Tuatha Dé Danann after the battle. All this has its counterpart in Norse literature:[1] there is the mustering of the powers of evil under the lead of Swart 'the Black One' and of Loki, and, on the other hand, the blast of Heimdal's horn brings the Anses together: Heimdal fights with Loki, Frey with Swart, Woden with the Wolf, who swallows the god, but the latter's son Vidar kills the Wolf. Thor slays the World-dragon, but falls himself from the effects of the venom of the serpent; and lastly Týr fights with the hound Garm, and both die. Then Swart sets fire to the world, and the terrible flame plays against the canopy of heaven. Another fragment which is less allegoric runs thus:[2] "The sunshine shall wax dark, nor shall any summer follow, and all the winds shall turn to blight; the sea shall rise in tempest against the very heaven and cover the land, and the sky shall be rent, and out of it shall come snowstorms and mighty winds. I can see the sea a-fire and the land in flames, and every living thing shall suffer death, when . . . . . . . . . . the powers shall perish." Nevertheless there is to be a restoration, for the sibyl sings that a man and a woman will have survived, feeding on the dew of the morning, and becoming the parents of a new generation of men; for after the fire of Swart a scene follows which is described thus:[3] "I behold Earth rise again with its evergreen forests out of the deep; the waters fall in rapids; above hovers the eagle, that fisher of the falls. The Anses meet on Iᵭa-plain, they talk of the mighty Earth-serpent, and remember the
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VI. GODS, DEMONS AND HEROES.
