Page:Younger Edda (Anderson, 1880).djvu/152

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Drops of venom
Fall through the loop-holes.
Of serpents' backs
The hall is made.

There shall wade
Through heavy streams
Perjurers
And murderers.

But in Hvergelmer it is worst.

There tortures Nidhug
The bodies of the dead.[1]

58. Then said Ganglere: Do any gods live then? Is there any earth or heaven? Har answered: The earth rises again from the sea, and is green and fair. The fields unsown produce their harvests. Vidar and Vale live. Neither the sea nor Surt's fire has harmed them, and they dwell on the plains of Ida, where Asgard was before. Thither come also the sons of Thor, Mode and Magne, and they have Mjolner. Then come Balder and Hoder from Hel. They all sit together and talk about the things that happened aforetime,—about the Midgard-serpent and the Fenris-wolf. They find in the grass those golden tables which the asas once had. Thus it is said:

Vidar and Vale
Dwell in the house of the gods,

When quenched is the fire of Surt.
  1. Elder Edda: The Vala's Prophecy, 40, 41.