NANNA. Nanna weeps with pallid feature
O’er the mighty Balder slain:
Friend of gods and every creature!
Fate alone has prov’d thy bane.
CHORUS. Friend of gods and every creature!
Fate alone has prov’d thy bane.
MANY VOICES answer one another among the rocks. The
mighty Balder is dead!
CONCLUDING CHORUS. Thunders, burst your cloudy portals!
Heaven, earth, and ocean rave!
Weep and howl, ye gods and mortals,
O’er the mighty Balder’s grave.
EXPLANATION OF THE MYTHOLOGICAL WORDS AND NAMES.
ALLFATHER was one of Odin’s surnames, but it signifies in this piece the highest being, who governs all things, and Odin himself.
ALF, a spirit; the same as Demon amongst the Greeks. There were good and bad Alf’s or Elves, light and black, as the Edda calls them.
ASER, was one of Odin’s surnames, and on that account the name of Aser was given to all the gods.
ASGARD, the castle or city of the gods, erected by Odin and his brothers.
THE FALL OF ASGARD. At the end of the world the heavens were to burst, and the castle of the gods to fall.