The thunder and the rumble came this time from within the earth. The great earth trembled and shook. Great gaping mouths opened and swallowed up the children; the mountains crumbled and fell; the great serpent lashed the sea; the great rocks rocked and swayed and tore themselves apart. Loke and the Fenris-wolf, freed from their fetters, sprang forth, burning with hate and wild for vengeance. The Frost giants already were upon the rainbow bridge. A terrible battle followed. The gods fell, one by one: Thor by the deadly flood of poison from the Midgard serpent; Tyre in the great jaws of the Fenris-wolf, who, ages before, had torn from him his strong right hand. And now the battle was over. The gods lay dead--even Odin. The shining city of Asgard was a blackened, smoking ruin; the rainbow bridge was gone. The giants sent forth their cold winds, howling with cruel glee. Loke's evil heart was glad; the great serpent lashed the waters mountain high; and the earth-people perished in the flood. The Fenris-wolf stretched its great jaw from heaven to earth and shook the skies. There was a strange hush! A great ball of fire had fallen upon the battle field. There was a sudden rush of air! A great wave of heat spread out across all space! A burst of thunder! A crackling as of fire! Then one hiss, and the whole earth was one great scorching blaze. One second--a fierce red tongue of flame had shot up the trunk of Ygdrasil, and it fell, a mass of blackened ashes. The sea hissed and steamed. The earth melted. The Frost giants, Loke, the serpent, the Fenris-wolf, all, all were wrapped in flame. A second more, and there was no living thing in all the earth. For Ragnarok, the Reign of Fire, had come; and with it came an end to Life--and end alike to gods and giants; an end to all creatures of the land and sea; an end even to the great earth itself. VOCABULARY. As'gard: (s like z) Abode of the gods. Ask: The first woman; made from a tree. Baldur: (Bal'-dur) The god of summer sunshine. Bauge: (Boúgh-ge: hard g) A giant brother of Suttung. Brá-ge: (a as in far: hard ge) A son of Odin and famed for wisdom and eloquence. Brok: (pronounced Brock) A dwarf. Bölverk: (o like e in heard, Bél-verk) A name assumed by Odin. Elle: Old age. Embla: The first man; made from a tree. Fenris wolf: Monster wolf, son of Loki. Frigg: Wife of Odin. Frey: (Fray) Ruler over the light elves. Frey-ja: (e as in let, j like y, Fréy-ya) Sister of Frey; half the fallen in battle belonged to her. Fímbul: The terrible winter just before the destruction of the earth. Gold-fax: Hrungner's horse. Huge: (Hoó-ge: hard g) Thought. Hödor: (o as e in heard, Hö'-der) The slayer of Baldur. Hrung-ner: (Hroon'-gner) A giant. Hy'-mer: A giant, owner of the kettle, Mile-deep. Idun: (Idoon) Keeper of the Apples of Youth. I-fing: Name of a river. Jötunheim: (j like y, o like e in heard: Yér-toon-heém) Home of the giants. Loke, or Loki: (Lo-ke) The evil giant god.