The Twilight of the Gods

The end of the world will be preceded by the axe-age and the sword-age. Weapons will be wielded and destroyed; following it is a wind-age and a wolf-age before the inevitable doom of Ragnarok. Winter will take its toll for three consecutive years without the summer interfering to bring its people mercy. Three other winters will make its presence known. Midgard will be at war during this time. Father and son will engage in battle against one another. Siblings will partake in incestuous acts. Mothers will abandon their husbands and seduce their own sons; while brothers rip at each others' hearts.

The wolves Skoll and Hati Hrodvitnisson will swallow the sun and the moon, bringing total darkness into the world. The starry heavens will fall, the earth will tremble; mountains and trees will crumble to the ground. Monsters will break free from the fetters that bind them; and the wild hunt will begin.

The Fenrir wolf will run loose dragging its jaws upon the earth and the heavens above. The Midgard serpent will revolt and cause the waters to overflow the shores. It will spew its deadly venom in the world around him.

In the north the Naglfar ship will be set free from its chains steered by Hymr. He will be accompanied by a crew of giants.

Loki will escape his bonds and sail northbound on a ship bearing the sons of Hel. In the south, Surt, the keeper of Muspell, will ride across Bifrost until it crumbles beneath him.

The horns of Heimdall will ring across the nine worlds warning the gods of the danger ahead. The Yggdrasil tree will tremble. A man and a woman will seek shelter under its quivering leaves as the earth beneath them quakes at the sound of war. Soon after, Odin will ride away on his horse Sleipnir to consult the head of Mimir for advice on the course of action to be taken. The warriors in Valhalla will be sent to the plane of Vigrid with Odin as their leader.

Odin will charge against the Fenrir wolf, but All-father will fall prey to the creature's deadly jaws and be swallowed. Odin's son Vidar will courageously avenge his father's death by stepping on Fenrir's jaw with his foot. (He wears a special shoe made of pieces of leather that have been offered to the gods). Vidar will snatch the upper jaw of the wolf and tear it asunder.

Thor will battle against the Midgard serpent and succesfully slay it. He will take nine steps back and die from the poisonous fumes the serpent spews forth.

The god Frey will fight against the guardian of Muspell. He will fall victim to the giant Surt since he has given away his sword to his messenger Skirnir. Tyr, the god of war, will attack the hound of Hel, Garm, while Loki and Heimdall engage in combat and die by each other's hand.

The nine worlds under the Yggdrasil tree will become a blazing inferno. All the gods of the Aesir and Vanir will die, as well as the inhabitants of all the realms that lie beneath the great Ash tree. The sky will fall into a pit of flame and the earth will sink into the sea.

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