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118 EELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.
bol of Spirit or Life ; at its root in Hvergelmir lies
NiShogg, the Dragon of Darkness and Death ; but
the squirrel Katatosk * runs up and down the trunk
bearing malignant words between the Eagle and
the Dragon ; contending powers are active in Na-
ture, and deceitful wickedness creeps in with its
slanderous tongue through human life and disturbs
its peace. "The Ash Yggdrasill," says an ancient
poem, "endures more hardships than any one
knows; the harts bite off its branches, its trunk
decays, and NiShogg gnaws at its root." The liv-
ing creation consumes Nature's nourishing power;
its productions dry up and die when their time has
come ;. and what is worst of all, the element of evil
gnaws continually at its deepest root. But the
trunk of the tree is sprinkled over with the sacred,
purifying waters of the celestial fountain, and Ygg-
drasill, with all its sufferings, stands forever green
the life of Nature is sustained and renewed by the
providence of the Celestial Powers. Here again
the niain idea is the grand struggle which goes
through the World-life, the struggle between Spirit
and Matter, between Good and Evil, between Life
and Death.
Beneath that root of the World-tree, which shoots
up from the Jotun's home, there is a well, called,
after its watcher, Mimir's Well, in which Wisdom,
or rather Knowledge, lies concealed. The name
* Probably from rata, to find the way, to come, to go ; and
taska {Germ. Tasehe), a pocket or pouch. The Running Pouch
may express the capacity of a tale-bearer or mjscliief-rnaker,
;