, and, seeing this, the Flame Giants suddenly grasped their fiery brands and flung them over earth and heaven and all the underworld.

The mighty Tree of Life withered and fell; the golden halls of Asgard melted away; the green things of earth turned black, and still the fire raged, until the whole world, burnt to a cinder, sank beneath the waves of the sea.

Thus did the End of All Things come about.

But because the End of All Things is also very often the Beginning of Others, the Northmen say that, after many long years, the old Earth rose again, clean and pure and bright from her long cleansing underneath the sea. And in the sky above a daughter of Sol again drove her sun-chariot, and smiled upon the earth, so that it grew young and fresh and green again.

And when this came to pass, a man and a woman, who, sunk in sleep in the depths of a forest, had escaped the universal destruction, came forth and took possession of the sweet green lands, for themselves and for their children for ever.

"So perish the old Gods! But out of the sea of Time Rises a new land of song. Fairer than the old. Over is meadows green Walk the young bards and sing.

Build it again, O ye bards, Fairer than before! Ye fathers of the new race, Feed upon morning dew, Sing the new Song of Love!

The law of force is dead! The law of love prevails! Thor, the thunderer, Shall rule the earth no more, No more, with threats, Challenge the meek Christ.

Sing no more, O ye bards of the North, Of Vikings and of Jarls! Of the days of Eld Preserve the freedom only, Not the deeds of blood."

LONGFELLOW.



PRONOUNCING INDEX OF PROPER NAMES

(a as in hate; e as in tea; o as in note; ae as in arm; e as in merit)

Transcriber's Note: [=oo] represents two 'o's with a line on top. There is no Unicode representation for the letter.

These letters can be represented only in Unicode. Correct letters are provided in the Unicode text.

AEgir (a'jir)

Agnar (ag'nar)

Andvari (aend'vae-re)

Angantyr (aen-gaen'ter)

Angurvadel (aen-gur-vae'del)

Angur-boda (aen-gur-bo'da)

Asa (a'sa)

Asgard (as'gaerd)

Ask (aesk)

Atli (at'le)

Balder (baul'der)

Baugi (bow'ge)

Bele (be-la')

Bjoern (byern)

Bragi (brae'ge)

Branstock (bran'stok)

Bredi (bre'de)

Brock (brock)

Brunhild (br[=oo]n'hild)

Draupnir (drowp'nir)

Elli (el'le)

Ellida (el-li'da)

Embla (em'bla)

Fafnir (faf'nir)

Fenga (fenga)

Fenris (fen'ris)

Fensalir (fen'sael-ir)

Fialar (fyael'ar)

Fiorgyn (fyor'gen)

Frey (fri)

Freya (fri'a)

Frigga (frig'a)

Frithiof (frit'yof)

Galar (gael'ar)

Geirrod (gir'rod)

Geri (ger'e)

Gersemi (ger'se-me)

Gialp (gyaelp)

Gilling (gil'ling)

Gioell (gyel)

Giuki (gi'[=oo]ki)

Gnomes (nomz)

Greip (grip)

Greyfell (gra-fel)

Grid (gred)

Grimnir (grim'nir)

Grimhild (grim'hild)

Gudrun (goo'droon)

Gungnir (goong'nir)

Gunlod (goon'lod)

Gunnar (gun'naer)

Guttorm (goot'torm)

Hamdir (ham'dir)

Halfdan (half'dan)

Heidrun (hi'dr[=oo]n)

Heimdall (him'dael)

Hela (hela)

Helge (hel'ge)

Hermod (her'mod)

Hindfell (hind'fel)

Hiordis (hyor'dis)

Hoder (ho'der)

Hoenir (he'nir)

Hoegni (heg'ne)

Hreidmar (hrid'mar)

Hugi (hu'gi)

Hugin (hu'gin)

Hunding (hunding)

Hyrroken (her'ro-kin)

Idun (e'doon)

Ingeborg (in'ge-borg)

Jarl (yaerl)

Kari (kaer'e)

Kvasir (kvae'sir)

Logi (lo'ge)

Loki (lo'ke)

Lygni (leg'ni)

Mani (mae'ne)

Midgard (mid'gaerd)

Mimir (me'mir)

Mioelnir (myel'nir)

Modir (mo'dir)

Munin (mu'nin)

Niblungs (ne'bloongz)

Niffelheim (nifl'him)

Nioerd (nyerd)

Odin (o'din)

Odur (o'door)

Ragnarok (rag'na-ruk)

Ran (raen)

Ratatosk (rae'ta-tusk)

Rati (rae'te)

Regin (ra'gin)

Rerir (ra'rir)

Ring (ring)

Ringhorn (ring'horn)

Roskva (ros'kva)

Sif (sif)

Siggeir (sig'ir)

Sigi (sig'e)

Sigmund (sig'moond)

Signy (sig'ni)

Sigurd (se'goord)

Sigyn (se'gen)

Sindri (sin'dre)

Sinfiotli (sin-fe-ot'li)

Skadi (skae'de)

Skrymir (skrim'ir)

Sleipnir (slip'nir)

Sol (sol)

Suttung (soot't[=oo]ng)

Svadilfare (svae'dil-faer'e)

Thialfi (te'aelf'e)

Thiassi (te-aes-se)

Thok (tok)

Thor (thor or tor)

Thorsten (tor-sten)

Thrym (trim)

Tyr (ter)

Uplands (up'lands)

Valhalla (vael-hael'la)

Vali (vael'e)

Valkyrs (val'kirz)

Valtam (vael'tam)

Vikings (vik'ingz)

Volsung (vol'soong)

Ymir (e'mir)

* * * * *

THE END