Northern mythology

NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 153
rock; as not until then will either good men inhabit
Gimli, or the elves Andlang and Vi^blain. Not until
after Ragnarock, will men^ elves^ and giants, the beings
who till then had dwelt on earth_, come to their heavenly
abodes. This is, moreover, clear from the circumstance,
that not till the conclusion of the chapter above-mentioned
of Gylfaginning, is there any mention of the heavens,
Andlang and Vidblain, but previously the abode of the
Light-elves in Alfheim is spoken of.
Heaven and Earth.—The ideas of these are formed
in accordance with their seeming figure.
the ocean, on which Utgard bordered.
Outermost was
In the middle of
the earth was Midgard. Above all Asgard raised its
head, first on earth, but afterwards, it would seem, transferred
to heaven. This scheme is a perfect image of the
Thing, or popular assembly, around the king's exalted
seat. He was immediately encircled by his priests and
officials as Odin by the iEsir. Without them stood the
people or free men ; outermost of all was the circle of
thralls. In like manner the holy offering-tree, with its
three branches and its sacred spring, whence oracles were
issued, was transferred to heaven. By one of YggdrasiPs
roots are the spring and dwelling of the Norns ^, like the
priestesses or Valas on earth.
There the will of the fates
is to be learned, to which even the gods themselves are
subjected ; by another of its roots is Mimir's spring ^,
where is the wisdom of the deep ; by the third root are
serpents, herein also resembling the earthly tree, by which
serpents were fed.
Between the giants and the gods there
is a river named Ifing, which never freezes^, that is, the
atmosphere ; but from the abode of men a bridge leads
up to the latter, herein again resembling the earthly
temples, built probably on an isle, and accessible only over
a sacred bridge. The guardian of the bridge was Heim-
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