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Grimnismol

31.^[1] Three roots there are that three ways run 'Neath the ash-tree Yggdrasil;'Neath the first lives Hel, 'neath the second the frost-giants, 'Neath the last are the lands of men.

32.^[2] Ratatosk is the squirrel who there shall run On the ash-tree Yggdrasil;From above the words of the eagle he bears, And tells them to Nithhogg beneath.

33.^[3] Four harts there are, that the highest twigs

"Hollow-Hoofed." Golltopp ("Gold-Topped"): this horse belonged to Heimdall (cf. Voluspo, 1 and 46). It is noteworthy that gold was one of the attributes of Heimdall's belongings, and, because his teeth were of gold, he was also called Gullintanni ("Gold-Toothed"). Lettfeti: "Light-Feet." Othin's eight-footed horse, Sleipnir, is not mentioned in this list.

↑ The first of these roots is the one referred to in stanza 26; the second in stanza 29 (cf. notes). Of the third root there is nothing noteworthy recorded. After this stanza it is more than possible that one has been lost, paraphrased in the prose of Snorri's Edda thus: "An eagle sits in the branches of the ash-tree, and he is very wise; and between his eyes sits the hawk who is called Vethrfolnir."
↑ Ratatosk ("The Swift-Tusked"): concerning this squirrel, the Prose Edda has to add only that he runs up and down the tree conveying the abusive language of the eagle (see note on stanza 31) and the dragon Nithhogg (cf. Voluspo, 39 and note) to each other. The hypothesis that Ratatosk "represents the undying hatred between the sustaining and the destroying elements—the gods and the giants," seems a trifle far-fetched.
↑ Stanzas 33-34 may well be interpolated, and are certainly in bad shape in the Mss. Bugge points out that they are probably of later origin than those surrounding them. Snorri

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[Grimnismol_31-1] The first of these roots is the one referred to in stanza 26; the second in stanza 29 (cf. notes). Of the third root there is nothing noteworthy recorded. After this stanza it is more than possible that one has been lost, paraphrased in the prose of Snorri's Edda thus: "An eagle sits in the branches of the ash-tree, and he is very wise; and between his eyes sits the hawk who is called Vethrfolnir."

[Grimnismol_32-2] Ratatosk ("The Swift-Tusked"): concerning this squirrel, the Prose Edda has to add only that he runs up and down the tree conveying the abusive language of the eagle (see note on stanza 31) and the dragon Nithhogg (cf. Voluspo, 39 and note) to each other. The hypothesis that Ratatosk "represents the undying hatred between the sustaining and the destroying elements—the gods and the giants," seems a trifle far-fetched.

[Grimnismol_33-3] Stanzas 33-34 may well be interpolated, and are certainly in bad shape in the Mss. Bugge points out that they are probably of later origin than those surrounding them. Snorri

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