The very name is significant. According to Professor Anderson's etymology of the word, it means "the darkness of the gods"; from _regin_, gods, and _rökr_, darkness; but it may, more properly, be derived from the Icelandic, Danish, and Swedish _regn_, a rain, and _rök_, smoke, or dust; and it may mean the rain of dust, for the clay came first as dust; it is described in some Indian legends as ashes. First, there is, as in the tradition of the Druids, page 135, _ante_, the story of an age of crime. The Vala looks upon the world, and, as the "Elder Edda" tells us-- There saw she wade In the heavy streams, Men--foul murderers And perjurers, And them who others' wives Seduce to sin. Brothers slay brothers Sisters' children Shed each other's blood. {p. 142} Hard is the world! Sensual sin grows huge. There are sword-ages, axe-ages; Shields are cleft in twain; Storm-ages, murder ages; Till the world falls dead, And men no longer spare Or pity one another."[1] The world has ripened for destruction; and "Ragnarok," the darkness of the gods, or the rain of dust and ashes, comes to complete the work. The whole story is told with the utmost detail, and we shall see that it agrees, in almost every particular, with what reason assures us must have happened. "There are three winters," or years, "during which great wars rage over the world." Mankind has reached a climax of wickedness. Doubtless it is, as now, highly civilized in some regions, while still barbarian in others. "Then happens that which will seem a great miracle: that _the wolf devours the sun_, and this will seem a great loss." That is, the Comet strikes the sun, or approaches so close to it that it seems to do so. "The other wolf devours the moon, and this, too, will cause great mischief." We have seen that the comets often come in couples or triplets. "The stars shall be hurled from heaven." This refers to the blazing _débris_ of the Comet falling to the earth. "Then it shall come to pass that the earth will shake so violently that trees will be torn up by the roots, the [1. Anderson, "Norse Mythology," p. 416.] {p. 143} mountains will topple down, and all bonds and fetters will be broken and snapped." Chaos has come again. How closely does all this agree with Hesiod's description of the shaking earth and the universal conflict of nature? "The Fenris-wolf gets loose." This, we shall see, is the name of one of the comets. "_The sea rushes over the earth_, for the Midgard-serpent writhes in giant rage, and seeks to gain the land." The Midgard-serpent is the name of another comet; it strives to reach the earth; its proximity disturbs the oceans. And then follows an inexplicable piece of mythology: