Out of the flood, into the flood again,--Niflheim and Muspelheim join hands in the twilight. As in the first beginning of things we saw the strange waves alternately frozen and melted by these antagonistic powers, and out of this antagonism a form--so in Ragnarök we see the flood once more supreme, the rival forces, cold and heat, both fighting against the formed, ordered world--both, because both alike represent elemental forces which must precede formation. So, also, a second time the world emerges out of the struggle, Simrock thinks, a renewed world morally and physically; and certainly it does seem to have made some advance upon the old order of things,--it stands forth beautiful at once. But does this mean any more, we wonder, than the golden age come back, with fate in the back-ground. So many of the same powers seem to be at work in the two worlds, that we can only think of a succession of events in looking at the picture. We see again the golden tables, we see Hödur as well as Baldur. There is one very obscure verse which seems to imply that the giant fate-maidens are in the renewed world. Sons succeed their fathers. Odin's sons inherit Odin's hall; the two mentioned are Vali and Vidar, who were both descended from giantesses, and giants always typify the baser part of nature. Thor's sons retain the badge of warfare. On the other hand, it is said that Höd and Baldur come up _peacefully_ together from the deep; it has been remarked, also, that no Vanir gods (inferior to those of Asgard) are mentioned. There is also a strophe in the Völuspa which talks of peace established, and of heavenly Gimill, gold bedecked, where the righteous people are to dwell for evermore, and enjoy happiness-- "She a Hall sees standing than the sun brighter, With gold bedecked in Gimill. There shall the righteous people dwell, And for evermore happiness enjoy." But again, immediately following these hopeful strains, we are shown the dark-spotted snake--the Eternal Gnawer, with a corpse upon his wings. "The dark dragon flying from beneath, the glistening serpent, On his wings bears Nidhögg, flying o'er the plain a corpse." Our ears are puzzled by the strain, and we cannot catch the melody's last tone. Is it a joy note or a wail? from Gimill's gold roofs, from the shore of corpses? "Who can search into the beginning; who can search into the end?" INDEX OF NAMES, WITH MEANINGS. SELECTED FROM MALLET'S "NORTHERN ANTIQUITIES," AND FROM THORPE'S "NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY." _Ægir_--The King of the Sea. The name means, "to flow." _Æsir_--Gods or Lords. Singular, As or Asa. _Alf_, _Elf_--Alfheim, Elfhome. _Ali_ or _Vali_--The name of one of Loki's children. It signifies, "strong." _Amsvartnir_--Name of a lake. It means, "grief, black, gloomy." _Angurbodi_--The mother of Jörmungand, Hela, and Fenrir. The name signifies, "anguish boding." _Asgard_--Literally, "God's-ward," or "the abode of the gods." _Asyniur_--Goddesses.