[Footnote 4: The account of the origin of these giants, as given in the prose _Edda_, is very graphic, and may be not inaptly quoted here:--"When the rivers that are called Elivagar had flowed far from their sources," replied Har, "the venom which they rolled along; hardened, as does dross that runs from a furnace, and became ice. When the rivers flowed no longer, and the ice stood still, the vapour arising from the venom gathered over it and froze to rime; and in this manner were formed in Ginnungagap many layers of congealed vapour, piled one over the other."--"That part of Ginnungagap," added Jafnhar, "that lies towards the north, was thus filled with heavy masses of gelid vapour and ice, whilst everywhere within were whirlwinds and fleeting mists. But the southern part of Ginnungagap was lighted by the sparks and flakes that flew into it from Muspellheim.... When the heated blast met the gelid vapour, it melted into drops, and, by the might of him who sent the heat, these drops quickened into life, and took a human semblance. The being thus formed was named Ymir, from whom descend the race of the Frost-giants (Hrim-thursar), as it is said in the Völuspá, 'From Vidolph came all witches; from Vilmeith all wizards; from Svarthöfdi all poison-seekers; and all giants from Ymir.'"--See Mallet's _Northern Antiquities_, edit. Bohn, p. 402.] [Footnote 5: That beautiful expression of Æschylus occurs to me, so impossible adequately to clothe in English: ἁνηριθμον γελασμα κυματων. Who that has spent a calm summer day upon the sea, has not realized its force and delicate beauty?] The iceberg melts away, but not without leaving well-marked traces of its existence. If it disappear in mid-ocean, the mud and boulders, with which it was charged, are scattered athwart the sea-bottom. Blocks of stone may thus be carried across profound abysses, and deposited hundreds of miles from the parent hill; and it should be noticed, that this is the only way, so far as we know, in which such a thing could be effected. Great currents could sweep masses of rock down into deep gulfs, but could not sweep them up again, far less repeat this process for hundreds of miles. Such blocks could only be transported by being lifted up at the one place and set down at the other; and the only agent we know of, capable of carrying such a freight, is the iceberg. In this way, the bed of the sea in northern latitudes must be covered with a thick stratum of mud and sand, plentifully interspersed with boulders of all sizes, and its valleys must gradually be filled up as year by year the deposit goes on.