Gylfaginning

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Norns; but there are many norns: those who come to each child that is born, to
appoint his life; these are of the race of the gods, but the second are of the
Elf-people, and the third are of the kindred of the dwarves, as it is said
here:

     Most sundered in birth       I say the Norns are;
           They claim no common kin:
     Some are of Ćsir-kin,       some arc of Elf-kind,
           Some are Dvalinn's daughters."

Then said Gangleri: "If the Norns determine the weirds of men, then they
apportion exceeding unevenly, seeing that some have a pleasant and luxurious
life, but others have little worldly goods or fame; some have long life, others
short." Hárr said: "Good norns and of honorable race appoint good life; but
those men that suffer evil fortunes are governed by evil norns."
XVI. Then said Gangleri: "What more mighty wonders are to be told of the Ash?"
Hárr replied: "Much is to be told of it. An eagle sits in the limbs of the Ash,
and he has understanding of many a thing; and between his eyes sits the hawk
that is called Vedrfölnir. The squirrel called Ratatöskr runs up and down the
length of the Ash, bearing envious words between the eagle and Nídhöggr; and
four harts run in the limbs of the Ash and bite the leaves. They are called
thus: Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, Durathrór. Moreover, so many serpents are in
Hvergelmir with Nídhöggr, that no tongue can tell them, as is here said:

Ash Yggdrasill suffers anguish,
More than men know of:

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     The stag bites above;       on the side it rotteth,
           And Nídhöggr gnaws from below.

And it is further said:

     More serpents lie       under Yggdrasill's stock
           Than every unwise ape can think:
     Góinn and Móinn       (they're Grafvitnir's sons),
           Grábakr and Grafvölludr;
     Ófnir and Sváfnir       I think shall aye
           Tear the trunk's twigs.

It is further said that these Norns who dwell by the Well of Urdr take water of
the well every day, and with it that clay which lies about the well, and
sprinkle it over the Ash, to the end that its limbs shall not wither nor rot;
for that water is so holy that all things which come there into the well become
as white as the film which lies within the egg-shell,--as is here said:

     I know an Ash standing       called Yggdrasill,
     A high tree sprinkled       with snow-white clay;
     Thence come the dews       in the dale that fall-
     It stands ever green       above Urdr's Well.

That dew which falls from it onto the earth is called by men honey-dew, and
thereon are bees nourished. Two fowls are fed in Urdr's Well: they are called
Swans, and from those fowls has come the race of birds which is so called."
XVII. Then said Gangleri: "Thou knowest many tidings to tell of the heaven.
What chief abodes are there more than at Urdr's Well?" Hárr said: "Many places
are there,

31
and glorious. That which is called Álfheimr (1) is one, where dwell the peoples
called Light-Elves; but the Dark-Elves dwell down in the earth, and they are
unlike in appearance, but by far more unlike in nature. The Light-Elves are
fairer to look upon than the sun, but the Dark-Elves are blacker than pitch.
Then there is also in that place the abode called Breidablik, (2) and there is
not in heaven a fairer dwelling. There, too, is the one called Glitnir, (3)
whose walls, and all its posts and pillars, are of red gold, but its roof of
silver. There is also the abode called Himinbjörg; (4) it stands at heaven's
end by the bridge-head, in the place where Bifröst joins heaven. Another great
abode is there, which is named Valaskjálf; (5) Odin possesses that dwelling;
the gods made it and thatched it with sheer silver, and in this hall is the
Hlidskjálf, (6) the high-seat so called. Whenever Allfather sits in that seat,
he surveys all lands. At the southern end of heaven is that hall which is
fairest of all, and brighter than the sun; it is called Gimlé. (7) It shall
stand when both heaven and earth have departed; and good men and of righteous
conversation shall dwell therein: so it is said in Völuspá:

     A hall I know standing       than the sun fairer,
     Thatched with gold       in Gimlé bright;
     There shall dwell       the doers of righteousness
     And ever and ever       enjoy delight."

Then said Gangleri: "What shall guard this place, when the flame of Surtr shall
consume heaven and earth?" Hárr

1. Elf-home. 2. Broad-gleaming. 3. Glittering. 4. Heaven-crag. 5. Seat or shelf
of the Fallen. 6. Gate-seat. 7. Either dative of Himill = Heaven (?) (Cl.-
Vig.), or Gem-decked (Bugge).

32

answered: "It is said that another heaven is to the southward and upward of
this one, and it is called Andlangr; (1) but the third heaven is yet above
that, and it is called Vidbláinn, (2) and in that heaven we think this abode
is. But we believe that none but Light-Elves inhabit these mansions now."
XVIII. Then said Gangleri: "Whence comes the wind? It is strong, so that it
stirs great seas, and it swells fire; but, strong as it is, none may see it,
for it is wonderfully shapen." Then said Hárr: "That I am well able to tell
thee. At the northward end of heaven sits the giant called Hrćsvelgr: he has
the plumes of an eagle, and when he stretches his wings for flight, then the
wind rises from under his wings, as is here said:

     Hrćsvelgr hight he       who sits at heaven's ending,
           Giant in eagle's coat;
     From his wings, they say,       the wind cometh
           All men-folk over."

XIX. Then said Gangleri: "Why is there so much difference, that summer should
be hot, but winter cold?" Hárr answered: "A wise man would not ask thus, seeing
that all are able to tell this; but if thou alone art become so slight of
understanding as not to have heard it, then I will yet permit that thou
shouldst rather ask foolishly once, than that thou shouldst be kept longer in
ignorance of a thing which it is proper to know. He is called Svásudr (3) who
is father of Summer; and he is of pleasant nature, so that from his name
whatsoever is pleasant is called 'sweet.'

1. Wide-reaching, extensive. 2. Wide-blue. 3. Delightful.
 



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