Then said Gangleri: "What tidings are to be told concerning the Weird of the Gods? Never before have I heard aught said of this." Hárr answered: "Great tidings are to be told of it, and much. The first is this, that there shall come that winter which is called the Awful Winter: in that time snow shall drive from all quarters; frosts shall be great then, and winds sharp; there shall be no virtue in the sun. Those winters shall proceed three in succession, and no summer between; but first shall come three other winters, such that over all the world there shall be mighty battles. In that time brothers shall slay each other for greed's sake, and none shall spare father or son in manslaughter and in incest; so it says in Völuspá:

Brothers shall strive | and slaughter each other;
Own sisters' children | shall sin together;
Ill days among men, | many a whoredom:
An axe-age, a sword-age, | shields shall be cloven;
A wind-age, a wolf-age, | ere the world totters.

Then shall happen what seems great tidings: the Wolf shall swallow the sun; and this shall seem to men a great harm. Then the other wolf shall seize the moon, and he also shall work great ruin; the stars shall vanish from the heavens. Then shall come to pass these tidings also: all the earth shall tremble so, and the crags, that trees shall be torn up from the earth, and the crags fall to ruin; and all fetters and bonds shall be broken and rent. Then shall Fenris-Wolf get loose; then the sea shall gush forth upon the land, because the Midgard Serpent stirs in giant wrath and advances up onto the land. Then that too shall happen, that Naglfar shall be loosened, the ship which is so named. (It is made of dead men's nails; wherefore a warning is desirable, that if a man die with unshorn nails, that man adds much material to the ship Naglfar, which gods and men were fain to have finished late.) Yet in this sea-flood Naglfar shall float. Hrymr is the name of the giant who steers Naglfar. Fenris-Wolf shall advance with gaping mouth, and his lower jaw shall be against the earth, but the upper against heaven,--he would gape yet more if there were room for it; fires blaze from his eyes and nostrils. The Midgard Serpent shall blow venom so that he shall sprinkle all the air and water; and he is very terrible, and shall be on one side of the Wolf. In this din shall the heaven be cloven, and the Sons of Múspell ride thence: Surtr shall ride first, and both before him and after him burning fire; his sword is exceeding good: from it radiance shines brighter than from the sun; when they ride over Bifröst, then the bridge shall break, as has been told before. The Sons of Múspell shall go forth to that field which is called Vígrídr, thither shall come Fenris-Wolf also and the Midgard Serpent; then Loki and Hrymr shall come there also, and with him all the Rime-Giants. All the champions of Hel follow Loki; and the Sons of Múspell shall have a company by themselves, and it shall be very bright. The field Vígrídr is a hundred leagues wide each way.

"When these tidings come to pass, then shall Heimdallr rise up and blow mightily in the Gjallar-Horn, and awaken all the gods; and they shall hold council together. Then Odin shall ride to Mímir's Well and take counsel of Mímir for himself and his host. Then the Ash of Yggdrasill shall tremble, and nothing then shall be without fear in heaven or in earth. Then shall the Æsir put on their war-weeds, and all the Champions, and advance to the field: Odin rides first with the gold helmet and a fair birnie, and his spear, which is called Gungnir. He shall go forth against Fenris-Wolf, and Thor stands forward on his other side, and can be of no avail to him, because he shall have his hands full to fight against the Midgard Serpent. Freyr shall contend with Surtr, and a hard encounter shall there be between them before Freyr falls: it is to be his death that he lacks that good sword of his, which he gave to Skírnir. Then shall the dog Garmr be loosed, which is bound before Gnipa's Cave: he is the greatest monster; he shall do battle with Týr, and each become the other's slayer. Thor shall put to death the Midgard Serpent, and shall stride away nine paces from that spot; then shall he fall dead to the earth, because of the venom which the Snake has blown at him. The Wolf shall swallow Odin; that shall be his ending But straight thereafter shall Vídarr stride forth and set one foot upon the lower jaw of the Wolf: on that foot he has the shoe, materials for which have been gathering throughout all time. (They are the scraps of leather which men cut out: of their shoes at toe or heel; therefore he who desires in his heart to come to the Æsir's help should cast those scraps away.) With one hand he shall seize the Wolf's upper jaw and tear his gullet asunder; and that is the death of the Wolf. Loki shall have battle with Heimdallr, and each be the slayer of the other. Then straightway shall Surtr cast fire over the earth and burn all the world; so is said in Völuspá:

High blows Heimdallr, | the horn is aloft;
Odin communes | with Mimir's head;
Trembles Yggdrasill's | towering Ash;
The old tree wails | when the Ettin is loosed.

What of the Æsir? | What of the Elf-folk?
All Jötunheim echoes, | the Æsir are at council;
The dwarves are groaning | before their stone doors,
Wise in rock-walls; | wit ye yet, or what?

Hrymr sails from the east, | the sea floods onward;
The monstrous Beast | twists in mighty wrath;
The Snake beats the waves, | the Eagle is screaming;
The gold-neb tears corpses, | Naglfar is loosed.

From the east sails the keel; | come now Múspell's folk
Over the sea-waves, | and Loki steereth;
There are the warlocks | all with the Wolf,--
With them is the brother | of Býleistr faring.

Surtr fares from southward | with switch-eating flame;
On his sword shimmers | the sun of the war-gods;
The rocks are falling, | and fiends are reeling,
Heroes tread Hel-way, | heaven is cloven.

Then to the Goddess | a second grief cometh,
When Odin fares | to fight with the Wolf,
And Beli's slayer, | the bright god, with Surtr;
There must fall | Frigg's beloved.

Odin's son goeth | to strife with the Wolf,--
Vídarr, speeding | to meet the slaughter-beast;
The sword in his hand | to the heart he thrusteth
Of the fiend's offspring; avenged is his Father.

Now goeth Hlödyn's | glorious son
Not in flight from the Serpent, | of fear unheeding;
All the earth's offspring | must empty the homesteads,
When furiously smiteth | Midgard's defender.

The sun shall be darkened, | earth sinks in the sea,--
Glide from the heaven | the glittering stars;
Smoke-reek rages | and reddening fire:
The high heat licks | against heaven itself.

And here it says yet so:

Vígrídr hight the field | where in fight shall meet
Surtr and the cherished gods;
An hundred leagues | it has on each side:
Unto them that field is fated."

52. Dwellings after Ragnarökr

Then said Gangleri: 'What shall come to pass afterward, when all the world is burned, and dead are all the gods and all the champions and all mankind? Have ye not said before, that every man shall live in some world throughout all ages?" Then Thridi answered: "In that time the good abodes shall be many, and many the ill; then it shall be best to be in Gimlé in Heaven. Moreover, there is plenteous abundance of good drink, for them that esteem that a pleasure, in the hall which is called Brimir: it stands in Ókólnir. That too is a good hall which stands in Nida Fells, made of red gold; its name is Sindri. In these halls shall dwell good men and pure in heart.

"On Nástrand¹ is a great hall and evil, and its doors face to the north: it is all woven of serpent-backs like a wattle-house; and all the snake-heads turn into the house and blow venom, so that along the hall run rivers of venom; and they who have broken oaths, and murderers, wade those rivers, even as it says here:

I know a hall standing | far from the sun,
In Nástrand: the doors; | to northward are turned;
Venom-drops fill | down from the roof-holes;
That hall is bordered | with backs of serpents.

There are doomed to wade | the weltering streams
Men that are mansworn, | and they that murderers are.

But it is worst in Hvergelmir:

There the cursed snake | tears dead men's corpses."

53. Who shall survive Ragnarökr

Then spake Gangleri: "Shall any of the gods live then, or shall there be then any earth or heaven?" Hárr answered: "In that time the earth shall emerge out of the sea, and shall then be green and fair; then shall the fruits of it be brought forth unsown. Vídarr and Váli shall be living, inasmuch as neither sea nor the fire of Surtr shall have harmed them; and they shall dwell at Ida-Plain, where Ásgard was before. And then the sons of Thor, Módi and Magni, shall come there, and they shall have Mjöllnir there. After that Baldr shall come thither, and Hödr, from Hel; then all shall sit down together and hold speech. with one another, and call to mind their secret wisdom, and speak of those happenings which have been before: of the Midgard Serpent and of Fenris-Wolf. Then they shall find in the grass those golden chess-pieces which the Æsir had had; thus is it said:

In the deities' shrines | shall dwell Vídarr and Váli,
When the Fire of Surtr is slackened;
Módi and Magni | shall have Mjöllnir
At the ceasing of Thor's strife.

In the place called Hoddmímir's Holt there shall lie hidden during the Fire of Surtr two of mankind, who are called thus: Líf and Lífthrasir, and for food they shall have the morning-dews. From these folk shall come so numerous an offspring that all the world shall be peopled, even as is said here:

Líf and Lífthrasir, | these shall lurk hidden
In the Holt of Hoddmímir;
The morning dews | their meat shall be;
Thence are gendered the generations.

And it may seem wonderful to thee, that the sun shall have borne a daughter not less fair than herself; and the daughter shall then tread in the steps of her mother, as is said here:

The Elfin-beam | shall bear a daughter,
Ere Fenris drags her forth;
That maid shall go, | when the great gods die,
To ride her mother's road.

But now, if thou art able to ask yet further, then indeed I know not whence answer shall come to thee, for I never heard any man tell forth at greater length the course of the world; and now avail thyself of that which thou hast heard."

54. Of Gangleri

Thereupon Gangleri heard great noises on every side of him; and then, when he had looked about him more, lo, he stood out of doors on a level plain, and saw no hall there and no castle. Then he went his way forth and came home into his kingdom, and told those tidings which he had seen and heard; and after him each man told these tales to the other.

[Here Wilken closes his edition; Jónsson admits the following:

But the Æsir sat them down to speak together, and took counsel and recalled all these tales which had been told to him. And they gave these same names that were named before to those men and places that were there, to the end that when long ages should have passed away, men should not doubt thereof, that those Æsir that were but now spoken of, and these to whom the same names were then given, were all one. There Thor was so named, and he is the old Ása-Thor.

All reject what follows:

He is Öku-Thor, and to him are ascribed those mighty works which Hector wrought in Troy. But this is the belief of men: that the Turks told of Ulysses, and called him Loki, for the Turks were his greatest foes.] {p. 90}

[1. Strand of the Dead.]

Þá mælti Gangleri: "Hver tíðendi eru at segja frá um ragnarökr? Þess hef ek eigi fyrr heyrt getit." Hárr segir: "Mikil tíðendi eru þaðan at segja ok mörg, þau in fyrstu, at vetr sá kemr, er kallaðr er fimbulvetr. Þá drífr snær ór öllum áttum. Frost eru þá mikil ok vindar hvassir. Ekki nýtr sólar. Þeir vetr fara þrír saman ok ekki sumar milli, en áðr ganga svá aðrir þrír vetr, at þá er um alla veröld orrostur miklar. Þá drepast bræðr fyrir ágirni sakar, ok engi þyrmir föður eða syni í manndrápum eða sifjasliti. Svá segir í Völuspá:

55. Bræðr munu berjask
ok at bönum verðask,
munu systrungar
sifjum spilla;
hart er með hölðum,
hórdómr mikill,
skeggjöld, skalmöld,
skildir klofnir,
vindöld, vargöld,
áðr veröld steypisk.

Þá verðr þat, er mikil tíðendi þykkja, at úlfrinn gleypir sólna, ok þykkir mönnum þat mikit mein. Þá tekr annarr úlfrinn tunglit, ok gerir sá ok mikit ógagn. Stjörnurnar hverfa af himninum. Þá er ok þat til tíðenda, at svá skelfr jörð öll ok björg, at viðir losna ór jörðu upp, en björgin hrynja, en fjötrar allir ok bönd brotna ok slitna. Þá verðr Fenrisúlfr lauss. Þá geysist hafit á löndin, fyrir því at þá snýst Miðgarðsormr í jötunmóð ok sækir upp á landit. Þá verðr ok þat, at Naglfar losnar, skip þat, er svá heitir. Þat er gert af nöglum dauðra manna, ok er þat fyrir því varnanar vert, ef maðr deyr með óskornum nöglum, at sá maðr eykr mikit efni til skipsins Naglfars, er goðin ok menn vildi seint, at gert yrði. En í þessum sævargang flýtr Naglfar. Hrymr heitir jötunn, er stýrir Naglfari, en Fenrisúlfr ferr með gapandi munn, ok er inn neðri kjöftr við jörðu, en in efri við himin. Gapa myndi hann meira, ef rúm væri til. Eldar brenna ór augum hans ok nösum. Miðgarðsormr blæss svá eitrinu, at hann dreifir loft öll ok lög, ok er hann allógurligr, ok er hann á aðra hlið úlfinum. Í þessum gný klofnar himinninn, ok ríða þaðan Múspellssynir. Surtr ríðr fyrst ok fyrir honum ok eftir eldr brennandi. Sverð hans er gott mjök. Af því skínn bjartara en af sólu. En er þeir ríða Bifröst, þá brotnar hon, sem fyrr er sagt. Múspellsmegir sækja fram á þann völl, er Vígríðr heitir. Þar kemr ok þá Fenrisúlfr ok Miðgarðsormr. Þar er ok þá Loki kominn ok Hrymr ok með honum allir hrímþursar, en Loka fylgja allir Heljarsinnar. En Múspellssynir hafa einir sér fylking, ok er sú björt mjök. Völlrinn Vígríðr er hundrað rasta víðr á hvern veg.

En er þessi tíðendi verða, þá stendr upp Heimdallr ok blæss ákafliga í Gjallarhorn ok vekr upp öll goðin, ok eiga þau þing saman. Þá ríðr Óðinn til Mímisbrunns ok tekr ráð af Mími fyrir sér ok sínu liði. Þá skelfr askr Yggdrasils, ok engi hlutr er þá óttalauss á himni eða jörðu. Æsir hervæða sik ok allir Einherjar ok sækja fram á völluna. Ríðr fyrstr Óðinn með gullhjálminn ok fagra brynju ok geir sinn, er Gungnir heitir. Stefnir hann móti Fenrisúlf, en Þórr fram á aðra hlið honum, ok má hann ekki duga honum, því at hann hefir fullt fang at berjast við Miðgarðsorm. Freyr berst móti Surti, ok verðr harðr samgangr, áðr Freyr fellr. Þat verðr hans bani, er hann missir þess ins góða sverðs, er hann gaf Skírni. Þá er ok lauss orðinn hundrinn Garmr, er bundinn er fyrir Gnipahelli. Hann er it mesta forað. Hann á víg móti Tý, ok verðr hvárr öðrum at bana. Þórr berr banaorð af Miðgarðsormi ok stígr þaðan braut níu fet. Þá fellr hann dauðr til jarðar fyrir eitri því, er ormrinn blæss á hann. Úlfrinn gleypir Óðin. Verðr þat hans bani. En þegar eftir snýst fram Víðarr ok stígr öðrum fæti í neðra kjöft úlfsins. Á þeim fæti hefir hann þann skó, er allan aldr hefir verit til samnat. Þat eru bjórar þeir, er menn sníða ór skóm sínum fyrir tám eða hæli. Því skal þeim bjórum braut kasta sá maðr, er at því vill hyggja at koma ásunum at liði. Annarri hendi tekr hann inn efra kjöft úlfsins ok rífr sundr gin hans, ok verðr þat úlfsins bani. Loki á orrostu við Heimdall, ok verðr hvárr annars bani. Því næst slyngr Surtr eldi yfir jörðina ok brennir allan heim. Svá er sagt í Völuspá:

56. Hátt blæss Heimdallr,
horn er á lofti,
mælir Óðinn
við Míms höfuð;
skelfr Yggdrasils
askr standandi,
ymr it aldna tré,
en jötunn losnar.

57. Hvat er með ásum?
Hvat er með alfum?
Ymr allr Jötunheimr,
æsir ro á þingi,
stynja dvergar
fyrir steindurum,
veggbergs vísir.
Vituð ér enn eða hvat?

58. Hrymr ekr austan,
hefisk lind fyrir,
snýsk Jörmungandr
í jötunmóði;
ormr knýr unnir,
örn mun hlakka,
slítr nái niðfölr,
Naglfar losnar.

59. Kjóll ferr austan,
koma munu Múspells
of lög lýðir,
en Loki stýrir;
þar eru fíflmegir
með freka allir,
þeir er bróðir
Býleists í för.

60. Surtr ferr sunnan
með sviga lævi,
skínn af sverði
sól valtíva;
grjótbjörg gnata,
en gífr rata,
troða halir helveg,
en himinn klofnar.

61. Þá kemr Hlínar
harmr annarr fram,
er Óðinn ferr
við ulf vega,
en bani Belja
bjartr at Surti;
þar mun Friggjar
falla angan.

62. Gengr Óðins sonr
við ulf vega,
Víðarr of veg
at valdýri;
lætr hann megi Hveðrungs
mund of standa
hjör til hjarta;
þá er hefnt föður.

63. Gengr inn mæri
mögr Hlöðynjar
neppr af naðri
níðs ókvíðnum;
munu halir allir
heimstöð ryðja,
er af móði drepr
Miðgarðs véurr.

64. Sól mun sortna,
sökkr fold í mar,
hverfa af himni
heiðar stjörnur,
geisar eimi
ok aldrnari,
leikr hár hiti,
við himin sjalfan.

Hér segir enn svá:

65. Vígríðr heitir völlr,
er finnask vígi at
Surtr ok in svásu goð;
hundrað rasta
hann er á hverjan veg;
sá er þeim völlr vitaðr."

52. Vistarverur eftir ragnarökr.

Þá mælti Gangleri: "Hvat verðr þá eftir, er brenndr er heimr allr ok dauð goðin öll ok allir Einherjar ok allt mannfólk? Ok hafið þér áðr sagt, at hverr maðr skal lifa í nökkurum heimi um allar aldir."

Þá svarar Þriði: "Margar eru þá vistir góðar ok margar illar. Bazt er þá at vera á Gimlé á himni, ok allgott er til góðs drykkjar þeim, er þat þykkir gaman, í þeim sal, er Brimir heitir. Hann stendr á Ókólni. Sá er ok góðr salr, er stendr á Niðafjöllum, gerr af rauðu gulli. Sá heitir Sindri. Í þessum sölum skulu byggja góðir menn ok siðlátir. Á Náströndum er mikill salr ok illr, ok horfa norðr dyrr. Hann er ofinn allr ormahryggjum sem vandahús, en ormahöfuð öll vitu inn í húsit ok blása eitri, svá at eftir salnum renna eitrár, ok vaða þær ár eiðrofar ok morðvargar, svá sem hér segir:

66. Sal veit ek standa
sólu fjarri
Náströndu á,
norðr horfa dyrr;
falla eitrdropar
inn um ljóra;
sá er undinn salr
orma hryggjum.

67. Skulu þar vaða
þunga strauma
menn meinsvara
ok morðvargar.

En í Hvergelmi er verst:

Þar kvelr Níðhöggr
nái framgengna."

53. Hverir lifa af ragnarökr

Þá mælti Gangleri: "Hvárt lifa nökkur goðin þá, eða er þá nökkur jörð eða himinn?"

Hárr segir: "Upp skýtr jörðunni þá ór sænum ok er þá græn ok fögr. Vaxa þá akrar ósánir. Víðarr ok Váli lifa, svá at eigi hefir særinn ok Surtalogi grandat þeim, ok byggja þeir á Iðavelli, þar sem fyrr var Ásgarðr, ok þar koma þá synir Þórs, Móði ok Magni, ok hafa þar Mjöllni. Því næst koma þar Baldr ok Höðr frá Heljar, setjast þá allir samt ok talast við ok minnast á rúnar sínar ok ræða of tíðendi þau, er fyrrum höfðu verit, of Miðgarðsorm ok um Fenrisúlf. Þá finna þeir í grasinu gulltöflur þær, er æsirnir höfðu átt. Svá er sagt:

68. Víðarr ok Váli
byggva vé goða,
þá er sortnar Surtalogi;
Móði ok Magni
skulu Mjöllni hafa
Vingnis at vígþroti.

En þar, sem heitir Hoddmímisholt, leynast menn tveir í surtaloga, er svá heita, Líf ok Leifþrasir, ok hafa morgindöggvar fyrir mat, en af þessum mönnum kemr svá mikil kynslóð, at byggvist heimr allr, svá sem hér segir:

69. Líf ok Leifþrasir,
en þau leynask munu
í holti Hoddmímis;
morgindöggvar
þau at mat hafa,
en þaðan af aldir alask.

Ok hitt mun þér undarligt þykkja, er sólin hefir getit dóttur eigi ófegri en hon er, ok ferr sú þá stigu móður sinnar, sem hér segir:

70. Eina dóttur
berr alfröðull,
áðr hana fenrir fari;
sú skal ríða,
er regin deyja,
móður brautir mær.

En ef þú kannt lengra fram at spyrja, þá veit ek eigi, hvaðan þér kemr þat, fyrir því at engan mann heyrða ek lengra segja fram aldarfarit, ok njóttu nú sem þú namt."

54. Frá Ganglera.

Því næst heyrði Gangleri dyni mikla hvern veg frá sér ok leit út á hlið sér. Ok þá er hann sést meir um, þá stendr hann úti á sléttum velli, sér þá enga höll ok enga borg. Gengr hann þá leið sína braut ok kemr heim í ríki sitt ok segir þau tíðendi, er hann hefir sét ok heyrt, ok eftir honum sagði hverr maðr öðrum þessar sögur.

En æsir setjast þá á tal ok ráða ráðum sínum ok minnast á þessar frásagnir allar, er honum váru sagðar, ok gefa nöfn þessi in sömu, er áðr váru nefnd, mönnum ok stöðum þeim, er þar váru, til þess, at þá er langar stundir liði, at menn skyldu ekki ifast í, at allir væru einir þeir æsir, er nú var frá sagt, ok þessir, er þá váru þau sömu nöfn gefin. Þar var þá Þórr kallaðr, ok er sá Ása-Þórr inn gamli.