y the thought of the terrible Fimbul-winter, which was to herald
their death, was one well calculated to disquiet the gods.

Frigga alone cherished hope, and she watched anxiously for the return
of her messenger, Hermod the swift, who, meanwhile, had ridden over
the tremulous bridge, and along the dark Hel-way, until, on the tenth
night, he had crossed the rushing tide of the river Gioell. Here he was
challenged by Moedgud, who inquired why the Giallar-bridge trembled
more beneath his horse's tread than when a whole army passed, and
asked why he, a living rider, was attempting to penetrate into the
dreaded realm of Hel.

"Who art thou on thy black and fiery horse,
Under whose hoofs the bridge o'er Giall's stream
Rumbles and shakes? Tell me thy race and home.
But yestermorn five troops of dead pass'd by,
Bound on their way below to Hela's realm,
Nor shook the bridge so much as thou alone.
And thou hast flesh and colour on thy cheeks,
Like men who live, and draw the vital air;
Nor look'st thou pale and wan, like man deceased,
Souls bound below, my daily passers here."

Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).

Hermod explained to Moedgud the reason of his coming, and, having
ascertained that Balder and Nanna had ridden over the bridge before
him, he hastened on, until he came to the gate, which rose forbiddingly
before him.

Nothing daunted by this barrier, Hermod dismounted on the smooth ice,
and tightening the girths of his saddle, remounted, and burying his
spurs deep into Sleipnir's sleek sides, he put him to a prodigious
leap, which landed them safely on the other side of Hel-gate.

"Thence on he journey'd o'er the fields of ice
Still north, until he met a stretching wall
Barring his way, and in the wall a grate.
Then he dismounted, and drew tight the girths,
On the smooth ice, of Sleipnir, Odin's horse,
And made him leap the grate, and came within."

Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).

Riding onward, Hermod came at last to Hel's banqueting-hall, where he
found Balder, pale and dejected, lying upon a couch, his wife Nanna
beside him, gazing fixedly at a beaker of mead, which apparently he
had no heart to quaff.

The Condition of Balder's Release

In vain Hermod informed his brother that he had come to redeem him;
Balder shook his head sadly, saying that he knew he must remain in
his cheerless abode until the last day s