s frame to rest, should rest it crave,
Until his mission be complete,
And Balder's death find vengeance meet."

Valhalla (J. C. Jones).

In this myth, Rinda, a personification of the hard-frozen rind of the
earth, resists the warm wooing of the sun, Odin, who vainly points
out that spring is the time for warlike exploits, and offers the
adornments of golden summer. She only yields when, after a shower (the
footbath), a thaw sets in. Conquered then by the sun's irresistible
might, the earth yields to his embrace, is freed from the spell (ice)
which made her hard and cold, and brings forth Vali the nourisher,
or Bous the peasant, who emerges from his dark hut when the pleasant
days have come. The slaying of Hodur by Vali is therefore emblematical
of "the breaking forth of new light after wintry darkness."

Vali, who ranked as one of the twelve deities occupying seats in the
great hall of Glads-heim, shared with his father the dwelling called
Valaskialf, and was destined, even before birth, to survive the last
battle and twilight of the gods, and to reign with Vidar over the
regenerated earth.

Worship of Vali

Vali is god of eternal light, as Vidar is of imperishable matter;
and as beams of light were often called arrows, he is always
represented and worshipped as an archer. For that reason his month
in Norwegian calendars is designated by the sign of the bow, and is
called Lios-beri, the light-bringing. As it falls between the middle
of January and of February, the early Christians dedicated this month
to St. Valentine, who was also a skilful archer, and was said, like
Vali, to be the harbinger of brighter days, the awakener of tender
sentiments, and the patron of all lovers.

CHAPTER XVII: THE NORNS

The Three Fates

The Northern goddesses of fate, who were called Norns, were in nowise
subject to the other gods, who might neither question nor influence
their decrees. They were three sisters, probably descendants of the
giant Norvi, from whom sprang Nott (night). As soon as the Golden
Age was ended, and sin began to steal even into the heavenly homes of
Asgard, the Norns made their appearance under the great ash Yggdrasil,
and took up their abode near the Urdar fountain. According to some
mythologists, their mission was to warn the gods of future evil, to
bid them make good use of the present, and to teach them wholesome
lessons from the past.

These three sisters, whose