"Then said Jafnhar: 'All that part of Ginungagap that turns to the
north' (the north Atlantic) 'was filled with thick and heavy ice and
rime, and everywhere within were drizzling rains and gusts. But the
south part of Ginungagap was lighted up by the glowing sparks that
flew out of Muspelheim.'"
[1. "Norse Mythology," p. 447.]
{p. 150}
The ice and rime to the north represent the age of ice and snow.
Muspelheim was the torrid country of the south, over which the clouds
could not yet form in consequence of the heat--Africa.
But it can not last forever. The clouds disappear; the floods find
their way back to the ocean; nature begins to decorate once more the
scarred and crushed face of the world. But where is the human race?
The "Younger Edda" tells us:
"During the conflagration caused by Surt's fire, a woman by the name
of Lif and a man named Lifthraser lie concealed in Hodmimer's hold,
or forest. The dew of the dawn serves them for food, and so great a
race shall spring from them, that their descendants shall soon spread
over the whole earth."[1]
The "Elder Edda" says:
"Lif and Lifthraser
Will lie hid
In Hodmimer's-holt;
The morning dew
They have for food.
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