There were not yet any human beings upon the earth, when one day, as the sons of Bor (Odin, Hœner and Loder) were walking along the sea-beach, they found two trees and created from them the first human pair, man and woman. Odin gave them life and spirit, Hœner endowed them with reason and the power of motion, and Loder gave them blood, hearing, vision and a fair complexion. The man they called Ask, and the woman Embla. The newly created pair received from the gods Midgard as their abode; and from Ask and Embla is descended the whole human family. Thus the Elder Edda, in Völuspá. The asas met On Ida’s plains; They altars raised And temples built; Furnaces they established, Precious things forged, Their strength they tried In many ways When making tongs And forming tools. On the green they played In joyful mood, Nor knew at all The want of gold, Until there came Three giant maids Exceeding strong From Jotunheim. Then all the powers Went to the throne, The holy gods, And held consult Who should of dwarfs The race then fashion From the livid bones And blood of the giant. Modsogner, chief Of the dwarfish race, And Durin, too, Were then created; And like to men Dwarfs in the earth Were formed in numbers As Durin ordered. And then there came Out of the ranks, Powerful and fair, Three asas home, And found on shore, In helpless plight, Ask and Embla,[33] Without their fate. They had not yet Spirit or mind, Blood or beauty Or lovely hue. Odin gave spirit, Hœner gave mind, Loder gave blood And lovely hue. SECTION VII. THE GODS AND THEIR ABODES.