Page:Norse mythology or, the religion of our forefathers, containing all the myths of the Eddas, systematized and interpreted with an introduction, vocabulary and index.djvu/429

 united with the giants. The wood is of iron, hard and barren; the children are ravenous wolves. On the hill-*top sits Egder (an eagle), a storm-eagle, the howling wind that rushes through the wood, and howling wind is the music produced upon his harp. The cock is a symbol of fire, and it is even to this day a common expression among the Norsemen, when a fire breaks out, that ''the red cock is crowing over the roof of the house''. There are three cocks, one in the bird-wood, one in heaven, and one in the lower regions with Hel. The idea then is, that the cock as a symbol of fire announces the coming of Ragnarok in all the regions of the world. The vala continues:

Mimer's sons play; To battle the gods are called By the ancient Gjallar-horn. Loud blows Heimdal, His sound is in the air; Odin talks With the head of Mimer.

Quivers then Ygdrasil, The strong-rooted ash; Rustles the old tree When the giant gives way. All things tremble In the realms of Hel, Till Surt's son Swallows up Odin.

How fare the gods? How fare the elves? Jotunheim shrieks. The gods hold Thing; The dwarfs shudder Before their cleft caverns, Where behind rocky walls they dwell. Know ye now more or not?