(^268) A Wiccan Bible
Vigrond. So too will come the slain of Hell in a ship sailed by Loki. And from Muspel in
the south will come the Outsiders led by Surt, the fire giant. With him, Surt will bring a
sword of flames that will scorch the Earth. Heimdall will sound the alarm, calling forth
the sons of Odin and the Einherjar. They will come from the four corners of the world.
Those who would stand with the Gods and those who would stand with the Outsiders,
all meeting at the place of this, the final battle.
Odin and Fenrir will first meet, then Thor and Jormungand, then Heimdall and
Loki. Though Freyr is unarmed, Surt will kill him without hesitation because that is
what the Outsiders do. Though Tyr has but one arm, he will join the battle and attack
Garm because that is what the Gods do. Thor will defeat Jormungand, but then himself
die from its poison. Surt will kill the unarmed Freyr. Loki and Heimdall will kill each
other, as will Tyr and Garm. Fenrir will swallow Odin and at the moment of Odin’s
death, when it seems clear to both sides that all is lost, Vidar and Surt will show one last
time the difference between the Gods (good) and the Outsiders (evil).
With his father and friends dead and nothing to be gained but his own death, Vidar
will leap at his fathers killer and ripe the jaw of Fenrir from its skull, killing Fenrir to
avenge his fathers death, knowing very well that not retreating from the battlefield
meant his own death. Why will he do this? Because that is what the Gods do. But that is
not what the Outsiders do. When Surt, who kills the unarmed, realizes he will not win,
he swings his flaming sword to the four Quarters, setting the world on fire such that all
will lose—the armed, the unarmed, the combatants, the non-combatants. Why will he
do this? Because that is what the Outsiders do.
Shortly after the fires have consumed all that is left of the Earth after the great
battle, the land will sink into the ocean and there will be nothing left of that which we
have loved so dearly. The Gods will seem dead, Humanity will seem dead, and the
Earth itself will seem dead.
So tell me? Who are you? Are you one of the Gods or are you one of the Outsid-
ers? This too is the meaning behind the Wiccan greeting ‘Thou art god’ and ‘Thou art
goddess.’ No, Ragnarok has not fallen. But the Valkyries are circling overhead and the
Fenrir is scratching at the door. Some might argue that it is too late, but it is never too
late to decide who you are. That and not what you have read here or in any other book
on Wicca is the mystery of Wicca. That single question and the things that we do to try
and answer it: Who are you?
But with the passing of time, a new world will rise from the ocean and the floods
will recede. The Gods will be reborn and two of Humanity’s finest will have survived.
Lif (‘life’) and Lifthrasir (‘eager for life’) will become as Ash and Elm, or maybe they
are Ash and Elm. Maybe Ragnarok has already come and gone. Maybe it has come and
gone many times over. Maybe it is a distant tale of our future, or maybe Fenrir scratches
at the door even now. Do you see the Valkyries overhead? Are we at the beginning or
the end?
In the glory of our Lord and Lady, the end becomes the beginning and the begin-
ning becomes the end. So mote it be.
y WB Chap 16.p65 268 7/11/2003, 6:04 PM
barré
(Barré)
#1