2 Chapter I. 



Then, in the dawn of history, far away in the south, 

 the awakening spirit of man reared its head on high 

 and gazed over the earth. To the south it encountered 

 warmth, to the north, cold ; and behind the boundaries 

 of the unknown, it placed in imagination the twin 

 kingdoms of consuming heat and of deadly cold. 



But the limits of the unknown had to recede step by 

 step before the ever-increasing yearning after light and 

 knowledge of the human mind, till they made a stand in 

 the north at the threshold of Nature's great Ice Temple 

 of the polar regions with their endless silence. 



Up to this point no insuperable obstacles had opposed 

 the progress of the advancing hosts, which confidently 

 proceeded on their way. But here the ramparts of ice 

 and the long darkness of winter brought them to 

 bay. Host after host marched on towards the north, 

 only to suffer defeat. Fresh ranks stood ever ready 

 to advance over the bodies of their predecessors. 

 Shrouded in fog lay the mythic land of Nivlheim, 

 where the " Rimturser " r carried on their wild gambols. 



Why did we continually return to the attack ? There 

 in the darkness and cold stood Helheim, where the 

 death-goddess held her sway ; there lay Nastrand, the 

 shore of corpses. Thither, where no living being could 

 draw breath, thither troop after troop made its way. To 

 what end ? Was it to bring home the dead, as did 



* Frost-giants. 



