This Canto does not require notes, but as it may amuse the reader to compare the history of the destruction and reproduction of the world with the account thereof given in the Edda, I here subjoin some extracts from the two chapters above mentioned, following Finn Magnussen’s translation. I think the reader will remark some resemblance between certain parts of this Canto and certain parts of the Apocalypse. The battle between Thor and the Serpent Jormundgard is not unlike the combat between the Archangel Michael and the great dragon; and the palace of Gimle, the future abode of the blessed, presents an image of the new Jerusalem.
EXTRACTS FROM THE VAFTRUDNISMAL
(Discourse of Vaftrudner).
The wolf (Fenris) shall swallow up
The father of time (Odin);
But Vidar shall avenge him,
And tear the monster’s jaws asunder.
…
A daughter shall be born
Of the old sun,[104]