One second—a fierce red tongue of flame had shot up the trunk of Ygdrasil, and it fell, a mass of blackened ashes. The sea hissed and steamed. The earth melted. The Frost giants, Loke, the serpent, the Fenris-wolf, all, all were wrapped in flame. A second more, and there was no living thing in all the earth. For Ragnarok, the Reign of Fire, had come; and with it came an end to Life—and end alike to gods and giants; an end to all creatures of the land and sea; an end even to the great earth itself.
VOCABULARY.
As’gard: (s like z) Abode of the gods.
Ask: The first woman; made from a tree.
Baldur: (Băl′-dur) The god of summer sunshine.
Bauge: (Boúgh-ge: hard g) A giant brother of Suttung.
Brá-ge: (a as in far: hard ge) A son of Odin and famed for wisdom and eloquence.