Then Gangleri asked, ‘The sun moves quickly and it is almost as though she fears something. She cannot go faster on her journey even if she were afraid of her own death.’
Then High answered, ‘It is not surprising that she moves with such speed. The one chasing her comes close, and there is no escape for her except to run.’
‘Who is chasing her?’ asked Gangleri.
High said, ‘There are two wolves, and the one who is chasing her is called Skoll. He frightens her, and he eventually will catch her. The other is called Hati Hrodvitnisson. He runs in front of her trying to catch the moon. And, this will happen.’
Then Gangleri asked, ‘Of what family are the wolves?’
High replied, ‘An ogress lives to the east of Midgard in the forest called Jarnvid [Iron Wood]. The troll women who are called the Jarnvidjur [the Iron Wood Dwellers] live in that forest. The old ogress bore many giant sons, all in the likeness of wolves, and it is from here that these wolves come. It is said that the most powerful of this kin will be the one called Managarm [Moon Dog]. He will gorge himself with the life of all who die, and he will swallow the moon,1 spattering blood throughout the sky and all the heavens. Because of this, the sun will lose its brightness while the winds will turn violent, roaring in from all directions. So it is said in The Sibyl’s Prophecy:
In the East the old one lives[^fn26] in Iron Wood and there she bears Fenrir’s brood [the wolves].
From all of them comes one in particular, the ruin of the moon in the shape of a troll.
He gorges himself on the life of doomed men, reddens the gods’ dwelling with crimson gore. Dark goes the sunshine, for summers after, the weather all vicious. Do you know now or what?’
(The Sibyl’s Prophecy. 40–41)
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he will swallow the moon : The word used is tungl , which usually means moon, but tungl may be a shortening of himintungl, meaning heavenly body or bodies. Alone, tungl can mean sun. In the verse that follows, tungl probably means moon, if one thinks of Managarm (Moon Dog), but it is possible that the reference is to the sun. The Lay of Vafthrudnir offers a different version of the destruction of the sun, in which Fenrir swallows it. ↩
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In the East the old one lives : It is not clear to whom ‘the old one’ ( in aldna ) refers. In the prose preceding the verse she is called the old ogress or giantess ( in gamla gýgr ) and seems to be a creature from the oldest times. Possibly she refers to Angrboda, the mother of Fenrir (see chapter 34 ). ↩