Chapter 1.
This plateau is situated high in the mountains. Pointed mountain peaks surrounded it from every side. All the year round mountain peaks are covered with snow. White snow. It may serve as a standard of white color, brightly glittering in sunrays. Solid mountain peaks are surrounded with light and soft clouds. Tender clouds, just if it were gigantic beads, are threaded on the mountains. Clouds are celestial water. Snow on tops of the mountains is frozen water on earth. Bright sunlight. Fiery sunlight. Snow blends with white cumuli. The sky and the earth are connected here. The elements of water and fire linked the element of the air with the element of the earth. This is the place where gods live.
Odin was sitting in his arm-chair. He always sat in this arm-chair at this time. For many centuries nothing changed. Odin was looking to the north. He was looking at the pointed mountain peaks, at clouds, at blue sky. Clouds were floating on the sky. Sometimes they were taking odd shapes. Today there was something extremely strange in them, something unusual. Odin was looking at the clouds trying to solve their riddle. What did they want to tell him? The answer was behind his back. Odin stood up and turned. Clouds on the south were different. A dark, black cloud floated still, as if frozen, between two mountain peaks. Odin called Thor. Mighty Thor appeared at once. It seemed like he was waiting for Odin’s signal.
‘Today is a strange day’ Thor said. ‘From the very morning I feel excitement. Strong excitement.’
‘Look towards the south’ Odin waved his hand at the black cloud.
‘It seems like they decided to disturb us.’ exclaimed Thor. ‘Who could it be?’
‘We’ll find out soon’ replied Odin.
The cloud began to approach quickly. Now they could take a better look at it. Dark, black fog concealed from their sight all that was inside the cloud. But suddenly fog began to break up to the sides. There was something horrible inside. A horrible, ugly creature was in there, looking at them. It started laughing a terrifying, outrageous laughter.
‘It’s Loki’ uttered Odin.
Suddenly the cloud disappeared, and the creature appeared near them. It transformed into Loki.
‘I decided to trick you a little’ he said, laughing.
‘We are awfully thankful to you’ grinned Thor.
Odin looked towards the north. Clouds didn’t change their shape. Loki’s joke wasn’t a reason which transformed them tremendously. Most likely, something really serious has happened in Miðgarð.
‘What’s new, Loki?’ said Odin, addressing Loki.
‘All is the same’ replied Loki. ‘Just there is a terrible heat. People go insane. Never there was such an intense heat. It is now impossible to live in southern latitudes. The climate on the north became warm, even hot. Ice on the poles melts fast. The level of ocean increases. Ocean is invading dry land.’
‘What do people do?’ asked Thor.
‘There might be a war, a world war’ replied Loki. ‘There’s little space worth for normal life.’
‘Maybe, people will come to an agreement’ uttered Thor.
‘I don’t know, I do not know’ Loki shrugged his shoulders. ‘I doubt it. People from the south are trying to move north. The inhabitants of the north do not allow entering. The part of northern territories is already sunk underwater. And ocean goes on taking away new territories off dry land. Northern people are already lacking places, suitable for living. They closed the borders and don’t let southerners come.’
‘People have a continent. It’s on the southern pole. It is covered with huge layers of ice’ Thor uttered thoughtfully.
‘That’s true.’ Loki sat on a stone and continued the story. ‘Ice in Antarctica melts quickly. People would have liked to settle there. But when the continent began to free from ice, strange things began to happen there. Everyone, who arrives there, gets sick. They are haunted with strange, unrecognizable and very strong smell. People cannot handle this horror and leave.’
‘Giants awaken’ uttered Thor.
‘Giants?’ asked again Loki.
‘Yes, they were bricked up and slept under thick layers of ice’ replied Thor. ‘Now they awaken.’
‘I don’t remember about them’ Loki exclaimed.
‘Long ago it happened’ Thor sat on a stone and started his story.
In the beginning
not anything existed,
there was no sand
nor sea
nor cooling waves;
earth was unknown and heaven
only void was,
there was nograss
It was many aeons before the earth was created that Niflheim was made, and in the midst of it is a well called bubbling cauldron and thence flow the rivers with these names: Svól, Gunnthrá, Fjörm, Fimbulthul, Slíð, Hríð, Sylg, Ylg, Víð, Leipt, and Gjöll which is next Hel's gate. The first world to exist, however, was Muspell in the southern hemisphere.It is light and hot and that region flames.And burns so that those who do not belong to it and whose native land it is not, cannot endure it. The one who sits there at land's end to guard it is called Surt.He has a flaming sword, and at the end of the world he will come and harry and will vanquish all the gods and burn the whole world with fire. As it says in the Sibyl'sVision:
Surt from the south comes
with spoiler for twigs,
blazing sword of gods
like sun
the Mighty Ones mountainswill crash down,
troll-women die,
men tread the road to Hel,
heaven'srent asunder.
When those rivers which are called Elivágar came so far from their source that the yeasty venom accompanying them hardened like slag,it turned into ice. Then when that ice formed and was firm, a drizzling rain that arose from the venom poured over it and cooled into rime, and one layer of ice formed on top of the other throughout Ginnungagap.That part ofGinnungagap which turned northwards became full of the ice and the hoar frost's weight and heaviness, and within there was drizzling rain and gusts of wind. But the southern part of Ginnungagap became light bymeeting the sparks and glowing embers which flew out of the world of Muspell. Just as cold and allharsh things emanated from Niflheim, so everything in the neighbourhood of Muspell was warm and bright. Ginnungagap was as mild as windless air, and where the soft air of the heat met the frost so that it thawed and dripped, then, by the might of that which sent the heat, life appeared in the drops of running fluid and grew into the likeness of a man. He was given the name Ymir, but the frost ogres call him Aurgelmir, and that is where the families of frost ogres come from, as is said in the Shorter Sibyl's Vision:
All the sibyls are from Viðólf,
all thewizards
from Vilmeið,
but the sorcerers
from Svarthöfði,
all the giants
have come from Ymir.
And here is what the giantVafthrúðnir:
Whence first from giant-kin
came Aurgelmir?
The well-informed:
From the Elivágar;
gar oozed drops or venom
that grew till they fashioned a giant,
all our kindred
came from thence.
Because of this birth they are aye far too barbarous.
He and all his family were evil; we call them frost ogres. But it is said that while he slept he fell into a sweat; then there grew under his left arm a man and woman, and one of his legs got a son with the other, and that is where the families of frost ogres come from. We call that old frost ogre Ymir.As soon as the frost thawed, it became a cow called Auðhumla, and four rivers of milk ran from her teats, and she fed Ymir. She licked theice-blocks which were salty, and by the evening of the first day of the block-licking appeared a man's hair, on the second day a man's head, and on the third day the whole man was there. He was called Buri. He was handsome and tall and strong. He had a son called Bor, who married a woman called Bestla, daughter of the giant Bólthorn. They had three sons; thefirst, Óðin; the second, Vili; the third, Vé. Bor's sonskilled the giant Ymir, and when he fell, so much blood poured from his wounds that they drowned the whole tribe of frost ogres with it - except for one who escaped with his household; this one is known to the giants as Bergelmir. He climbed up on to his "lur"boat hollowed out of a tree trunkand his wife with him, and there they were safe. From them spring the families of frost ogres, as it is saidhere:
Innumerable years ago,
before the earth
was made, was born the giant Bergelmir;
the first thing I remember was
when they laid
that wise one down on a lur.
‘Does it mean that his ancestors were sleeping in Antarctica for a long time?’ asked Loki.
‘Yes’ replied Thor. ‘And now they awaken. And this is a serious problem.’
‘Problem? Can’t you crush them with your hammer?’ exclaimed Loki and then slyly added ‘Or maybe you have lost your hammer?’
‘We cannot destroy them all’ uttered Odin strictly.
‘Why?’ Loki jumped up and began to gesticulate. ‘I am always indignant with your rules – this should not be done, this cannot be done.’
‘We can’t’ Thor said. ‘Earth is made of Ymir’s flesh. And they are an integral part of it. This is how it was.’
And Thor continued his story.
Bor's sons took Ymir and carried him into the middle of Ginnungagap, and made the world from him: from his blood the sea and lakes, from his flesh the earth, from his bones the mountains; rocks and pebbles they made from his teeth and jaws and those bones that werebroken.From the blood which welled freely from his wounds they fashioned the ocean, when they put together the earth and girdled it, laying the ocean round about it. To cross it would strike most men as impossible. They also took his skull and made the sky from it and set it over the earth with its four sides, and under each corner they put a dwarf. These are called: East, West, North, and South. Then they took the sparks and burning embers that were flying about after they had been blown out of Muspell, and placed them in the midst of Ginnungagap to give light to heaven above and earth beneath. They gave their stations to all the stars, some fixed in the sky; others that had wandered at will in the firmament were now given their appointed places and the paths in which they were to travel. So it is said in ancient poems that from that time sprang the reckoning of days and years, as it is said in the Sibyl's Vision:
The sun did not know
where she had herhome,
stars did not know
where their stations were,
the moon did not know
what might he had.
It is round, and surrounding it lies the deep sea, and on the strand of that sea they gave lands to the families of giants to settle, but inland they built a stronghold round the world on account of the hostility of the giants; for this stronghold they used Ymir's eyebrows, and they called it Miðgarð. They took his brains too and flung them up into the air and made from them the clouds, as it is said here:
From Ymir's flesh
the earth was made
and from his blood the seas,
crags from his bones,
trees from his hair,
and from his skull the sky.
From his eyebrows
the blessed gods
made Miðgarð
for the sons of men,
and from his brains
werecreated
all storm-threatening clouds.
‘So’ Loki uttered. ‘If the giants will be destroyed, every one of them, then the Earth will die. And your comfortable place, you once created, will be ruined.’
Loki pointed his finger at the ground underneath.
‘There won’t be anything of these’ he exclaimed.
‘That’s true’ uttered Odin.
‘If that’s true,’ Loki grinned, ‘you are not almighty. It means that you cannot do all you want. Right?’
‘How do you know what I want?’ Odin frowned.
‘I agree, I don’t know that’ Loki sat on a stone again. ‘Curiosity tears me apart. What is going to happen next?’
‘I haven’t decided yet what is to come and what is not to come’ replied Odin harshly. ‘Time has come. And you go.’
With a gesture Odin invited Thor to follow him. They headed towards Odin’s dwelling. Thor walked displeased. Odin looked at him attentively.
‘Loki once again spoiled my mood. He didn’t say anything special. But mood is spoiled.’ Thor discontentedly puckered his forehead.
‘We are patient to him in vain’ he added.
‘Loki is needed’ smiled Odin. ‘He destroys old, outmoded things. They will be ruined by themselves, but there will be time lost. Loki assists to progress, bringing out stagnated phenomena, and gives impulse for overcoming this stagnation. He cannot destroy that what is stable.’
‘And what about Baldr?’
‘That’s a completely different story. Let’s discuss it later.’
‘Alright’ Thor agreed.
Chapter 2.
Odin and Thor entered Odin’s dwelling. It was located in a huge cave. Everyone who entered this place found himself in a big hall with cupola-like ceiling. There was a huge holy ash-tree. It is so big that it doesn’t fit in this huge hall. His trunk came out through a hole in ceiling. Floor, ceiling and walls preserved its original appearance. Odin did not change anything in natural hall of the cave.
In one of the niches on the wall a spring spurted. Clear and transparent water poured somewhere downwards. Thor came to the spring and washed his face.
From one of the corridors Frigg appeared. She friendly smiled to Odin and Thor.
‘Send someone for Heimdal’, Odin asked her.
Odin and Thor followed to another hall. It was round too. It was bigger in size than the first hall. Odin sat on his throne which was located on a height opposite to entrance. Along the wall in a circle there were twelve thrones for other gods. Thor stopped near his throne and crossed his hands behind the back.
‘It turns out to be an unpleasant situation’, he uttered. ‘If giants awake, they will face people. Would both of them be able to come to an agreement?’
‘Giants are unable to find agreement with people’, Odin said. ‘Either they or people can exist on the planet.’
‘But can people find a way to force them to stay within Athlantida’s boundaries?’ asked Thor.
‘They can if all the countries come to one decision’, Odin replied. ‘But don’t forget that people themselves are in the state of war now. And even if they successfully block giants in Athlantida, there will always be a great risk that this block will be overcome.’
Heimdal entered and after exchanging greetings with Odin and Thor lowered himself onto his throne.
‘Loki goes from one god to another and tells horrors’, he uttered. ‘He tells them what you said’, Heimdal addressed Odin, ‘and what he made up.’
Odin waved his hand indifferently.
‘This is not important now’, he uttered.
‘Heimdal’, Odin called, ‘you were writing a Pact. Is it ready?’
‘Yes’, Heimdal replied. ‘Here is what I made.’
He pulled out a sheet of parchment and handed it to Odin. Odin took it and started to explore carefully. Then he folded this sheet and put it in his pocket.
Frey entered the hall.
‘We have a visitor’ he said instead of greeting. ‘A rider gallops to us. He gallops quite nicely. I haven’t seen such a gallop.’
‘Meet him’, Odin uttered. ’And I need to stay alone for a while’.
Everybody came outside. Thor, Heimdal and Frey headed to meet an Ambassador. Odin looked at the sky.
Sun was shining brightly. It seemed like it wanted to reach the earth with its fiery hands, embrace it and not to let go for a long-long time.
Odin felt thirsty. He didn’t notice how he had moved to the center of a hot desert. He got overwhelmed with fiery heat, unbearably intense heat. This was not the desert, he once was in. There was life. It wasn’t amazing with wildness of color of tropic forests or huge herds of animals in prairies. But it was. It was running away like a tiny lizard, some insect or something else. It was. Everything alive managed to adapt to waterless desert conditions and live despite of severe conditions. Now it was different. There was no life. One could not succeed in finding it. The feeling that this desert is deprived of anything near alive, was coming from somewhere inside. This feeling caused an absolute confidence in a fact of absence of any life, confidence that didn’t require any proof. This desert is dead, and it’s useless to look for life here. It wasn’t a death of a single alive organism, it wasn’t a death of many organisms, it was a death of a whole ecological system. Odin was standing in the center of this catastrophe. He was thinking of him standing there and of absolutely dead spaces thousand kilometers around. This feeling overflowed him. It was unusually strong, even for him.