giant of spring storms, corresponding to the dragon Fafner in the JN'ibhmg story,) must be conquered, and Wafurloge (the wall of bickering flames that surrounded the castle) must be penetrated. The fanes symbolize the funeral pyre, for whoever enters the nether world must scorn the fear of death. (Auber Forestier's Echoes from Mistland; Introduction, xliii, xliv.) We also find this story repeated again and again, in numberless variations, in Teutonic folk-lore; for instance, in The Maiden on the Glass Mountain, where the glass mountain takes the place of the bickering flame.
CHAPTER XI.
The tree Lerad (furnishing protection) must be regarded as a branch of Ygdrasil.
CHAPTER XII.
In Heimskringla Skidbladner is called Odin's ship. This is correct. All that belonged to the gods was his also.
CHAPTER XIII.
For a thorough analysis of Thor as a spring god, as the god who dwells in the clouds, as the god of thunder and lightning, as the god of agriculture, in short, as the god of culture, we can do no better than to refer our readers to Der Mythus von Thor, nach Nordischen Quellen, von Ludwig Uhland, Stuttgart, 1836; and to Handbuch der Deutschen Mythologie, mit Einschluss der ]Srordischen, von Karl Simrock, Yierte Auflage, Bonn, 1874.
