Then follows the creation of light, the separation of evening and morning, and the production of organic life, as in the first chapter of Genesis. The Wída grund, or vast abyss, is the Ginnunga gap, yawning gulf, of the Edda, and a very remarkable parallel lies in the assertion that there was no grass anywhere to make green the earth.
The world was created out of the portions of Ymer’s body; but it seems to be a remnant of ancient heathendom when we find in later times a tradition that Man was created out of the great natural portions of the world itself. An ancient Frisic manuscript quoted by Grimm in Haupt’s Altdeutsche Blätter[[768]] says, “God scóp thene éresta meneska, thet was Adam, fon achta wendem; thet bénete fon tha sténe, thet flásk fon there erthe, thet blód fon tha wetere, tha herta fon tha winde, thene thochta fon tha wolken, thene suét fon tha dáwe, tha lokkar fon tha gerse, tha ágene fon there sunna, and tha blérem on thene helga óm.” That is,—God created him of eight things: his bones from stone, his flesh from earth, his blood from water, his heart from wind, his thought from cloud, his sweat from dew, his hair from the grass, his eyes from the sun, and then breathed into him the breath of life. In the prose Salomon and Saturn we are also told that Adam was created of eight pounds by weight: a pound of earth from whence his flesh; a pound of fire, whence his red and hot blood; a pound of wind, whence his breathing; a pound of cloud, whence his unsteadiness of mood; a pound of grace, whence his stature and growth; a pound of blossoms, whence the variety of his eyes; a pound of dew, whence his sweat; and a pound of salt, whence his salt tears[[769]].
But a much more striking proof of heathendom lies in the Anglosaxon belief that after the destruction of this creation a more beautiful one would arise; not only a metaphysical kingdom of heaven, but a concrete world like our own, on a more imposing and glorious scale. It was the belief of the Northmen that in the closing evening of the ages, the Ragna-rauk, or twilight of the Gods, the old Titanic powers would burst their fetters; Loki, the Northern Satan, would be released from his bondage; Midgard’s orm, the serpent that surrounds the world, would rise in his giant fury; the wolf Fenrir would snap his chain and move against the gods; the ship Naglfar, made of the nails of the dead, and steered by Loki, would convey the sons of Muspelheim to Vigrid, the plain on which this heathen Armageddon was to be fought: at their head the terrible Surtr, the black, the destroyer of the gods, beneath whose sword of fire the whole world should perish.
| Kjóll ferr austan, koma munu Muspells um laug lýðir, en Loki stýrir[[770]]. | Eastward the ship shall shape its journey, Muspell’s sons the sea shall travel, o’er the lakes shall Loki steer her. |
Oþinn, Thórr, and the other gods shall perish, but not unrevenged: the wolf and the serpent will fall, one by the hands of Viðarr, Oþinn’s son, the other under the terrible battle-maul of Thórr. The sun and moon and earth will be destroyed, and the ash Yggrdasil wither under the flames of Surtr.
| Sól tekr sortna, sígr fold í mar, hverfa af himni heiðar stjörnur; geisar eimr við aldrnára, leikr hár hiti við himin sjálfan[[771]] | Black wanes the sun, in waves the earth shall sink, from heaven shall fall the friendly stars; round the tree red fire shall rustle, high heat play against the heaven. |
But the Gods will be found again in Iðavelli; the earth will arise again from the ocean; the sun that perished will have left a yet more beauteous daughter to perform her task; the deities will remember their ancient power, and the secrets of the great god; the golden tablets will be found in the grass; Baldr, the slain god, will arise from the tomb; Havdr, that unconsciously slew him, will return with him from the realms of Hel, the goddess of the dead. Viðarr and Vale, sons, or rather new births of Oþinn; Mode and Magne, sons of Thórr, will survive the universal destruction; Allfather’s glorious kingdom will be renewed, and the power of death and evil vanish for ever.
| Sér hon uppkoma öðru sinni, jörð or œgi iðjagrœna[[772]]. | Then sees she rise a second time the world from ocean wondrous green. |
| Eína dóttur berr Álfröðull áðr hana Fenrir fari; sú skal ríða, þá er regin deyja, móður brautir mær[[773]]. | One bright child shall bear Álfröðull, ere her form doth Fenrir ruin; thus shall go, when gods have perished, the maiden on her mother’s journey. |
| Finnask Æsir á Iðavelli, ok um moldþinur mátkan dœma, ok minnask þar á megindóma, ok á fimbultýs fornar rúnar. | Æsir meet in Iðavelli, doom with power the great disasters, there remember mighty judgements, and Fimbultýrs former secrets. |
| Þar munu eptir undrsamligar gullnar töflur í grasi finnask, þærs í árdaga áttar höfðu fólkvaldr goða ok Fjölnis kind. | After, shall be all together found in the grass the golden tablets, which in time past possessed among them gods that ruled the race of Odin. |
| Munu ósánír akrar vaxa, böls mun alls batna, Baldr mun koma; búa þeir Höðr ok Baldr Hropts sigtóptir vel valtivar[[774]]. | Then unsown the swath shall flourish all bale mend, and back come Baldr: with him Höðr dwell in Hropter’s palace, shrines of gods the great and holy. |
| Sal sér hon standa sólu fegra, gulli þakðan á Gimli: þar skolu dyggvar dróttir byggja, ok um aldrdaga ynðis njóta[[775]]. | There sees she stand than sunlight fairer, Gimli’s hall with gold all covered: there the just shall joy for ever, and in pleasure pass the ages. |
The conviction that the virtuous would rejoice with God in a world of happiness was of course not derived by our forefathers merely from their heathendom; but to this we may unhesitatingly refer their belief, that after doomsday the sun and moon would be restored with greater splendour. The Saxon Menology[[776]] says very distinctly:
“At doomsday, when our Lord shall renew all creatures, and all the race of men shall rise again, and never more commit sin, then will the sun shine seven times brighter than she now doth, and she will never set; and the moon will shine as the sun now doth, and never will wane or wax, but stand for ever on his course[[777]].” That this belief was not unknown in Germany may be argued from an expression of Freidank,