this early morn
Faintly foreshadowed was the dawn
Of that fierce struggle, deadly shock,
Which yet should end in Ragnarok;
When Good and Evil, Death and Life,
Beginning now, end then their strife."

Valhalla (J. C. Jones).

Mani was accompanied also by Hiuki, the waxing, and Bil, the waning,
moon, two children whom he had snatched from earth, where a cruel
father forced them to carry water all night. Our ancestors fancied
they saw these children, the original "Jack and Jill," with their pail,
darkly outlined upon the moon.

The gods not only appointed Sun, Moon, Day, and Night to mark the
procession of the year, but also called Evening, Midnight, Morning,
Forenoon, Noon, and Afternoon to share their duties, making Summer and
Winter the rulers of the seasons. Summer, a direct descendant of Svasud
(the mild and lovely), inherited his sire's gentle disposition, and
was loved by all except Winter, his deadly enemy, the son of Vindsual,
himself a son of the disagreeable god Vasud, the personification of
the icy wind.

"Vindsual is the name of him
Who begat the winter's god;
Summer from Suasuthur sprang:
Both shall walk the way of years,
Till the twilight of the gods."

Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.).

The cold winds continually swept down from the north, chilling all
the earth, and the Northmen imagined that these were set in motion
by the great giant Hrae-svelgr (the corpse-swallower), who, clad in
eagle plumes, sat at the extreme northern verge of the heavens, and
that when he raised his arms or wings the cold blasts darted forth
and swept ruthlessly over the face of the earth, blighting all things
with their icy breath.

"Hrae-svelger is the name of him
Who sits beyond the end of heaven,
And winnows wide his eagle-wings,
Whence the sweeping blasts have birth."

Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.).

Dwarfs and Elves

While the gods were occupied in creating the earth and providing
for its illumination, a whole host of maggot-like creatures had
been breeding in Ymir's flesh. These uncouth beings now attracted
divine attention. Summoning them into their presence, the gods first
gave them forms and endowed them with superhuman intelligence, and
then divided them into two large classes. Those which were dark,
treacherous, and cunning by nature were banished to Svart-alfa-heim,
the home of the black dwa