The end of the world will be preceded by
the axe-age and the sword-age. Weapons will be wielded and destroyed; following it is a
wind-age and a wolf-age before the inevitable doom of Ragnarok. Winter will take its toll
for three consecutive years without the summer interfering to bring its people mercy.
Three other winters will make their presence known. Midgard will be at war during this
time. Father and son will engage in battle against one another. Siblings will partake in
incestuous acts. Mothers will abandon their husbands and seduce their own sons; while
brothers rip at each others' hearts.
The wolves Skoll and Hati Hrodvitnisson
will swallow the sun and the moon, bringing total darkness into the world. The starry
heavens will fall, the earth will tremble; mountains and trees will crumble to the ground.
Monsters will break free from the fetters that bind them; and the wild hunt will begin.
The Fenrir wolf will run loose dragging
its jaws upon the earth and the heavens above. The Midgard serpent will revolt and cause
the waters to overflow the shores. It will spew its deadly venom in the world around him.
In the north the Naglfar ship will be set
free from its chains steered by Hymr. He will be accompanied by a crew of giants.
Loki will escape his bonds and sail
northbound on a ship bearing the sons of Hel. In the south, Surt, the keeper of Muspell,
will ride across Bifrost until it crumbles beneath him.
The horns of Heimdall will ring across
the nine worlds warning the gods of the danger ahead. The Yggdrasil tree will tremble. A
man and a woman will seek shelter under its quivering leaves as the earth beneath them
quakes at the sound of war. Soon after, Odin will ride away on his horse Sleipnir to
consult the head of Mimir for advice on the course of action to be taken. The warriors in
Valhalla will be sent to the plane of Vigrid with Odin as their leader.
Odin will charge against the Fenrir wolf,
but All-father will fall prey to the creature's deadly jaws and be swallowed. Odin's son
Vidar will courageously avenge his father's death by stepping on Fenrir's jaw with his
foot. (He wears a special shoe made of pieces of leather that have been offered to the
gods). Vidar will snatch the upper jaw of the wolf and tear it asunder.
Thor will battle against the Midgard
serpent and successfully slay it. He will take nine steps back and die from the poisonous
fumes the serpent spews forth.
The god Frey will fight against the
guardian of Muspell. He will fall victim to the giant Surt since he has given away his
sword to his messenger Skirnir. Tyr, the god of war, will attack the hound of Hel, Garm,
while Loki and Heimdall engage in combat and die by each other's hand.
The nine worlds under the Yggdrasil tree
will become a blazing inferno. All the gods of the Aesir and Vanir will die, as well as
the inhabitants of all the realms that lie beneath the great Ash tree. The sky will fall
into a pit of flame and the earth will sink into the sea.
A new beginning will come after the
world's destruction. The earth will emerge out of the sea and flourish vigorously. The
sons and daughters of the Aesir and Vanir will survive Ragnarok and meet in council on the
plain of Ida, where Asgard used to be.
Odin's sons, Vidar and Vali will meet
there and the sons of Thor will join them and be heirs of their fathers hammer, Mjollnir.
The beloved god Baldr and his brother Hod will return fron Hel and join the rest, while
Hoenir will predict what is to become of the new world.
Bor's sons, Vili and Ve, will be sent to
the heavens to rule with the rest. The new ruling gods will congregate and recall past
memories of Ragnarok. Treasures that once belonged to the Aesir will be found scattered on
grassy plains and will be looked upon with great amazement.
Gimle will once more house the gods in
peace and bounty. Good and evil, however, will not cease to exist, for there will be a
region in Hel called Nastrond, the shore of the dead. The dragon Nidhogg will survive the
fiery doom and continue to gnaw on the bodies of the deceased.
The man and woman who sought shelter
under the branches of Yggdrasil will be called Lif and Lifthrasir. They will nourish
themselves with dew drops and give birth to many children to repopulate the earth.
From the great Ash new rays of light will
come from the skies above, for, a daughter was born by the sun before the wolf swallowed
her in the dawn of Ragnarok. This is how it all has ended; and this is how the world
begins.
