CHAPTEE V 



THE EDDA MYTHOLOGY {continued) 

 The Underworld 



All that was described in the last chapter belonged to 

 the present world, to the aspects of nature as they 

 might be seen in Norway or Sweden, the birthplaces of 

 the ancestral belief of the Norsemen ; or as they might 

 be seen in the storm -vexed lands to which the Vikings 

 made their way, and which were the actual birthplaces 

 of the Edda poetry that has come into our hands. 



But the thoughts of our northern forefathers were 

 very much concerned (as indeed are most mythologies) 

 with the world beyond the grave — call it Underworld 

 or Outer world as you will — which was a place to be 

 reached by a journey towards the bowels of the earth, 

 or one to which the soul travelled by a long journey 

 on the earth. 



The contact of the Vikings with the Christians, who, 

 of course, were full of thoughts and teachings concern- 

 ing the future state, was sure to intensify the former's 

 interest on these points. For, as a matter of fact, no 

 one among the Christian nationalities was more con- 

 cerned with speculations — ay, and visions — touching the 

 future state than just that nationality with which the 



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