Giants, Gods and Beasts: A Guide to Norse Mythology

The Twilight of the Gods

Ragnarok, the Day of the Aesir's Destruction
Yggdrasil, the mighty ash tree, shuddered and shook, its evergreen leaves falling off and its branches breaking. The Aesir had lost their honor and worse still, man no longer knew kindness since gentle Balder left the world. Brothers and neighbors alike turned on each other and bloody battle ensued all over Midgard. To make matters worse, a three-year winter, the Fimbulvinter, ravaged the land. Many died and soon both Valhalla and Eljudnir, Hel's hall, were packed. The jotnar were getting more bold, bombarding the land with even more ice and snow. The world was falling apart and in desperation, Odin consulted both the volva and Mimir's head, both of which made the same proclamation.

"Axe time, sword time, the world shall fall. Wind time, wolf time, it's the end for all. Fight time, death time, everything shall burn and rot. Does thy know all now or not?"

Thus the All-Father knew that Ragnarok, the final battle between good and evil, the battle that decided the fate of the cosmos, when the gods would either destroy or be destroyed, was coming. And come it did.

One fateful morning, Gullinkambi, a gold-combed rooster perched on Valhalla's roof, stretched his neck and started crowing to the sky. The soot-black rooster of Eljudnir also crowed as the wolves howled and the sharpening-stones fell silent. The earth split open and the dead poured forth. The jotnar finally broke out of their realm. The seas boiled as Jormungand, the largest serpent of the seas, surfaced. Every bond in the world snapped, releasing many monsters, inducing the wolf Fenrir and his father Loki. No longer was anything bound in the world anymore. The terrible dragon Nidhogg gnawed through Yggdrasil's roots and the Norns covers their heads as they mourned for what was to be. Sailing from the north was the Nagelfar, a ship made entirely out of the nails of dead men. The crew consisted of, the frost giant Hrym was the captain, Hel watched from the crow's nest, and her father Loki manned the rudder, steering for Asgard. The sky shattered and all the monsters of Muspellheim, lead by the black giant Surt, poured forth. Heimdall saw the oncoming army of evil and blew the Gjallarhorn so hard, the sound was heard throughout all nine realms. The gods prepared for battle, donning their armor and grabbing their weapons before joining the Valkyries and the einherjar. The army of darkness tried to ascend the rainbow bridge Bifrost, but it shattered from the weight and the noise. The battle shifted to Vigrid, the largest battlefield in Midgard. The gods, Valkyries, and warriors faced off against the giants, trolls, ghosts, spirits, monsters, and demons. The battle began and and many lives were lost. Odin was consumed by Fenrir, who in turn had his head broken by Vidar's boot, which was made with the leather scraps leftover by cobblers. Thor managed to slay Jormungand and took nine steps before falling dead, poisoned by the serpent's foul breath. Loki and Heimdall killed each, as did Tyr and Garm, Hel's guard-dog. Armed with an antler-tipped spear, Frey cut down many giants, such as Beli, but died at the hands of Surt because he gave away his magic sword for love. Sol and Mani, the sun and the moon, were consumed by Fenrir's sons, Skoll and Hati, plunging the world into darkness. Surt raised his fiery sword and set the nine realms ablaze, burning down the once mighty Yggdrasil. The stars fell from the sky, Midgard sank beneath the boiling sea, Asgard crumbled away, and all the goddesses wept for the dead. The gentle Balder, leading his blind brother Hod, emerged from the abyss of the dead. The two of them joined the sole survivors of the battle, Vidar, Vali, Hermod, Bragi, Magni, Modi, and Honir, who had returned from Vanaheim. The nine of them headed back to the field of Ida, where they played chess with golden pieces on golden boards. They also casted runes to tell their fortunes and talked about the deeds of their fathers, looking back at their glorious reign in the grayness of dusk.

A new day dawned in the world, for Sol had a daughter that grew up to be as big and bright as her mother used to be. The moon and the stars came back too, as did the rainbow bridge. Midgard rose from the sea green and new. Once again, birds flew through the sky, fish swam in the seas, and animals roamed the land. From the secret grove Hodmimis stepped the last two humans, Lif and Lifthrasir. They prayed not to the Aesir, but to God Almighty, who had stepped out to rule over all from Gimli, the golden palace where all good souls would one day meet.

The End