Viktor Rydberg's Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Vol. II

53. The Law of Blood-revenge pertains even to the gods, but in Asgard no one
could be found who did not regard Hödur as innocent or who would rob Odin of another
son. A holy law thus appeared to have been frustrated by the gods themselves.
54. Odin’s Journey to the Underworld. Odin saddled Sleipnir and rode down to
the underworld from the north through Niflhel towards the realms of Mimir and Urd. In
Niflhel, the shade of the frost-giant Hrossthjof, Gullveig's brother, informed Odin that he
would rear a son with Rind in western halls, who would be his brother's slayer. A hound
of Niflhel, bloody on the breast, met him and followed him, barking at the high horseman
until he came to the border of Mimir's realm. Odin sought out Mimir, conjuring the wise
ruler of the fields of bliss in the underworld to tell what he knew regarding whether the
world would, after Baldur's death, go on to meet its fate.
55. Odin’s Eye in Mimir’s Well. Self-sacrifice was required to find the key to the
riddle. The answer lay in the depths of the well of wisdom, at which Odin tore out an eye
and cast it down therein. The eye peered into the future, but what it saw, Odin first had to
confirm with Urd.
56. Odin at the Snowy Grave. Odin rode farther and came to the place where the
remains of Gullveig had been laid to rest. Along the way, there was a splendid castle built
by Mimir's sons. Odin saw a lovely hall, hung with tapestries and lavishly ornamented
with golden treasure. The grave of the "primeval-cold" frost-giant's daughter was
shrouded by snow. Otherwise, winter never found its way into Mimir's realm. With a
chanted formula, Odin conjured her, and she repeated her brother Hrossthjof's words.
57. The Asmegir and the Underworld Breidablik. 22 The palace Odin saw had a
remarkably important destiny. Here, Mimir preserves untainted human beings for a
coming age; for he knows the future and from the foreboding signs concluded that a
frightful age was impending in which all of Ask and Embla's descendants would be
spoiled by misfortune and sin. In Midgard, he sought two benevolent children, Lif and
Lifthrasir. For them and for Baldur, whose fate he foresaw, he had his sons build a
splendid hall surrounded by a grove in the land of the rosy dawn. Delling, the elf of the
dawn's first blush, is its watchman. Sindri-Dvalin and his smiths made the artful gate.
Sorrow and sin, old age and infirmity can never come inside. The children, nourished
with the power-giving morning dew from Yggdrasil's crown, wait for Baldur. The drink
that gives the dead renewed strength is already poured for him in their hall.
58. Urd Prophesies for Odin Concerning Ragnarök. Odin rode farther until he
came to the well of the three Norns, where he bade Urd provide a solution to the riddle
which weighed on him. Urd answered that she knew that he had hidden his eye in the
well of wisdom and thus already knew what he needed to know. Odin laid the treasures
of Valhall at her feet and bade her again to answer the question. Then she sang a frightful
yet consoling song for him, regarding Ragnarök and the renewal of the world. 23
59. Baldur’s Funeral Pyre. Baldur's pyre was built on his ship Hringhorni. Odin
bore his son's body in his arms and laid him on the pyre. When Nanna saw this, she sank
down with a broken heart and lay on the pyre beside her husband. Odin placed the ring
22 Rydberg identifies Baldur's residence Breidablik with the hall in the underworld that houses Lif and
Lifthrasir. Grímnismál 12 informs us that Breidablik is where "liggja veit fæsta feiknstafi," the fewest evil
runes lie.
23 The song she sang is Völuspá.