Monday, December 21, 2009

Ragnarok

'The horn of Heimdall
I hear ringing;
the Blazing Bridge
bends neath horsemen;
the Ash is groaning,
his arms trembling;
the Wolf waking,
warriors riding.

The sword of Surt
smoketh redly;
the slumbering Serpent
in the sea moveth;
a shadowy ship
from shores of Hell
legions bringeth
to the last battle.

The wolf Fenrir
waits for Ódin,
for Frey the fair
the flames of Surt;
the deep Dragon
shall be doom of Thór -
shall all be ended,
shall Earth perish?

If in day of Doom
one deathless stands,
who death has tasted
and dies on more,
the serpent-slayer,
seed of Ódin,
then all shall not end,
nor Earth perish.

On his head shall be a helm,
in his hand lightning,
afire his spirit,
in his face splendour.
The Serpent shall shiver
and Surt waver,
the Wolf be vanquished
and the world rescued.'


J.R.R. Tolkien, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, Christopher Tolkien, ed. HarperCollins (2009) pp. 62-64.