Of that fierce struggle, deadly shock,
Which yet should end in Ragnarok;
When Good and Evil, Death and Life,
Beginning now, end then their strife.”
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
Mani was also accompanied by Hiuki, the waxing, and Bil, the waning moon, two children whom he had snatched from earth where a cruel father forced them to carry water all night. Our ancestors fancied they saw these children, the original “Jack and Jill,” with their pail, darkly outlined upon the moon.
The gods not only appointed Sun, Moon, Day, and Night to count out the year, but also called Evening, Midnight, Morning, Forenoon, Noon, and Afternoon to share their duties, making Summer and Winter the rulers of the seasons. Summer, a direct descendant of Svasud (the mild and lovely), inherited his gentle disposition, and was loved by all except Winter, his deadly enemy, the son of Vindsual, himself a son of the disagreeable god Vasud, the personification of the icy wind.
“Vindsual is the name of him
Who begat the winter’s god;
Summer from Suasuthur sprang: