come across a cave occupied by a giantess called Thökk, whom they ordered to join in the weeping for Balder with the rest; but her answer was—'Thökk will weep dry tears at Balder's balefire. What have I to do with the Son of Man quick or dead? Let Hell keep what she holds.'[1]
The ogress was suspected of being Loki in disguise; for this happened before his punishment had overtaken him. But be that as it may, the refusal prevented Balder's return just then. Return, however, he did at the proper time; for the story would be incomplete without the prophecy put into the mouth of the third and last sibyl of the Volospá, to the following effect: "I behold Earth rise again with its evergreen forests out of the deep; the waters fall in rapids; above hovers the eagle, that fisher of the falls. The Anses meet in Ida-plain; they talk of the mighty Earth-serpent, and remember the great decrees and the ancient mysteries of Fimbul-ty. There shall be found in the grass wonderful golden tables, their own in days of yore. The fields unsown shall yield their increase. All sorrows shall be healed. Balder shall come back. Balder and Höᵭr shall dwell in Woden's mansions of bliss, in the holy places of the blessed gods. . . . Then shall Hœni choose the rods of divination aright, and the sons of the Twin-brethren shall inhabit the wide world of the winds. . . . I see a hall brighter than the sun, shingled with gold, standing on Gem-lea. The righteous shall dwell therein and live in bliss for ever." Lastly, Balder had a son called Forseti, meaning a judge, and he dwelt in heaven in a house called Glitnir or the Glistener,
- ↑ Corpus Poet. Bor. i. 126.
