180 
LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 
fabric it had evoked, and proclaiming—in the place of 
the transient gods and perishable heaven of its Asgaard 
—that One undivided Deity, at whose approach the 
pillars of Walhalla were to fall, and Odin and his 
peers to perish, with all the subtle machinery of their 
existence; while man—himself immortal—was sum¬ 
moned to receive at the hands of the Eternal All-Father 
the sentence that waited upon his deeds. It is true 
this purer system belonged only to the early ages. As 
in the case of every false religion, the symbolism of 
the Scandinavian mythology lost with each succeeding 
generation something of its transparency, and at last 
degenerated into a gross superstition. But traces still 
remained, even down to the times of Christian ascend¬ 
ancy, of the deep, philosophical spirit in which it had 
been originally conceived ; and through its homely 
imagery there ran a vein of tender humour, such as 
still characterises the warm-hearted, laughter-loving 
•northern races. Of this mixture of philosophy and 
fun, the following story is no bad specimen. 1 
Once on a time the two (Esir, Thor, the Thunder 
1 The story of Thor’s journey has been translated from the prose 
both by the Hewitts and Mr. Thorpe. 
