Down from the bridge of Bifrost all descend.
There, as a shepherd watches o’er his flock,
Odin, enthroned as judge supreme, appears;
Examines every cause with piercing look;
Enacts new laws; pronounces doom; and hears
What from the nether world his courier Hermod bears.
In this immortal ash an eagle lives;
All things it sees, and straight imparts the same
To Odin’s ravens:[54] but no longer thrives,
Vigilant as before, its look of flame.