“Thorston then thanked the Dwarf for his presents, and returned to his men, and it was better for him to have made this voyage than to have stayed at home.” HELHEIM AND NIFLEHEIM. The palace of Hela has been already described, on the occasion of Hermod’s visit to his brother Balder.[37] Of Nifleheim no more need be added to what has been already said. None of the mythological beings whom Scandinavia recognised were ambitious of exploring it. Such were the worlds of the pagan Northmen. But before we dismiss this part of our subject, we must advert for a moment to one of more philosophical import,— THE YGGDRASIL. As this is to us at least a mysterious subject (we do not pretend to the faculty of “looking through a millstone”), we shall present it to the reader in the words of Magnussen, and an able critic of our own country. “The principal and most holy place of the gods is at the ash Yggdrasil. This ash is the largest and best of all trees. Its branches spread over the whole world, and reach up over the heaven. The tree has two roots, which extend widely; the one to the Aser, the other to the Frost-giants, where before was Ginnunga-gap; the third stretches over Nifleheim, and by it is Hvergelmer (the abyss), where (the Snake-king) Nidhug gnaws the root beneath. “By the other root, which extends to the Frost-giants, is Mimer’s well, wherein Wisdom and Understanding lie concealed. Mimer, the owner of the well, is full of wisdom; for every morning he drinks from the well out of the Giallar horn. Once came All-Father (Odin) thither, and sought a drink from the well, but attained not his wish, till he gave his eye as a pledge. As it is said, in the Völuspá: “‘All know I, Odin, Where thou hiddest thine eye; In the clear Well of Mimer. Mimer mead Each morning drinks From All-Father’s pledge.’ “By the third root of the ash, which extends to heaven, is the Urdar-fount. By the fount stands a fair dwelling, out of which go the three maids, Urda, Verande, and Skuld. These maids appoint the lifetime of all men, and are called Nornir. Of them, saith the Vala: “‘Thence come maids Much knowing,— Three,—from the lake (or hall) Beneath the tree,’ &c. “The Nornir, who dwell by the Urdar-fount, take each day water from the well, and with it and the mud that is about the well, sprinkle the ash-tree, that its branches may not rot or wither. This water is so holy, that every thing that comes into the well becomes as white as the membrane within an egg-shell. So it is said in the Völuspá,