Ragnarok, The Norse Destruction Myth, from Snorri Sturlson’s Prose Edda

51. Then said Gangleri: “What tidings are to be told concerning the Fate of the Gods, or end of the world? Never before have I heard anything said of this.” Hárr answered: “Great tidings are to be told of it, and much. The first is this, that there shall come that winter which is called the Awful Winter: in that time snow shall drive from all quarters; frosts shall be great then, and winds sharp; there shall be no virtue in the sun. There will be three of those winters shall proceed, and no summer between; but first shall come three other winters, such that over all the world there shall be mighty battles. In that time brothers shall slay each other for greed’s sake, and none shall spare father or son in manslaughter and in incest.

Then shall happen what seems great tidings: a wolf named Skoll shall swallow the sun; and this shall seem to men a great harm. Another wolf shall seize the moon, and he also shall work great ruin; the stars shall vanish from the heavens. Then shall come to pass these tidings also: all the earth shall tremble from earthquakes, and the crags, that trees shall be torn up from the earth, and the crags fall to ruin; and all fetters and bonds shall be broken and rent. Then shall Fenris-Wolf get loose; then the sea shall gush forth upon the land, because the Midgard Serpent stirs in giant wrath and advances up onto the land. Then that too shall happen, that Naglfar shall be unleashed, the ship which is so named. (It is made of dead men’s uncut finger- and toenails; wherefore a warning is desirable, that if a man die with uncut nails, that man adds much material to the ship Naglfar, which gods and men would rather not be built.) Yet in this sea-flood Naglfar shall float. Hrymr is the name of the giant who steers Naglfar. Fenris-Wolf shall advance with gaping mouth, and his lower jaw shall be against the earth, but the upper against heaven, he would open his maw yet more if there were room for it; fires blaze from his eyes and nostrils. The Midgard Serpent shall blow venom so that he shall sprinkle all the air and water; and he is very terrible, and shall be on one side of the Wolf. In this din shall the heaven be cut open, and the Sons of Múspell, inhabitants of the fire world, ride there: Surtr shall ride first, and both before him and after him burning fire; his sword is exceeding good: from it radiance shines brighter than from the sun; when they ride over Bifröst, then the bridge shall break, as has been told before. The Sons of Múspell shall go forth to that field which is called Vígrídr, thither shall come Fenris-Wolf also and the Midgard Serpent; then Loki and Hrymr shall come there also, and with him all the Frost-Giants. All the champions of Hel follow Loki; and the Sons of Múspell shall have a company by themselves, and it shall be very bright. The field Vígrídr is a hundred leagues wide each way.

“When these tidings come to pass, then shall Heimdall rise up and blow mightily in the Gjallar-Horn, and awaken all the gods; and they shall hold council together. Then Odin shall ride to Mímir’s Well and take counsel of Mímir for himself and his host. Then the Ash of Yggdrasill shall tremble, and nothing then shall be without fear in heaven or in earth. Then shall the Æsir put on their war-gear, and all the Champions, and advance to the field: Odin rides first with the gold helmet his spear, which is called Gungnir. He shall go forth against Fenris-Wolf, and Thor stands forward on his other side, and can be of no avail to him, because he shall have his hands full to fight against the Midgard Serpent. Freyr shall contend with Surtr, and a hard encounter shall there be between them before Freyr falls. Then shall the dog Garm: he is the greatest monster; he shall do battle with Týr, and each slay the other. Thor shall put to death the Midgard Serpent, and shall take nine paces from that spot; then shall he fall dead to the earth, because of the venom which the Snake has blown at him. The Wolf Fenris shall swallow Odin; that shall be his ending. But straight thereafter Vidarr shall stride forth and set one foot upon the lower jaw of the Wolf: on that foot he has the legendary shoe, materials for which have been gathering throughout all time. (Its especially thick sole is made from the scraps of leather which men cut out of their shoes at toe or heel; therefore anyone who desires in his heart to come to the Æsir’s help should cast those scraps away that they may be added to Vidarr’s shoe.) With one hand Vidarr shall seize the Wolf’s upper jaw and tear his face asunder; and that is the death of the Wolf. Loki shall have battle with Heimdall, and each be the slayer of the other. Then straightway shall Surtr cast fire over the earth and burn all the world.”

52. Then said Gangleri: “What shall come to pass afterward, when all the world is burned, and all the gods and all the champions and all mankind are dead? Have you not said before, that every man shall live in some world throughout all ages?” Then Thridi answered: “In that time there shall be many halls and realms that are good, and many that are ill; then it shall be best to be in Gimlé in Heaven. Moreover, there is plenteous abundance of good drink in the hall which is called Brimir: it stands in Ókólnir. That too is a good hall which stands in Nida Fells, made of red gold; its name is Sindri. In these halls shall dwell good men and pure in heart.

“On Nástrand is a great hall and evil, and its doors face to the north: it is all woven of serpent-backs like a wattle-house; and all the snake-heads turn into the house and blow venom, so that along the hall run rivers of venom; and they who have broken oaths, and murderers, wade those rivers.”

53. Then spoke Gangleri: “Shall any of the gods live then, or shall there be then any earth or heaven?” Hárr answered: “In that time the earth shall emerge out of the sea, and shall then be green and fair; then shall the fruits of it be brought forth unsown. Vídarr and Váli shall be living, inasmuch as neither sea nor the fire of Surtr shall have harmed them; and they shall dwell where Ásgard was before. And then the sons of Thor, Módi and Magni, shall come there, and they shall have Mjöllnir there. After that Baldr shall come there, and Hödr, from Hel; Baldr’s death from the guiles of Loki is that which began Ragnarok. All the gods who remain shall sit down together and hold speech with one another, and call to mind their secret wisdom.

In the place called Hoddmímir’s Holt there shall lie hidden during the Fire of Surtr two of mankind, who are called thus: Líf and Lífthrasir, and for food they shall have the morning-dews. From these folk shall come so numerous an offspring that all the world shall be peopled.

But now, if you are able to ask yet more questions, then indeed I know not how to answer you, for I never heard any man tell forth at greater length the course of the world; and now make use of all that you have heard.”

54. Thereupon Gangleri heard great noises on every side of him; and then, when he had looked about him more, behold, he stood out of doors on a level plain, and saw no hall there and no castle and no Harr, Jafnarr, and Thridi on thrones. Then he went his way forth and came home into his kingdom, and told those tidings which he had seen and heard; and after him each man told these tales to the other.

Thus ends the Prose Edda.

To cite this reading, use the following format:

Sturluson, Snorri. “Gylfaginning: Here Begins the Beguiling of Gylfi.” Edda, Internet Sacred Text Archive, https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre04.htm. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.