The children of Odin - Germanic Mythology

THE SWORD OF THE VOLSUNGS 281
venom over him, and blinded and choked and burnt, Thor, the
World's Defender, perished.
Loki sprang from his ship and strove with Heimdall, the
Warder of the Rainbow Bridge and the Watcher for the Gods.
Loki slew Heimdall and was slain by him.
Bravely fought Tyx, the God who had sacrificed his swordhand
for the binding of the Wolf. Bravely he fought, and many
of the powers of evil perished by his strong left hand. But
Garm, the hound with bloody jaws, slew Tyr.
And now the riders of Muspelheim came down on the field.
Bright and gleaming were all their weapons. Before them and
behind them went wasting fires. Surtur cast fire upon the earth
the tree Ygdrassil took fire and burned in aU its great branches
the World Tree was wasted in the blaze. But the fearful fire that
Surtur brought on the earth destroyed him and all his host.
The Wolf Hati caught up on Sol, the Sun; the Wolf
Managarm seized on Mani, the Moon; they devoured them;
stars fell, and darkness came down on the world.
HE seas flowed over the burnt and wasted earth
and the skies were dark above the sea, for Sol
and Mani were no more. But at last the seas
drew back and earth appeared again, green and
beautiful. A new Sun and a new Moon appeared
in the heavens, one a daughter of Sol and the other
a daughter of Mani. No grim wolves kept them in pursuit.
Four of the yoxmger Gk)ds stood on the highest of the world's