“ I know that I hung 
Nine whole nights,* * * § 
And to Odhinn offered, 
On a wind-rocked tree, 
With a spear wounded. 
Myself to myself. 
But the present state of things is doomed to destruction in 
consequence of the restless action of the powers of evil, which 
practically constantly war upon it, and threaten to wear it out ; 
and so we read : — 
“ More serpents lie 
Than any one would think 
[Six serpents] the branches 
YggdrasiTs ash. 
Greater than men know of ; 
And in its side it rots. 
Under YggdrasiTs ash. 
Of ignorant apes : 
Ever lacerate. 
Hardship suffers 
A hart bites it above, 
Nidhoggr beneath tears it.” J 
At Ragnarok it trembles and groans, and is burnt in the 
general destruction^ 
12. The Opponents of the Gods. 
Having considered briefly the Norse divinities and the 
general kosmogonic scheme, I pass on to notice the habitual 
opponents of the gods ; in which number I include not merely 
those who are to take an active part in the Ragnarok- contest, 
but also those personages of dread, evil, or malignant nature 
who are opposed to purity or happiness. The principal mem- 
bers of this list are : — 
Angurbodhci. “ Messenger-of-fear.” A giantess, who by 
Loki became the mother of Fenrir, Hel, and the Midhgardh- 
sormr. The original phase of this great Asiatic myth is simply 
the imagery of the storm. Fire, in its terrible and demoniac 
aspect (Loki), unites with the Thunder-cloud (Angurbodha) 
and produces darkness (Fenrir), which becomes netlier-gloom 
(Hel), and also brings forth the storm-dragon (the Midhgardh- 
sormr), which falls from heaven as rain. Odhinn is said to 
have hurled him into the sea. Vide inf. Loki, etc. 
Bell. “ The Roarer.” A giant slain by Freyr, i.e., a storm- 
wind allayed by the bright sunshine-power. Beli affords a 
good example of the hostile character and fate of the giant - 
powers. 
Draugr. “ Destruction.” The Iranian Drukhsh or Drug. 
This being, in the Norse idea, a death-announcing spectre. 
* A night for each world. 
t Hamaval, 140. “ He has entered into this universe and shares its fate ” 
(Bunsen, God in History, ii. 407). I Grimnismal , 34-5. 
§ For some points of contact between the Norse kosmogony and other 
Aryan myths, vide Appendix C. 
