The children of Odin - Germanic Mythology

104 CHILDREN OF ODIN
"And I have counselled the dwellers on earth to cut off the
finger-nails and the toe-nails of their dead, lest from those finger-
nails and toe-nails the Giants make for themselves the ship
Naglfar in which they will sail from the North on the day
of Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods.
"More, Vidar, I will tell to thee. I, living amongst men,
have wed the daughter of a hero. My son shall live as a mortal
amongst mortals. Sigi his name shall be. From him shall spring
heroes who will fiU Valhalla, my own hall in Asgard, with heroes
against the day of our strife with the Giants and with Surtur of
the Flaming Sword."
For long Odin stayed in that silent place communing with
his silent son, with Vidar, who with his brother would live
beyond the lives of the Dwellers of Asgard and who would bring
into another day and another world the memory of the ^Esir
and the Vanir. For long Odin spoke with him, and then he went
across the wilderness where the grass and the bushes grew and
where that horse grazed in readiness for the sudden journey. He
went towards the sea-shore where the .lEsir and the Vanir were
r
now gathered for the feast that old ^gir, the Giant King of
the Sea, had offered them.