crossing of the swollen tide of Veimer by Thor reminds us of
Jason's feat when he waded across the torrent on his way to visit
the tyrant Pelias and recover possession of his father's throne.

The marvellous necklace worn by Frigga and Freya to enhance their
charms is like the cestus or girdle of Venus, which Juno borrowed to
subjugate her lord, and is, like Sif's tresses and the ring Draupnir,
an emblem of luxuriant vegetation or a type of the stars which shine
in the firmament.

The Northern sword-god Tyr is, of course, the Greek war-god Ares,
whom he so closely resembles that his name was given to the day of
the week held sacred to Ares, which is even now known as Tuesday or
Tiu's day. Like Ares, Tyr was noisy and courageous; he delighted in
the din of battle, and was fearless at all times. He alone dared to
brave the Fenris wolf; and the Southern proverb concerning Scylla and
Charybdis has its counterpart in the Northern adage, "to get loose
out of Laeding and to dash out of Droma." The Fenris wolf, also a
personification of subterranean fire, is bound, like his prototypes
the Titans, in Tartarus.

The similarity between the gentle, music-loving Bragi, with his harp,
and Apollo or Orpheus, is very great; so is the resemblance between
the magic draught Od-hroerir and the waters of Helicon, both of which
were supposed to serve as inspiration to mortal as well as to immortal
poets. Odin dons eagle plumes to bear away this precious mead, and
Jupiter assumes a similar guise to secure his cupbearer Ganymede.

Idun, like Adonis and Proserpine, or still more like Eurydice, is also
a fair personification of spring. She is borne away by the cruel ice
giant Thiassi, who represents the boar which slew Adonis, the kidnapper
of Proserpine, or the poisonous serpent which bit Eurydice. Idun is
detained for a long time in Joetun-heim (Hades), where she forgets all
her merry, playful ways, and becomes mournful and pale. She cannot
return alone to Asgard, and it is only when Loki (now an emblem of
the south wind) comes to bear her away in the shape of a nut or a
swallow that she can effect her escape. She reminds us of Proserpine
and Adonis escorted back to earth by Mercury (god of the wind), or
of Eurydice lured out of Hades by the sweet sounds of Orpheus's harp,
which were also symbolical of the soughing of the winds.

Idun and Eurydice

The myth of Idun's fall from Yggdrasil into the darkest depths of
Nifl-heim, while s