More serpents lie
Under Ygdrasil’s ash
Than simpletons think of;
Goin and Moin,
The sons of Grafvitner,
Graabak and Grafvollud,
Ofner and Svafner,
Must for aye, methinks,
Gnaw the roots of that tree.
The norns, who dwell by the Urdar-fount, every day draw water from this spring, and with it, and the clay that lies around the fount, they sprinkle the ash, in order that the boughs may continue green, and not rot and wither away. This water is so holy that everything placed in the spring becomes as white as the film within an egg-shell. Thus the Elder Edda: