341 
Lif, “ Life," from whom will spring another and a happier 
race ; that is to say, the eternal life-principle of the righteous 
will pass unscathed through the great crisis at the end of the 
age. Mimir, whose name means “ Possessing Knowledge/'* * * § 
was the giant-guardian of the spring or well under one of the 
roots of Yggdrasil, and physically represents the ocean as 
encompassing the foundation of the world ; so his sons, i.e., 
the waves, dance at Ragnarok,f and Odhinn leaves his eye, 
i.e., the sun, in his well as a pledge. J Odhinn used Mimir's 
head, which had been cut off by the Vanir, as an oracle, § and 
mention is made of a mythic tree, distinct from Yggdrasil, 
and called Mimameidir, “Mimir's Tree/' which no fire shall 
harm, and which is a creator of mankind, || a kind of tree of. 
life. The connection between the deep, the ocean, and 
wisdom, is both very archaic and very occult but I am 
unable further to consider it here. 
Hoddmimir signifies ff Circle-Mimir," or “ Sphere-Mimir,"** 
that is to say, the physical Mirnir or ocean, like the Midh- 
gardhsormr, encircles the earth, and when the latter is 
consumed, the selected members of the human race are safely 
conveyed away across ocean to the far ocean-grove. M. 
Darmesteter calls the “ bois Hoddmimir equivalent du frere 
Yggdrasil/'tt hut this is not the case, nor is this grove a 
“ dedoublement " of Yggdrasil (the present state of things) 
which is destroyed. We here, in fact, encounter another 
occult and archaic myth, the Grove of the Under or Unseen 
World. It is connected with the Under- world because it lies in 
the direction pursued by the sinking sun. The Greeks knew 
it well. Thus we find it in Homer, — “ AVhen thou hast 
sailed in the ship across the stream Okeanos (Hodd-mimir) 
where are groves of Persephoneia, poplars and willows." tJ 
Stesichoros, B.C. 632-552, tells how Helios, like the Yedic 
Yama,§§ found out the way and sailed in his golden boat-cup 
* Cf. the Sk. root mi, “ to measure, judge, observe/ akin to the Proto- 
Aryan root ma, “ to measure, gush forth.” Lat. memor, Ang.-Sax. meomcr. 
t Volusjpa, 47. 
X So, according to the Rig-Veda (X. lxxii. 7), Surya (Helios-Sol) was 
drawn by the god3 from the ocean where he was hidden. 
§ Volusjpa , 47. 
| Vide Fiolsvinnsmal, 20-3. 
IT Cf. the Akkadian divinity Hea, lord of the deep and of deep wisdom. 
** Thorpe, Northern Mythology, i. 158. 
ft Ormazd et Ahriman, 299. 
++ Odysseia, x. 508. So, again, according to Egyptian belief, in Amenti 
(Hades) were sacred cypress-groves, guarded by fire-breathing, solar Arani 
(cobras). §§ Vide Zoroaster, sec. 24. 
