INTRODUCTION
By Leslie Shepard
London, England, 1970
More than half a century before
Immanuel Velikovsky’s best-selling
Worlds In Collision, Ignatius Donnelly’s Ragnarok put forward the
same basic concept that a comet passed close to or struck the earth
in ancient times, causing catastrophic changes remembered only dimly
in mythologies, scriptural history, and the ideas of divine judgment
upon a sinful world.
Undoubtedly, the thousands of readers who were captivated by
Velikovsky’s book
will want to study this equally startling forerunner of the
comet-disaster hypothesis,
and to compare the two works, with their different approaches and
scientific speculations.
It takes a bold thinker to challenge orthodox science and, bearing
in mind the sensation created by Velikovsky in 1950, it is easy to
imagine the tremendous impact of Donnelly’s Ragnarok in 1883. Like
Velikovsky, Donnelly was not a trained scientist, and today it seems
incredible that an Irish-American farmerpolitician could have
developed such a strikingly original theme in the nineteenth
century, and have supported it with such powerful and convincing
arguments. Today his books have been largely passed over. Others
took up the subjects he pioneered, and some of his arguments are no
longer fashionable in the light of twentieth-century science. But
the present book deserves a fresh hearing following the brilliant
revival of the comet-disaster theme by Immanuel Velikovsky, and it
is instructive to compare similarities and differences in the two
treatments of the same basic theme.
The word “Ragnarök” comes from
Norse mythology and describes the
cataclysmic Twilight of the Gods that convulsed the earth during a
Titanic conflict between gods and giants.
Less scientific than
Velikovsky, and working within the limitations
of the science of his time, Donnelly nevertheless produced the
pioneer statement of the cometcatastrophe theme, now of value
chiefly for its inspired presentation of legends and mythologies
from Hindus, Persians, Britons, Chinese, Greeks, Scandinavians,
Central Americans, North and South American Indians, Aztecs,
Toltecs, Quiches, Peruvians, Arabians, Babylonians, and Egyptians,
with terrifying stories of disaster by fire, hail, frost, and
darkness, changes in climate, and folk tales of enormous dragons and
other monsters.
Donnelly claimed that all these doom-laden myths reflected the
terrifying visitation of a giant comet in pre-historic times, and
that the evidence lay in the “drift” or unstratified deposits
commonly attributed to moving glaciers in the Ice Age. Donnelly
questioned the accepted theory of continental glaciation, and by
reviewing the nature and distribution of drift sought to show that
these deposits were the result of a cometic collision. Donnelly also
suggested that the Old Testament stories of destruction of wicked
cities, and the sun’s standing still and the fall of stones from the
heavens in the Book of Joshua, were reminiscences of the comet
catastrophe. Since then, Velikovsky has also adopted the
identification of Old Testament events with comet visitations. He
places a first comet approach during the Exodus of the Israelites,
and suggests that the earth then stopped spinning or slowed down,
causing a division of the Red Sea; he identifies a second comet
visit with the time of Joshua, and also further occasions connected
with Old Testament history.
Writing in the present era,
Velikovsky’s scientific speculation is
understandably more plausible than Donnelly’s, but curiously enough
the present-day objection by orthodox scientists is more intense and
hysterical than in Donnelly’s time. Modern scientists plotted to
suppress Velikovsky’s book, vilified and ridiculed its concepts—yet
unperturbed, the author refuted all attacks with patience and
courtesy. The full story of the conspiracy against Velikovsky, and
the irrationality of his attackers, has been exposed in
The Velikovsky Affair: The Warfare Of Science And Scientism by
Alfred De Grazia, published by University Books Inc. But what has given added
point to the work of both Donnelly and Velikovsky is that many of
the latter’s scientific formulations condemned as “fantastic” and
“cranky” have now been validated by recent discoveries. Velikovsky
is in great demand as a lecturer.
Donnelly was better treated by the
scientists of the nineteenth century. They picked holes in his
theories, but did so courteously and with a certain admiration for
his vision. Typical is this critic in “The Dial” (January, 1883):
“We have here a very notable book…Like the author’s ‘Atlantis’, it
is based on a wide and varied accumulation of facts, histories, and
myths, juxtaposed and intertwined by a bold and inventive
imagination, and garnished with graphic phraseology and a glowing
style, which ranges from the didactic to the epigrammatic, and from
the descriptive to the poetic. Though not learned, nor original,
save in its fundamental conception and in its application of the
data of science and mythologies, the work will be read with curious
interest by the learned; and though it draw perpetually on the
treasuries of scientific and ethnic lore, the unlearned will pore
over its pages with eagerness and delight. It will be understood,
therefore, that ‘Ragnarok’ is a strong and brilliant literary
production, which will command the interest of general readers, and
the admiration and respect, if not the universal credence, of the
conservative and the scientific.”
That is a very fair description of
a remarkable book, and an epitome of the difference between
nineteenth- and twentieth-century attitudes. Religion was then not
yet dead, and science had not become the new dogma. The enormous
value of both Donnelly and Velikovsky is that they stimulate new
thought and vision.
It does not matter that much of
Donnelly’s theory leans heavily on a
shaky interpretation of the data concerning glacial drift. He was
limited by the knowledge of his time. But he makes us think.
Like the good lawyer he was,
Donnelly argues his case persuasively
with the only
evidence available, and there is never any doubt that the reader is
one of a jury
which must bring in its own verdict. There is much to be learned
from Donnelly’s
detail, and, even if we find the case wanting in the light of
today’s scientific
knowledge, there are strong new evidences unknown to
Donnelly but
now presented
with equal vigor by Velikovsky. It is a rewarding exercise to read
Velikovsky side
by side with Donnelly and see how old and new evidences and
speculations lean toward the same general conclusions.
The importance of the present book is not simply in the details
(right or wrong) by which Donnelly has rationalized his bold vision,
but in the vision itself—an inspired intuition which Immanuel Velikovsky was to place on firmer ground over sixty years later. The
sophistication of Velikovsky’s science has silenced many witch
hunters steeped in orthodoxy who would have suppressed his
presentation. Ultimately it does not even matter whether Donnelly
and Velikovsky were right in their breathtaking concepts. Like so
many works of art and fiction they lead us out of a narrow view,
remind us of the mysterious infinities in which man lives and has
his being. No mature adult has ever been harmed by good science
fiction. And myth itself, indulged without guilt, has sustained many
richly satisfying societies of the past.
PART THREE, CHAPTER FOUR—RAGNAROK
There is in the legends of the Scandinavians a marvelous record of
the coming of the Comet. It has been repeated generation after
generation, translated into all languages, commented on, criticized,
but never understood. It has been regarded as a wild, unmeaning
rhapsody of words, or as a premonition of some future
earth-catastrophe.
But look at it!
The very name is significant. According to
Professor Anderson’s
etymology of the word, it means “the darkness of the gods”; from
“regin”, gods, and “rökr”, darkness; but it may, more properly, be
derived from the Icelandic, Danish, and Swedish “regn”, a rain, and
“rök”, smoke, or dust; and it may mean the “rain of dust”, for the
clay came first as dust; it is described in some Indian legends as
ashes. First, there is, as in the tradition of the Druids, page 153,
ante, the story of an age of crime.
The Vala looks upon the world, and, as the “Elder Edda” tells us—
There saw she wade in the heavy streams,
Men—foul murderers and perjurers,
And them who others’ wives seduce to sin.
Brothers slay brothers; sisters’ children, shed each other’s blood.
Hard is the world! Sensual sin grows huge.
There are sword-ages, axe-ages; shields are cleft in twain;
Storm-ages, murder ages; till the world falls dead,
And men no longer spare or pity one another.
The world has ripened for destruction; and “Ragnarok”, the
darkness
of the gods, or the rain of dust and ashes, comes to complete the
work. The whole story is told with the utmost detail, and we shall
see that it agrees, in almost every particular, with what reason
assures us must have happened. “There are three winters,” or years,
“during which great wars rage over the world.” Mankind has reached a
climax of wickedness. Doubtless it is, as now, highly civilized in
some regions, while still barbarian in others.
[COMMENT: Here again
we encounter the idea that mankind reaches such a state of
wickedness, only some sort of “purification” by the “gods” can
restore the Earthly equilibrium. And immediately following is the
idea that “the wolf devours the Sun”, which is remarkably similar to
the phrase used by the Egyptians to describe the so-called “Great
Eclipse” of 15 June 762 BCE: The Day The Sun Devoured The Moon. RS]
“Then happens that which will seem a great miracle: that THE WOLF
DEVOURS THE SUN, and this will seem a great loss.”
That is, the Comet strikes the sun, or approaches so close to it
that it seems to do so.
“The other wolf devours the moon, and this, too, will cause great
mischief.”
We have seen that the comets often come in couples or triplets.
“The stars shall be hurled from heaven.”
This refers to the blazing debris of the Comet falling to the earth.
“Then it shall come to pass that the earth will shake so violently
that trees will be torn up by the roots, the mountains will topple
down; and all bonds and fetters will be broken and snapped.”
Chaos has come again. How closely does all this agree with Hesiod’s
description of the shaking earth and the universal conflict of
nature?
“The Fenris-wolf gets loose.”
This, we shall see, is the name of one of the comets.
“The sea
rushes over the earth, for the Midgard-serpent writhes in giant
rage, and seeks to gain the land.”
The Midgard-serpent is the name of another comet; it strives to
reach the earth; its proximity disturbs the oceans. And then follows
an inexplicable piece of mythology:
“The ship that is called
Naglfar also becomes loose. It is made of
the nails of dead men; wherefore it is worth warning that, when a
man dies with unpared nails, he supplies a large amount of materials
for the building of this ship, which both gods and men wish may be
finished as late as possible. But in this flood Naglfar gets afloat,
the giant Hrym is its steersman. The Fenris-wolf advances with
wide-open mouth; the upper jaw reaches to heaven and the lower jaw
is on the earth.” That is to say, the comet extends from the earth
to the sun.
[COMMENT: Probably what is being described here by this
myth is the establishment of the electromagnetic tethering beam from
Earth’s North Pole to Nibiru’s South Pole. However, this peculiar
reference to “unpared nails” is indeed mysterious. If any of you
readers can suggest an explanation, please send email. Thanks! RS]
“He would open it still wider had he room.”
That is to say, the space between the sun and earth is not great
enough; the tail of the comet reaches even beyond the earth.
“Fire flashes from his eyes and nostrils.”
A recent writer says:
“When bright comets happen to come very near to the sun, and are
subjected to close observation under the advantages which the fine
telescopes of the present day afford, a series of remarkable changes
is found to take place in their luminous configuration. First, jets
of bright light start out from the nucleus, and move through the
fainter haze of the coma toward the sun; and then these jets are
turned backward round the edge of the coma, and stream from it,
behind the comet, until they are fashioned into a tail.”
“The Midgard-serpent vomits forth venom, defiling all the air and
the sea; he is very terrible, and places himself side by side with
the wolf.”
The two comets move together, like Biela’s two fragments;
and they give out poison—the carbureted-hydrogen gas revealed by the
spectroscope.
“In the midst of this clash and din, the heavens are
rent in twain, and the sons of Muspelheim come riding through the
opening.”
Muspelheim, according to
Professor Anderson, means “the day of
judgment”. “Muspel” signifies an abode of fire, peopled by fiends.
So that this passage means, that the heavens are split open, or
appear to be, by the great shining comet, or comets, striking the
earth; it is a world of fire; it is the Day of Judgment.
“Surt rides
first, and before him and after him flames burning fire.”
Surt is a demon associated with the comet; he is the same as the
destructive god of the Egyptian mythology, Set, who destroys the
sun. It may mean the blazing nucleus of the comet.
“He has a very good sword that shines brighter than the sun. As they
ride over Bifrost it breaks to pieces, as has before been stated.”
Bifrost, we shall have reason to see hereafter, was a prolongation
of land westward from Europe, which connected the British Islands
with the island-home of the gods, or the godlike race of men.
[COMMENT:
Bifrost was a legendary “Rainbow Bridge” connecting the
Earth to “Asgard”, a land of gods beyond the North. Donnelly’s
interpretation of this is not quite correct. RS]
There are geological proofs that such a land once existed. A writer,
Thomas Butler Gunn, in a recent number of an English publication,
says:
“Tennyson’s ‘Voyage of Maeldune’ is a magnificent allegorical
expansion of this idea; and the laureate has also finely
commemorated the old belief in the country of Lyonnesse, extending
beyond the bounds of Cornwall: ‘A land of old upheaven from the
abyss by fire, to sink into the abyss again; where fragments of
forgotten peoples dwelt, and the long mountains ended in a coast of
ever-shifting sands, and far away, the phantom circle of the morning
sea.’
“Cornishmen of the last generation used to tell stories of strange
household relics picked up at the very low tides, nay, even of the
quaint habitations seen fathoms deep in the water.”
There are those who believe that these
Scandinavian Eddas came, in
the first instance, from Druidical Briton sources.
The Edda may be interpreted to mean that
the Comet strikes the
planet west of Europe, and crushes down some land in that quarter,
called “the bridge of Bifrost”. Then follows a mighty battle between
the gods and the Comet. It can have, of course, but one termination;
but it will recur again and again in the legends of different
nations. It was necessary that the gods, the protectors of mankind,
should struggle to defend them against these strange and terrible
enemies. But their very helplessness and their deaths show how
immense was the calamity which had befallen the world.
[COMMENT: This passage indicates to me—looking at it from a modern,
scientific and “occult” standpoint—that the arrival and docking of
the Planet X
Nibiru to the Earth’s North Pole is a natural physical event of the
Universe; and
even these “gods” or “advanced extraterrestrials”—the
Nefilim
Archons—have
little power to control the devastation to our world, and quite
possibly to parts of their own. See also
Chapter 1. RS]
The Edda continues:
“The sons of Muspel direct their course to the plain which is called
Vigrid. Thither repair also the Fenris-wolf and the
Midgard-serpent.”
Both the comets have fallen on the earth.
[COMMENT: “Direct their course to the plain which is called
Vigrid”
might also indicate that they are trying to establish the
electromagnetic connection between “Hyperborea” and the Earth, and
in this case Vigrid would refer to the northern sky position of the
tethered Comet-Planet X Nibiru. RS]
“To this place have also come Loke” (the evil genius of Norse mythology) “and Hrym, and with him
all the Frost giants. In Loke’s company are all the friends of Hel”
(the goddess of death). “The sons of Muspel have then their
efficient bands alone by themselves. The plain Vigrid is one hundred
miles (rasts) on each side.”
[COMMENT: “Loke”, which is also spelled
“Loki”, is the Norse/Teutonic “god of the underworld” who in Nibiruan terminology would be Duke
Nergal, the Greek Hades, the
Roman Pluto. “Hel” was the wife or chief consort of Loki. “Hel”
refers to Nibiruan Duchess Ereshkigal, the Greek Persephone, the
Roman Pyrtania. “Hrym” is obviously the same name as “Thrym” who in
Greco-Roman traditions is Dionysus or Bacchus. All the “Frost
Giants” are undoubtedly the minor Archons, the faceless
Anunnaki
“who have no personalities, poor fellows, and who sit like poodles
and smile at Anu.” The Nibiruan Baron Ninurta and Baroness
Bau are
known in Scandinavia as “Niflhel” and “Nerthus” (or in the
Greco-Roman traditions, respectively, as Hephaestus/Vulcan/Typhon
and Athena/Minerva). The Norse word “Niflhel” bears a strong
resemblance to the Biblical/Sumerian term “Nefilim”, or
“Sky-Giants”.
[As for the idea that the
Vigrid Plain is one hundred miles, or
“rasts”, on each side, this is clearly a parallel of the Siberian
legend of the Ostyaks of the Irtysh River Valley, which states,
“There is a mill which grinds by itself, swings of itself, and
scatters the dust a hundred versts away. And there is a golden pole
with a golden cage on top which is also the Nail of the North.”
A
“rast” is obviously the same measurement as a “verst”, which is 2/3
of a mile or about 1 kilometer in length; and since this north-polar
area of the “treetrunk” tether location is where this “dust” is
scattered about by the “giant millstone”, the Vigrid Plain may
actually refer to the immediate North Polar Region. It is simply not
possible to come to a definite conclusion in this regard, without
first observing this phenomenon once again. Let us hope and pray
that we live long enough to document this event—for the very first
time in human history—as a geological and astronomical cataclysm!
RS]
That is to say, all these evil forces, the comets, the fire, the
devil, and death, have taken possession of the great plain, the
heart of the civilized land. The scene is located in this spot,
because probably it was from this spot the legends were afterward
dispersed to all the world.
[COMMENT: If “this spot” in indeed the Northern Sky, then the legend
would have been observed by peoples all over the Northern Hemisphere
and not need to have been “dispersed” to the rest of the world. RS]
It is necessary for the defenders of mankind to rouse themselves.
There is no time to be lost, and, accordingly, we learn—
“While these things are happening, Heimdal” (he was the guardian of
the Bifrostbridge) “stands up, blows with all his might in the
Gjallar-horn and awakens all the gods, who thereupon hold counsel.
Odin rides to Mimer’s well to ask advice of Mimer for himself and
his folk. Then quivers the ash Ygdrasil, and all things in the
heaven and earth tremble.”
[COMMENT: This reference to the “Gjallar-horn” brings up thoughts of
“Gabriel’s Horn” which is said in the Scriptures will herald “the
end of the world”. Odin in Norse mythology is the Nibiruan Prince
Nannar, the Greek Hermes, the Egyptian Thoth, the Slavonic
Volga and
the Mayan Quetzalcoatl or “flying serpent”. RS]
The ash [as in tree, not fire—RS]
Ygdrasil is the tree-of-life; the
tree of the ancient tree-worship; the tree which stands on the top
of the pyramid in the islandbirthplace of the Aztec race; the tree
referred to in the Hindu legends.
[COMMENT: Read that to mean “The
Cosmic Tree”, “The Sacred Tree”, or “The World Tree”. RS]
“The asas” (the godlike men) “and the
einherjes” (the heroes) “arm
themselves and speed forth to the battlefield. Odin rides first;
with his golden helmet, resplendent byrnic, and his spear Gungner,
he advances against the Fenris-wolf” (the first comet). “Thor stands
by his side, but can give him no assistance, for he has his hands
full in his struggle with the Midgard-serpent” (the second comet).
“Frey encounters Surt, and heavy blows are exchanged ere Frey falls.
The cause of his death is that he has not that good sword which he
gave to Skirner. Even the dog Garm” (another comet), “that was bound
before the Gnipa-cave, gets loose. He is the greatest plague. He
contends with Tyr, and they kill each other. Thor gets great renown
by slaying the Midgard-serpent, but retreats only nine paces when he
falls to the earth dead, poisoned by the venom that the serpent
blows upon him.”
He has breathed the carbureted-hydrogen gas!
[COMMENT:
Thor equals Nibiruan Crown-Prince Enlil
(Osiris/Zeus/Indra/Vishnu/Yahweh and by default, Jehovah/Allah).
Frey is Nibiruan Baron Marduk (Amon-Ra/Belus/Bel/Ba’al/Volos). RS]
“The wolf swallows Odin, and thus causes his death; but Vidar
immediately turns and rushes at the wolf, placing one foot on his
nether jaw.” (“On this foot he has the shoe, for which materials
have been gathering through all ages, namely, the strips of leather
which men cut off from the toes and heels of shoes; wherefore he who
wishes to render assistance to the ‘asas’ must cast these strips
away.”)
This last paragraph, like that concerning the ship
Naglfar,
is probably the interpolation of some later age.
The narrative continues:
“With one hand Vidar seizes the upper jaw of the wolf, and thus
rends asunder his mouth. Thus the wolf perishes. Loke fights with
Heimdal, and they kill each other. Thereupon Surt flings fire over
the earth, and burns up all the world.”
This narrative is from the
Younger Edda. The Elder Edda is to the same purpose, but there are
more allusions to the effect of the catastrophe on the earth:
“The eagle screams, and with pale beak tears corpses…Mountains dash
together. Heroes go the way to Hel, and heaven in rent in twain…All
men abandon their homesteads when the warder of Midgard in wrath
slays the serpent. The sun grows dark, the earth sinks into the sea,
the bright stars from heaven vanish. Fire rages, heat blazes, and
high flames play against heaven itself.”
And what follow then? Ice
and cold and winter. For although these things come first in the
narrative of the Edda, yet we are told that “before these” things,
to wit, the cold winters, there occurred the wickedness of the
world, and the wolves and the serpent made their appearance. So that
the events transpired in the order in which I have given them.
[COMMENT: Here is a very, very important point to consider when
reading these legends that have survived from Scandinavia. Before
the last arrival sequence of the Planet X Nibiru, before 1587 BCE,
then the geographical location of Scandinavia per se would not have
been so extremely northern as nowadays, since before 1587 BCE,
before this last Polar Axis Shift, Scandinavia would have been
located more southerly in latitude. Thus, these legends relating to
the advent of a “long winter” might simply refer to the fact that
after the last Polar Axis Shift, Scandinavia pivoted to a higher
northern latitude and thus experienced—for the first time—what they
are by today quite accustomed to, i.e., long, dark, cold winters.
[To be more specific, before 1587 BCE, the North Pole was located in
the middle of
the North Atlantic Ocean somewhere between France and Québec,
possibly in the
vicinity of southern Greenland. The previous Equator would have run
through present-day Mongolia and the Kamchatka Peninsula of the
Russian Far East. Most of Russia/Siberia from Kazakhstan to Alaska
would have been tropical and subtropical in climate. The Irtysh
River would have flowed in an eastwardly direction into a non-frozen
temperate sea. The main Scandinavian Peninsula, now north-south,
would have been in an east-west direction at about the latitude of
present-day Central Europe. The British Isles and Iceland would have
been on the very northern fringes of the previous North Polar Zone.
Those who would have been living in what is now
Scandinavia would
not have had such long, dark, arctic winters as they do today, when
some places experience a couple of months of total or near-total
darkness. Thus, if the arrival of Planet X Nibiru and the
re-establishment of The Cosmic Tree, as its natural consequence,
moved the North Pole from the North Atlantic location to the current
Arctic location, and if this occurred in December-January, then
those ancient Scandinavians and Siberians would have been catapulted
into a totally different winter environment of ice, snow and
darkness—and they have preserved the legend of the “Fimbul Winter”
that accompanied the previous cataclysm. Other locations would not
necessarily have suffered this same sort of wintry side-effect of
the Polar Axis Shift. This cannot be proven with any certainty, of
course, but it does contain an element of logic. RS]
“First there is
a winter called the Fimbul Winter, the mighty, the great, the iron
winter, when snow drives from all quarters, the frosts are so
severe, the winds so keen, there is no joy in the sun. There are
three such winters in succession, without any intervening summer.”
Here we have the Glacial period which followed the Drift. Three
years of incessant wind, and snow, and intense cold.
The Elder Edda says, speaking of the
Fenris-wolf:
“It feeds on the
bodies of men, when they die; the seats of the gods it stains with
red blood.”
This probably refers to the iron-stained red clay cast
down by the Comet over a large part of the earth; the “seats of the
gods” means the home of the god-like race, which was doubtless
covered, like Europe and America, with red clay; the waters which
ran from it must have been the color of blood.
[COMMENT: From a personal standpoint here in Texas, my local
regional topsoil
is built upon a bed of red clay. Recently there was a utility crew
digging along my
street to lay a new water-main for an extension of this
neighborhood. After the
back-hoe had dug the 10-foot-deep ditch for the water-main, I took a
look.
Only
about the top 2-3 feet of earth was “humus” or “sandy-loam” soil.
Below that was
only hard red clay. By the time that the utility crew had finished
their work and
refilled the ditch, rather haphazardly, they had dumped red clay all
over the yards of
these new houses; and I was thinking to myself how “infertile” the
top layer of earth
would be for these new neighbors for several years to come, until it
could remix
itself with fallen leaves and other organic matter and recreate some
sort of viable
topsoil. I also understood why it is sometimes quite difficult for
me to dig down below a certain depth, because this red clay, when
dry, is practically like hardened cement in texture. Whether it all
resulted from these “cosmic cataclysms” is, of course, impossible to
know. RS]
“The sunshine blackens in the summers thereafter, and the weather
grows bad.”
In the Younger Edda (p. 57) we are given a still
more
precise description of the Ice Age:
“Replied Har, explaining, that as soon as the streams, that are
called Elivogs” (the rivers from under ice) “had come so far that
the venomous yeast” (the clay?) “which flowed with them hardened, as
does dross that runs from the fire, then it turned” (as) “into ice.
And when this ice stopped and flowed no more, then gathered over it
the drizzling rain that arose from the venom” (the clay) “and froze
into rime” (ice) “and one layer of ice was laid upon another clear
into the Ginungagap.”
Ginungagap, we are told, was the name applied
in the eleventh century by the Northmen to the ocean between
Greenland and Vinland, or America. It doubtless meant originally the
whole of the Atlantic Ocean. The clay, when it first fell, was
probably full of chemical elements, which rendered it, and the
waters which filtered through it, unfit for human use; clay waters
are, to this day, the worst in the world.
“Then said Jafnhar: ‘All
that part of Ginungagap that turns to the north’ (the north
Atlantic) ‘was filled with thick and heavy ice and rime, and
everywhere within were drizzling rains and gusts. But the south part
of Ginungagap was lighted up by the glowing sparks that flew out of
Muspelheim.’”
The ice and rime to the north represent the age of ice
and snow. Muspelheim was the torrid country of the south, over which
the clouds could not yet form in consequence of the heat—Africa.
But it cannot last forever. The clouds disappear; the floods find
their way back to the ocean; nature begins to decorate once more the
scarred and crushed face of the world. But where is the human race?
The “Younger Edda” tells us:
“During the conflagration caused by Surt’s fire, a woman by the name
of Lif and a man named Lifthraser lie concealed in Hodmimer’s hold,
or forest. The dew of the dawn serves them for food, and so great a
race shall spring from them, that their descendants shall soon
spread over the whole earth.”
[COMMENT: Again, see also
Chapter 1.
Compare this to Dr. Velikovsky’s discussion of the early-morning
“honeydew” or “ambrosia” or “manna” that sustained other ancient
cultures. RS]
The “Elder Edda” says:
Lif and Lifthraser will lie hid in Hodmimer’s-holt;
The morning dew they have for food.
From them are the races descended.
“Holt” is a grove, or forest, or hold; it was probably a cave. We
shall see that nearly all the legends refer to the caves in which
mankind escaped from destruction.
[COMMENT: And where on Earth will
most of us find such sheltering caves today? RS]
This statement, “From them are the races descended”, shows that this
is not prophecy, but history; it refers to the past, not to the
future; it describes not a Day of Judgment to come, but one that has
already fallen on the human family. Two others, of the godlike race,
also escaped in some way not indicated: Vidar and Vale are their
names. They, too, had probably taken refuge in some cavern.
“Neither
the sea nor Surt’s fire had harmed them, and they dwell on the
plains of Ida, where Asgard was before. Thither come also the sons
of Thor, Mode, and Magne, and they have Mjolner. Then come Balder
and Hoder from Hel.”
Mode and Magne are children of
Thor; they
belong to the godlike race. They, too, have escaped. Mjolner is
Thor’s hammer. Balder is the Sun; he has returned from the abode of
death, to which the Comet consigned him. Hoder is the Night. All
this means that the fragments and remnants of humanity reassemble on
the plain of Ida—the plain of Vigrid—where the battle was fought.
They possess the works of the old civilization, represented by
Thor’s hammer; and the day and night once more return after the long
midnight blackness.
And the Vala looks again upon a renewed and rejuvenated world:
She sees arise the second time,
From the sea, the earth, completely green.
The cascades fall, the eagle soars,
From lofty mounts pursues its prey.
It is once more the glorious, the sun-lighted world; the world of
flashing seas, dancing streams, and green leaves; with the eagle,
high above it all, “battling the sunny ceiling of the globe with his
dark wings”; while “the wild cataracts leap in glory”.
What history, what poetry, what beauty, what inestimable pictures of
an infinite past have lain hidden away in these Sagas—the despised
heritage of all the blue-eyed, light-haired races of the world!
Rome and Greece cannot parallel this marvelous story:
Slow-Motion Doomsday
The gods convene on Ida’s plain,
And talk of the powerful Midgard-serpent;
They call to mind the Fenris-wolf
And the ancient runes of the mighty Odin.
What else can mankind think of, or dream of, or talk of for the next
thousand years but this awful, this unparalleled calamity through
which the race has passed? A long-subsequent but most ancient and
cultivated people, whose memory has, for us, almost faded from the
earth, will thereafter embalm the great drama in legends, myths,
prayers, poems, and sagas; fragments of which are found today
dispersed through all literatures in all lands; some of them, as we
shall see, having found their way even into the Bible revered alike
of Jew and Christian. The Edda continues,
“Then again the wonderful
golden tablets are found in the grass: In time’s morning, the leader
of the gods and Odin’s race possessed them.”
And what a find was
that! This poor remnant of humanity discovers “the golden tablets”
of the former civilization. Doubtless, the inscribed tablets, by
which the art of writing survived to the race; for what would
tablets be without inscriptions? For they talk of “the ancient runes
of mighty Odin”, that is, of the runic letters, the alphabetical
writing. And we shall see hereafter that this view is confirmed from
other sources.
There follows a happy age:
The fields unsown yield their growth;
All ills cease. Halder comes.
Hoder and Balder, those heavenly gods,
Dwell together in Odin’s halls.
The great catastrophe is past. Man is saved. The world is once more
fair. The sun shines again in heaven. Night and day follow each
other in endless revolution around the happy globe. Ragnarok is
past.
