INTRO
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök «fate of the gods» is the battle of the end of the world. This battle will be waged between the gods, the Æsir, led by Odin and the fire giants led by Surt, who are also joined by the jotun led by Loki. Not only will the gods, giants and monsters perish in this conflagration, but almost everything in the universe will be destroyed.
the main significant events of the beginning of Ragnarök:
The birth of the three most evil and powerful creatures, descendants of Loki and Angrboda, named: Jörmundgander, Fenrir and Hela (or Hel), and the action of the gods to confine them.
And the death of Balder and the punishment of Loki.
PROPHECIES
Ragnarök will be preceded by the Fimbulvetr, the Winter of Winters: three successive winters will follow each other without summer. As a result, conflicts and quarrels will explode, and all mortals will disappear.
After a perpetual chase, the wolf Sköll and his brother Hati will finally devour the goddess Sól and her brother Máni, respectively. The stars will disappear from the heavens, plunging the Earth into darkness.
The earth will shake so violently that trees will be uprooted and mountains will fall; every joint and every link will break and separate, releasing Loki and his son, the wolf Fenrir. The terrible snout of this wolf will open so wide that the lower part of his jaw will scrape against the earth and the upper part of his jaw will press against the sky. Flames will dance in its eyes and leap from its nostrils.
Eggthér, the watchman of the Jotuns, will sit in his grave and strum his harp, smiling sternly. The red cock Fjalar will crow to the giants and the golden cock Gullinkambi will crow to the gods. A third rooster2, rust-red in color, will raise the dead in Hel.
Jörmundgander, the Midgard serpent, will rise from the deep ocean bed to head for Earth, writhing and turning furiously upon itself, causing the seas to rise and lash against the land. With each breath, the serpent will spew venom, splashing Earth and Heaven with it.
From the lands of the east, the army of Jotun, led by Hrym, will leave their home in Jötunheim and sail in the dreadful ship Naglfar (made from the fingernails of dead men), which will be released by tidal wave and flood, to the battlefields of Vigrid.
From the north, a second ship will set sail for Vigrid, with Loki, now unleashed, as helmsman, and the ghastly inhabitants of Hel as dead weight.
The whole world will be at war, the air will tremble with noises, rumblings and echoes. In the midst of this turmoil, the fire giants of Muspelheim, led by Surt, will advance southward and split the very sky in two, near Vigrid, leaving everything in their path ablaze with flames. As they ride towards Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, it will crack and break behind them. Garm, the hellhound in front of Gnipahellir, will also manage to break free. He will join the fire giants in their march towards Vigrid.
In this way, all the Jotuns and all the inhabitants of Hel, Fenrir, Jormundgander, Garm, Surt and the fiery sons of Muspelheim, will gather in Vigrid. All of them will fill the vast embankment that stretches a hundred and twenty leagues in each direction.
Meanwhile, Heimdal, being the first of the gods to see the enemies approaching, will sound his horn Gjallarhorn, with such impetus, that it will be heard throughout the nine worlds. All the gods will awaken and immediately gather in council. Then Odin will mount Sleipnir and gallop to the abode of Mimir to consult him about the fate of his people and himself.
Then Yggdrasil, the world-tree, will shake from root to crown. Everything on earth, heaven and Hel will tremble. All the Æsir and Einherjar will put on their battle garments. This vast army (432,000 Einherjar – 800 from each of the 540 gates of Valhalla) will march to Vigrid and Odin will ride at the front, wearing a golden helmet and shining sash, wielding his Gungnir spear.
THE END OF THE BATTLE
Odin will head towards Fenrir; and Thor on his right, will not be able to help him because Jörmungandr, the giant serpent, will immediately attack him. Freyr will face the fire giant Surt, but he will become the first of all the gods to succumb, for he will have lent his own sword to his servant Skirnir. There will still be a long battle before Freyr succumbs. Tyr will succeed in killing Garm, but will be so seriously wounded that he will die, but only until shortly after the world is destroyed by fire. Heimdall will meet Loki, and neither will survive the evenly matched encounter.
Thor will kill Jörmungandr with his hammer Mjölnir, but he can only take nine steps before he falls dead, poisoned by the poisonous spittle Jörmungandr spat on him. Odin will fight with his powerful spear Gungnir against Fenrir, but will finally be devoured by the wolf after a long battle. To avenge his father, Vidar will immediately arrive and put a foot in the jaw of the wolf. On this foot he will fit the shoe he has been forging since the beginning of time, which consists of strips of leather cut by men over the toes and heels of his shoes. With one hand he will grab the wolf’s jaw and break its throat, killing it at last.
Then Surt will burn the whole universe with fire. Death will come to all beings on Earth. The sun will be extinguished and the stars will disappear from the heavens. Toxic fumes will rise and flames will burst forth, scorching the sky with fire. Finally, the earth will sink into the sea.
FALLOUT
After the destruction, a new land will emerge from the sea, green and fair. Grain will ripen in fields that were never sown. The meadow Iðavöllr, in the now destroyed Asgard, will not have succumbed at the end of it all. The sun will reappear as Sól, for before being swallowed by Sköll, she will have given birth to a daughter, identical to herself. This virginal daughter will resume her mother’s path in the new heaven.
A few gods will survive the ordeal: Odin’s brother Vili, Odin’s sons Vidar and Vali, Thor’s sons Modi and Magni, who will inherit their father’s magic hammer.
Two humans will also escape the destruction of the world by hiding deep within the wood of the Yggdrasil some say in the Forest of Hodmímir – where Surt’s sword has no power of destruction. They will be called Líf and Lífthrasir, and repopulate the earth.