The coming Ragnaroek is the reason for the existence of
Valhalla with its hosts of slain warriors; and of all the Gods, Odin,
Thor, Tyr and Loki are most closely connected with it. Two poems of
the verse Edda describe it:
(1) _Vafthrudnismal_:
V. "What is the plain called where Surt and the blessed Gods shall
meet in battle?"
O. "Vigrid is the name of the place where Surt and the blessed Gods
shall meet in battle. It is a hundred miles every way; it is their
destined battle-field."
* * * * *
O. "Whence shall the sun come on the smooth heaven when Fenri has
destroyed this one?"
V. "Before Fenri destroy her, the elf-beam shall bear a daughter:
that maid shall ride along her mother's paths, when the Gods perish."
O. "Which of the Aesir shall rule over the realms of the Gods, when
Surt's fire is quenched?"
V. "Vidar and Vali shall dwell in the sanctuary of the Gods when
Surt's fire is quenched. Modi and Magni shall have Mjoellni at the
end of Vingni's (_i.e._, Thor's) combat."
O. "What shall be Odin's end, when the Gods perish?"
V. "The Wolf will swallow the father of men; Vidar will avenge it. He
will cleave the Wolf's cold jaws in the battle."
(2) _Voeluspa_:
"A hag sits eastward in Ironwood and rears Fenri's children; one of
them all, in troll's shape, shall be the sun's destroyer. He shall
feed on the lives of death-doomed men; with red blood he shall redden
the seat of the Gods.
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