Loud barks Garm At Gnipa-cave; The fetters are severed, The wolf is set free,— Vala knows the future. More does she see Of the victorious gods’ Terrible fall. Then Vidar, the great son Of Victory’s father, Goes forth to fight With the ferocious beast; With firm grasp his sword In the giant-born monster’s heart Deep he plants, And avenges his father. Then the famous son[89] Of Hlodyn[90] comes; Odin’s son comes To fight with the serpent; Midgard’s ward[91] In wrath slays the serpent. Nine paces away Goes the son of Fjorgyn; He totters, wounded By the fierce serpent. All men Abandon the earth. The sun darkens, The earth sinks into the ocean: The lucid stars From heaven vanish; Fire and vapor Rage toward heaven; High flames Involve the skies. Loud barks Garm At Gnipa-cave; The fetters are severed, The wolf is set free,— Vala knows the future. More does she see Of the victorious gods’ Terrible fall. These strophes are taken from Völuspá (the prophecy of the vala); and besides these we also have a few strophes of the lay of Vafthrudner, in the Elder Edda, referring to the final conflict: VAFTHRUDNER: Tell me, Gagnraad,[92] Since on the floor thou wilt Prove thy proficiency, How that plain is called, Where in fight shall meet Surt and the gentle gods? GAGNRAAD (ODIN): Vigrid the plain is called, Where in fight shall meet Surt and the gentle gods; A hundred rasts it is On every side. That plain is to them decreed. And in the second part of this same poem, in which Odin asks and Vafthrudner answers: GAGNRAAD (ODIN): What of Odin will The end of life be, When the powers perish? VAFTHRUDNER: