"The Fenris-wolf advances with wide-open mouth; the upper jaw reaches to heaven and the lower jaw is on the earth."
That is to say, the comet extends from the earth to the sun.
"He would open it still wider had he room."
That is to say, the space between the sun and earth is not great enough; the tail of the comet reaches even beyond the earth.
"Fire flashes from his eyes and nostrils."
A recent writer says:
"When bright comets happen to come very near to the sun, and are subjected to close observation under the
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advantages which the fine telescopes of the present day afford, a series of remarkable changes is found to take place in their luminous configuration. First, jets of bright light start out from the nucleus, and move through the fainter haze of the coma toward the sun; and then these jets are turned backward round the edge of the coma, and stream from it, behind the comet, until they are fashioned into a tail."[1]
"The Midgard-serpent vomits forth venom, defiling all the air and the sea; he is very terrible, and places himself side by side with the wolf."