O, my mortal friends and brothers! We are each and all another’s, And the soul that gives most freely from its treasure hath the more; Would you lose your life, you find it, And in giving love, you bind it Like an amulet of safety, to your heart forevermore. THE PROPHECY OF VALA. [Given under the inspiration of Edgar A. Poe.] The Prophecy of Vala is founded on the Scandinavian mythology. Odin, the great All Father, is the sovereign power of the universe; Thor, a lesser god, of whom it is said, “his mighty hammer smote thunder out of every thing.” Baldur was a son of Odin and Frigga. He was slain by Hörder, his blind brother, who was persuaded to the act by Loké, an evil spirit, corresponding to the Hebrew or Christian devil. The Valkyrien were the genii of the battle-field. The three Nornen were the Fates who watered the tree Yggdrasill, at whose roots it is said that a dragon was constantly gnawing. The Heimskringla was the circle of the universe. Vala was a seeress, or prophetess, who was summoned from the dead by Odin, to tell of the fate of Baldur; but on her appearance refused to do so, and to the astonishment of all, prophesied the death of all the sons of Odin at the day of Ragnaroc, which corresponds to the day of judgment, with the exception that it was also the day of reconstruction, or renewal of the world. The Prophecy of Vala, as given in the old Icelandic Edda, has been used with perfect freedom, to present the idea that Good, though apparently overcome of Evil, should ultimately triumph.--_Explanation by Poe._ I have walked with the Fates and the Furies ’mid the wrecks of the mighty Past, I have stood in the giant shadows which the ages have backward cast, And I’ve heard the voices of prophets come down in a lengthening chain, Translating the Truth Eternal, and making its meaning plain; Backward still, ever backward, ’mid wreck and ruin I trod, Seeking Life’s secret sources, and the primal truths of God. “Tell me,” I cried, “O Prophet, thou shade of the mighty Past, What of the Truth in the future? Is its horoscope yet cast? Thou didst give it its birth and being, thou didst cradle it in thy breast-- Show me its shining orbit, and the place of its final rest!” A sound like the restless earthquake! a crash like the “crack of doom”! And a fiery fulmination streamed in through the frightened gloom. I stood in the halls of Odin, and the great All Father shone Like the centre and sun of Being, ’mid the glories of his throne; And Thor, with his mighty hammer, upraised in his giant hand, Stood ready to wake the thunder at his sovereign Lord’s command.