Ragnarok - The Twilight of the Gods

Long before the final battle, the seeds of Ragnarok were sown through acts of treachery and binding. The death of Baldur, the most beloved of the gods, cast the first shadow across the golden halls of Asgard. When Loki's cruelty was finally punished and he was bound beneath the earth with serpent venom dripping upon his face, the countdown to the end began in earnest.

The Voluspa, the prophecy of the seeress, foretold every terrible detail. The wise knew what was coming, yet even the gods could not escape the weaving of the Norns.

The first unmistakable sign would be Fimbulvetr, the Terrible Winter, three successive winters with no summer between them. Snow would fall from every direction, and the biting frost would grip the world. All bonds of kinship would dissolve as brother turned against brother, and the moral fabric of the world would unravel completely.

Brothers shall fight and slay each other, siblings shall break faith. The world shall know misery. An axe age, a sword age, shields shall be cloven. A wind age, a wolf age, before the world sinks.

The wolves Skoll and Hati, who had pursued the sun and moon across the sky since the beginning of time, would finally catch and devour them. The stars would vanish from the heavens, and the world would be plunged into darkness.

With the cosmic order shattered, all the bound forces of chaos would break free simultaneously. The great wolf Fenrir, who had been chained by the gods with the magical fetter Gleipnir, would snap his bonds and open his terrible jaws so wide that his upper jaw touched the sky and his lower jaw scraped the earth. The Midgard Serpent Jormungandr would release its own tail and rise from the ocean depths, spewing poison across the sky and causing the seas to surge over the land.

Loki would break free from his torment and sail to the battlefield on the ship Naglfar, a vessel made entirely from the fingernails and toenails of the dead. The fire giant Surtr would march from Muspelheim with a sword brighter than the sun, and the frost giants would advance from the east.

Heimdall, watchman of the gods, would sound the Gjallarhorn one final time, its call reaching every corner of the Nine Worlds. The gods would hold council one last time at the Well of Urd, and then they would arm themselves for battle, knowing they rode to their own deaths.

Odin would lead the charge against Fenrir, the All-Father in his golden armor with his great spear Gungnir. But the wolf would swallow Odin whole, only to be torn apart moments later by Odin's son Vidar, who would place his foot upon Fenrir's lower jaw and rip the beast asunder.

Thor would face his ancient enemy Jormungandr one final time. The Thunder God would slay the serpent with his hammer Mjolnir, but stagger only nine steps before falling dead from the creature's venom. Freyr would battle Surtr but fall, having given away his enchanted sword long ago for the love of the giantess Gerd. Tyr and the hellhound Garm would kill each other, and Heimdall and Loki would meet in mortal combat, each dealing the other a fatal blow.

Surtr would cast fire in every direction, and the flames would consume all Nine Worlds. The earth would sink beneath the waves, and it would seem that all existence had come to an end.

But the Voluspa promises renewal. The earth would rise again from the sea, green and fertile. The surviving gods, Vidar and Vali, Modi and Magni, along with the resurrected Baldur and Hodr, would gather on the plains of Ida where Asgard once stood. Two humans, Lif and Lifthrasir, who had sheltered in the World Tree Yggdrasil, would emerge to repopulate the earth. A new sun, daughter of the old one, would ride across the sky.

The cycle would begin again, perhaps this time without the mistakes of the old world.