take this view of the subject. Listen again to the last vision of the vala:
There comes the dark
Dragon flying,
The shining serpent
From the Nida-mountains
In the deep.
Over the plain it flies;
Dead bodies Nidhug
Drags in his whizzing plumage,—
Now must Nidhug sink.[1]
When there is an intermediate state, a transition, a purification, a purgatory, then this purification must sooner or later be accomplished; and that is the day of the great judgment, when Nidhug must sink, and nevermore lift his wings loaded with dead bodies. This idea is beautifully elaborated in Zendavista. The Edda has it in a single line, but the majority of its interpreters have not comprehended it. We who are permeated by the true Christian spirit, we know how great joy there is in heaven over a sinner who is converted; we know the God of mercy, who does not desire the ruin of a single sinner, and the God of omnipotence, who with his hand is able to press the tears of repentance from the heart, though it be hard as steel; we comprehend why he lets Nidhug sink down. All darkness shall be cleared up and be gilded by the shining light of heaven.
- ↑ We present this view of the subject from N. M. Petersen, who suggests
that the common reading of this passage hon ought to be hann,—that is he, not
she. In our translation we have supplied the noun Nidhug, while if we had
followed the other authorities we would have used the noun vala. Petersen
remarks that the word sink (sōkkvask) is a natural expression when applied to
the dragon, who sinks into the abyss, but forced and unnatural when applied
to the vala. He also quotes another passage (the last line in Brynhild's Hel-*ride,
where Brynhild says to the hag: Sink thou (sökkstu!) of giantkind!)
from the Elder Edda which corroborates his view. As the reader will observe,
we have adopted Petersen's view entirely.
