[55]. This and the following stanza are clearly in bad shape. In Regius only lines 1 and 4 are found, combined with stanza 56 as a single stanza. Line 1 does not appear in the Hauksbok version, the stanza there beginning with line 2. Snorri, in quoting these two stanzas, omits 55, 2–4, and 56, 3, making a single stanza out of 55, 1, and 56, 4, 2, 1, in that order. Moreover, the Hauksbok manuscript at this point is practically illegible. The lacuna (line 3) is, of course, purely conjectural, and all sorts of arrangements of the lines have been attempted by editors. Hlothyn: another name for Jorth (“Earth”), Thor’s mother; his father was Othin. The snake: Mithgarthsorm; cf. stanza 5c and note. Othin’s son: Thor. The fourth line in Regius reads “against the wolf,” but if this line refers to Thor at all, and not to Vithar, the Hauksbok reading, “serpent,” is correct.
[56]. The warder of earth: Thor. The son of Fjorgyn: again [[24]]Thor, who, after slaying the serpent, is overcome by his venomous breath, and dies. Fjorgyn appears in both a masculine and a feminine form. In the masculine it is a name for Othin; in the feminine, as here and in Harbarthsljoth, 56, it apparently refers to Jorth.
[57]. With this stanza ends the account of the destruction.
[58]. Again the refrain-stanza (cf. stanza 44 and note), abbreviated in both manuscripts, as in the case of stanza 49. It is probably misplaced here.
[59]. Here begins the description of the new world which is to rise out of the wreck of the old one. It is on this passage that a few critics have sought to base their argument that the poem is later than the introduction of Christianity (circa 1000), but this theory has never seemed convincing (cf. introductory note).
[60]. The third line of this stanza is not found in Regius. Ithavoll: cf. stanza 7 and note. The girdler of earth: Mithgarthsorm, [[25]]who, lying in the sea, surrounded the land. The Ruler of Gods: Othin. The runes were both magic signs, generally carved on wood, and sung or spoken charms.
[61]. The Hauksbok version of the first two lines runs:
“The gods shall find there, | wondrous fair,
The golden tables | amid the grass.”
No lacuna (line 4) is indicated in the manuscripts. Golden tables: cf. stanza 8 and note.