drassil grows, and it is called the Peace Bough.

"You see Ygdrassil, little Hnossa, but you do not know all the wonders
of it. Far up in its branches four stags graze; they shake from their
horns the water that falls as rain upon the earth. On the topmost branch
of Ygdrassil, the branch that is so high that the Gods themselves can
hardly see it, there is an eagle that knows all things. Upon the beak of
this eagle a hawk is perched, a hawk that sees what the eyes of the
eagle may not see.

"The root of Ygdrassil that is in Midgard goes deep down to the place
of the dead. Here there is an evil dragon named Nidhoegg that gnaws
constantly at the root, striving to destroy Ygdrassil, the Tree of
trees. And Ratatoesk, the Squirrel of Mischief--behold him now!--runs up
and down Ygdrassil, making trouble between the eagle above and the
dragon below. He goes to tell the dragon how the eagle is bent upon
tearing him to pieces and he goes back to tell the eagle how the dragon
plans to devour him. The stories that he brings to Nidhoegg make that
evil dragon more fierce to destroy Ygdrassil, the Tree of trees, so that
he may come upon the eagle and devour him.

"There are two wells by the roots of Ygdrassil, and one is above and one
is below. One is beside the root that grows in Joetunheim. This is a Well
of Knowledge, and it is guarded by old Mimir the Wise. Whoever drinks
out of this well knows of all the things that will come to be. The other
well is by the root that grows above Asgard. No one may drink out of
this well. The three sisters that are the holy Norns guard it, and they
take the white water from it to water Ygdrassil, that the Tree of Life
may keep green and strong. This well, little Hnossa, is called Urda's
Well."

And little Hnossa heard that by Urda's Well there were two beautiful
white swans. They made a music that the Dwellers in Asgard often heard.
But Hnossa was too young to hear the music that was made by the swans of
Urda's Well.

[Illustration]

THE ALL-FATHER'S FOREBODINGS: HOW HE LEAVES ASGARD

Two ravens had Odin All-Father; Hugin and Munin were their names; they
flew through all the worlds every day, and coming back to Asgard they
would light on Odin's shoulders and tell him of all the things they had
seen and heard. And once a day passed without the ravens coming back.
Then Odin, standing on the Watch-Tower Hlidskjalf, said to himself:

I fear me for Hugin,
Lest he come not ba