© Gunnar Tómasson
13 May 2018
I. Arise, shine, for thy light is come,
and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
(Isaiah, Ch. 60, King James Bible 1611)
1455222
60:1
14180 = Arise, shine, for thy light is come,
18687 = and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
60:2
19195 = For, behold, the darknesse shall cover the earth,
13591 = and grosse darknesse the people:
15137 = but the LORD shall arise upon thee,
14761 = and his glory shall be seene upon thee.
60:3
16584 = And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,
18574 = and kings to the brightnesse of thy rising.
60:4
16231 = Lift up thine eyes round about, and see:
16033 = all they gather themselves together,
7169 = they come to thee:
14310 = thy sonnes shall come from farre,
17995 = and thy daughters shalbe nourced at thy side.
60:5
17826 = Then thou shalt see, and flow together,
14178 = and thine heart shall feare, and be inlarged;
11386 = because the abundance of the Sea
12101 = shalbe converted unto thee,
20524 = the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
60:6
18047 = The multitude of camels shall cover thee,
12478 = the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;
11262 = all they from Sheba shall come:
12506 = they shall bring gold and incense;
21866 = and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
60:7
24056 = All the flockes of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee,
20212 = the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee:
20949 = they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar,
17579 = and I will glorifie the house of my glory.
60:8
14501 = Who are these that flie as a cloude,
17476 = and as the doves to their windowes?
60:9
15611 = Surely the yles shall wait for me,
14751 = and the ships of Tarshish first,
13917 = to bring thy sonnes from farre,
17641 = their silver and their gold with them,
13656 = unto the Name of the LORD thy God,
11291 = and to the Holy One of Israel,
10944 = because he hath glorified thee.
60:10
24740 = And the sonnes of strangers shall build up thy walles,
17838 = and their kings shal minister unto thee:
13247 = for in my wrath I smote thee,
16088 = but in my favour have I had mercie on thee.
60:11
19122 = Therefore thy gates shal be open continually;
15564 = they shall not bee shut day nor night;
23222 = that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles,
14153 = and that their kings may be brought.
60:12
10802 = For the nation and kingdome
18437 = that will not serve thee, shall perish,
19637 = yea those nations shall be utterly wasted.
60:13
16510 = The glory of Lebanon shal come unto thee,
20839 = the Firre tree, the Pine tree, and the Boxe together,
16017 = to beautifie the place of my Sanctuarie,
18423 = and I will make the place of my feete glorious.
60:14
17939 = The sonnes also of them that afflicted thee,
11545 = shall come bending unto thee:
11756 = and all they that despised thee
23913 = shal bow themselves downe at the soles of thy feet,
17116 = and they shall call thee the citie of the LORD,
14061 = the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
60:15
17510 = Whereas thou hast bene forsaken and hated,
16975 = so that no man went thorow thee,
16125 = I will make thee an eternall excellencie,
9854 = a joy of many generations.
60:16
21029 = Thou shalt also sucke the milke of the Gentiles,
14730 = and shalt sucke the brest of kings:
16580 = and thou shalt know that I the LORD
21920 = am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mightie One of Jacob.
60:17
27465 = For brasse I will bring gold, and for yron I will bring silver,
18386 = and for wood brasse, and for stones yron:
14615 = I will also make thy officers peace,
17825 = and thine exactours righteousnesse.
60:18
16001 = Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
24334 = wasting nor destruction within thy borders,
28259 = but thou shalt call thy walles salvation, and thy gates praise.
60:19
16456 = The Sunne shall be no more thy light by day,
27014 = neither for brightnesse shall the moone give light unto thee:
22414 = but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light,
7393 = & thy God thy glory.
60:20
15561 = Thy Sunne shall no more goe downe;
20434 = neither shall thy moone withdraw itselfe:
19443 = for the LORD shall bee thine everlasting light,
15942 = and the dayes of thy mourning shall be ended.
60:21
16224 = Thy people also shall be all righteous:
14458 = they shal inherit the land for ever,
19548 = the branch of my planting, the worke of my hands,
8002 = that I may be glorified.
60:22
13434 = A litle one shall become a thousand,
12402 = and a small one a strong nation:
16715 = I the LORD will hasten it in his time.
1455222
I + VI + VII = 1455222 + 468222 + 19426 = 1942870
II + III = 1660301 + 282569 = 1942870
IV + V = 1927965 + 14905 = 1942870
II. Snorri Sturluson – Gylfaginning
(Chs. 1-3. Translation in Appendix)
1660301
Ch. 1
23114 = Gylfi konungr réð þar löndum, er nú heitir Svíþjóð.
20040 = Frá honum er þat sagt, at hann gaf einni farandi konu
26249 = at launum skemmtunar sinnar eitt plógsland í ríki sínu,
17871 = þat er fjórir öxn drægi upp dag ok nótt.
11005 = En sú kona var ein af ása ætt.
7311 = Hon er nefnd Gefjun.
19134 = Hon tók fjóra öxn norðan ór Jötunheimum,
21604 = en þat váru synir jötuns nökkurs ok hennar,
10449 = ok setti þá fyrir plóg,
25903 = en plógrinn gekk svá breitt ok djúpt, at upp leysti landit,
15893 = ok drógu öxninir þat land út á hafit
19514 = ok vestr ok námu staðar í sundi nökkuru.
20733 = Þar setti Gefjun landit ok gaf nafn ok kallaði Selund.
22661 = Ok þar sem landit hafði upp gengit, var þar eftir vatn.
15936 = Þat er nú Lögrinn kallaðr í Svíþjóð,
19295 = ok liggja svá víkr í Leginum sem nes í Selundi.
10389 = Svá segir Bragi skáld gamli:
7278 = Gefjun dró frá Gylfa
8617 = glöð djúpröðul óðla,
10236 = svá at af rennirauknum
7482 = rauk, Danmarkar auka.
7307 = Báru öxn ok átta
10170 = ennitungl, þars gengu
9537 = fyrir vineyjar víðri
9976 = valrauf, fjögur haufuð.
Ch. 2
20018 = Gylfi konungr var maðr vitr ok fjölkunnigr.
22647 = Hann undraðist þat mjök, er ásafólk var svá kunnigt,
15559 = at allir hlutir gengu at vilja þeira.
23380 = Þat hugsaði hann, hvárt þat myndi vera af eðli sjálfra þeira
19856 = eða myndi því valda goðmögn þau, er þeir blótuðu.
18601 = Hann byrjaði ferð sína til Ásgarðs ok fór með leynð
18001 = ok brá á sik gamals manns líki ok dulðist svá.
20885 = En æsir váru því vísari, at þeir höfðu spádóm,
14335 = ok sá þeir ferð hans, fyrr en hann kom,
17150 = ok gerðu í móti honum sjónhverfingar.
19257 = Ok er hann kom inn í borgina, þá sá hann þar háva höll,
14248 = svá at varla mátti hann sjá yfir hana.
23123 = Þak hennar var lagt gylldum skjöldum, svá sem spánþak.
30082 = Svá segir Þjóðólfr inn hvinverski, at Valhöll var skjöldum þökð:
5732 = Á baki létu blíkja,
8852 = barðir váru grjóti,
8436 = Sváfnis salnæfrar
6188 = seggir hyggjandi.
19542 = Gylfi sá mann í hallardurum, ok lék at handsöxum
21792 = ok hafði sjau senn á lofti. Sá spurði hann fyrr at nafni.
19981 = Hann nefndist Gangleri ok kominn af refilstigum
28821 = ok beiddist at sækja til náttstaðar ok spurði, hverr höllina átti.
16790 = Hann svarar, at þat var konungr þeira, –
10075 = „en fylgja má ek þér at sjá hann.
15096 = Skaltu þá sjálfr spyrja hann nafns,” –
25986 = ok snerist sá maðr fyrir honum inn í höllina, en hann gekk eftir,
15061 = ok þegar laukst hurðin á hæla honum.
14186 = Þar sá hann mörg gólf ok margt fólk,
28969 = sumt með leikum, sumir drukku, sumir með vápnum ok börðust.
32407 = Þá litaðist hann umb ok þótti margir hlutir ótrúligir, þeir er hann sá.
5278 = Þá mælti hann:
5465 = Gáttir allar,
4557 = áðr gangi fram,
8597 = um skyggnask skyli,
11561 = því at óvíst er at vita
8810 = hvar óvinir sitja
5215 = á fleti fyrir.
19223 = Hann sá þrjú hásæti ok hvert upp frá öðru,
15480 = ok sátu þrír menn sinn í hverju.
19704 = Þá spurði hann, hvert nafn höfðingja þeira væri.
12798 = Sá svarar, er hann leiddi inn, at sá,
17402 = er í inu neðsta hásæti sat, var konungr, –
20360 = „ok heitir Hárr, en þar næst sá, er heitir Jafnhárr,
11669 = en sá ofast, er Þriði heitir.”
21399 = Þá spyrr Hárr komandann, hvárt fleira er erendi hans,
25186 = en heimill er matr ok drykkr honum sem öllum þar í Háva höll.
15920 = Hann segir, at fyrst vill hann spyrja,
12741 = ef nökkurr er fróðr maðr inni.
14757 = Hárr segir, at hann komi eigi heill út,
7433 = nema hann sé fróðari,
7517 = „ok stattu fram,
5737 = meðan þú fregn;
9377 = sitja skal sá, er segir.”
Ch. 3
10795 = Gangleri hóf svá mál sitt:
14764 = „Hverr er æðstr eða elztr allra goða?”
4786 = Hárr segir:
12067 = „Sá heitir Alföðr at váru máli,
17339 = en í Ásgarði inum forna átti hann tólf nöfn.
15278 = Eitt er Alföðr, annat er Herran eða Herjan,
22475 = þriðja er Nikarr eða Hnikarr, fjórða er Nikuðr eða Hnikuðr,
16789 = fimmta Fjölnir, sétta Óski, sjaunda Ómi,
23519 = átta Bifliði eða Biflindi, níunda Sviðurr, tíunda Sviðrir,
14101 = ellifta Viðrir, tólfta Jálg eða Jálkr.”
7912 = Þá spyrr Gangleri:
10785 = „Hvar er sá guð, eða hvat má hann,
14318 = eða hvat hefir hann unnit framaverka?”
4786 = Hárr segir:
22888 = „Lifir hann of allar aldir ok stjórnar öllu ríki sínu,
18632 = ok ræðr öllum hlutum, stórum ok smám.”
7134 = Þá mælti Jafnhárr:
20730 = „Hann smíðaði himin ok jörð ok loftin ok alla eign þeira.”
6510 = Þá mælti Þriði:
15844 = „Hitt er þó mest, er hann gerði manninn
18562 = ok gaf honum önd þá, er lifa skal ok aldri týnast,
20293 = þótt líkaminn fúni at moldu eða brenni at ösku,
21807 = ok skulu allir menn lifa, þeir er rétt eru siðaðir,
23893 = ok vera með honum sjálfum, þar sem heitir Gimlé eða Vingólf,
17586 = en vándir menn fara til heljar ok þaðan í Niflhel.
11377 = Þat er niðr í inn níunda heim.”
6961 = Þá mælti Gangleri:
20039 = „Hvat hafðist hann áðr at en himinn ok jörð væri ger?”
6720 = Þá svarar Hárr:
12665 = „Þá var hann með hrímþursum.”
1660301
III. Horace‘s Monument and Saga Myth
(Construction G. T.)
282569
Horace‘s Monument¹
15415 = Exegi monumentum aere perennius
15971 = regalique situ pyramidum altius,
18183 = quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens
16667 = possit diruere aut innumerabilis
15808 = annorum series et fuga temporum:
16838 = non omnis moriar multaque pars mei
17125 = uitabit Libitinam; usque ego postera
15977 = crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium
16702 = scandet cum tacita uirgine pontifex;
17493 = dicar, qua uiolens obstrepit Aufidus
17316 = et qua pauper aquae Daunus agrestium
19190 = regnauit populorum, ex humili potens,
14596 = princeps Aeolium Carmen ad Italos
15421 = deduxisse modos. sume superbiam
15021 = quaesitam meritis et mihi Delphica
15259 = lauro cinge uolens, Melpomene, comam.
Pagan/Rime Giant
(Hrímþurs)
345 = Soul’s Earthly/Mortal Frame
Sacred Triangle of Pagan Iceland
Pagans’ Path to Perdition
7196 = Bergþórshváll
6067 = Miðeyjarhólmr
3027 = Helgafell – Holy Mountain/Rock of Christ’s Church
Cosmic Creative Power
4000 = Flaming Sword
Resurrection
216 = Soul’s Resurrection*
Soul become Wiser
(Fróðari)
-6960 = Jarðlig skilning – Earthly Understanding
5596 = Andlig spekðin – Spiritual Wisdom
FINIS
100 = The End
282569
*3³+4³+5³=27+64+125=216
IV. Francis Bacon – Of Truth
(Essayes, 1625)
1927965
16829 = What is Truth; said jesting Pilate;
16465 = and would not stay for an Answer.
18074 = Certainly there be, that delight in Giddinesse
13235 = And count it a Bondage, to fix a Beleefe;
22340 = Affecting Free-will in Thinking as well as in Acting.
24810 = And though the Sects of Philosophers of that Kinde be gone,
21536 = yet there remaine certaine discoursing Wits,
12152 = which are of the same veines,
18070 = though there be not so much Bloud in them,
14517 = as was in those of the Ancients.
19835 = But it is not onely the Difficultie, and Labour
17822 = which Men take in finding out of Truth;
14466 = Nor againe, that when it is found,
16605 = it imposeth vpon mens Thoughts;
13519 = that doth bring Lies in fauour,
24851 = But a naturall, though corrupt Loue, of the Lie it selfe.
16509 = One of the later Schoole of the Grecians,
19915 = examineth the matter, and is at a stand, to thinke
21204 = what should be in it, that men should loue Lies;
24494 = Where neither they make for Pleasure, as with Poets;
26333 = Nor for Aduantage, as with the Merchant; but for the Lies sake.
7815 = But I cannot tell:
17572 = This same Truth, is a Naked, and Open day light,
21950 = that doth not shew, the Masques, and Mummeries,
20056 = and Triumphs of the world, halfe so Stately,
10902 = and daintily, as Candlelights.
19942 = Truth may perhaps come to the price of a Pearle,
10647 = that sheweth best by day:
26281 = But it will not rise, to the price of a Diamond or Carbuncle,
16547 = that sheweth best in varied lights.
16697 = A mixture of a Lie doth euer adde Pleasure.
18306 = Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken
15728 = out of Mens Mindes, Vaine Opinions,
15926 = Flattering Hopes, False valuations,
16567 = Imaginations as one would, and the like;
13966 = but it would leaue the Mindes,
17950 = of a Number of Men, poore shrunken Things;
16165 = full of Melancholy, and Indisposition,
13441 = and vnpleasing to themselues?
15790 = One of the Fathers, in great Seuerity,
12325 = called Poesie, Vinum Dæmonum;
14068 = because it filleth the Imagination,
18552 = and yet it is, but with the shadow of a Lie.
23809 = But it is not the Lie, that passeth through the Minde,
19114 = but the Lie that sinketh in, and setleth in it,
20452 = that doth the hurt, such as we spake of before.
19135 = But howsoeuer these things are thus,
17631 = in mens depraued Iudgements, and Affections,
19303 = yet Truth, which onely doth iudge it selfe,
16947 = teacheth, that the Inquirie of Truth,
19407 = which is the Loue-making, or Wooing of it;
24317 = The Knowledge of Truth, which is the Presence of it;
21439 = and the Beleefe of Truth, which is the Enioying of it;
17137 = is the Soueraigne Good of humane Nature.
23316 = The first Creature of God, in the workes of the Dayes,
12236 = was the Light of the Sense;
15062 = The last, was the Light of Reason;
13986 = And his Sabbath Worke, euer since,
16231 = is the Illumination of his Spirit.
24837 = First he breathed Light, vpon the Face, of the Matter or Chaos;
15511 = Then he breathed Light, into the Face of Man;
15000 = and still he breatheth and inspireth
13512 = Light, into the Face of his Chosen.
14216 = The Poet, that beautified the Sect,
22778 = that was otherwise inferiour to the rest,
12983 = saith yet excellently well:
18762 = It is a pleasure to stand vpon the shore
16065 = and to see ships tost vpon the Sea;
21011 = A pleasure to stand in the window of a Castle,
22322 = and to see a Battaile, and the Aduentures thereof, below:
14652 = But no pleasure is comparable, to
21546 = the standing, vpon the vantage ground of Truth
9474 = (A hill not to be commanded,
19050 = and where the Ayre is alwaies cleare and serene;)
17193 = And to see the Errours and Wandrings,
18416 = and Mists, and Tempests, in the vale below:
23256 = So alwaies, that this prospect, be with Pitty,
15853 = and not with Swelling, or Pride.
14791 = Certainly, it is Heauen vpon Earth,
14444 = to haue a Mans Minde moue in Charitie,
9099 = Rest in Prouidence,
16653 = and Turne vpon the Poles of Truth.
24147 = To pass from Theologicall and Philosophicall Truth,
16506 = to the Truth of ciuill Businesse;
26945 = It will be acknowledged, euen by those, that practize it not,
24509 = that cleare and Round dealing, is the Honour of Mans Nature;
12692 = And that Mixture of Falshood,
15180 = is like Allay in Coyne of Gold and Siluer,
18979 = which may make the Metall worke the better,
8066 = but it embaseth it.
18111 = For these winding, and crooked courses,
12669 = are the Goings of the Serpent;
23514 = which goeth basely vpon the belly, and not vpon the Feet.
23313 = There is no Vice, that doth so couer a Man with Shame,
14034 = as to be found false, and perfidious.
18522 = And therefore Mountaigny saith prettily,
24123 = when he enquired the reason, why the word of the Lie,
20405 = should be such a Disgrace, and such an Odious Charge?
12538 = Saith he, If it be well weighed,
16568 = To say that a man lieth, is as much to say,
25983 = as that he is braue towards God, and a Coward towards men.
15156 = For a Lie faces God, and shrinkes from Man.
19395 = Surely the Wickednesse of Falshood, and Breach
20429 = of Faith, cannot possibly be so highly expressed,
18582 = as in that it shall be the last Peale, to call the
19854 = Iudgements of God, vpon the Generations of Men,
20293 = It being foretold, that when Christ commeth,
15732 = He shall not finde faith vpon the earth.
1927965
V. The Last Peale/Cannon Shot
(Construction G. T.)
14905
Last Peale Shot Off*
4000 = Flashing Fire/Flaming Sword
Pagan‘s
Metamorphosis
10805 = Sweet Swan of Avon
FINIS
100 = The End
14905
* Cf. Hamlet, End of Final Act:
Exeunt Marching: after the which,
a Peale of Ordenance are shot off.
VI. Abomination of Desolation²
He shall not finde faith vpon the earth.
(Contemporary history)
468222
The Gates of Hell
13031 = International Monetary Fund
9948 = Harvard University
7146 = Seðlabanki Íslands – Central Bank of Iceland = 30125
Right Measure of Man
Persecuted
8525 = Gunnar Tómasson
12385 = Guðrún Ólafía Jónsdóttir
Modes of Persecution
11587 = Character Assassination
5881 = Níðingsverk – Barbarity
7750 = Psychiatric Rape
6603 = Mannorðsmorð – Vicious Slander
16439 = Criminal Obstruction of Justice
Persecutors – Jesting Pilates
U.S. Government
12867 = William Jefferson Clinton – President
4496 = Janet Reno – Attorney General
International Monetary Fund
8899 = Jacques de Larosière – Managing Director
7678 = Michel Camdessus – Managing Director
5517 = William B. Dale – Deputy Managing Director
2713 = Dick Erb – Deputy Managing Director
6584 = Jacques J. Polak – Economic Counsellor
4734 = Tun Thin – Asian Department Director
9349 = W. John R. Woodley – Asian Department Deputy Director
3542 = Ken Clark – Director of Administration
3339 = Graeme Rea – Director of Administration
3227 = P. N. Kaul – Deputy Director of Administration
5446 = Nick Zumas – Grievance Committee Chairman
Harvard University
3625 = Derek C. Bok – President
8175 = Henry Rosovsky – Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
8566 = James S. Duesenberry – Chairman, Department of Economics
11121 = Paul Anthony Samuelson – Ph. D., Nobel Laureate in Economics
8381 = Walter S. Salant – Ph. D., Brookings Institution Senior Fellow
Iceland Government
10244 = Vigdís Finnbogadóttir – President
11361 = Salóme Þorkelsdóttir – Althing President
6028 = Davíð Oddsson – Prime Minister
10295 = Þorsteinn Pálsson – Minister of Justice
8316 = Jón Sigurðsson – Minister of Commerce
5940 = Jónas H. Haralz – World Bank Executive Director
Other Iceland
6648 = Jóhannes Nordal – Central Bank Governor
8864 = Bjarni Bragi Jónsson – Central Bank Chief Economist
14314 = Benjamín Jón Hafsteinn Eiríksson – Harvard Ph. D.
9720 = Matthías Jóhannessen – Editor, Morgunblaðið
Other
10989 = Orenthal James Simpson
8015 = John & Patsy Ramsey
4953 = Osama bin Laden
Violent Crimes
3586 = Murder
6899 = Nicole Brown
4948 = Ron Goldman
6100 = Brentwood
1204 = 12 June (4th month old-style)
1994 = 1994 A.D.
3718 = Jonbenet
3503 = Boulder
2510 = 25 December (10th month old-style)
1996 = 1996 A.D.
5557 = The Pentagon
9596 = World Trade Center
1107 = 11 September (7th month old-style)
2001 = 2001 A.D.
Other
7920 = Excelsior Hotel
5060 = Paula Jones
803 = 8 May (3rd month old-style)
1991 = 1991 A.D.
4014 = Kiss it!
8486 = The White House
7334 = Kathleen Willey
2909 = 29 November (9th month old-style)
1993 = 1993 A.D.
22091 = I’ve wanted to do this ever since I laid eyes on you.
6045 = The Oval Office
8112 = Monica Lewinsky
1509 = 15 November (9th month old-style)
1995 = 1995 A.D. = 438097¹
468222
VII. Prisca Theologia³ – Alpha and Omega
(Construction G. T.)
19426
True Religion
7521 = Prisca Theologia
Alpha
1000 = Light of the World
Omega
10805 = Sweet Swan of Avon
FINIS
100 = The End
19426
***
Calculator for converting letters to cipher values is at:
http://www.light-of-truth.com/ciphersaga.htm
¹Horace‘s Monument
I have created a monument more lasting than bronze and loftier than the royal pyramids, a monument which neither the biting rain nor the raging North Wind can destroy, nor can the countless years and the passing of the seasons. I will not entirely die and a great part of me will avoid Libitina, the goddess of Death; I will grow greater and greater in times to come, kept fresh by praise. So long as the high priest climbs the stairs of the Capitolium, accompanied by the silent Vestal Virgin, I, now powerful but from humble origins, will be said to be the first to have brought Aeolian song to Latin meter where the raging Aufidius roars and where parched Daunus ruled over the country folk. Embrace my pride, deservedly earned, Muse, and willingly crown me with Apollo’s laurel.
²Abomination of Desolation
Message posted to friends on 26 February 2014:
While in Iceland last August, I met with Pétur Halldórsson at the Cafe Milano in Reykjavík. We discussed matters of mutual interest, including what my Saga Cipher work might “mean“.
I took a napkin and, for emphasis, wrote down the number 438097. This is the Cipher Sum of some three dozen names of persons, institutions, dates and events during the reference period, including two famous murder cases, a sex scandal in high places, and presumptive lies told in connection therewith.
I told Pétur (what I had long surmised) that I believed that this number was associated with a watershed event in human history whose final phase was upon our world.
An earth-shaking culmination of human and spiritual evolution.
¹Prisca Theologia
Prisca theologia is the doctrine that asserts that a single, true, theology exists, which threads through all religions, and which was given by God to man in antiquity. (Wikipedia)
Prisca theologia er sú kenning að Guð hafi í árdaga gefið mannkyni ein, sönn trúarbrögð.
APPENDIX
Gylfaginning – Translation
(Internet)
Ch. 1
King Gylfi ruled the land that men now call Sweden. It is told of him that he gave to a wandering woman, in return for her merry-making, a plow-land in his realm, as much as four oxen might turn up in a day and a night. But this woman was of the kin of the Æsir; she was named Gefjun. She took from the north, out of Jötunheim, four oxen which were the soils of a certain giant and, herself, and set them before the plow. And the plow cut so wide and so deep that it loosened up the land; and the oxen drew the land out into the sea and to the westward, and stopped in a certain sound. There Gefjun set the land, and gave it a name, calling it Selund. And from that time on, the spot whence the land had been torn up is water: it is now called the Lögr in Sweden; and bays lie in that lake even as the headlands in Selund. Thus says Bragi, the ancient skald:
Gefjun drew from Gylfi | gladly the wave-trove’s free-hold,
Till from the running beasts | sweat reeked, to Denmark’s increase;
The oxen bore, moreover, | eight eyes, gleaming brow-lights,
O’er the field’s wide: booty, | and four heads in their plowing.
Ch. 2
King Gylfi was a wise man and skilled in magic; he was much troubled that the Æsir-people were so cunning that all things went according to their will. He pondered whether this might proceed from their own nature, or whether the divine powers which they worshipped might ordain such things. He set out on his way to Ásgard, going secretly, and- clad himself in the likeness of an old man, with which he dissembled. But the Æsir were wiser in this matter, having second sight; and they saw his journeying before ever he came, and prepared against him deceptions of the eye. When he came into the town, he saw there a hall so high that he could not easily make out the top of it: its thatching was laid with golden shields after the fashion of a shingled roof. So also says Thjódólfr of Hvin, that Valhall was thatched with shields:
On their backs they let beam, | sore battered with stones,
Odin’s hall-shingles, | the shrewd sea-farers.
In the hall-doorway Gylfi saw a man juggling with anlaces, having seven in the air at one time. This man asked of him his name. He called himself Gangleri, and said he had come by the paths of the serpent, and prayed for lodging for the night, asking: „Who owns the hall?“ The other replied that it was their king; „and I will attend thee to see him; then shalt thou thyself ask him concerning his; name;“ and the man wheeled about before him into the hall, and he went after, and straightway the door closed itself on his heels. There he saw a great room and much people, some with games, some drinking; and some had weapons and were fighting. Then he looked about him, and thought unbelievable many things which he saw; and he said:
All the gateways | ere one goes out
Should one scan:
For ‘t is uncertain | where sit the unfriendly
On the bench before thee.
He saw three high-seats, each above the other, and three men sat thereon,-one on each. And he asked what might be the name of those lords. He who had conducted him in answered that the one who, sat on the nethermost high-seat was a king, „and his name is Hárr; – High – but the next is named Janhárr; – Equally High – and he who is uppermost is called Thridi.“ – Third – Then Hárr asked the newcomer whether his errand were more than for the meat and drink which were always at his command, as for every one there in the Hall of the High One. He answered that he first desired to learn whether there were any wise man there within. Hárr said, that he should not escape whole from thence unless he were wiser.
And stand forth while you are instructed;
He who instructs shall sit. [Edit G.T.]
Ch. 3
Gangleri began his questioning thus: „Who is foremost, or oldest, of all the gods?“ Hárr [High] answered: „He is called in our speech Allfather, but in the Elder Ásgard he had twelve names: one is Allfather; the second is Lord, or Lord of Hosts; the third is Nikarr, or Spear-Lord; the fourth is Nikudr, or Striker; the fifth is Knower of Many Things; the sixth, Fulfiller of Wishes; the seventh, Far-Speaking One; the eighth, The Shaker, or He that Putteth the Armies to Flight; the ninth, The Burner; the tenth, The Destroyer; the eleventh, The Protector; the twelfth, Gelding.“
Then asked Gangleri: „Where is this god, or what power hath he, or what hath he wrought that is a glorious deed?“ Hárr made answer: „He lives throughout all ages and governs all his realm, and directs all things, great and small.“ Then said Jafnhárr [Equally High]: „He fashioned heaven and earth and air, and all things which are in them.“ Then. spake Thridi [Third]: „The greatest of all is this: that he made man, and gave him the spirit, which shall live and never perish, though the flesh-frame rot to mould, or burn to ashes; and all men shall live, such as are just in action, and be with himself in the place called Gimlé. But evil men go to Hel and thence down to the Misty Hel; and that is down in the ninth world.“ Then said Gangleri: „What did he before heaven and earth were made?“ And Hárr answered: „He was then with the Rime-Giants.“