GEOLOGY. 029 



In the Scandinavian mythology we discover some 

 pictures of the great events which then took place in the 

 earth and in the heavens. The Edda paints the ravages of 

 the volcanic eruptions and of the waves of a wild and 

 untamed ocean. This collection even contains some rhap- 

 sodical descriptions of oin- cataclysms. This is the char- 

 acter of the prophecies of the Vala, where it borrows its 

 principal images from the sombre catastrophe of the deluge. 

 The inspired sybil relates that at this time the sun rose in 

 the south, and that the east was invaded by polar ices. 

 M. Klee considers that these assertions support the theory 

 of a change in the axis of the globe. ^ 



Naturalists are almost agreed as to the cause of the 

 great deluge; but their opinions vary greatly as to the 

 epoch to Avhicli we should refer the appearance of America 

 and the antiquity of the human species. Here modern 

 science relapses into speculation. 



As our cataclysms indicate the different stages of a 

 ceaseless force, it is evident that others still menace us. 

 Everything indeed seems to foretell that ages to come will 

 see other plutonic phenomena display themselves, and new 

 systems of mountains arise. Hence as the upheavals follow 



system also explained the ancient traditions of the Egyptian priests, in which it 

 is said that formerly the sun rose where now it sets. — Harmonies de la Nature, 

 Paris, 1806, t. ii. p. 96. 



1 The following are fragments of the prophecies of the Vala drawn from the 

 Scandinavian Edda, in which allusion is made to the convulsions of the globe: — 



" I remember," says the sybil, "nine worlds and nine heavens. Before the sons 

 of Bor (the gods) raised the globes, they who created the gleaming Midgaard, the 

 sun shone in the south. In the east was seated the old woman in the forest of iron 

 (the polar ices). The sun is covered with clouds, the earth sinks in the sea, the 

 shining stars disappear from the heavens, clouds of smoke enveloji the all-nourish- 

 ing tree, lofty flames mount even to heaven; the sea rears itself violently towards 

 the skies and passes over the lands. Neither earth nor sun exist any longer, the 

 air is overcome by glittering streams. . . . she (the sybil) for the second time sees 

 the earth, covered with verdure, rise from the sea." — Fr. Klee. Le Deluge, p. 223. 



