Page:Younger Edda (Anderson, 1880).djvu/80

 Grabak and Grafvollud, Ofner and Svafner Must for aye, methinks, Gnaw the roots of that tree.

Again, it is said that the norns, that dwell in the fountain of Urd, every day take water from the fountain and take the clay that lies around the fountain and sprinkle therewith the ash, in order that its branches may not wither or decay. This water is so holy that all things that are put into the fountain become as white as the film of an egg-shell. As is here said:

An ash I know Hight Ygdrasil; A high, holy tree With white clay sprinkled. Thence comes the dews That fall in the dales. Green forever it stands Over Urd's fountain.

The dew which falls on the earth from this tree men call honey-fall, and it is the food of bees. Two birds are fed in Urd's fountain; they are called swans, and they are the parents of the race of swans.

17. Then said Ganglere: Great tidings you are able to tell of the heavens. Are there other remarkable places than the one by Urd's fountain? Answered Har: There are many magnifi-